AP Biology
2013-2014
Mrs. Shea Floyd, Instructor
Room Number: 210
School Telephone Number: (770) 684-5432
Voice Mail: 7210 Email: sfloyd@polk.k12.ga.us
Planning: 5th period
Course Description
This course is designed to be an equivalent to an introductory biology course for science majors at the
Freshman university level. This AP Biology course consists of mostly seniors. At least 25% of the
course is spent doing laboratory work (labs in the AP Biology Investigative Labs: an Inquiry Based
Approach as well as teacher constructed labs). Labs used throughout the course will allow students to
apply the AP Biology Curriculum Framework’s seven science practices which are as follows:
1. The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve
scientific problems.
2. The student can use mathematics appropriately.
3. The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the
context of the AP course.
4. The student can plan and implement data collection strategies.
5. The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
6. The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.
7. The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts, and representations
in and across domains.
How Course Meets Requirement:
This course is structured around the four Big Ideas, enduring understandings, essential knowledge, and
science practices (SP) as outlined in the AP Biology Curriculum Framework. At least one of the Big
Ideas will be incorporated into every lesson throughout the course. The big ideas are as follows:
Big Idea 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity 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.
AP Biology will be using the Flipped Classroom Model. Flipping allows teachers to make the most of
face-to-face time with their students. Rather than taking class time to introduce content and using
homework to review concepts, the process will be flipped so that the students gain basic knowledge at
home and then create, collaborate, and make connections at school. This class contains a lot of content
and many inquiry based labs. In order to cover the material successfully, students will be expected to
view power points and watch the lectures on video at home. Also, free response questions will be
assigned and graded using past AP exam rubrics. Toward the end of the semester, students will be given
practice AP exams. They will be graded using the AP scoring guidelines. Before each unit, students will
be given CRITICAL reading assignments.
In order to stress that biology is a process rather than an accumulation of facts, the lab activities and
formal lab reports stress developing as well as testing hypotheses; collecting and analyzing data; and
discussion of results to try and answer questions about certain topics. Students will conduct at least 8
inquiry based labs. At least 2 labs for each big idea will be performed. Students must discuss many lab
investigations in a formal lab report. Lab reports include the development and testing of the hypothesis,
the ability to organize collected data, and an analysis of results. Labs will be conducted in groups of 3 or 4
in order to stress group skills needed for scientific collaboration. When any lab time is lost due to
scheduled testing, assemblies, field trips, or other student activities, labs may be performed before or after
school. Honors Biology and Honors Chemistry should be taken as pre-requisites to this course.
Course Outline
1) Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit 1: Evolution, Phylogeny, & Biodiversity- (20 class meetings)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Big Ideas: 1, 3, 4
Enduring Understandings: 1.A, 1.B, 1.C, 1.D, 3.A, 3.C, 4.C
Textbook Chapters: 17) Evidence of Evolution; 18) Microevolutionary Processes; 19) Evolutionary
Patterns, Rates, & Trends; 20) Life’s Origin & Early Evolution; 21) Prokaryotes & Viruses; 22) Protists;
24) Fungi; 25) Animal Evolution-Invertebrates; 26) Animal Evolution-Vertebrates; 27) Biodiversity in
Perspective
Study Guide Chapters: 12) Evolution; 13) Taxonomy& Classification
Lecture Topics: natural selection, evidence of evolution, Hardy-Weinberg concept, how allele
frequencies are changed within a population, speciation, origin of life & fossil records, origin of
single-celled & multi-celled organisms, mass extinctions, adaptive radiation, classification, biodiversity
Labs: 1) Artificial Selection; 2) Hardy-Weinberg; 3) Comparing DNA Sequences
2) Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit 2: Ecology- (25 class meetings)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Big Ideas 1,2,3,4
Enduring Understandings: 1.A, 1.C, 2.A, 2.C, 2.D, 2.E, 3.E, 4.A, 4.B, 4.C
Textbook Chapters: 45) Population Ecology; 46) Community Structure and Biodiversity; 47)
Ecosystems; 48) The Biosphere; 49) Behavioral Ecology
Study Guide Chapters: 17) Behavioral Ecology and Ethology; 18) Ecology in Further Detail
Lecture Topics: animal behavior, biomes, population growth models, population growth regulation,
community interactions, species diversity and composition, community biodiversity, energy flow &
chemical cycles in ecosystems, primary productivity, trophic levels & energy transfer between levels,
human threats to biodiversity
Labs: 12) Fruit Fly Behavior
3) Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit 3: Biochemistry- (10 class meetings)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Big Ideas: 1, 2, 3, 4
Enduring Understandings: 1.D, 2.A, 2.B, 3.A, 4.A through 4.C
Textbook Chapters: 2) Life’s Chemical Basis; 3) Molecules of Life
Study Guide Chapters: 5) Chemistry
Lecture Topics: 4 biological macromolecules (polymers) and monomers (including role of nucleic
Acids); properties of water, enzymes
Labs: 13) Enzymes
4) Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit 4: Cells, Cellular Transport, & Metabolism (15 class meetings)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Big Ideas: 1, 2, 4
Enduring Understandings: 1.A, 1.D, 2.B, 4.A, 4.B
Textbook Chapters: 4) Cell Structure and Function; 5) A Closer Look at Cell Membranes; 6) Ground
Rules of Metabolism
Study Guide Chapters: 6) Cells
Lecture Topics: Metabolic pathways, laws of energy transformation, cell parts & functions; cell transport
Labs: 4) Diffusion & Osmosis; 10) Energy Dynamics
5) Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit 5: Cell Division and Heredity- (20 class meetings)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Big Ideas: 1, 2, 3
Enduring Understandings: 2.E, 3.A, 3.B, 3.D
Textbook Chapters: 9) How Cells Reproduce; 10) Meiosis and Sexual Reproduction; 11) Observing
Patterns in Inherited Traits; 12) Chromosomes and Human Inheritance
Study Guide Chapters: 9) Cell Division; 10) Heredity
Big Ideas: 1, 3, 4
Enduring Understandings: 1.A, 3.A, 3.C, 4.C
Lecture Topics: Passing of genetic information from parent to offspring through chromosomal
inheritance, reduction of chromosome number by meiosis, evolutionary significance of genetic
variation due to sexual life cycles, Mendelian genetics, gene linkage and mapping distance, causes of
genetic disorders
Labs: 7) Cell Division & Meiosis
6) Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit 6: Molecular Genetics & Biotechnology- (10 class meetings)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Big Ideas: 1, 2, 3, 4
Enduring Understandings: 1.A, 2.C, 2.E, 3.A, 3.B, 3.C, 4.A
Textbook Chapters: 13) DNA Structure & Function; 14) From DNA to Protein; 15) Controls Over
Genes; 16) Studying and Manipulating Genomes
Study Guide Chapters: 11) Molecular Genetics
Lecture Topics: DNA as the genetic material (historical experiments, DNA structure/function, DNA
replication); flow of genetic material (transcription and translation); genetic mutations; gene
expression; restriction enzymes, plasmids, bacterial transformation, DNA technology (gel
electrophoresis and applications of DNA technology)
Labs: 8) Biotechnology & Bacterial Transformation; 9) Biotechnology-Restriction Enzymes
7) Unit Name or Timeframe:
Unit 7: Cellular Energy & Communication- (10 class meetings)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Big Ideas 1, 2, 3, 4
Enduring Understandings: 1.A, 1.B, 2.A, 2.C, 2.D, 2.E, 3.E, 4.A, 4.B
Textbook Chapters: 7) Where it Starts-Photosynthesis; 8) How Cells Release Chemical Energy
Study Guide Chapters: 7) Respiration; 8) Photosynthesis
Lecture Topics: sunlight as energy, photosynthesis, light-dependent reactions, light-independent
reactions, energy-releasing pathways, glycolysis, aerobic respiration, anaerobic pathways, fermentation,
alternative energy sources
Labs: 5) Photosynthesis; 6) Cellular Respiration
Unit 8) Unit Name or Timeframe:
Plant and Animal Form and Function- (30 days)
Content and/or Skills Taught:
Big Ideas: 4
Textbook Chapters: 31) Plant Reproduction; 29) Plant Tissues; 30) Plant Nutrition and Transport; 31)
Plant Reproduction; 32) Plant Growth and Development; 33) Animal Tissues and Organ Systems; 34)
Neural Control; 35) Sensory Perception; 36) Endocrine Control; 39) Immunity
Study Guide Chapters: 14) Plants; 15) Human Physiology; 16) Human Reproduction
Lecture Topics- plants, animals, organ system overview, nervous system, endocrine system, immune
system
Labs: 11) Transpiration
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Daily Sponge Activities
Daily participation in class discussions
Writing assignments (Free Response Questions)
Lab notebook
Viewing flipped lessons
Reading of assigned material
Textbooks
Title: Biology: The Unity & Diversity of Life
Publisher: Thomson/Brooks/Cole
Published Date: 2006
Author: Cecie Starr
Second Author: Ralph Taggert
Materials Needed
Lab notebook (1/2 inch), notebook (1 inch), paper, blue or black pen, pencil. Students will need to bring
all materials and textbook to class every day.
Homework Policy
Students are to complete homework assignments each day and be prepared to turn in completed
assignments when requested. Since this is a college-level class, students are expected to take ownership
of their own learning. In order to be successful, it is critical that they complete the requested
assignments and review their notes every day.
Late Assignments
Students are expected to turn in all completed assignments at the time scheduled by the teacher.
Make-Up Work Policy
Students whose absences are excused have the opportunity to make up work missed within two weeks.
It is the student’s responsibility to get with the teacher to find out what work was missed within 3 days
of returning to school. Additional time may be granted by the administration for completion of makeup
work taking into consideration the number of absences and the extenuating circumstance of the
absences. Assignments from unexcused absences cannot be made up.
Class Policies
All policies of the Polk School District Board of Education and student handbook will be enforced.
Final Exam
Students in this course must take a final exam that will count 10% before the AP exam in May.
Grading Policy
Tests & Projects
Labs
Homework, writing, tasks, daily, & quizzes
Final Exam
40%
30%
20%
10%
Retest Policy
Guidelines for re-testing:
Re-tests are allowed only with a completed Re-Test Request Form (can be obtained from the
teacher or off our school website). The form must have appropriate signatures before the re-test
can occur (teacher, student, and parent).
Re-testing must occur within 2 weeks after the failed test, unless extenuating circumstances arise
(illness, death in family, family emergency, etc.....)
Extenuating circumstances can allow for an additional re-test. Parents must re-submit a Re-Test
Request Form with an explanation of why a re-test is needed. This would require administrative
approval. Extenuating circumstances included, but are not limited to: illness, death in family, family
emergency (must include note from parent with an explanation).
Teachers must keep a copy on file of all re-test requests.
Grades on re-tests cannot exceed 70. The final grades on re-tests are not an average of the first test
and the re-test. The higher of the two grades will be the final recorded grade (original test grade or
re-test grade) not to exceed a 70.
There are to be NO variations on these procedures, unless prior approval has been obtained from
the principal and the curriculum director of PSD.
Sting Tutoring:
A bus will take students home who need after school tutoring & do not have
transportation. Weekly schedules will be announced at a later date.
Websites
URL:www.johnkyrk.com/index.html
URL:http://bio.kimunity.com/apbiology/
URL:www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/
URL:http://school.discovery.com
URL:www.carolina.com/apscience/
URL:www.bozemanscience.com
URL:www.khanacademy.com
URL:www.biologyjunction.com
URL:http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/
AP EXAM DATE:
MONDAY, MAY 12TH
COMMUNICATION INFORMATION:
*Parents and students are free to email me anytime at sfloyd@polk.k12.ga.us.
*Also, parents and students need to sign up for Remind 101. This is an app that that allows me to send
you reminders about important dates and information.
Please text @0a2fb to (720) 608-4464.
*I have a website this year. The website will contain very important information such as due dates and
upcoming events. It can be accessed from the PSD website under staff directory or you can type in the
following link:
http://www.polk.k12.ga.us/olc/teacher.aspx?s=522
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Student’s Name:
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I have read and I understand the information presented on this syllabus.
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Student signature
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