Course Syllabus for AP Biology
Founders Classical Academy 2014-15
Mr. Brogden
Teaching Philosophy
Life has emerged and spread throughout the history of the Earth
in response to the environment. But living things have also
changed their environment. Now, Earth is the place we humans
call home. It’s a very beautiful place with staggering variety:
gorgeous landscapes from mountains to rivers to oceans,
different species from redwoods to swallows to beavers to
spiders, and, of course, 7 billion other humans like you and me –
perhaps the most uncanny species of them all.
As a science course, AP Biology will involve laboratory experiences and notes/discussion with the aim that students
understand current theories and models. While biology vocabulary is extensive, it must be learned within a
conceptual, historical & philosophical framework; memorization of definitions without context is not sufficient for
success.
The major themes are: Life is emergent, organized and complex; living systems change through time; living systems
interact with their environment and depend on other systems; living systems are related to members of other
generations by genetic material passed along during reproduction; growth of an individual conforms to a welldefined pattern of differentiation controlled by the organism’s genetic makeup; living systems require matter and
energy to maintain organization; and living systems maintain a relatively stable internal environment through their
regulatory mechanisms and behavior.
Overview of AP Biology Course
My goals for AP Biology are to help students develop a conceptual framework for modern biology and to help
students gain an appreciation of science as a process. To ensure that these goals are met, I integrate the hierarchy of
life (from the elements to the biosphere) to the lesson, unit, or concept that is being addressed in the classroom. This
allows me to easily integrate the four Big Ideas (BI) and the Enduring Understandings (EU) identified in College
Board’s AP Biology Curriculum Framework into any or all of each level of this hierarchy. Each time I finish and begin
a unit or lesson, I have my students apply the concepts being discussed to the four BIs and EUs, by finding
connections between them. The BIs and EUs are made visible by having them placed on my classroom walls. I feel
that using this approach allows students to better see the progression of the curriculum and interrelatedness of these
Big Ideas/EU’s themes of biology and in the hierarchy of life.
The four Big Ideas are:
Big idea 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.
Big idea 2: Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce and to
maintain dynamic homeostasis.
Big idea 3: Living systems store, retrieve, transmit and respond to information essential to life processes.
Big idea 4: Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.
In addition to reinforcing the BIs and EUs, all essential knowledge is taught and all learning objectives are addressed
throughout the curriculum. The course focuses on inquiry-based laboratory work and the use of the seven science
practices in both lab and non-lab activities.
Classes meet for 50 minutes a day, five days a week. Typically, the four days are spent lecturing and doing activities
and the fifth day is used for laboratory investigations. Since time is limited during the normal day, practice labs are
also completed before or after school when necessary. All AP Biology students have taken Biology their freshman
year, and chemistry their sophomore year. This allows for some components of the AP Biology curriculum, including
some of the laboratories, to be covered in freshman Biology, as well as chemistry. Also, students in my campuses
Biology and Chemistry classes have been exposed to the same material and laboratories. This allows for increased
access to AP Biology.
If there are any questions/concerns regarding grades they should be addressed within one week of the grade being
posted. Late or missing work will be accepted for up to two days with a penalty after original due date. Afterwards,
all grades are final.
Units Exams
Each exam, with a few exceptions, consists of a multiple-choice section followed by a free response section. With only
50-minute class periods, the exams are distributed across two days. The first day, students are given a 60 multiple
choice test, which is taken in the new “AP Exam” format. The following day, students are given one Free Response
prompt, taken from AP Biology released exams (http://apcentral.collegeboard.com) and two short response
prompts. Also, for some units take home free response questions in study guides are given instead of two-day exams.
The exams are graded similarly to the AP Biology exam standards, where 60% of the points are taken from the
multiple-choice section and 40% are taken from the free response section.
Big Ideas
The big ideas are interrelated, and they will not be taught in isolation. The course will connect the enduring
understandings from one big idea with those of the others wherever practical. Students will maintain a curricular
map of the big ideas and enduring understanding showing connections as they are made by the students themselves.
Examples illustrating the types of connections to be made throughout the course:
Big idea 1 and 3:
EU 1.B: Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.
EU 3.A: Heritable information provides for continuity of life.
DNA and RNA are carriers of genetic information through transcription, translation and replication. (LO
1.15) Students will model information flow in a kinesthetic activity and discuss the similarities in the process among
different domains. DNA replication ensures continuity of hereditary information. (LO 3.3) (This is an example of a
student activity that will connect enduring understandings between different big ideas and is an example of what
students will do throughout the course).
3B: Big idea 1, 2 and 4:
EU 1.B: Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.
EU 2.B: Growth, reproduction, and dynamic homeostasis require that cells create and maintain internal environments
that are different from their external environments.
EU 4.1: Interaction within biological systems lead to complex properties. Electron Transport Chain (ETC) and
chemiosmosis kinesthetic activity. Students build an inner mitochondrial membrane out of a variety of materials and
identify the membrane as a feature allowing separation within the cell. Students explain and justify how this
separation is achieved in prokaryotes to generate a proton gradient, and they will present the evolutionary
connections across domains through a BLAST search for proteins in the ETC.
3C: Big idea 1 and 3:
EU 1.A: Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.
EU 3.A: Heritable information provides for continuity of life.
Students will participate in a Hardy-Weinberg activity where they calculate allelic frequency change.
These alleles will be connected to DNA and related back to the evolutionary history of the organisms being studied.
In a second part of this activity, students will investigate the role of environmental change in the changing genetic
make-up of a population.
3D: Big idea 1 and 4:
EU 4.B: Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.
EU 1.C: Life continues to evolve within a changing environment.
Students will track the changing flowering phenology of particular species of flowering plants across a wide territory
(such as North America or Europe) or the changing flight patterns of migratory insects or birds in relation to global
climate change. Students are provided with opportunities to meet the learning objectives within each of the big ideas.
These opportunities must occur outside of the laboratory investigations.
The science practices and the learning objectives are used throughout the course. All activities and class work will be
connected to at least one learning objective that will be clearly communicated to students so they can see the science
practices and learning objectives as the framework around which the learning of the course takes place. The science
practices and learning objectives will also be addressed in classroom activities and projects external to the formal lab
investigations. Representative examples of activities are below:
4A: Students will participate in a Hardy-Weinberg simulation as a class activity.
Within this activity, students will make predictions and test them using mathematical models to study population
genetics. (LO 1.6)
Students will chose several organisms to investigate some aspect of their evolutionary relatedness.
Students will narrow down an appropriate, under-explored question about the organism of their choice through
research, and develop testable hypotheses. Students will share research results.
(LO 1.16)
Students will examine evidence regarding speciation of major groups of plants and major extinctions on Earth.
Students will plan, design, and carry out data collection plans to evaluate these scientific claims. (LO 1.21)
4B: Students will compare cells in different domains with regard to internal membranes and their function. Students
will extend this analysis to an examination and application of scientific explanations in endosymbiont theory. (LO
2.13) Using a standard enzyme lab kit, students will determine the ideal conditions for cellobiase (betagalactosidase)
enzyme catalysis. Then they will create a plan that markets biofuels and there potential benefits/detriments by
showing the relationship between molecular events and global
cycles such as between photosynthesis/respiration and global carbon cycles. (LO 2.9)
4C: Students will work with models demonstrating the immune system, digestive system, action potential, action at
the nephron, working of the sarcomere, and cellular communication, which allow students to problem solve as they
change conditions within the model. Students will model the effect of change (for example disease or drugs) and
communicate the results predicted due to the change. (LO 3.36)
Students will select and read an article in a scientific journal on a medical procedure, device, drug trial, or similar
event. Students will statistically analyze and evaluate the data and report on the findings.
4D: Students will identify, explain and justify how intracellular structures interact with each other, such
as rough endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus, or mitochondria and chloroplasts in
plants, or the DNA inside the nucleus and the ribosomes outside the nucleus.
Textbook, Resources, & Equipment
The textbook that is issued to my students is:
Reece, Jane et al., Campbell Biology In Focus AP® Edition 1e 2014 with Mastering Biology, 2014.
In addition to the textbook, students have access to:
Reece, Jane et al., Campbell Biology, 9th Edition. Benjamin Cummings, 2011.
For the laboratories, I use College Board’s AP Biology Laboratory Manual for Students.
Supplemental texts, used for reference for students and lesson preparation, include:
Purves, William, Sadava, David, Orians, Gordon, and Heller, H. Life The Science of Biology
(7thEdition. Sinauer Associates, 2004.
Lehninger, Albert, Nelson, David, Cox, Michael. Principles of Biochemistry, 2nd Ed. Worth Publishers,
1993
The following sources are for some of the labs used:
BIO-RAD Biotechnology Explorer. pGLO Bacterial Transformation Kit.
BIO-RAD Biotechnology Explorer. Chromosome 16: PV92 PCR Informatics Kit.
BIO-RAD Biotechnology Explorer. BioFuel Enzyme Kit.
Carolina AP Biology Lab 11: Animal Behavior, Choice Chamber, Pack of 10
Carolina Gel Electrophoresis 8-Station Kit
Carolina Population Genetics and Evolution 8-Station Kit for AP Biology
Carolina Animal Behavior 8-Station Kit for AP Biology
BIO-RAD Biotechnology Explorer. Restriction Digestion and Analysis of Lambda DNA
Internet resources include regular use of the textbook’s online website, where students take self-quizzes
and submit their scores to me by way of email:
http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/sms_files/campbell6e_awl/login.html and/or Pearson's Mastering Biology.
In addition to the above website, students also must work through the online version of each lab before we perform
the lab in class. At this website, they are able to get a better understanding of what they are to expect ahead of time:
http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/index.html
My classroom is equipped with all of the needed equipment to perform all of central laboratories for each Big Idea,
per College Board’s Lab Manual for Students. For some of the labs, I use Vernier sensors and probes that can be
linked to either Vernier LABPRO’s and Ti84+ calculators or to desktop computers, installed with LoggerPro software.
In addition to the minimum equipment, my classroom is also equipped with electrophroesis equipment for the
separation of nucleic acids & proteins.
Application of the Science Practices in the Laboratory Program
Students will be able to apply the science practices throughout their laboratory work; a matrix describing their
application is below. Many of the science practices will be used in all of the student-directed laboratory and field
investigations, how- ever, some science practices will be emphasized to a greater degree than others in each
particular investigation. Those that are emphasized are indicated by an “X” in the matrix.
The Laboratory Program
The students will be engaged in investigative laboratory work for a minimum of 25% of instructional time. These labs
will be inquiry based, student-directed investigations. There will be at least two laboratory experiences per big idea
selected from the list below from the AP Biology Investigative Lab Manual: An inquiry-based approach (2012). These labs
will be spread throughout the school year and will be conducted during at least one out of every four class meetings
during the year. The descriptions below summarize the student inquiry portion of the investigation. Additional
prescribed activities supplement the student inquiry.
Big idea 1: Evolution
BLAST Activity: Students use NCBI to compare DNA and protein sequences for organisms to test student-generated
hypotheses on their relatedness. Hardy-Weinberg: Spreadsheet development to investigate factors affecting HardyWeinberg Equilibrium. Artificial Selection: Students will grow organisms such as Fast Plants and select for specific
traits over several generations.
Big idea 2: Cellular Processes; Energy and Matter
Cellular Respiration: Students investigate some aspect of cellular respiration in organisms. Photosynthesis: Students
investigate photosynthetic rate under a variety of student-selected conditions. Diffusion/Osmosis: Students
investigate diffusion and osmosis in model systems and in plant tissue.
Big idea 3: Genetics and Information Transfer
Cell Division: Mitosis and Meiosis. Students compare mitotic rate after exposure to lectin or other substances
presumed to affect mitotic rate. Bacterial Transformation: Students investigate bacterial transformation. Restriction
Enzyme Analysis: Students investigate restriction enzyme analysis.
Big idea 4: Interactions
Energy Dynamics: Students develop and analyze model systems that describe energy flow. Pill Bug Behavior:
Students investigate chemotaxis in pill bugs Transpiration: Students investigate the movement of water through
plants in a model system. Enzyme Investigation: In an open inquiry lab, students will investigate and quantify factors
that affect enzyme action.
Laboratory Assessments
After completing my AP Biology class I expect my students to be able to design and perform a controlled experiment
based upon observations made about a particular topic. In addition, students are also expected to be able to collect
and analyze data, through basic statistical analysis, and draw conclusions based on their results. In order to be
successful, students have to keep a laboratory journal, in which they record their procedures, data/results, and write
their conclusions for each laboratory they perform. They are required to write a report for various laboratories
performed, which they place in their journals. These reports must include a title, problem, hypothesis (in an
“If…then…” format), prediction, background information, data (graphs, table, data analysis, etc…), conclusion, and
sources of error.
"Man is always marveling at what he has blown apart,
never at what the universe has put together, and this is his limitation."
- Loren Eiseley
Below is a promise by the student to abide by the virtue of academic integrity. Students will work in pairs/groups
where scientific collaboration & collegiality is encouraged. However, plagiarism will not be tolerated at any level.
The process for dealing with issues of the integrity of original work are as follows:
•
ALL formal reports must be emailed along with the physical copy to the teacher.
•
Work that is suspect for plagiarism will be annotated with evidence.
•
The teacher keeps the original document, a copy will be provided to student and parents.
•
A grade of 0 will immediately be applied on Engrade since the work is unacceptable.
•
1st offense = possible rewrite for 67% maximum, 2nd offense = no possible rewrite, conference with
Headmaster, parents, possible suspension or worse. Smaller assignments will be given a grade f 0.
Please return ONLY this page and keep the rest for your records.
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**Attention parent/guardian! In addition to signing this form, please send an email to your student's
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Mr. Brogden's email: jbrogden@responsiveed.com (please include student’s name in subject line)
Receipt of this signed form AND receipt of an email by the fifth day of your student's biology class count as a
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