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The revised Chinese National Curriculum Standards for High School Biology (2017, 2020 revision) explicitly require that students actively engage in learning and develop scientific thinking habits. The Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy provides a quantitative framework for evaluating students’ cognitive levels, enabling both teachers and learners to identify the specific stage of thinking development that a student has attained. Question-chain teaching, which guides students through a logically sequenced series of questions, has been shown to promote the progressive development of higher-order thinking. Against this background, the present study adopts SOLO taxonomy as its theoretical lens and instructional design framework to guide the hierarchical organisation and progressive sequencing of question chains, to construct a question-chain teaching model, and to explore the design principles and implementation strategies associated with this model. A chapter on the fundamental procedures of genetic engineering serves as the illustrative case for classroom implementation. The study investigates the practical effectiveness and educational value of SOLO taxonomy-driven question-chain teaching in senior high school biology classrooms through a mixed-methods survey involving students and in-service teachers.