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AP Biology Exam Format Change

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AP Biology has undergone a great deal of change over the years. Beginning as an AP Biology Course, shifting to a college credit course affiliated with Salisbury State University, becoming a course covering Biology 101 using the 7th edition of Neil Campbell's Biology as its text and finally returning to an AP format.

Though not exclusively a Senior course, it does require that students should have taken our Introductory Biology , Human Anatomy and Physiology(Optional) and Inorganic Chemistry course which usually limits enrollment to Seniors and a few accelerated Juniors.

AP Biology is designed to be an in-depth collegiate level survey course, however, it can also meet the needs of students seeking peparation for their General Education requirements in science;

1. This is a two semester program for any student intending to major in Biology. If your plan is to test out of Biology at your chosen institution and you wish to take the AP Biology Exam, then the two semester program will function as a prep course for the examination. The examination is elective and you can take it, or not take it. That is your decision.

2. If a student wants to be adequately prepared to take Biology for General Education requirements at their chosen institution, then they need to only take the first semester of the course to meet their needs.

3. If you do well in the course, then you could "ace" the Introductory Biology course at the college you attend.

4. This course will be a great confidence builder. You will be taking a rigorous program that will present you with college level material in a more familiar setting. You can go to college with a sense of knowing you are capable of meeting any challenge that awaits you.

-Students will find the pace of the class challenging.  The class meets 7.5 hours a week. Class formats include lecture/discussion, cooperative group work, simulations, and lab work.  

-Students are expected to read at least a chapter of text a week.  Labs are done on a regular basis. There are twelve required AP labs to be completed as well as additional labs.  Students must maintain a lab notebook and prepare formal lab reports. 

-Tests wil be scheduled at determined intervals and will usually cover multiple chapters.

-The focus of the course will be to cover the topics looking at unifying themes in biology 

Emergent properties

Evolution and diversity

Form and function

Science as a process) and ethical implications for science and society.  

Subject areas that are covered include: chemistry of life, cellular anatomy and physiology, evolution, classification and diversity of life, genetics, plant anatomy and physiology, animal anatomy and physiology and ecology. 

Labs include: enzyme reaction rates, molecular genetics, population genetics, transpiration, and behavior patterns of organisms among others.

  Expectations:

Be an active reader.

Be in class, on time, prepared to work.

Be an integral, functioning part of which ever group you are working with (lab or study).

Prepare ahead of time for labs and class discussions.

Respect each other and the classroom

All work should be your own.  All information should be properly cited!!  Please read student handbook regarding  plagiarism

Time Frame:

-Readings will be assigned so you will have adequate time to prepare for class discussions.  These discussions are for you to go over areas of confusion.  You will be held responsible on tests and quizzes for all reading, discussion, and lab materials. 

-The focus of the course will be to cover the topics looking at unifying themes in biology and ethical implications for science and society.  We will also be focusing on doing high quality lab work. Therefore it is important that you make the effort to come to labs understanding the equipment and knowing what needs to be done.  Planning should occur before the labs, not during the labs.

Grading:

Tests-50%:

The test dates will be posted weekly on the AP Biology Assignments page. These will usually be multi--chapter tests. The format of the tests will be similar to the format of the AP exams;

-40 multiple-choice problems (60%),

-1 lab based essay/problem (10%)

-2 essay questions (30%) 

Labs, Critques and *Presentations-40%:  

No credit will be given for lab work without a lab report ,or lab test, completed in a timely fashion. Because of time constraints you may be assigned to do only a portion of a particular lab. All labs will have a definite due date following completion of data gathering. Each day late will be a drop of one letter grade. It is your responsibility to get all the data for all the parts of the lab and to write a complete lab report.  All reports should be typewritten.  My printer wasn't working is NOT an adequate excuse for not handing in your work on time.

-Lab reports, unless otherwise specified, consist of an abstract, an introduction, including a hypothesis, procedure, data appropriately organized into charts,        graphs and tables, statistical/mathematical analysis including samples of how data was manipulated, and a conclusion/discussion.    

In addition to the lab reports you will be expected to keep a separate lab notebook that will be collected and graded at least once a semester.  This notebook should contain notes on lab procedures and how to use lab equipment, pre-lab discussion notes, your pre-lab preparations and calculations and your data gathering during your labs.  It should be neat, each page should be dated and labeled with the specific lab being worked on.

You will critique several scientific articles during the year and they will be included in your lab grade. The critique format will explain the details of the process and the due dates will be found on the critique format page. We will discuss source materials in class.

*Presentations will be voluntary activities that involve reporting to the class, using e-media, about various current events that you will monitor and summarize. A list of these activities will be developed as the year eveolves. These presentations will be considered extra credit and will be graded at the discretion of your instructor. Details of a presentation's content and structure will be discussed in class.

Quizzes-10% :

Every few days, short 10-20 minute long.  Consisting of one or a combination of the following:  short answer, diagramming, problem solving, single essay question etc.  They may be multiple choice or True/False or fill in the blank.  Not all quizzes will be announced although most will be.

 

 You will need:

Biology 7th ed. by Campbell and Reese

-Two notebooks.

  1) Class notes- This can be loose-leaf or spiral bound although I would suggest spiral bound in a three-ring binder. Use the spiral bound notebook for class notes and use the three-ring for handouts. 

  2) Lab notebook- This must be spiral bound.   It can not be used for anything else except lab work.  I will randomly collect lab notebooks to grade them. 

 

The full year program consists of the Units and Chapters listed below.

1st Semester

1. Introduction: Ten Themes in the Study of Life

Unit One: The Chemistry of Life

2. The Chemical Context of Life

3. Water and the Fitness of the Environment

4. Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life

5. The Structure and Function of Macromolecules

6. An Introduction to Metabolism

Unit Two: The Cell

7. A Tour of the Cell

8. Membrane Structure and Function

9. Cellular Respiration: Harvesting Chemical Energy

10. Photosynthesis

11. Cell Communication

12. The Cell Cycle

Unit Three: Genetics

13. Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles

14. Mendel and the Gene Idea

15. The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance

16. The Molecular Basis of Inheritance

17. From Gene to Protein

18. Microbial Models: The Genetics of Viruses and Bacteria

19. The Organization and Control of Eukaryotic Genomes

20. DNA Technology and Genomics

21. The Genetic Basis of Development

Unit Four: Mechanisms of Evolution

22. Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life

23. The Evolution of Populations

24. The Origin of Species

25. Phylogeny and Systematics

Unit Five: The Evolutionary History of Biological Diversity

26. Early Earth and the Origin of Life

27. Prokaryotes and the Origins of Metabolic Diversity

28. The Origins of Eukaryotic Diversity

 

Unit Five: The Evolutionary History of Biological Diversity

29. Plant Diversity I: How Plants Colonized Land

30. Plant Diversity II: The Evolution of Seed Plants

31. Fungi

32. Introduction to Animal Evolution

33. Invertebrates

34. Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity

Unit Six: Plant Form and Function

35. Plant Structure and Growth

36. Transport in Plants

37. Plant Nutrition

38. Plant Reproduction and Biotechnology

39. Plant Responses to Internal and External Signals

Unit Seven: Animal Form and Function

40. An Introduction to Animal Structure and Function

41. Animal Nutrition

42. Circulation and Gas Exchange

43. The Body's Defenses

44. Regulating the Internal Environment

45. Chemical Signals in Animals

46. Animal Reproduction

47. Animal Development

48. Nervous Systems

49. Sensory and Motor Mechanisms

Unit Eight: Ecology

50. An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere

51. Behavioral Biology

52. Population Ecology

53. Community Ecology

54. Ecosystems

55. Conservation Biology

 

In attempting to bring some excitement to a general course I began teaching about Mars as the only other possible source of life in our Solar System. That was based on some early data from the Mariner probes of the 1960s when the planet's desolate initial appearance gave way to what looked like, geologically, a planet that had been covered with a fair amount of water. That changed everything and the rest will be the history to present studies that we will conduct as we pursue the possibility of life on Mars. With the Earth as a Control we will use the Red Planet as a theoretical laboratory and hypothesize with our available data concerning the possible nature of " life" on Mars. Reference

Mars will be the home of residents that at first were Earthlings, but as their children are born will become indigenous Martians. The successful Terraforming of Mars will require much work, many years, and an in-depth understanding of terrestrial biology if we are to transfer and transform the planet into an abode for Earth organisms. Biotechnology promises to make valuable genetically engineered contributions to the evolving Martian biosphere. Fascinating stuff, isn't it? That's part of the motivation for learning the subject matter of AP Biology .

With your College years looming on the horizon it's time to do some serious preparation. Maybe you're thinking about Premed, a Biology Major, or it's a required course in college so you may as well be prepared for it. Whatever your reasons this is a program you can get your teeth into!

The Themes in the Study of Life will lead to a study of the Chemistry of Life from basic atomic theory to the study of carbon macromolecules. This is a necessity today in Biology as we understand that there appears to be some simple possible universal concepts that may apply anywhere in the universe. An "atom by any other name," my nod at Shakespeare, is still an atom. This means that whatever transpired here on earth to produce life may do so elsewhere given similar conditions of chemistry and time.

Control Understanding terrestrial biology

Experimental Hypothesizing Martian "biology"?

This logic continues as we unfold the Early History of Life on earth and its earliest, and still grandest, Prokaryotic inhabitants. Extremophiles are described to demonstrate the incredible range of environments that life forms inhabit here on earth. This, of course, is evidence that at least terrestrial life can exist in some extremely harsh conditions similar at times to those on other planets.

The process of Evolution is investigated historically and scientifically to identify what appears to be the result of genetic and environmental interactions. From Darwin to DNA life becomes definable in scientific terms.

Life on earth is a Cellular Process, so we next investigate the cell; its structure and function. The chemistry of its organelles leads us to Metabolism and Energy Production. Respiration and Photosynthesis become a focus as we investigate the cycles that interact to maintain terrestrial "life", along with Cellular Reproduction (Mitosis/Meiosis).

Finally, Genetics culminates our studies as Mendelian Genetics gives way to Molecular Genetics when we delve into the gene and the results of its long history.

Though our study is not exhaustive it is thorough. If you will become involved and take advantage of all of the resources available to you for learning AP Biology this can be one of the best experiences in your High School career. I look forward to our time together.