AP Biology
How to prepare for the new AP Biology exam;
Tips, tools, strategies to get you ready.
AP Biology
Part 1 - Planning to Review
Time to get ready:
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Gather all your notes, old quizzes, tests,
essays, study guides, and labs
Organize your materials by content/unit
Pace yourself; make a study plan and stick
to it (i.e. study for 1 hour/day for x weeks)
Go over the new Curriculum Frameworks
for AP Biology
AP Biology
Study Strategies
Find a study strategy that works for you:
 Flash cards, rewriting notes, outline book
chapters, flowcharts, diagrams, videos
 Study in a comfortable place away from
distractions, but not in isolation
 Study groups – need to have focus
AP Biology
Exam Structure
3 hours long:
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90 minutes for 63 multiple choice questions
with 6 grid-in numerical responses
• 50% of grade
• Calculators allowed for both sections
• Formula sheet provided
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90 minutes for free response questions
• 10 minute reading period
• 2 long response questions
• 6 short response questions
AP Biology
Big Idea 1 – Evolution
Natural Selection
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Darwin, Galapagos
Finches, tortoises, iguanas
Adaptations, fitness
Organisms are subject to their
environment
Mechanisms of selection
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AP Biology
Sexual, physiological, predation
Big Idea 1 – Evolution
Evidence for Evolution
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Fossil record
Anatomical record
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Molecular record
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AP Biology
Analogous, homologous, vestigial
structures, embryology
Parallel, co-evolution
DNA, proteins
Artificial selection
Big Idea 1 – Evolution
Population Genetics
 Populations evolve, not individuals
 Selection acts on variation
 Agents of evolution
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Genetic drift: migration
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Gene flow: bottlenecks, founder effect
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Selection: directional, disruptive, stabilizing
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Mutation: usually random, sometimes inherited
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AP Biology
Non-random mating: sexual reproduction increases
diversity
Big Idea 1 – Evolution
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Hardy-Weinburg
p2 + 2 pq + q2 = 1
p+q=1
p is dominant allele
q is recessive allele
Gives “snapshot” of non-evolving
population
Used to compare to actual populations
AP Biology
Big Idea 1 – Evolution
Speciation
 What is a species?
Mechanisms of speciation (allopatric vs. sympatric)
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Geographic isolation
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Ecological isolation
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Temporal isolation
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Behavioral isolation
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Mechanical isolation
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Gametic isolation
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AP Biology
Reduced hybrid viability, fertility, and hybrid
breakdown
AP Biology
Lab Review
AP Biology
Investigation 1: Artificial Selection
Objectives:
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Evaluate changes in a population over time
Use qualitative and quantitative date to determine
changes in a population over time
Using mathematical methods to make predictions
about a population
Use evidence to connect change in the environment to
changes in a population
AP Biology
Lab 2: Population Genetics
 Description
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simulations were used to study effects of
different parameters on frequency of
alleles in a population
 selection
 heterozygous advantage
 genetic drift
AP Biology
Lab 2: Population Genetics
 Concepts
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Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
 p+q=1
 p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
 required conditions
 large population
 random mating
 no mutations
 no natural selection
 no migration
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AP Biology
gene pool
heterozygous advantage
genetic drift
 founder effect
 bottleneck
Lab 2: Population Genetics
 Conclusions
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recessive alleles remain hidden
in the pool of heterozygotes
 even lethal recessive alleles are not
completely removed from population
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know how to solve H-W problems!
 to calculate allele frequencies, use p + q = 1
 to calculate genotype frequencies or how
many individuals, use, p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
AP Biology
Lab 2: Population Genetics
ESSAY 1989
Do the following with reference to the Hardy-Weinberg model for
practice.
a. Indicate the conditions under which allele frequencies (p and q) remain
constant from one generation to the next.
b. Calculate, showing all work, the frequencies of the alleles and
frequencies of the genotypes in a population of 100,000 rabbits of
which 25,000 are white and 75,000 are agouti.
(In rabbits the white color is due to a recessive allele, w, and agouti is
due to a dominant allele, W.)
c. If the homozygous dominant condition were to become lethal, what
would happen to the allelic and genotypic frequencies in the rabbit
population after two generations?
AP Biology
2004-2005
Investigation 3: Comparing DNA with
BLAST
Objectives:
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To create cladograms that depict evolutionary
relationships
To analyze biological data with a sophisticated
bioinformatics online tool
To use cladograms and bioinformatics tools to
ask other questions of your own and to test your
ability to apply concepts you know relating to
genetics and evolution
AP Biology