AP Biology
Course Overview:
This course is an intensive study in biological concepts that emphasizes inquiry based learning. It is structured around the four Big Ideas and the Enduring
Understandings that are identified in the Curriculum Framework. Students will become the directors of their own learning as they plan and implement multiple
investigations. Science is a never ending process with every investigation leading to another. Inquiry allows students to experience this process while making
connections across the four big ideas and building a solid scientific foundation of knowledge and experience.
The four big ideas are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.
Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes.
Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.
AP Biology is available to Juniors and Seniors as a science elective. The class meets 4 days a week for 48 minutes and 1 day per week for a double lab period of
96 minutes. All students must have completed an introductory biology class and completed or concurrently taking chemistry.
At least 25% of instructional time is devoted to laboratory work that incorporates at least two labs for each of the four big ideas. Additional lab work will be
completed to deepen students understanding and application of concepts taught throughout the class. The laboratory investigations used will allow students to
work with and practice the seven Science Practices as defined in the Curriculum Framework. Laboratory work will be documented in a laboratory book, and
presented in a various forms such as formal lab reports, group and individual presentations, and abstracts.
Seven Science Practices:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The student can use representations and modes to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
The student can use mathematics appropriately.
The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course.
The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.
The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.
The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains.
Instructional Resources
 Reece, Jane, et al., Campbell Biology, 9th edition, 2011, Pearson Benjamin Cummings.
 Ancillary material for Campbell Biology 9th edition
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www.campbellbiology.com (This website accompanies the main text with an e-book, animations, presentations, investigations, and other
accompaniments.)
AP Biology Investigative Labs: an Inquiry Based Approach.
Your Inner Fish. Shubin, Neil (All students must read and complete a written assignment prior to the evolution unit of class.)
Units of Instruction
The big ideas are not taught as separate ideas but are intertwined throughout the unit. Students are given guided reading questions to accompany all
text and journal readings that are required throughout the year. Journal articles are given at various times during the year to expand on classroom discussion
topics and new innovations within various fields of study. Both formal and informal assessments are given on a regular basis. These assessments include end of
unit exams, free response essays, quizzes, discussions, and projects.
Unit 1: Nature of Science
Timeframe: 4 days with 1 lab period
Text Correlations: Campbell - Chapters 1, 2, and 3
Enduring Understandings:
2D Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological system are influenced by changes in the system’s environment.
Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and
2E
coordination.
4A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.
4B Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.
Classroom discussion topics:
 Discuss how biology is multidisciplinary.
 Introduction to inquiry based learning and how to set up and use lab books in the classroom.
 Scientific design of experiments.
 Basic chemistry review that includes structures of atoms and bonding properties.
Lab/Activities:
 AP Lab #12: Animal Behavior (Big Idea #4: Interactions with a connection to Big Idea #2)
 Using molecular models to show various bonding.
 Use of sponges to show dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis.
Science Practices:
1.3 The student can refine representations and models of natural or manmade phenomena and systems in the domain.
2.2 The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural phenomena.
3.2 The student can refine scientific questions.
4.2 The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific question.
5.1 The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
6.1 The student can justify claims with evidence.
The student can connect concepts in and across domains to generalize or extrapolate in and/or across enduring
7.2
understandings and/or big ideas.
Unit 2: Molecules
Text Correlations:
Enduring Understandings:
2A
2D
4A
4B
Classroom discussion topics:
Timeframe:
12 days with 2 lab periods.
Campbell - Chapters 4, 5, 8
Growth, reproduction, and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.
Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological system are influenced by changes in the system’s environment.
Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.
Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.
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Life is dependent on water’s emergent properties.
The cycling of materials, such as Carbon and Nitrogen, are necessary for life.
Carbon is the backbone of life, and the study of carbon compounds is organic chemistry.
The function of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids are related to their structure and are constant
across multiple domains.
Organisms are subject to the laws of thermodynamics.
ATP and its function within the cell.
Enzyme function and structure.
Metabolic pathways are conserved across all currently recognized domains.
Lab/Activities:
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Science Practices:
4.2
5.1
6.1
6.4
Digesting various macromolecules in humans via student created puzzle that shows digestion in multiple domains.
Building functional groups using molecular models.
Creating a student protein chain in which each student picks up multiple amino acid properties and shows how the
properties interact with each other.
Using pipe cleaners and beads to show protein folding.
AP Lab #13: Enzyme Activities (Big Idea #4: Interactions with a connection to Big Idea #2)
The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific question.
The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
The student can justify claims with evidence.
The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on scientific theories and models.
The student can connect concepts in and across domains to generalize or extrapolate in and/or across enduring
7.2
understandings and/or big ideas.
Unit 3: Cells and Membranes
Timeframe: 15 days with 3 lab periods
Text Correlations: Campbell - Chapters 6, 7, 11, 12
Enduring Understandings:
Growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis require that cells create and maintain internal environments that are
2B
different from their external environments.
Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and
2E
coordination.
3D Cells communicate by generating, transmitting and receiving chemical signals.
4A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.
Classroom discussion topics:
 A tour of the various structures within a cell and their functions.
 Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells differ and can be seen in structural evidences.
 Surface area-to-volume ratios affect the ability to obtain resources or remove wastes.
 Cell membranes are selectively permeable due to their structure. Molecules are able to move across membranes
using various transportation methods that include passive and active transport mechanisms.
 The cell cycle shows the process of growth and reproduction of cells. Internal and external influences can affect
the control of the cell cycle.
 Cell division in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms.
Lab/Activities:
 Build a membrane activity. Students use pasta, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, and various other materials to create a
model of a membrane.
 AP Lab #4: Diffusion and Osmosis (Big Idea #2: Cellular Processes)
 Cell size races – Students will design a cell out of agar and then race against other students to determine which cell
is able to diffuse material the fastest.
 Cell to cell communication activity with dialysis tubing, starch, and sugar solutions.
 Students use pictures of cells in mitotic division to calculate approximate percent of time spent in each part of the
cell cycle.
Science Practices:
2.2 The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural phenomena.
4.2 The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific question.
4.3 The student can collect data to answer a particular scientific question.
4.4 The student can evaluate sources of data to answer a particular scientific question.
5.1 The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
The student can refine observations and measurements based on data
5.2
analysis.
Unit 4: Cellular Energetics
Timeframe: 10 days with 2 lab periods
Text Correlations: Campbell - Chapters 9, 10
Enduring Understandings:
1B Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.
2A Growth, reproduction, and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.
Growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis require that cells create and maintain internal environments that are
2B
different from their external environments.
4A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex problems.
Classroom discussion topics:
 Autotrophs capture free energy from physical sources in their environment, which is then transformed into organic
molecules through the complex process of photosynthesis.
 Heterotrophs capture free energy from carbon compounds found in other living organisms, by transforming the
carbon compounds into energy using complex biochemical pathways.
Lab/Activities:
 AP Lab #5: Photosynthesis (Big Idea #2: Cellular Processes with a connection to Big Idea #1 and #4)
 AP Lab #6: Cellular Respiration (Big Idea #2: Cellular Processes with connections to Big Idea #1 and #4)
Science Practices:
1.4 The student can use representations and models to analyze situations or solve problems qualitatively and quantitatively.
2.2 The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural phenomena.
3.1 The student can pose scientific questions.
6.1 The student can justify claims with evidence.
6.2 The student can construct explanations of phenomena based on evidence produced through scientific practices
The student can connect concepts in and across domains to generalize or extrapolate in and/or across enduring
7.2
understandings and/or big ideas.
Unit 5: Heredity
Timeframe: 12 days with 2 lab periods
Text Correlations: Campbell - Chapters 13, 14, 15
Enduring Understandings:
1A Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.
1C Life continues to evolve within a changing environment.
Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and
2E
control.
3A Heritable information provides for continuity of life.
3B Expression of genetic information involves cellular and molecular mechanisms.
3C The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.
Classroom discussion topics:
 Meiosis and the flow of genetic information.
 Genetics concepts and Inheritance patterns
 Genes and chromosomes
 Environmental influences can act as a selective force in populations.
 Phenotypic variations occur through mutations in DNA and impact the fitness of the organism and the population.
 Causes of genetic disorders
Lab/Activities:
 Simulating meiosis using beads.
 AP Lab #2: Mathematical Modeling: Hardy-Weinberg (Big Idea #1:Evolution)
 Genetic problems
 Corn genetics lab: Students count a dihybrid and monohybrid cross then complete a chi-square analysis.
 M&M Chi-square analysis
 Crossing over in Sordaria
 Student presentations of genetic disorders.
Science Practices:
1.5 The student can reexpress key elements of natural phenomena across multiple representations in the domain.
2.2 The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural phenomena.
5.3 The student can evaluate the evidence provided by data sets in relation to a particular scientific question.
7.1 The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
Unit 6: Molecular Genetics
Text Correlations:
Enduring Understandings:
1A
1C
2C
2E
3A
3B
3C
4A
Classroom discussion topics:
Timeframe:
24 days with 4 lab periods
Campbell - Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.
Life continues to evolve within a changing environment.
Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth and reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and
coordination.
Heritable information provides for continuity of life.
Expression of genetic information involves cellular and molecular mechanisms.
The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.
Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.
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Structure and function of DNA and RNA
DNA is the genetic material proved through experiments.
DNA replication, transcription and translation.
Mutations and gene expression
Viral structure and activity
DNA technology – including operons, gel electrophoresis, PCR, etc.
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DNA replication, transcription, and translation paper cut out activity.
Restriction enzymes paper exercise
AP Lab #9: Restriction Enzyme Analysis of DNA (Big Idea #3: Genetics and Information Transfer with connections to
Big Idea #1)modified using Bio-Rad’s restriction analysis of DNA experiment
AP Lab #8: Bacterial Transformation (Big Idea #3: Genetics and Information Transfer with connections to Big Idea
#1 ) modified using Bio-Rad’s pGLO experiment
Viral Art – students create their own virus then draw their virus in the lytic cycle.
Lab/Activities:
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Science Practices:
3.1
5.3
6.4
7.1
The student can pose scientific questions.
The student can evaluate the evidence provided by data sets in relation to a particular scientific question.
The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on scientific theories and models.
The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
Unit 7: Evolution
Text Correlations:
Enduring Understandings:
1A
1B
1C
1D
3A
3C
4A
Classroom discussion topics:
Timeframe:
15 days with 3 lab periods
Campbell - 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.
Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.
Life continues to evolve within a changing environment.
The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes.
Heritable information provides for continuity of life.
The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.
Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.
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Early evolution of life including endosymbiosis
Theory of Natural Selection
Evidences of evolution – including the fossil record, comparative anatomy and embryology, molecular biology, nd
taxonomy
Mechanisms of evolution – including genetic drift, founder effect, bottleneck effect, microevolution verses
macroevolution, convergent and divergent evolution, and barriers of isolation
Diversity within life
Lab/Activities:
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Science Practices:
1.1
1.2
3.3
5.1
6.4
7.1
Your Inner Fish discussion
AP Lab #3: Blast (Big Idea #1: Evolution)
Cartoon activity: Snapshots in Time: students attempt to put in order a mixed fairy tale and create a story to go
with the pictures.
Revisiting Hardy-Weinberg and AP lab #2 – looking at these mechanisms of evolution how can we modify the data
sets to show various scenarios?
Examining the fossil record – in which students create a time line
Making cladograms – an ENSI lesson plan
Molecular Biology and Phylogeny (cytochrome C) – an ENSI lesson plan
Students will look at the kingdoms of life and find commonalities and differences among the kingdoms. They will
also look at the general characteristics of the kingdoms of life.
Video – What Darwin Never Knew
The student can create representations and models of natural or manmade phenomena and systems in the domain.
The student can describe representations and models of natural or manmade phenomena and systems in the domain.
The student can evaluate scientific questions.
The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on scientific theories and models.
The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
Unit 8: Structure and Function of Living Organisms
Timeframe: 35 days with 6 lab periods
Text Correlations: Campbell - 35, 36, 39, 40, 43, 47, 48, 49 (with example from Ch. 35-51)
Enduring Understandings:
1A Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.
1B Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.
2A Growth, reproduction, and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.
Growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis require that cells create and maintain internal environments that are
2B
different from their external environments.
2C Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth and reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
2D Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological system are influenced by changes in the system’s environment.
3E Transmission of information results in changes within and between biological systems.
4A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.
Classroom discussion topics:
 Discussion of how plants grow including structures of plants.
 Tropisms in plants
 Signal transductions in plants and animals
 Feedback loops in animals
 Structure determines function – looking at examples throughout kingdoms
 Immune System structure and function
 Nervous System structure and function
 Looking a reproduction and development throughout kingdoms.
 Stem cells and research
Lab/Activities:
 Flower dissection
 AP Lab #11: Transpiration (Big Idea #4: Interactions with connections to Big Ideas #1 and #2)
 Growing monocot and dicots (Baby Book of Plants)
 Looking at Stomata in various plant leaves using clear nail polish and microscopes. Students make predictions
about where they expect to find more stomata and why , then collect leaves and find out.
 Student created posters about various feedback loops that occur in animals
 Circulatory system lab – blood pressure
 Lights, Camera, Action Potential activity to simulate movement in neurons
 Student directed and created plays on immune responses – where students work to create the play, cast it, and
then performs in class.
 Brain cap activity – students draw a brain onto a swim cap then label the various sections
 Chicken Wing dissection – looking at structures within the chicken wing and how they function.
 Short research presentation on various aspects of stem cells and new research.
Science Practices:
1.4
2.2
4.1
6.4
7.1
The student can use representations and models to analyze situations or solve problems qualitatively and quantitatively.
The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural phenomena.
The student can justify the selection of the kind of data needed to answer a particular scientific question.
The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on scientific theories and models.
The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
Unit 9: Ecology
Text Correlations:
Enduring Understandings:
1A
1B
1C
1D
3A
3C
4A
Classroom discussion topics:
Timeframe:
20 days with 4 lab periods
Campbell - 52, 53, 54, 55, 56
Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.
Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.
Life continues to evolve within a changing environment.
The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes.
Heritable information provides for continuity of life.
The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.
Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.
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Animal Behavior
Population ecology
Succession in nature
Ecosystems
Cycling in Nature
Conservation
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AP Lab #12 : Fruit Fly Behavior (Big Idea #4: Interactions with connections to Big Idea #2)
Dissolved oxygen and Primary Productivity – old AP lab #12
Graphing growth curves and analyzing them.
Animated investigation from Campbell Biology chapter 31: How Does the Fungus Pilobolous Succeed as a
Decomposer
Animated investigation from Campbell Biology chapter 52: How do Abiotic Factors Affect Distribution of
Organisms?
Biome brochures – Students create a brochure that highlights a specific biome, the brochure must include facts
about the biome, issues and fixes, conservation, must include cited data from research.
Lab/Activities:
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Science Practices:
1.3
2.2
3.2
4.2
5.1
6.1
The student can refine representations and models of natural or manmade phenomena and systems in the domain.
The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural phenomena.
The student can refine scientific questions.
The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific question.
The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
The student can justify claims with evidence.
The student can connect concepts in and across domains to generalize or extrapolate in and/or across enduring
7.2
understandings and/or big ideas.