AP Biology is a college-level laboratory-based science course for academically advanced students who have had an introductory life science course and wish to study biology at a more challenging level. Students will study principles of living systems at the molecular, cellular and organismic levels of organization. This course provides students with an opportunity to develop a conceptual framework for modern biology emphasizing: science as a process; evolution as the foundation of modern biological thought; and applications of biological knowledge and critical thinking to environmental and social concerns.
Students should be prepared to take extended notes, work on college level labs, study for both detail and application, and complete multiple written laboratory/research papers
Introduction:
This course is designed to cover a variety of topics within the sciences. Biology is a fascinating subject. It has many applications that transcend society. From agriculture to medicine, many of the applications of biology have a profound impact on our daily lives. Whether it is the how a pesticide can change an entire aquatic community and lead indirectly to the deaths of frogs, or the engineering of a drought resistant crop that enables populations of people to survive and prosper in an arid environment, biology is like no other science. The scientific study of life requires the student to have a working knowledge of physics, mathematics, and chemistry, and like no other subject, biology ties all of these disciplines together in fundamental ways that allows us to make sense of the living world.
Texts:
Reece, J. B., & Campbell, N. A. (2011). Campbell biology Jane B. Reece ... [et al.]. (9th ed.). Boston: Benjamin Cummings.
Shubin, N. (2008). Your inner fish: a journey into the 3.5-billion-year history of the human body. New York: Pantheon Books.
Skloot, R. (2010). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown Publishers.
Units That Will Be Covered During This Course:
• Unit 1: Evolution
• Unit 2: Biochemistry and Abiogenesis
• Unit 3: Reproduction and Inheritance
• Unit 4: Development and Genetic Regulation
• Unit 5: Cells and Homeostasis
• Unit 6: Body Systems and Homeostasis
• Unit 7: Energy
• Unit 8: Ecology
Notes
Students should keep an updated and detailed collection of notes in their InfoBooks. These notes will be a combination of in-class items and out-of-class notes.
Out-of-Class Notes
Students will need to login each evening to our class website to take the notes for the NEXT day. Students should come to class prepared to go over the notes, review the information, engage in discussions and questions, and be prepared for a potential pop quiz on the material.
• Students who come to class missing notes will not participate in labs and activities. Instead, they will need to grab a laptop and take the notes due for the day at the back of the room. When finished, they may rejoin the class. Any work missed will need to be made up on their own time.
• I will add notes for the upcoming week on the weekend.
• You have one week to get them down. Have notes ready for THAT day of class.
• The following week, I unpublished the notes.
• Before the semester final, I republish all slides.
How to Record Notes
1. Use an “Outline” format.
2. You may copy word-for-word from my notes, put them in your own words, use figures/diagrams/pictures, etc.
3. I won’t be checking your notes, but if it looks like you don’t know what is going on I may ask to see your notes. No notes = you will need to sit in the back of the class to take them.
4. Use Thinking Webs (see chart below) to process the notes. Do at least one Thinking Map that aligns with and answers the “Evaluation Question” located at the end of the PowerPoint. This is a requirement.
In-Class Notes
Students should bring their InfoBooks to class prepared with notes from the night before. During class, they should take additional notes, highlight key information, and use annotations to build off their work from the night before.
Notebooks for Class
InfoBook: This is a notebook for your main study materials. It includes:
• Notes
• Do Nows
• Push Questions
• Essential Questions
• IBRT
• Labs
• Free Response Questions
• Project Work
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning – Arguments (CERs)
Class Website: Schoology
This class will be able to access PowerPoints, notes, other documents at Schoology.com. A later document will provide more details.
You will need to access www.schoology.com and then create a username and password. The access code for the AP Environmental Science course is
Studying
In order to succeed in AP Biology, it is going to be necessary to study thoroughly each evening. You may complete all homework, preform well on quizzes, work hard to get labs done, and complete coursework, but if you do not study each and every evening, it will be difficult to achieve a high score on the AP exam.
Pop Quizzes
In order to encourage studying and staying on top of notes/reading, Pop Quizzes will be will be given twice a week at random. The pop quiz will be given at the beginning of class following the Do Now.
You must study each night in order to be prepared for these. Most pop quizzes will be around 5 questions in length and addressing one standard. The questions are based on the following:
¥ 3 Questions from Previous Days
¥ 2 Questions on Notes Due for Today
Level of Difficulty: Easy - Medium
Quizzes and Unit Tests
Quizzes will be given every week on Wednesday to test material from the week before. At the end of every unit, a larger unit test will be given covering topics from the unit. Finally, each semester end will be capped with a semester exam that will cover all topics from the semester.
To perform well on these assessments, keep class notes, worksheets, and labs to use as resources to study and prepare.
Core Quiz Level of Difficulty: Medium – Difficult
Unit Test Level of Difficulty: Difficult
Remastery of Standards
• 1 week for Quizzes - Remaster on standards you did poorly on.
• 1 week for Unit Tests - Remaster on standards you did poorly on.
• No remastery on semester tests and labs.
Free Response Questions (FRQs)
The AP exam will require multiple free response questions (FRQs) to be answered. Excellent writing with a strong knowledge of the content will help you to succeed. To help you practice answering FRQs, we will do long and short response FRQs.
FRQ performance will be tracked in our goal trackers. I grade FRQs on unit tests and quizzes. Practice FRQs will be graded by your peers.
Formal and Informal Labs
You will need to complete both formal and informal labs throughout the year.
Informal Labs
Informal labs are typically turned in for a grade in lab notebooks. They focus on specific components of the scientific method and reflection questions for the lab. You will perform several informal labs a quarter.
Formal Labs
Formal labs also need information and data to be collected in the lab notebook. However, they focus on the entire scientific process and will be turned in for a significant grade. They are typed, include background research, and show your thought and mastery on the subject.
Students will complete 1 formal lab a quarter.
Scientific Argumentation Projects
College courses and AP courses require extensive writing. As well, writing is an essential skill for many jobs. Finally, people make claims all the time in the world…and never are able to back them up well. Being able to write a true argument for a given claim makes you a more critical thinker.
In class, we will be completing many informal and formal labs that use an argumentative structure:
1. Claim
2. Evidence
3. Justification/Reasoning
The claim is where you will state an answer to a point of inquiry or questions. Evidence is where you list concrete data that helps to back your claim. Finally, justification explains how each piece of evidence independently supports the claim.
Class Discussions Around Class Books
Each semester, we will be reading a class book. On alternating Thursdays, we will have an open class discussion on questions and problems posed by the book. You will be given chapter questions ahead of time in preparation for the discussion.
You will need to respond to the questions for each chapter. The class will receive a grade based on a class discussion rubric and preparation for the reading. At least 50% of the class must come chapter questions answered for the discussion to occur. If less than 50% of the class has all questions prepared, the discussion is canceled. A 0 is assigned as a score to unprepared students. Full points are awarded to students who prepared.
On unit tests, one FRQ will be based on the book/discussions. You may use your book and answered/prepared questions to answer this FRQ. This is an incentive to keep up with the questions and reading.
Science – AP Biology
Curriculum Map 2017-2018
Timeline
Quarter Cycle
Unit
Weeks (Q1 = 10, Q2 = 9, Q3 = 9, Q4 = 10)
1
Unit 1: Evolution
5 Weeks
Unit 2: Biochemistry and Abiogenesis
3 Weeks
Unit 3: Reproduction and Inheritance
2 Weeks
2
Unit 3: Reproduction and Inheritance
6 Weeks
Unit 4: Development and Genetic Regulation
3 Weeks
3
Unit 5: Cells and Homeostasis
4 Weeks
Unit 6: Body Systems and Homeostasis
5 Weeks
4
Unit 6: Body Systems and Homeostasis
1 Week
Unit 7: Energy
5 Weeks
Unit 8: Ecology
4 Weeks
Content Standards
Unit
Big Idea
Enduring Understanding
Essential Knowledge
Learning Objectives
Unit 1: Evolution
Big Idea 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.
Enduring Understanding 1.A: Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.
Essential Knowledge 1.A.1: Natural selection is a major mechanism of evolution.
Enduring Understanding 3.C: The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.
Essential Knowledge 3.C.1: Changes in genotype can result in changes in phenotype.
LO 3.24: The student is able to predict how a change in genotype, when expressed as a phenotype, provides a variation that can be subject to natural selection. [See SP 6.4, 7.2]
LO 3.26: The student is able to explain the connection between genetic variations in organisms and phenotypic variations in populations. [See SP 7.2]
Big Idea 4: Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.
Enduring Understanding 4.C: Naturally occurring diversity among and between components within biological systems affects interactions with the environment.
Essential Knowledge 4.C.1: Variation in molecular units provides cells with a wider range of functions.
CCSS
English Language Arts Standards » Speaking & Listening » Grade 11-12
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
English Language Arts Standards » Writing » Grade 11-12
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.1.A
Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.1.B
Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audience's knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Formal and Informal Labs
• CollegeBoard Core Laboratory Investigations (CCLI)
• Argument-Driven Inquiry in Biology (ADIB)
Quarter Cycle
Unit
Formal Labs
Informal Labs
1
Unit 1: Evolution
• Lab 1: Artificial Selection (Brine Shrimp or Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Alternative) (CCLI)
• Lab 2: Mathematical Modeling: Hardy-Weinberg (Radford Population Genetics Simulation Program Alternative) (CCLI)
• Lab 3: Comparing DNA Sequences to Understand Evolutionary Relationships with BLAST (CCLI)
• Mechanisms of Evolution: Why Will the Characteristics of a Bug Population Change in Various Ways in Response to Different Types of Predation? (ADIB)
• Biodiversity and the Fossil Record: How Has Biodiversity on Earth Changed Over Time? (ADIB)
• Mechanisms of Speciation: Why Does Geographic Isolation Lead to the Formation of a New Species? (ADIB)
• Human Evolution: How Are Humans Related to Other Members of the Family Hominidae? (ADIB)
Unit 2: Biochemistry and Abiogenesis
Unit 3: Reproduction and Inheritance
• Lab 7: Cell Division: Mitosis and Meiosis (CCLI)
2
Unit 3: Reproduction and Inheritance
• Lab 9: Biotechnology: Restriction Enzyme Analysis of DNA (CCLI)
• DNA Structure: What Is the Structure of DNA? (ADIB)
• Models of Inheritance: Which Model of Inheritance Best Explains How a Specific Trait Is Inherited in Fruit Flies? (ADIB)
• Mendelian Genetics: Why Are the Stem and Leaf Color Traits of the Wisconsin Fast Plant Inherited in a Predictable Pattern? (ADIB)
• Meiosis: How Does the Process of Meiosis Reduce the Number of Chromosomes in Reproductive Cells? (ADIB)
• Inheritance of Blood Type: Are All of Mr. Johnson’s Children His Biological Offspring? (ADIB)
Unit 4: Development and Genetic Regulation
• Lab 8: Biotechnology: Bacterial Transformation (CCLI)
• Chromosomes and Karyotypes: How Do Two Physically Healthy Parents Produce One Child with Down Syndrome and a Second Child with Cri Du Chat Syndrome? (ADIB)
3
Unit 5: Cells and Homeostasis
• Lab 13: Enzyme Activity (CCLI)
• Lab 4: Diffusion and Osmosis (CCLI)
• Enzymes: How Do Changes in Temperature and pH Levels Affect Enzyme Activity? (ADIB)
• Osmosis and Diffusion: Why Do Red Blood Cells Appear Bigger After Being Exposed to Distilled Water? (ADIB)
Unit 6: Body Systems and Homeostasis
• Descent with Modification: Does Mammalian Brain Structure Support or Refute the Theory of Descent with Modification? (ADIB)
4
Unit 6: Body Systems and Homeostasis
Unit 7: Energy
• Lab 5: Photosynthesis (CCLI)
• Lab 6: Cellular Respiration (CCLI)
• Cellular Respiration: How Does the Type of Food Source Affect the Rate of Cellular Respiration in Yeast? (ADIB)
Unit 8: Ecology
• Lab 10: Energy Dynamics (Owl Pellet Lab Alternative) (CCLI)
• Lab 12: Fruit Fly Behavior (CCLI)
• Population Growth: How Do Changes in the Amount and Nature of the Plant Life Available in an Ecosystem Influence Herbivore Population Growth Over Time? (ADIB)
• Predator-Prey Population Size Relationships: Which Factors Affect the Stability of a Predator-Prey Population Size Relationship? (ADIB)
• Ecosystems and Biodiversity: How Does Food Web Complexity Affect the Biodiversity of an Ecosystem? (ADIB)
• Explanations for Animal Behavior: Why Do Great White Sharks Travel Over Long Distances? (ADIB)
• Environmental Influences on Animal Behavior: How Has Climate Change Affected Bird Migration? (ADIB)
• Competition for Resources: How Has the Spread of the Eurasian Collared-Dove Affected Different Populations of Native Bird Species? (ADIB)
• Interdependence of Organisms: Why Is the Sport Fish Population of Lake Grace Decreasing in Size? (ADIB)
POGIL Activities
• POGIL Activities for AP Biology
Quarter Cycle
Unit
POGIL Activity Name
1
Unit 1: Evolution
• Selection and Speciation
• Phylogenetic Trees
• The Hardy-Weinberg Equation
• Mass Extinctions
Unit 2: Biochemistry and Abiogenesis
• Biochemistry Basics
Unit 3: Reproduction and Inheritance
• Cell Cycle Regulation
2
Unit 3: Reproduction and Inheritance
• Protein Structure
• Gene Expression—Transcription
• Gene Expression—Translation
• Genetic Mutations
• The Statistics of Inheritance
• Chi-Square
Unit 4: Development and Genetic Regulation
• Cellular Communication
• Signal Transduction Pathways
• Control of Gene Expression in Prokaryotes
3
Unit 5: Cells and Homeostasis
• Membrane Structure
• Membrane Function
• Enzymes and Cellular Regulation
Unit 6: Body Systems and Homeostasis
• Feedback Mechanisms
• Control of Blood Sugar Levels
4
Unit 6: Body Systems and Homeostasis
• Neuron Structure
• Neuron Function
• Immunity
Unit 7: Energy
• Free Energy
• ATP—The Free Energy Carrier
• Cellular Respiration—An Overview
• Glycolysis and the Krebs Cycle
• Oxidative Phosphorylation
• Photosynthesis
Unit 8: Ecology
• Global Climate Change
• Eutrophication
• Plant Hormones
FRQ – Long Response Practice
Quarter Cycle
Unit
1
Unit 1: Evolution
2
Unit 3: Reproduction and Inheritance
3
Unit 5: Cells and Homeostasis
4
Unit 7: Energy