AP BIOLOGY SUMMER ASSIGNMENT 2015-2016
Dear AP Biology Students,
AP Biology is a very rigorous course designed to introduce you to one of the most fascinating
and useful of all modern sciences. Due to the large amount of material that needs to be coved
during the year, a summer assignment is essential. The summer assignment will cover the first
four chapters of the textbook which are considered prerequisite for the course.
What you get out of this class will be based on what you are willing to put into the class. The
students who have performed the most successfully in the course and on the AP exam are
those students who are willing to work steadily throughout the summer and school year and
who are willing to work independently. There isn’t enough time to thoroughly cover all
necessary topics in class alone so outside work is a necessity.
To complete this assignment, you will need to sign up for the online textbook and the class
Edmodo group. I urge you to collaborate with each other but I absolutely do not want to see
identical work from any students! Best advice is NOT to wait until the end of summer to start
the work!!
Sincerely,
AP Biology Teacher
Harmony Science Academy
AP Biology Summer Assignment Grading Rubric 2014-2015
Name:
Date:
Part
Description
One
A. Paragraph of
“What to expect
for AP Biology”
B. Detailed
Description of the
4 Big Ideas
Biology Prefixes &
Suffixes-The
Language of
Science
Chapter 1 Cornell
Notes
Chapter 2 Cornell
Notes
Chapter 3 Cornell
Notes
Chapter 4 Cornell
Notes
Chapter 1
Homework
Chapter 2
Homework
Chapter 3
Homework
Chapter 4
Homework
Experimental
Design & Graphing
Format
TOTAL
Two
Three
Four
Five
Comments
Possible
Points
Points Earned
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
600
Accessing the Online Resources
*Follow these instructions to get access to the online textbook. We will be using Campbell Biology, 8e.
Go to: http://www.pearsonschool.com/access
Follow the directions.
NEW STUDENT CODE: SSNAST-THUNK-SKELF-TURVY-IBIZA-FAKES
*Follow these instructions to get access to the AP Biology (2015-2016) Edmodo site.
Go to Edmodo.com
Use the group code: uyk4sj
On Edmodo you will be able to find power points that correspond to the chapters and the chapter
homework in the folders.
*Other good online resources
bozemanscience.com
Crash Course on YouTube
AP Biology Summer Assignment 2014-2015 Format
The summer assignment should be placed in a 3 ring binder/folder with tabbed and labeled dividers (do
not need to be store bought) for each of the five parts. This page (the grading rubric) should be the first
page in the binder/folder. Start the summer assignment early and do not try to do the whole
assignment at one time! A better strategy is to do smaller parts of the project over a longer period of
time. The AP Biology Summer Assignment is due the first week of school.
Part One:
A. What to expect for AP Biology: In order to get a better understanding of what AP Biology is all about
and the expectations for the course, watch the video on the following link and summarize the content in
the video in a paragraph.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7INh-DV0G_w&list=PLFCE4D99C4124A27A
B. The 4 Big Ideas of AP Biology: In AP Biology this year we will be focusing on 4 Big Ideas. Use the
following link to locate the 4 Big Ideas on the College Board website and answer the following questions:
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-biology/course-details
a. What are the 4 Big Ideas?
b. What do you think they mean? Write a detailed description of each of the 4 Big Ideas using your
background knowledge and inquiry skills.
Part Two: Find the meaning for the prefixes and suffixes and write in the space provided and then write
the meaning of the words given in the space provided.
Part Three: Read a chapter on the online textbook for understanding. What I mean by this is, after
reading the chapter you should have a basic understanding of the main concepts. Your goal is to have a
deep understanding of the level one items. (Remember the test: are you able to teach someone the
concept?) By completing the process of making cornell notes, class discussion, collaboration activities,
lecture, and homework we hope to achieve this goal.
Follow the directions for cornell notes. Watch the YouTube video “How to take Cornell notes” by
Jennifer DesRochers. Write the level one items as questions on the left side of the notes. Then answer
the level one item questions on the right side of the notes. Level one items must be included in your
cornell notes, however you can always add left side questions and right side answers. After you
complete the cornell notes for chapter one then complete the Homework for that chapter. Then
complete the cornell notes for chapter two and the homework for chapter two. So cornell notes should
be done before the homework for that chapter.
Part Four: Chapter Homework papers should be appropriately labeled and titled with the chapter
number and chapter title. Questions for the Chapter Homework should be answered in a complete
sentence written in Pen. Pay special attention to what the question is asking. Make sure you
understand what the question is asking before attempting to answer the question. Also, pay attention
to the task words such as Describe, Speculate, Predict, Justify, Explain, Compare and Define. See the
Task Word PowerPoint on Edmodo for meanings of the words or look up on your own. Chapter
Homework is one way we prepare for the free response portion of the AP Biology Exam in May. Rubrics
will be used to grade the homework and you must have the answers to the question asked in order to
receive the points.
Part Five:
In Part 5 of your summer assignment you will research the components of a GOOD research
experiment and design an experiment based around a provided inquiry question. Let’s get started…
A. The following is a list of components that must be included in a GOOD research experiment. For each
one on the list below you must research what it entails and write a small (1 paragraph) summary.
1. Hypothesis
2. Independent Variable
3. Dependent Variable
4. Control vs. experimental groups
5. Constants
6. Ways to improve VALIDITY and RELIABILITY
7. Data Collection
B. Now that you know about the important aspects of a GOOD experiment you need to design a
hypothetical experiment and generate predicted data on the inquiry question listed below. The
components that you researched in part A MUST be included in your experiment. PLEASE NOTE: YOU
DO NOT NEED TO RUN THIS EXPERIMENT. JUST DESIGN AND GENERATE HYPOTHETICAL DATA.
Inquiry Question: Do beetle bugs prefer a certain type of food?
Biology Prefixes and Suffixes-The Language of Science
The main reason students find it difficult to understand science is because of all the hard to
write, spell and read words. Actually, scientific vocabulary is a mix of small words that are linked
together to have different meanings. If you learn the meanings of the little words, you'll find
scientific vocabulary much easier to understand. Find the mean to the following Greek/Latin root
words.
Word
Meaning
Word
a / an
hemo
meso
hyper
leuco
hypo
aero
intra
anti
-itis
amphi
lateral
aqua / hydro
-logy
arthro
-lysis
auto
-meter
bi / di
mono
bio
morph
cephal
micro
chloro
macro
chromo
multi / poly
cide
pod
cyto
-phobia
Meaning
derm
-philia
haplo
proto
ecto (exo)
photo
endo
psuedo
epi
synthesis
gastro
sub
genesis
troph
herba
therm
hetero
tri
homo
zoo, zoa
ov
-tropism
kary
-taxis
neuro
-stasis
soma
zyg / zygous
saccharo
phago
primi / archea
path / pathy
phyll
sym / syn
Once you have completed the above table, use it to develop a definition, in your own
words, for each of the following terms.
1. Hydrology __________________________________________________________
2. Cytolysis __________________________________________________________
3.Protozoa_____________________________________________________________
4. Epidermis __________________________________________________________
5. Spermatogenesis _____________________________________________________
6.exoskeleton___________________________________________________________
7. Abiotic ____________________________________________________________
8. Pathogen ___________________________________________________________
9. psuedopod __________________________________________________________
10. Hemophilia _________________________________________________________
11. Endocystosis _______________________________________________________
12. herbicide __________________________________________________________
13. Anaerobic __________________________________________________________
14. Bilateral ___________________________________________________________
15. autotroph __________________________________________________________
16. Monosaccharide _____________________________________________________
17. Arthropod __________________________________________________________
18. polymorphic ________________________________________________________
19. Hypothermia _______________________________________________________
20. Biogenesis ________________________________________________________________