AP Biology

You have started choosing your biomes, 2 more of you still need to choose:

Claire: tropical rainforest

Kiley: marine, coral reef

Stuart: taiga

Suzy: ocean

Cole: tundra

Cece: grasslands

Lindsay: temperate rainforest

Dillon: mangrove

McKenzie: desert

James, Carolyn: freshwater

Libby: temperate deciduous forest

Jillian: intertidal zone

Welcome to AP Biology! This is an advanced general biology course where you will hone your knowledge of biology and its place in the modern world. You will be expected to keep up with what is in the news-such as epidemics, the results of natural disasters, and advanced in molecular biology such as cloning. You can do this by reading the newspaper and specific general public magazines such as Science News and Discover, or go on-line to these and similar sources

You may notice that I will send you to the internet frequently. You probably have great access from home, but you can always use the computers in my classroom (any bell, as long as we are not using them in class that day) or the library. I get here early, and as soon as my door is open, you can use the computers. If you are having access or printing problems from home, this may help temporarily handle the problem!

I just ask that you use the computers for legitimate school work, not idle entertainment or games, please.

You also have requirements to fulfill for each chapter. I will give you a study guide and a question set that will be corrected in class for a grade before any in-class test or quiz on the material. You will also take an on-line tutorial quiz for each chapter that will be submitted for a grade on a done/not done basis before the Friday of the week the unit is assigned (that means before midnight Thursday!! No excuses!!). You will find the link for this site , and also on the front page of this website (AP Bio text). (to be edited for 2008)

There is also a super link for pre-labs. You will bring your print-out of your quiz to class with you on the day of the lab, so you are ready to do the lab and understand the concepts at LabBench Main.

In-class quizzes may occur after a chapter, and tests will be after each unit. AP free response questions will also be written periodically. You will also go on-line for computer simulations.

Take a diagnostic test on your knowledge of biology by clicking on this sentence. Submit this to me by e-mail during the summer, please. You will find the link with the answers on the web page this button directs you to. This will be a done/not done grade.

All of you need to send me an email (click on -->) telling me which questions you have missed on this test-so far this is the response from the class......(this number is NOT the percent you missed...that's between you and me...it is the % of the class that has turned this in so far! Some people that got half wrong got 4s (Not a skanky score!!) on the AP exam last year.......so do not let this diagnostic get you down!! )

% submitted (not your score!!)
(0) 0% submitted
(1) 7%		SE
(2) 15%		JK
(3) 20%		JS
(4) 27%		MM
(5) 33%		CE
(6) 40%		LP
(7) 47%		SS
(8) 54%		KC
(9) 61%		CC
(10) 67%
(11) 73%
(12) 81%
(13) 88%
(14) 94%
(15) 100%

A student in AP Bio is essentially taking the course for high school and college credit. Many colleges allow students to skip to a higher level biology course or give credit for a science elective if a student is successful on the AP exam, especially if your major will NOT be biology. Check with your individual college to determine what score a student must earn, and if the student is allowed to use the AP exam as part of the coursework for a biology major. Many colleges also expect students to take an entrance placement test, and many do not allow a Biology major to get credit from the AP Biology exam. As noted, this varies with each college, so it is important to check this out. If a student will be a bio major in college, and is not going to receive AP credit, it is still worthwhile to take AP Biology and the AP test because the student will be much better prepared for college biology classes. This can be important to pre-med majors as well as others that want to keep their grade point average high in college with hopes of obtaining a graduate degree.

The Advanced Placement Program for the College Board has developed rigorous courses for highly motivated secondary school students. Visit their website here . This will give you a lot of information that will help you understand the process better and feel more at ease! One of the important topics you can get to on this site is: Brief Description

There are some changes coming to AP Biology in the upcoming years. This is prompted by the huge amount of information that is constantly being discovered. Most important is the overwhelming amount of support for Darwin's theories of evolution. Therefore, AP Biology will be organized with that in mind. As eminent biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900-1975) wrote, "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution".

Please read it and send me your written response as an attachment BEFORE school starts, your written response is just that…what do you think of what he has to say. Make this about 2 typed, double spaced pages, 12pt. times nr to get a feel for how long/detailed it should be. Evolution will be the underlying concept of AP Biology in the future, and this will be the base that all information will be related to. It is now, but will become even more, necessary to be able to make connections.

This is the topic outline for the course, with the weight of each topic.

I.	Molecules and Cells (25%)
	A. Chemistry of Life (7%)
		1. Water
		2. Organic molecules in organisms
		3. Free energy changes
		4. Enzymes
	B. Cells (10%)
		1. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
		2. Membranes
		3. Subcellular organization
		4. Cell cycle and its regulation
	B. Cellular Energetics (8%)
		1. Coupled reactions
		2. Fermentation and cellular respiration
		3. Photosynthesis
II.	Heredity and Evolution (25%)
	A. Heredity (8%)
		1. Meiosis and gametogenesis
		2. Eukaryotic chromosomes
		3. Inheritance patterns
	B. Molecular Genetics (9%)
		1. RNA and DNA structure and function
		2. Gene regulation
		3. Mutation
		4. Viral structure and replication
		5. Nucleic acid technology and applications
	C. Evolutionary Biology (8%)
		1. Early evolution of life
		2. Evidence for evolution
		3. Mechanisms of evolution
III.	Organisms/ Populations (50%)
	A. Diversity of Organisms (8%)
		1. Evolutionary patterns
		2. Survey of the diversity of life
		3. Phylogenetic classification
		4. Evolutionary relationships
	B. Structure and Function of Plants and Animals (32%)
		1. Reproduction, growth, and development
		2. Structural, physiological, and behavioral adaptations
		3. Response to the environment
	C. Ecology (10%)
		1. Population dynamics
		2. Communities and ecosystems
		3. Global issues

Here are some trends that have been noted over the years-these are major hints on what the essay questions might cover


Other helpful links