AP BIOLOGY SUMMER ASSIGNMENT
I am so glad you have signed up to take AP Biology next year! This course is a
survey of biology that covers molecules, cells, genetics, evolution, physiology, botany
and ecology. During the course of the year, we will build models, make and examine
microscopic slides, analyze populations in the forest, and much more. The course is
designed to prepare you for upper level biology work in college, as well as the AP
Biology Exam.
In order to start the year off right, we will have some work to do over the summer.
Your summer work is a way to get you acclimated to reading your textbook (which you
will be doing A LOT of!) as well as to make sure you don't forget all that chemistry you
worked so hard to learn over the last year or two. As it turns out, a firm understanding of
chemistry can greatly increase your understanding of biology. This is because all living
things must still obey the laws of physics and chemistry - just a byproduct of being part
of the natural world.
Website: The first step is to get signed up for the class website. This is a PB Works
website that is password protected so that we can post copyrighted images from the
textbook, pictures of things we do in class, etc... without violating any laws. Please go to
www.covenantapbio.pbworks.com and request access. Make sure you tell me who you
are in your request, as it is not always obvious from your email addresses alone (ex:
eaglesfan@yahoo.com could be any of you, or someone unrelated to our class.) It may
take me a couple of days to grant you access (I, too, will be on summer break), so please
don't wait until the last minute to do this. When you are granted access, you can set up
your profile and get started. This website will be used frequently throughout the school
year. It is a Wiki site, which means you will not only find helpful info here, but will be
contributing your own work to it along the way. More on that later.
Textbooks: Your book for the coming year will be Biology AP Edition, 8th edition
(ISBN 978-0-13-135691-7) by Campbell and Reece. You will need this book in order to
do your summer work. You will also need to purchase the AP Biology Lab Manual for
Students 2001. Unfortunately this is only available at the College Board website, so you
will need to order it online. The link to order is listed on the FrontPage of the class
website. Please purchase this lab manual prior to the beginning of the school year.
Getting started: You will be using your book as a primary source for information
throughout the year. Class time will be used primarily for activities, labs, and other ways
of processing information that require you have already read about the topic in the
book.
The first thing you need to do to succeed is to get to know your book by taking a look at
pages xx - xxv. These pages lead you through the many ways your book will highlight
important, unifying concepts, provide visual representations of these concepts, and
opportunities to check if you have understood the major concepts of a section.
Caution: It is common for students to skip over figures and tables as they are reading.
This is a mistake. Most people are somewhat visual in their learning style, and the figures
can help to summarize many concepts at once. Don't look past them, rather, try to explain
them before looking at the captions. Also, the questions at the end of the chapter can be
very useful when preparing for the types of multiple choice questions you will see on
quizzes, tests, and the AP Biology Exam.
The website lists a set of questions that will lead you through the important concepts of
the first five chapters of the book. These chapters are largely a review of chemistry. The
last chapter helps to bridge chemistry with biology. Please print out the forms, read the
section, then answer the questions asked. This assignment is due the first day of
school and will be assessed on a test (along with other material) within the first
week.
This constitutes what we would normally cover in about 2 weeks of class.
If you need to contact me during the summer, feel free to email at
jting@covenantschool.org. As I, too, am on summer vacation, it may take a few days to
get back to you, so don't wait until the last minute to begin these readings!
Dr. Joy Ting