Research goals: the idea of the study is that the value potential of the subject is a fundamental element of the knowledge system as part of the realization of the idea of sustainable development in education. The purpose of the study is to study the state of the issue of the formation of value ideas in students by means of the subject “Biology”. The basis of the study used the classification of value categories proposed by Milton Rokeach (1979). Object of research: value ideas of students. Subject of research: factors in the formation of value representations of students by means of the subject "Biology". Research methods: analysis of scientific publications on the methodology for assessing the value ideas of the individual, qualitative and quantitative methods of psychological and pedagogical research. Results of the research: we gave definitions to the concepts of “value potential of a subject” and “value potential of basic science”. We found that in the main school, the content of the subject “Biology” is primarily aimed at forming ideas about terminal values - “life”, “health”, “nature”; in high school - about terminal values - “life”, “health”, as well as instrumental values - “perseverance”. The value ideas of a biology teacher are one of the key factors in the formation of students' value ideas. In the structure of value representations of biology teachers, the three leaders are orientations towards terminal values. We have put forward the assumption that there is a dissonance between the value ideas of respondents and the values that the school biology course is aimed at forming an idea about.