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A. Human Identity
By the end of 12th grade, students should know that:
- The similarity of human DNA sequences and the resulting similarity in cell chemistry and anatomy identify human beings as a single species.
- Written records and photographic and electronic devices enable human beings to share, compile, use, and misuse great amounts of information and misinformation.
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B. Human Development
By the end of 12th grade, students should know that:
- As successive generations of an embryo's cells form by division, small differences in their immediate environments cause them to develop slightly differently, by activating or inactivating different parts of the DNA information.
- Using artificial means to prevent or facilitate pregnancy raises questions of social norms, ethics, religious beliefs, and even politics.
- The very long period of human development (compared to that of other species) is associated with the prominent role of the brain in human evolution.
- The development and use of technologies to maintain, prolong, sustain, or terminate life raise social, moral, ethical, and legal issues.
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C. Basic Functions
By the end of 12th grade, students should know that:
- The immune system is designed to protect against microscopic organisms and foreign substances that enter from outside the body and against some cancer cells that arise within.
- The nervous system works by electrochemical signals in the nerves and from one nerve to the next.
- Communication between cells is required to coordinate their diverse activities.
- Reproduction is necessary for the survival of any species.
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D. Learning
By the end of 12th grade, students should know that:
- Differences in the behavior of individuals arise from the interaction of heredity and experience the effect of each depends on what the other is.
- The expectations, moods, and prior experiences of human beings can affect how they interpret new perceptions or ideas.
- Human thinking involves the interaction of ideas, and ideas about ideas.
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E. Physical Health
By the end of 12th grade, students should know that:
- Some allergic reactions are caused by the body's immune responses to usually harmless environmental substances.
- Faulty genes can cause body parts or systems to work poorly.
- New medical techniques, efficient health care delivery systems, improved sanitation, and a fuller understanding of the nature of disease give today's human beings a better chance of staying healthy than their forebears had.
- Some viral diseases, such as AIDS, destroy critical cells of the immune system, leaving the body unable to deal with multiple infection agents and cancerous cells.
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F. Mental Health
By the end of 12th grade, students should know that:
- Stresses are especially difficult for children to deal with and may have long-lasting effects.
- Biological abnormalities, such as brain injuries or chemical imbalances, can cause or increase susceptibility to psychological disturbances.
- Reactions of other people to an individual's emotional disturbance may increase its effects.
- Human beings differ greatly in how they cope with emotions and may therefore puzzle one another.
- Ideas about what constitutes good mental health and proper treatment for abnormal mental states vary from one culture to another and from one time period to another.
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