AP BIOLOGY SUMMER ASSIGNMENT 2012
Purpose: This summer you will delve into the world of biology like you never thought you would in those hot months! We will explore many topics, focusing mostly on biochemistry and evolution, to whet your appetite for the coming year of hard work.
This summer assignment has been designed for four purposes:
· to get you to think during those summer months to keep your mind sharp, because I will expect a lot out of it come September!
· to introduce you to major concepts from AP Biology through non-classroom methods of learning.
· to have you earn strong grades to help you begin the first quarter with confidence.
· to allow you to review some of the knowledge that is considered prerequisite knowledge for
AP Biology.
Instructions: Below is a list of items to complete for your summer assignment. You must complete work on the Biochemistry Unit using your textbook and other resources. The chapters in your text that are included in your summer reading assignment will not be covered in class. Therefore, you are responsible for understanding all of the material. You will find that much this assignment may be a review of concepts covered in Freshman Biology (although you will find more detail this time around). You will also be asked to read two books “Survival of the Sickest” by Sharon Moalem, and “Your Inner Fish” by Neil Shubin. While reading these books you will complete assignments on each chapter.
Due Dates: All assignments must be completed.
1.
Signed syllabus: due by June 11 th .
2.
You must join our class online on the textbook website by June 11 th .
3.
Letter of introduction: due by July 1st.
4.
Biochemistry questions: questions will be collected on first day of class.
5.
Your Inner Fish assignment must be emailed to me by 11:59 pm on July 30th.
6.
Survival of the Sickest assignment must be e-mailed to me by 11:59 pm September
3 rd .
Assignments:
2 • ONLINE ACCESS:
You must gain access to the book online and become part of our class by MONDAY JUNE
11 th . Follow these instructions to register for our class:
go to www.pearsonschool.com/access our class code is SSNAST-QUIPU-EMEND-CHIMB-SHAWM-MACES
click on “ Covered Titles ”
scroll down and click on “ Campbell, Biology 8e AP* Edition ”
click on “ Student Registration ”
click “I accept” at the bottom of the user agreement
the user name and password you set up are your Prentice Hall user name and password. It is these that you will use to log into the book site in the future.
our class code is SSNAST-QUIPU-EMEND-CHIMB-SHAWM-MACES
on the confirmation page click on “join a class”

enter the following class ID # cm157222
click next, you will come to the class confirmation page you can print this page
enter the class to view the book website
The next time you wish to enter the book site DO NOT follow the above instructions. Instead go to http://www.aw-bc.com/campbell/
once at the site, click on Biology 8/E AP Biology (top right hand book)
log in as an established user using your prentice hall user name and password
to find the chapter reading guides: after you log in, at the bottom of the front page, click on “New Chapter by Chapter Reading Guides”
3 • LETTER OF INTRODUCTION: We are going to spend a lot of time together next year, so it’s best if I get a head start on learning a bit about you. Also we will use the Internet next year for this course, so let’s get you used to communicating with me via e-mail. Your first digital assignment is to successfully send me an e-mail. Due date: July 1, 2010
Draft an e-mail to me following these rules: a. Use clearly written, full sentences. Do not abbreviate words like you are instant messaging with a friend. Use spell check! This is a professional communication like you would have with a college professor, so let’s practice for your rapidly nearing future! b. Address it to me at: jpasseggio@braintreema.gov c. Make the Subject: “AP Bio: Introduction to <Insert Your Name Here>”
(Do not include the quote marks or the brackets, just the words) d. Now introduce yourself (your name) and tell me a little bit about yourself, like:
· What do you like to do (hobbies, sports, music, interests, etc.)?
· Do you have a job?
· Tell me a little bit about your family (Mom? Dad? Guardian? Siblings?
Pets?)
· Was there anything that you liked about your earlier biology class?
· What was the last book you read for fun?
· What are you looking forward to the most in AP Biology?
· What are you most anxious about in AP Biology? f. End the e-mail with a formal closing: “Cordially”, “Sincerely”, “Warm regards”, etc. and add your name as if you signed a letter.
4. • BIOCHEMISTRY WORK: Interact with this material by: using your textbook and printing chapter guides, viewing presentations and/or watching videos/podcasts. Figure out what works for you. You do not have to use every resource, but you must able to answer the questions and understand the learning objectives. The attached material provides you with instructions on how to find presentations and videos.
-
Complete the chapter questions and bring them on the first day of school.
 Chapter question are attached to this document.
 Each chapter is graded for a homework grade
 All answers should be thorough and thoughtful. You should be sure to write coherently and an in complete sentences.
 I READ your answers!

5. YOUR INNER FISH
-
Read the book! “Your inner Fish” by Neil Shubin. You may borrow the book from the library, purchase it at a bookstore or even purchase it used on
Amazon.

As you are reading, complete the image and disputable statement assignments for each chapter.

The images and disputable claims are attached to this document.

Work on this book will be graded as a lab grade.
6 • SURVIVAL OF THE SICKEST:
-
Read the book! “Survival of The Sickest” by Sharon Moalem. You may borrow the book from the library, purchase it at a bookstore or even purchase it used on Amazon.
 As you are reading, please find an image and create a disputable
claim for each chapter. Use the images and disputable claims from
“Your Inner Fish” as a guide for this project. You need to explain your image and disputable claim.
 Work on this book will be graded as a lab grade.

Why this book?
Assignment developed by:Jen Orwar, Oswego East A.P. Biology Teacher
Julie Pavlini, Oswego High School Reading Strategy Consultant
Pam Phelps, Oswego High A.P. Biology Teacher
1.
This book centers around the unifying theme of biology, evolution. It also emphasizes scientific process a second major theme in our course.
2.
It provides you with an opportunity to practice and develop skills for closely reading biology texts and extracting information from the text and the images in a book.
While reading this book please keep the following ideas in mind:
How and why are all living things similar and different?
What qualities are required to conduct scientific research? How are new discoveries made?
Work to complete for each chapter:
A.
PART 1: a.
preview the graphic assigned to each chapter b.
write a prediction of what you expect the chapter to be about based on the graphic c.
read the chapter and then describe how the graphic relates to the chapter.
B.
PART 2: evaluate the disputable statement assigned to each chapter

Chapter 1 Finding Your Inner Fish Chapter 3 Handy Genes
SONIC HEDGEHOG GENE
Chapter 2 Getting a Grip
Chapter 4 Teeth Everywhere

Chapter 5 Getting Ahea
Chapter 5 Getting Ahead
Chapter 7 Adventures in Bodybuilding
Chapter 9 Vision
Chapter 10 Ears
Chapter 11 The Meaning of It All
Chapter 8
Making
Scents

Chapter 6 The Best-Laid (Body) Plans
Chocolate Chip Cookies ( With Variations )

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter , softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz.)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1. Combine flour, soda and salt in small bowl.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if desired).
5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
6. Bake in preheated 375 degrees oven for 9 to 11 minutes until golden brown.
7. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
PEANUT BUTTER VARIATION: Prepare dough as above except substitute 1/2 cup butter and 3/4 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter for the 1 cup butter. Eliminate nuts. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets; press down slightly. Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes four dozen.
FOR THIN, CHEWY COOKIES: Reduce granulated sugar to 1/2 cup and increase packed brown sugar to 1 cup.
FOR THICK, CHEWY, OLD-FASHIONED COOKIES: Use half the amount of butter called for and drop by well-rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 9 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Store in airtight container to prevent drying.
FOR PUFFIER COOKIES: Reduce butter to 1/2 cup and add 1/2 cup solid shortening.
FOR SOFT CAKEY COOKIES: Omit the granulated sugar and use 3/4 cup butter, 1 cup packed brown sugar and 3 eggs. Drop by well-rounded tablespoons on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten slightly with back of spoon dipped in water. Bake in preheated 375 degrees oven for 8 to 10 minutes. For more rounded cookie, do not flatten before baking; bake 9 to 11 minutes.
FOR CRISPIER COOKIES: Use 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 1 egg. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in water. Bake in preheated 375 degrees oven for 9 to 11 minutes.
7

:
.
Chapter 1 Finding Your Inner Fish
Dispute: Most living organisms fossilize after death, so fossils in exemplary condition are easily found all over the world.
Chapter 2 Getting a Grip
Dispute: Humans and fish are nothing alike: we have hands with fingers, they have fins.
Chapter 3 Handy Genes
Dispute: Each cell in a human body contains a unique set of DNA. This allows some cells to build muscle or skin and some cells to become arms versus fingers.
Chapter 4 Teeth Everywhere
Dispute: Teeth evolved through time, after bones, as they became a beneficial adaptation for protection against predation.
Chapter 5 Getting Ahead
Dispute: Humans and sharks both have four gill arches as embryos, but the germ layers and arches develop into unrelated structures in each organism.
Chapter 6 The Best-Laid (Body) Plans
Dispute: Scientists work in isolation: it is counter-productive to repeat another scientist’s experiments or to consider research that is not directly related to the organism you are studying.
Chapter 7 Adventures in Bodybuilding
Dispute: All tissues in the human body are made of similar cells that connect to each other in similar fashion.
Chapter 8 Making Scents
Dispute: There are few genes dedicated to olfactory sense and they are similar in all organisms capable of detecting smell.
Chapter 9 Vision
Dispute: All organisms with vision have similar eyes and similar vision genes.
Chapter 10 Ears
Dispute: In humans, eyes and ears function independently of one another; sensation in one does not affect sensation in the other.
Chapter 11 The Meaning of It All
Dispute: Maladies of the human body are not related to our evolutionary past.
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AP Biology Pre-Discussion Questions: Intro/Chem 1- Course Introduction
Instructions:
●
Interact with the text book (you may choose to print reading guides for yourself from the text book website), presentations and videos.
● Answer the “Questions to answer”.
● Make sure you understand the “Things you should make sure you understand”.
●
Write down any questions that you have about the material.
Text book sections:
Campbell chapter 1
Topic Presentation: http://prezi.com/6gn_5zw5k6yn/ap-bio-introductory-presentation/
Video Resources:
Videos By Paul Anderson:
“ Essential Characteristics of Life ” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bILvTe2_FEE&feature=plcp
Questions to answer:
1.
What is unique to science as a way of understanding the Universe?
2.
Compare reductionism with systems-thinking.
3.
Explain the concept of emergence.
4.
Explain the concept of feedback.
5.
Explain the necessity and limitations of using models to understand things.
6.
Why/how does life demonstrate the following properties: a.
evolution b.
high degree of order c.
energy processing d.
reproduction & development e.
cellular organization f.
information storage & expression
Things you should make sure you understand:
(feel free to ask questions about them in class)
●
How science works as a process.
●
How science differs from other modes of human thought.
●
What is unique about living systems, and how living systems exist within the constraints of the physical Universe.
●
How and why life is organized across the domains of time and space over which it occurs.
9

AP Biology Pre-Discussion Questions: Intro/Chem 2- Chemistry, Water, Carbon
Instructions:
●
Interact with the text book (you may choose to print reading guides for yourself from the text book website), presentations and videos.
● Answer the “Questions to answer”.
● Make sure you understand the “Things you should make sure you understand”.
●
Write down any questions that you have about the material.
Note: This is a-3 part topic
Text book sections:
Campbell chapter 2, 3, and 4
Topic Presentation: http://prezi.com/4hefv2hk2bhq/ap-bio-chemistry-1-atoms-water-carbon/ http://www.explorebiology.com/pptAP/2008/BIOCHEMISTRY/ “chemistry” and “macromolecules”
Supplementary Resources:
“Crash Course: Biology” Videos:
That's Why Carbon is a Tramp: Biology #1
Water- Liquid Awesome: Biology #2
Videos By Paul Anderson:
“ Matter ”
“ Water: A Polar Molecule ”
“ Acids Bases and pH ”
Part 1: Chemistry
Questions to answer:
1.
How common are the elements that living systems are made out of?
2.
Explain the relationship between matter and energy.
3.
Why do atoms bond?
4.
What is the cause of molecular polarity?
5.
How does the type of bonds present in a substance influence the chemical and physical properties of that substance?
6.
If the breaking of bonds requires an input of energy (which it always does), how is it possible that some chemical reactions (like the burning of gasoline, for instance) can release energy into the environment?
7.
How do the properties of a compound like H
2
O or NaCl illustrate the concept of emergent properties?
8.
Why are radioactive elements useful for the study of biological systems?
Things you should make sure you understand: (feel free to ask questions about them in class)
7.
The periodic location, atomic number, number of valence electrons, and biological utility of S,P,O,N,C,H, along with
Ca, K, Na, & Cl.
8.
How energy interacts with atoms.
9.
The differences between ionic and covalent bonds.
10.
How to identify if a substance is covalent (molecular) or ionic.
11.
Basic differences between covalent and ionic substances
12.
How to identify if a molecule is polar or non-polar.
13.
How to determine the intermolecular forces that will exist in a substance.
10

14.
The cause of radioactivity.
Part 2: Water
Questions to answer:
●
Why are living things mostly made of water?
●
Draw a water molecule and indicate its polarity.
●
Explain how the structure of water molecules account for each of the following properties:
○
Cohesion
○
Adhesion
○
High Specific Heat
○
Floating Ice
○
Good Solvent Properties
○
Dissociation of water molecules
●
Explain 1 way that each of the above properties are useful for living systems.
●
Explain the relationship between the dissociation of water and the pH of a particular aqueous solution.
Things you should make sure you understand: (feel free to ask questions about them in class)
●
The absolute need for water in terrestrial living systems.
●
How the properties of water demonstrate the concept of emergence.
●
How to determine the pH of a solution if given the concentration of hydronium or hydroxide ions.
Part 3: Carbon
Questions to answer:
1.
Why is carbon central to the structure of all biological molecules?
2.
Explain the concept of an isomer. As the number of carbon atoms in a molecule increases, what happens to the number of possible isomers of that molecule?
3.
Why is it significant that all biological systems use L-amino acids and D-sugars?
4.
Draw each of the following functional groups: a.
hydroxyl b.
carbonyl (ketone) c.
carbonyl (aldehyde) d.
carboxyl e.
amino f.
sulfhydryl g.
methyl h.
phosphate
5.
Why are molecules that contain carboxyl groups acidic?
6.
Why are molecules that contain amino groups basic?
7.
How large a change to the structure of an organic molecule has to be made for that molecule to have a major difference in its effect on a living system?
Things you should make sure you understand: (feel free to ask questions about them in class)
●
Why carbon is such a versatile atom.
●
The different types of isomers that can exist.
●
The properties of all of the functional groups in question #4.
11

AP Biology Pre-Discussion Questions: Intro/Chem 3- Biological Molecules
Instructions:
●
Interact with the text book (you may choose to print reading guides for yourself from the text book website), presentations and videos.
● Answer the “Questions to answer”.
● Make sure you understand the “Things you should make sure you understand”.
●
Write down any questions that you have about the material.
Text book sections:
Campbell chapter 5
Note: This is a-2 part topic
Topic Presentation: http://prezi.com/-r8c-fscmffx/ap-bio-chemistry-2-macromolecules/ http://www.explorebiology.com/pptAP/2008/BIOCHEMISTRY/ “carbs”, “lipids”, “proteins” and “nucleic acids”
Supplementary Resources:
“Crash Course: Biology” V ideos:
Biological Molecules - You Are What You Eat: Biology #3
Videos By Paul Anderson:
“ Biological Molecules ”
“ The Molecules of Life ”
Part 1: Background, Carbohydrates, & Lipids
Questions to answer:
9.
How are macromolecule polymers assembled from monomers? How are they broken down?
10.
How can you tell a biological molecule is a carbohydrate?
11.
Explain the relationship between monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.
12.
Why are starch and glycogen useful as energy storage molecules, while cellulose is useful for structure and support?
Why isn’t cellulose easily broken down?
13.
How do herbivores solve the problem of cellulose digestion?
14.
How can you tell a biological molecule is a lipid?
15.
Chemically, what is the difference between a saturated fat and an unsaturated fat? How does this difference affect the properties of the molecules?
16.
How are triglycerides, phospholipids, and steroids similar? How do they differ?
Things you should make sure you understand: (feel free to ask questions about them in class)
15.
The chemical differences between the carbohydrates and lipids described in this presentation.
16.
The roles played by carbohydrates and lipids in biological systems.
12

Part 2: Proteins & Nucleic Acids
Questions to answer:
●
Why are proteins the most complex biological molecules?
● Draw the structure of a general amino acid. Label the carboxyl group, the amino group, and the variable (‘R’) group.
●
Draw the formation of a peptide bond between two amino acids.
● How does the structure of the ‘R’ group affect the properties of a particular amino acid?
●
Define each of the following levels of protein structure and explain the bonds that contribute to them:
○
Primary
○
Secondary
○
Tertiary
○
Quaternary
● How can the structure of a protein be changed (“denatured”)?
●
Draw a nucleotide. Label the phosphate, sugar, and nitrogenous base.
●
Explain the three major structural differences between RNA and DNA.
Things you should make sure you understand: (feel free to ask questions about them in class)
●
How the structure of proteins and nucleic acids allow for their biological functions.
●
How both protein structure and nucleic acid structure illustrate the concepts of emergence and combinatorial complexity.
●
Why directionality and sequence are crucial for the structure and function of proteins and nucleic acids.
●
How nucleic acids and proteins function in storage and expression of biological information.
13