AP Biology Syllabus
Buford High School
Mildred Juline Wieland---Instructor
Course Overview
The syllabus includes the entire AP Biology course, which is divided into two units: AP
Biology Intro and AP Biology. The course will meet yearlong for 90 minutes every day
on a 4X4 schedule. There will also be times when we will be staying late or coming in
early to start lab exercises. This is non-negotiable and you are expected to be in the lab.
You will be notified well in advance if you are expected to be in the lab at alternative
times. The AP Biology Exam will be sometime during the second week of May.
AP Biology will explore eight themes that permeate biology. They include: Science as a
Process, Evolution, Energy Transfer, Continuity and Change, Relationship to Structure
and Function, Regulation, Interdependence in Nature, and Science, Technology, and
Society.
Methods of Instruction
We will be using a variety of methods of instruction to enhance student learning. The
methods include lecture, student-led discussions, AP laboratories, group activities,
individual research projects, peer reviews of lab write-ups, practice AP free-response
questions, journal article reviews, and any other method deemed necessary by the teacher
to make sure the students are exposed to the information they will need to perform well
on the AP Biology exam.
Journal articles will be used throughout the year to allow students access to ecological,
ethical, environmental, and societal issues that are relevant to them as citizens. These
articles should come from legitimate science journals. They should read the articles and
write a summary/importance paper, discussing the relevance of this article and
summarizing the article. These can be found through the public library, the library at
USC-Lancaster, or the school library. The internet is also a good source.
We will spend 25% to 30% of our time in the lab performing the twelve labs required
from the AP Lab Manual for Students as well as additional lab activities that focus on
the eight themes of AP Biology. These additional activities may be virtual labs,
demonstrations, and other mini-labs. Each lab will require data collection, participation
by each student, and data analysis. Some labs will require a typed lab report, while
others will just require table completion, answering questions, and completing analysis
questions. You will be expected to draw graphs (if required) and analyze them to predict
outcomes as well. If the lab is one of the twelve required labs from the AP Lab Manual
for Students, you must answer all of the questions and be able to apply the data to
environmental and social concerns. This may be assessed through a free-response or
essay-type question. Students will be expected to set up the lab equipment and material
with limited teacher instruction. By the end of the year, the students should be able to
design, implement, and analyze an experiment they developed in their cooperative
groups.
Based on the nature of the course, students will also be given practice free response
questions each week. These will be relevant to the topic being covered. In the
beginning, the teacher will model how to answer this type of question and have the
students participate as an entire class. By the end of the first semester, the students
should be able to construct an answer without additional help. The students will then use
a type of peer review to “grade” these questions according to the rubrics found on the
College Board website. This should help eliminate test anxiety and produce better free
response essays on the exam.
Course Schedule
The following topics that will be covered have been determined by the College Board
based on what is taught in most first year college level Biology courses. The schedule is
tentative and depends on student performance, standard school interruptions, and other
testing days. Additional activities will be scheduled to benefit the student and allow them
to experience all the topics covered on the AP Biology Exam. This schedule is tentative
and may be altered at the discretion of the teacher.
Expected
Time
Necessary
(Days)
15 days
Unit
1
Topics and Labs
Correlating
Chapters
52-56
Ecology
 Ecosystems, Populations, Communities,
Types of Conservation
 AP Lab #12—Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic
Primary Productivity
 Lab (Teacher-made)—Pond Water DiversityThis lab will be ongoing throughout the
seasons of the year. The students will survey
the specimens of two different ponds; one
pond that gets run-off from a fertilized field
and one that is protected from run-off by
being raised. This will allow them to see the
effects of chemicals on these organisms and
the evolution of the ponds throughout a year’s
time. This also teaches basic microscopy.
 Lab (Teacher-made)—School Yard Survey –
This lab will also be ongoing throughout the
year. The students will compile a notebook
of the organisms observed on the school
grounds, and make drawings. They will
compare the numbers of different species
23
2
48
3
throughout the year.
 The students will also use the vocabulary
exercise they were assigned over the summer
as well as the readings from “Silent Spring”
by Rachel Carson. They will discuss the
impact of humans on organisms based on the
research cited in “Silent Spring”.
 Lab—Eutrophication: Too Much of a Good
Thing?—Holt Environmental Science
Chapter 7 Resource File Aquatic Ecosystems
p. 20-23
 Lab—Identify Your Local Biome—Holt
Environmental Science Chapter 6 Resource
File Biomes p. 23-26
 Lab—How Will Our Population Grow?—
Holt Environmental Science Chapter 9
Resource File The Human Population p. 2023
 Field Trip to 40 Acre Rock (looking at
evolution of ecosystems; we will go again in
the winter and in the spring)
Evolutionary History of Biological Diversity
 Evolutionary patterns, origin of life of
prokaryotes and eukaryotes, mechanisms of
evolution
 Lab 5—“How do we measure biodiversity?
(Glencoe Biology Lab Manual) This lab
gives the students practice analyzing data,
inferring trends, and predicting outcomes
based on the data.
 Lab 1—“What makes mold grow?” (Glencoe
Biology Lab Manual) This lab gives the
student practice designing a lab procedure
working with controls and variables, as well
as carrying out the procedure.
 Staining Bacteria Lab
 Blue-Green Bacteria Lab
Structure and Function of Plants and Animals
 Animals—Structure and function, sensory
and motor mechanisms, defense, chemical
signals, homeostasis, circulation and gas
exchange, nervous system, nutrition,
behavior, evolution of body systems,
reproduction and development (comparative
between the phyla)
 Plants—structure and function, transport,
26-34
35-39
40-49
12
4
11
5
responses to taxis, biotechnology, nutrition,
and reproduction (comparative anatomy),
evolution of plants in changing ecosystems
 AP Lab #9—Transpiration
 AP Lab #10—Physiology of the Circulatory
System
 AP Lab #11—Animal Behavior (Termites)
 Lab 7—“Which will the worm choose?”
(Glencoe Biology Lab Manual)—This lab is a
“design your own” and will give the students
practice with experimental design. They will
either use planaria or earthworms.
 Lab 9C—“Plant Tropisms”—(McGraw Hill
Biology: Exploring the Science of Life Lab
Manual)
 Lab 10A-10C—“Nonflowering and
Flowering Plants”—(McGraw Hill Biology:
Exploring the Science of Life Lab Manual)
 Lab 11A-11C—“Plant Parts and
Functions”—(McGraw Hill Biology:
Exploring the Science of Life Lab Manual)
 Lab 25—“How does a flower grow?”
(GBLM)
Evolutionary Biology
 Darwin, origin of species, phylogeny and
systematics, evolution of populations, natural
selection
 AP Lab #8—Population Genetics and
Evolution
 Lab 17—“Could you beat natural selection?”
(Glencoe Biology Lab Manual)—This will
allow them to practice graphing and
predicting, and shows a cause/effect
relationship between coloration and natural
selection as in the Peppered Moths.
 Lab 5A-5C “Change over Time”—(McGraw
Hill Biology: Exploring the Science of Life
Lab Manual)
 Biochemical Evidence of Evolution Lab
(Teacher-made)
Chemistry of Life
 Organic molecules, water, importance of
carbon, free energy changes, enzymes, and
metabolism
 AP Lab #2—Enzyme Catalysis
22-25
2-5





16
6
12
7
14
8
Lab—Acids versus Bases
Lab 2B “Organic Molecules for Lunch?”—
(McGraw Hill Biology: Exploring the Science
of Life Lab Manual)
Lab 2C “Enzyme Action”—(McGraw Hill
Biology: Exploring the Science of Life Lab
Manual)
Lab 38—“How do you digest protein?”
(Glencoe Biology Lab Manual)—This lab
focuses on experimental design, collecting
data, and interpreting data.
Lab 7—“What substances or solutions act as
buffers?”—This lab focuses on designing an
experiment testing the buffering power of
several animal or plant tissue solutions.
Cells
 Prokaryotic and eukaryotic, membrane
structure and function, organelles, regulation,
cell cycle
 AP Lab #1—Diffusion and Osmosis
 AP Lab #3—Mitosis and Meiosis
 Lab 3A-3C “Cell Structure, Function, and
Processes”—(McGraw Hill Biology:
Exploring the Science of Life Lab Manual)
 Lab—Using a Compound Microscope and
Other Microscope Techniques
Cellular Energetics
 Coupled reactions, fermentation, cellular
respiration, and photosynthesis
 AP Lab #4—Plant Pigments and
Photosynthesis
 AP Lab #5—Cell Respiration
 Lab 9—“How many calories do different
foods contain?” (GBLM)—Design your own
lab that will lead you to draw conclusions
about available energy in food.
 Lab 10—“What can affect the rate of
photosynthesis?” (GBLM)—This lab asks the
students to formulate a hypothesis about the
connection between light intensity and
oxygen production in photosynthesis, design
an experiment to test this hypothesis, perform
the experiment, and draw conclusions.
 Lab—Yeast Fermentation (Teacher files)
Genetics
6, 7, 8, 11,
12
9, 10
13-21








Meiosis, Mendelian and molecular basis of
inheritance, protein synthesis, gene
regulation, mutations, genetics of viruses and
bacteria, gene expression, DNA technology
and applications, RNA and DNA structure
and function
AP Lab #3—Mitosis and Meiosis (Part III)
AP Lab #6—Molecular Biology
AP Lab #7—Genetics of Organisms
Lab—Genetic Patterns of Indian Corn
(Teacher files from past biology courses in
college)
Lab—Comparative extraction of DNA from
strawberries, onions, and bananas
Clemson DNA Lab Experience or USCLancaster Lab Experience
Lab 4C “Protein Synthesis: Like Building
Sentences”—(McGraw Hill Biology:
Exploring the Science of Life Lab Manual)
Textbook and Other Resources
The text that the students will use in AP Biology Intro and AP Biology is Biology:
Eighth Edition by Neil A. Campbell and Jane B. Reese. The students will also use the
AP Biology Lab Manual for the required AP Labs. The teacher will provide the other lab
write-up papers as cited in the course schedule.
Student Assessment
The students will be assessed using various methods throughout the year. Traditional
unit tests will be used, and they will be organized in the AP Biology Exam format. They
will include multiple choice questions and free response questions. They will assess the
class information as well as the information covered by the lab activities. Other forms of
assessment will include quizzes, lab write-ups, journal articles, free response questions,
participation, projects, data sheets on the readings, and a cumulative midterm that will
come at the end of the first semester.
Homework
Quizzes
Unit Tests (Covering at least 5 chapters)
Projects (at least 1 per semester)
Labs
Journal Articles
Free Response Questions
Final Exam (1st semester)
minimum10 points each
minimum 10 points each
minimum 110 points each
minimum 200 points each
minimum 50-100 points each
minimum 20 points each
minimum 8 points each
20% of 1st semester grade