AP Biology Syllabus - Unit 1: Chemistry of Life
Essential Questions:
1. How does chemistry play a foundational role in biology?
2. What properties of water make it so vital to living organisms?
3. Why does carbon play a central role in all living organisms?
4. What are the main types of molecules that form the basis of all living organisms?
Required Reading:
Chapter 1 (All)
Chapter 2 (All)
Chapter 3 (All)
Chapter 4 (All)
Chapter 5 (All)
Chapter 8 (Concepts 8.4 & 8.5)
Homework:
Unit 1 Guided Reading Questions (Due at end of unit)
Macromolecule Worksheet (Due Friday, 08/27)
Animal Behavior Pre-Lab Activity (Due before school on day of lab)
Animal Behavior Lab Handout (Due one week after lab)
Enzyme Activity Pre-Lab Activity (Due before school on day of lab)
Enzyme Activity Lab Handout (Due one week after lab)
In-Class Work: CPS Chapter Reviews
Online Quizzes: Chapters 1, 2, & 3, Chapters 4 & 5, Concepts 8.4 & 8.5
Practice Free Response: Unique Properties of Water
AP Labs: Animal Behavior & Enzyme Activity
Unit Exam (100 pts):
23 Multiple Choice Questions (46 pts – 2 pts per question)
2 Grid-In Questions (4 pts – 2 pts per question)
3 Short Free Response Questions (30 pts – 10 pts per question)
1 Long Free Response Question (20 pts)
Schedule: (See “Weekly Outline” on course website for potential adjustments)
Date
Wednesday
08/12
Thursday
08/13
Friday
08/14
Monday
08/17
Tuesday
08/18
Wednesday
08/19
Friday
08/21
Monday
08/24
Lesson Topics
-Introductions and Course Information
-Discuss Course Directives & Safety Contracts
-Distribute Unit 1 Syllabus
-Distribute and Discuss Unit 1 Guided Reading
-Secure Online Access to Textbook
-Online Access to Quia Web
-Discuss Online Quizzes & Pre-Lab Activities
-Discuss BioBlogging & Sign Up Procedure
-CPS: Chapters 1 & 2 Review
-Discuss AP Bio Formula Sheet
-Discuss Experimental Design
-Animal Behavior Lab
Assignments
-Read Course Directives & Sign Safety Contract
(Due Friday, 08/14)
-Read Chapter 1
-Answer Guided Reading Questions
(Due Friday, 08/14)
-Read Chapter 2
-Answer Guided Reading Questions
(Due Monday, 08/17)
-Read Chapter 3
-Answer Guided Reading Questions
(Due Friday, 08/21)
-Animal Behavior Pre-Lab Activity
(Due Wednesday, 08/19 by 7:45 am)
-Animal Behavior Lab Handout (Due Wednesday, 08/26)
-Lecture: Water – The Molecule of Life
-Online Quiz #1 (Chapters 1, 2, & 3)
-Discuss AP Free Response Writing
-Distribute Unit 1 Practice Free Response
-Unit 1 Practice Free Response (Due Tuesday, 08/25)
-Read Chapter 4
-Answer Guided Reading Questions
(Due Monday, 08/24 by 7:45 am)
(Due Tuesday, 08/25)
Date
Tuesday
08/25
Lesson Topics
-Score and Discuss Unit 1 Practice Free Response
-CPS: Chapter 4 Review
Assignments
-Read Chapter 5
-Answer Guided Reading Questions
Wednesday
08/26
Friday
08/28
Monday
08/31
-Lecture: Macromolecules - Structure and Function
-Macromolecule Worksheet
Tuesday
09/01
Wednesday
09/02
Friday
09/04
Monday
09/07
Tuesday
09/08
Wednesday
09/09
-Enzyme Models
-Enzyme Activity Pre-Lab Activity
-Enzyme Activity Lab
-Enzyme Activity Lab Handout
-Discuss Enzyme Activity Lab
-CPS: Concept 8.4 & 8.5 Review
-No School – Labor Day
-Online Quiz #3 (Concepts 8.4 & 8.5)
-CPS: Review for Unit 1 Exam
-Study for Unit 1 Exam
(Due Wednesday, 08/26)
(Due Friday, 08/28)
-Discuss Macromolecule Worksheet
-Online Quiz #2 (Chapters 4 & 5)
-Notes: Enzymes
-Read Concepts 8.4 & 8.5
-Answer Guided Reading Questions
(Due Monday, 08/31 by 7:45 am)
(Due Tuesday, 09/01)
(Due Wednesday, 09/02 by 7:45 am)
(Due Wednesday, 09/09)
(Due Monday, 09/07 by 7:45 am)
-Finish Unit 1 Guided Reading Questions
(Due Wednesday, 09/09)
-Unit 1 Exam
Unit 1: Chemistry of Life
Essential Knowledge and Learning Targets
Essential knowledge: All biological systems from cells and organisms to populations, communities and ecosystems are affected by
complex biotic and abiotic interactions involving exchange of matter and free energy.
Refine scientific models and questions about the effect of complex biotic and abiotic interactions on all biological systems, from
cells and organisms to populations, communities and ecosystems.
Design a plan for collecting data to show that all biological systems (cells, organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems)
are affected by complex biotic and abiotic interactions.
Analyze data to identify possible patterns and relationships between a biotic or abiotic factor and a biological system (cells,
organisms, populations, communities or ecosystems).
Essential knowledge: Organisms share many conserved core processes and features that evolved and are widely distributed among
organisms today.
Pose scientific questions that correctly identify essential properties of shared, core life processes that provide insights into the
history of life on Earth.
Describe specific examples of conserved core biological processes and features shared by all domains or within one domain of
life, and how these shared, conserved core processes and features support the concept of common ancestry for all organisms.
Justify the scientific claim that organisms share many conserved core processes and features that evolved and are widely
distributed among organisms today.
Essential knowledge: Organisms use feedback mechanisms to maintain their internal environments and respond to external
environmental changes.
Justify a claim made about the effect(s) on a biological system at the molecular, physiological or organismal level when given a
scenario in which one or more components within a negative regulatory system is altered.
Connect how organisms use negative feedback to maintain their internal environments.
Evaluate data that show the effect(s) of changes in concentrations of key molecules on negative feedback mechanisms.
Make predictions about how organisms use negative feedback mechanisms to maintain their internal environments.
Make predictions about how positive feedback mechanisms amplify activities and processes in organisms based on scientific
theories and models.
Justify that positive feedback mechanisms amplify responses in organisms.
Essential knowledge: Biological systems are affected by disruptions to their dynamic homeostasis.
Use representations or models to analyze quantitatively and qualitatively the effects of disruptions to dynamic homeostasis in
biological systems.
Essential knowledge: The subcomponents of biological molecules and their sequence determine the properties of that molecule.
Explain the connection between the sequence and the subcomponents of a biological polymer and its properties.
Refine representations and models to explain how the subcomponents of a biological polymer and their sequence determine the
properties of that polymer.
Use models to predict and justify that changes in the subcomponents of a biological polymer affect the functionality of the
molecule.
Essential knowledge: Interactions between molecules affect their structure and function.
Analyze data to identify how molecular interactions affect structure and function.