Department of Physics Education, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 14665-889, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Many school biology concepts rely on physical mechanisms for explaining phenomena; however, this interdisciplinary dependency has not been systematically investigated in the design of curriculum sequences. The purpose of this study was to identify the physical prerequisites of key 10th-grade biology concepts and analyze the longitudinal alignment of these prerequisites within the formal structure of the secondary science curriculum.Methods: Employing a qualitative approach through analytical-conceptual document analysis, the primary source was the 10th-grade biology textbook (2025 edition), with secondary school science textbooks (grades 7–9) and 10th-grade physics analyzed comparatively. The unit of analysis was defined as an explanatory concept-any textual or visual segment explicating a biological phenomenon via physical mechanisms. Analysis proceeded in three stages: concept extraction, reconstruction of dependencies, and alignment evaluation across temporal, depth, and contextual dimensions. Findings: The results indicated that out of 73 dependent concepts, 35.6% were completely absent and 20.5% had insufficient depth. Misalignments were clustered in the areas of pressure and fluid flow, diffusion, and gradients. Conclusion: The challenges of learning school biology cannot be attributed solely to the complexity of concepts; rather, the conceptual architecture of the curriculum is a key factor. The proposed framework of longitudinal conceptual coherence can serve as a tool for evaluating and redesigning interdisciplinary alignment in science and assist policymakers in designing more coherent curricula.
Mohammadiparsa, N. and Bahrami, O. (2026). Investigating the Compatibility of Prerequisite Physics Concepts with Tenth Grade Biology Topics in the Secondary School Science Curriculum. Research in Biology Education, 5(2), 73-97.
MLA
Mohammadiparsa, N. , and Bahrami, O. . "Investigating the Compatibility of Prerequisite Physics Concepts with Tenth Grade Biology Topics in the Secondary School Science Curriculum", Research in Biology Education, 5, 2, 2026, 73-97.
HARVARD
Mohammadiparsa, N., Bahrami, O. (2026). 'Investigating the Compatibility of Prerequisite Physics Concepts with Tenth Grade Biology Topics in the Secondary School Science Curriculum', Research in Biology Education, 5(2), pp. 73-97.
CHICAGO
N. Mohammadiparsa and O. Bahrami, "Investigating the Compatibility of Prerequisite Physics Concepts with Tenth Grade Biology Topics in the Secondary School Science Curriculum," Research in Biology Education, 5 2 (2026): 73-97,
VANCOUVER
Mohammadiparsa, N., Bahrami, O. Investigating the Compatibility of Prerequisite Physics Concepts with Tenth Grade Biology Topics in the Secondary School Science Curriculum. Research in Biology Education, 2026; 5(2): 73-97.
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