Two-Semester
A.P Biology Pacing Guide
Page 1 of 7
Unit Name or Timeframe: Science as Inquiry
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Exploring Life – Chapter1
 Science is a process
 Data Gathering/ Data
Analysis/Drawing Conclusions
 Data collection may be
qualitative or quantitative
depending on the objective of
the laboratory activities
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Biologists use various forms of
inquiry to explore life
Unifying themes of biology
Major Assignments and/or Assessments:
 Lab activities
 Making estimates – Introduction for procedures/policies
 Science as a process – Making hypothesis from
data/observations
 Exploring Size and Shape - An Internet Activity
 Measuring what you observe
Unit Name or Timeframe: Basic Chemistry Review – Chapter 2
Importance of Water
– Chapter 3
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Review of basic chemistry including the
structure of an atom and isotopes.
 Chemical bonding
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Basic chemical reactions
Physical properties of water
pH/Buffers
Major Assignments and/or Assessments:
 Reading assignment on water from Scientific
American and Discover
 Water lab
Unit Name or Timeframe: Biological Chemistry
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Basic Organic Chemistry – Chapter 4
 Isomers
 Functional groups
 Structure and Function of
Macromolecules – Chapter 5
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Synthesis/hydrolysis of macromolecules
Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins nucleic acids
Biological Metabolism – Chapter 8
Energy forms
ATP structure/use
Enzymes
Major Assignments and/or Assessments:
 Chapter 5 lab activities
 Organic molecules
 Enzyme catalysis – AP
 Molecular models – Building organic
models
 Chromatography of proteins
Two-Semester
A.P Biology Pacing Guide
Page 2 of 7
Unit Name or Timeframe: Cells/ Cell Structure
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Tour of the Cell – Chapter 6
 Prokaryotic/eukaryotic
 Cellular organelles – Structure and
function
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Plant/animal cell differences
Membranes – Chapter 7
Structure of and movement across
including passive/active transport
Major Assignments and/or Assessments:
 Lab activities
 Cells and the microscope
 Cells and their membranes
 Cellular organelles
 Cell structure and function
 Diffusion and osmosis – AP
Unit Name or Timeframe: Energy Transformations
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Photosynthesis – Chapter 10
 General process, chloroplast structure, redox in
biological systems
 Light dependent/light independent reactions, Calvin
cycle
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C3/C4 plants
Cellular respiration – Chapter 9
Glycolysis, citric acid cycle, oxidative,
phosphorylation, chemiosmosis
Fermentation
Major Assignments and/or
Assessments:
 Lab activities
 Plant pigments and
photosynthesis- AP
 Leaf anatomy
 Fermentation
 Cell Respiration - AP
Unit Name or Timeframe: Cell Cycle
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 The Cell Cycle - Chapter 12
 Chromosome structure
 Cell division and production of
genetically identical daughter cells
 Mitosis
 Phases
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Molecular control, cancer
Meiosis and the Sexual life cycle –
Chapter 13
Fertilization and meiosis
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Meiosis and reduction division
Stages of Meiosis
Comparing mitosis/meiosis
Crossing over/ independent
assortment/ random fertilization
Major
Assignments
and/or
Assessments:
 Lab activities
 Mitosis and
meiosis - AP
Two-Semester
A.P Biology Pacing Guide
Page 3 of 7
Unit Name or Timeframe: Mendel and the Gene
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Mendel and the Gene Idea – Chapter 14
 Mendel’s experimental approach
 Development of Mendel’s Three Laws of Inheritance
 Dominance, segregation and independent assortment
 Testcross
 Laws of Probability
 Inheritance patterns
 Incomplete dominance, codominance, multiple
alleles, pleiotropy, epistasis
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Polygenic inheritance
Pedigree analysis
The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance – Chapter 15
Morgan and Drosophila
Linked genes and recombination
Gene mapping
Sex linked inheritance
X and Y chromosomes
Alteration of chromosome number
Major Assignments
and/or Assessments:
 Lab activities
 Mendelian Genetics: A
Monohybrid Cross with
Bean Seeds
 Human genetic traits
 Genetics of drosophila
Unit Name or Timeframe: Molecular Genetics
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Molecular Basis of Genetic
Inheritance – Chapter 16
 Evidence for DNA as the genetic
material
 Basic DNA/RNA structure
 Model development with Watson
and Crick
 DNA replication
 Proofreading and repair
 From Gene to Protein – Chapter 17
 Molecular dogma
 Genetic code
 Transcription
 M-RNA splicing and processing
 Translation
 t-RNA structure and ribosome
 Building a polypeptide/ stages of
 Types of mutations
 Genetics of Viruses and Bacteria –
Chapter 18
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Viral structure
Reproductive cycles: Lysogenic vs.
Lytic
RNA as the genetic material/ Reverse
transcription
Bacterial structure
Nucleoid region/ plasmids
Methods of reproduction
Transduction, conjugation,
transformation
Transposons
Gene expression and the operon
Inducible and repressible
Eukaryotic Genomes: Organization,
Regulation and Evolution – Chapter 19
Chromatin structure and DNA packing
Histones and nuclesome structure and
methylation
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Levels of control
DNA Technology and
Genomics – Chapter 20
DNA cloning
Restriction enzymes
Gene libraries and DNA and
hybridization
Gene amplification (PCR)
RFLP analysis with gel
electrophoresis
DNA sequencing and
functioning (RNAi)
Comparing gene sequences of
different organisms
Application of DNA technology:
medical, pharmaceutical,
forensic, environmental and
agricultural
Ethics of genetic engineering
Major Assignments
and/or
Assessments:
 Lab activities
 DNA Structure:
Simulation of
Bacterial
Genome
 Protein synthesis
 DNA isolation
 Molecular
biology – AP
 ‘CATS’ lab
CIBT
 Bacterial
Transformation–
BioRad
Two-Semester
A.P Biology Pacing Guide
Page 4 of 7
Unit Name or Timeframe: Evolution
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Descent with Modification: A
Darwinian Perspective – Chapter 22
 Before Darwin
 Origin of Species
 Descent with modification
 Natural selection and adaptation
 Homologies
 Biogeography
Content and/or Skills Taught
 The Evolution of Populations –
Chapter 23
 Population genetics
 Gene pools and allele frequencies
 Hardy-Weinberg Theorem
 Mutation and sexual recombination
Content and/or Skills Taught
 Genetic drift and gene flow
 Bottleneck and Founder effect
 Adaptive evolution
 The Origin of Species - Chapter
24
 Biological species concept
 Allopatric and sympatric
speciation
 Adaptive radiation
 Macroevolution
Major Assignments
and/or Assessments:
 Lab activities
 Population genetics
and evolution – AP
 Population
dynamics
Unit Name or Timeframe: Taxonomy and the Three Domains (Five Kingdoms)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
• Phylogeny and Systematics–
Chapter 25
• Phylogenies based on common
ancestors inferred from fossil,
morphological and molecular
evidence
• Systematics and evolutionary
history
• Binomial nomenclature
• Cladistics
• Molecular clocks and
evolutionary time
• Introduction to Biological Diversity Chapter 26
• Origins of early life
• Synthesis of organic compounds
• Extraterrestrial sources of organic
compounds
• Abiotic synthesis of polymers
• Protobionts
• The “RNA” world (ribozymes)
• Fossil dating
• Rocks and organic material
• Geologic record
• Prokaryotic evolution
• Eukaryotic evolution
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Endosymbiosis
Multicellularity an the colonization of
land
Continental drift
Prokaryotes – Chapter 27
Symbiosis
Protists – Chapter 28
Fungi –Chapter 31
Heterotrophic nutrition
Decomposers
Lichens
Major Assignments
and/or Assessments:
 Lab activities
 Cladogram: A
Molecular
Connection
Two-Semester
A.P Biology Pacing Guide
Page 5 of 7
Unit Name or Timeframe: Plants
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 How Plants Colonized the Land –
Chapter 29
 Evolution from green algae
 Derived terrestrial adaptations
 Apical meristems, alternation of
generations, walled spores, multicellular gametangia, multi-cellular
dependent embryos
 Life cycles of mosses, ferns and
seedless vascular plants
 The Evolution of Seed PlantsChapter 30
 Heterospory
 Ovules and the production of eggs,
pollen and the production of sperm
 Evolutionary advantage of seeds
 Gymnosperms
 Angiosperms
 Flowers, fruits and life cycles
 Diversity
 Monocots and dicots
 Plant Structure, Growth and
Development – Chapter 35
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Plant body and the hierarchy of
organs, tissues and cells
Roots, stems and leaves
Three tissues systems: dermal,
vascular and ground
Differentiated plant cells
Meristems and cambium
Transport in vascular plants –
Chapter 36
Physical forces driving transport of
materials in plants
Membrane selective permeability
Proton pumps
Water potential
Symplast and apoplast
Endodermis
Transport in xylem
Sap ascent, root pressure,
Transpiration-Cohesion-Tension
Theory
Adhesion
Stomata and water regulation
Organic material translocation in
phloem
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Bulk flow
Plant Nutrition – Chapter 37
Nitrogen availability
Nitrogen fixation and symbiosis
Carnivorous plants and epiphytes
Angiosperm Reproduction and
Biotechnology – Chapter 38
Flower structure
Pollination
Double fertilization
Ovules into seeds and ovaries into
fruit
Seed germination
Vegetative propagation
Plant biotechnology
Plant Responses to Internal/External
Signals – Chapter 39
Signal transduction
Plant hormones and tropisms
Responses to light (photoperiodism)
Environmental stresses
Major
Assignments
and/or
Assessments:
 Lab
activities
 Plant
structure:
Roots and
Stems
 Transpiration
-AP
Two-Semester
A.P Biology Pacing Guide
Page 6 of 7
Unit Name or Timeframe: Animals
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Introduction to Animal Diversity –
Chapter 32
 Nutritional modes, cell structure and
specialization, reproduction and
development
 Animal body plants
 Symmetry, tissues, body cavities
 Pseudocoelomates and coelomates
 Protostome and deuterostome development
 Fate of blastospore
 Phylogenic tree
 Invertebrates – Chapter 33
 Vertebrates – Chapter 34
 Notochords
 Jaws, limbs and feet, amniotes, mammals
 Animal From and Function – Chapter 40
 Size and shape/environmental constraints
 Tissue structure and function
 Epithelial, connective, muscle, nervous
 Homeostatic regulation
 Endotherms vs. ectotherms
 Heat exchange
 Animal Nutrition – Chapter 41
 Food processing
 Ingestion, digestion, absorption,
elimination
 Intracellular vs. extracellular digestion
 Human digestive system
 Circulation and Gas Exchange –
Chapter 42
 Circulatory systems and Phylogeny
 Open vs. closed systems
 Vertebrate circulatory system
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Mammalian Heart
Blood flow/pressure
Capillary exchange
Lymphatic system
Blood composition
Gas exchange
Gills, tracheal systems, lungs
Mammalian lungs
Respiratory pigments and oxygen
transport
Immune System – Chapter 43
Innate immunity
External defenses
Internal defenses and chemical defenses
Inflammatory response
Acquired immunity and lymphocytes
Humoral and cell mediated immunity
Antigens and antibodies
Self vs. non-self
Allergy, autoimmune disease,
immunodeficiencies
Osmoregulation and Excretion –
Chapter 44
Water balance and osmosis
Fresh and marine organisms
Land animals
Nitrogenous waste systems in organisms
Neprons and the human kidney
Countercurrent system
Hormones and the Endocrine System
Chapter 45
Overlap between hormone and nervous
regulation
 Hormones: Their transport and
physiological effects
 Animal Reproduction – Chapter 46
 Asexual and sexual
 Gamete production and fertilization
 Human male and female reproductive
anatomy
 Human female reproductive cycles
(menstrual)
 Conception and birth
 Animal Development – Chapter 47
 Fertilization, cleavage, gastrulation,
organogenesis (differentiation)
 Morphogenesis: Changes in cell shape,
position and adhesion
 Nervous Systems – Chapter 48
 General nervous system organization
 Neuron structure
 Resting potential
 Action potentials
 Synaptic communication
 Neurotransmitters
 Vertebrate cephalization
 Central/peripheral system
 Brain structure
 Injury and stem cell research
 Motor Mechanisms – Chapter 49
 Animal skeletons
 Muscles for moving skeletal parts
 Sarcomere structure and function
 Muscle types
Major
Assignments
and/or
Assessments:
 Lab
Activities
 Animal
Tissues
 Physiology
of the
circulatory
system – AP
 Earthworm
dissection
 Fetal pig
dissection
 Perch
dissection
 Food
Forensics:
Lab activity
in
immunology
Two-Semester
A.P Biology Pacing Guide
Page 7 of 7
Unit Name or Timeframe: Ecology
Content and/or Skills Taught:
 Introduction to Ecology and the
Biosphere – Chapter 50
 Organisms and their
environment
 Subfields or organismal ecology
 Biotic factors/ abiotic factors/
climate
 Aquatic biomes/terrestrial
biomes
 Behavioral Ecology – Chapter
51
 Behavioral traits and evolution
 Predator/prey
 Foraging behavior
 Mate selection
 Population Ecology – Chapter 52
 Population density, dispersion
and demography
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Population growth in idealized
environment
Logistic growth
Caring capacity
Population cycles and
interdependence
Community Ecology –
Chapter 53
Interactions at the community
level
Competition, predation,
parasitism, disease, mutualism,
commensalism
Trophic structures
Food chains and food webs
Disturbances and ecological
succession
Biogeographic factors effecting
biodiversity
Equatorial/polar gradients,
islands
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Ecosystems – Chapter 54
Energy flow and chemical
cycling
Trophic relationships and
decomposition
Limitations
Light and nutrient
Trophic efficiencies and
pyramids
Biogeochemical cycles
Water/ carbon/ nitrogen
phosphorus cycles
Humans and the environment
Acid rain, habitat destruction,
toxins, greenhouse effect, rising
CO2 levels
Conservation ecology and
restoration
Major Assignments
and/or Assessments:
 Lab activities
 Behavior: Habitat
Selection -AP
 Dissolved Oxygen and
Aquatic Primary
Productivity –AP
 Behavior of pill bugs