This course focuses on learning, understanding, and working with core ideas in biology to engage in scientific practice and applications. In the spirit of "integrated STEM learning", this course will focus on applications of biological principles particularly as they relate to design solutions for human needs and participation in socioscientific issues. A sub-thread of the course is attention to the content of the Middle School Science Praxis exam sections on "Scientific Inquiry, Methodology, Techniques and History" (a topic that runs through the course) and "Life Sciences" to prepare students in the MSMS major to excel on this section of the Praxis. A laboratory component of the course engages students in investigations using either tangible physical and biological models or computational models. These investigations align with the content structure of the main throughline of the course.