WELCOME TO AP BIOLOGY
Select a seat - that will be your seat for the year 
NEW CURRICULUM

Focus on 4 Big Ideas in Biology
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
NEW CURRICULUM

Focus on 7 science practices
1.
2.
3.
4.
The student can use representations and models 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
NEW CURRICULUM

Science practices continued….
5. The student can perform data analysis
and evaluation of evidence
6. The student can work with scientific
explanations and theories
7. The student is able to connect and relate
knowledge across various scales, concepts,
and representations in and across domains
NEW CURRICULUM

Focus on Inquiry Laboratory Experiences

25% of the class is required to be spent in lab

Many labs have multiple components, one of which
will be inquiry

Required to do a minimum of two AP bio labs per Big
Idea
LABORATORY EXPERIENCE
Work in small groups
of 2 to 4 people
 Each person is
required to have a Lab
Log book (can be
purchased at Staples
for $1 or use the one I
provide)
 Information reported
via log book, lab
report, and/or mini
poster

BREAK

Getting to know you…

Using your electronic device or a laptop, complete the
AP Biology Student Survey found on my website
under the “Survey” tab on the left hand side of the
screen.
“THE TEST”

Last year (2013/14) my class average was 3.850!

During 2012/13 my class average was 3.818!

During 2011/12 my class average was 4.25!!!
OVERALL SCORE DISTRIBUTION 2013-14
Score
1
2
3
4
5
% of my
students
0.0
10.0
25.0
35.0
30.0
% of
students
globally
8.9
27.4
35.1
22.1
6.5
CHANGES TO THE TEST

Section 1 – 90 minutes
Part A: 63 Multiple Choice (reading intensive but
only 4 choices)
 Part B: 6 Grid-In (math – formula sheet provided,
can use 4 function calculator)


Section 2 – 80 minutes + 10 minute reading
period
2 Long Free Response 10pts each (same as old test)
 6 Short Free Response 3-4pt and 3-3pt questions
(new)

NEW MULTIPLE CHOICE STYLE
Section 1 Example:
By discharging electric sparks into a laboratory chamber
atmosphere that consisted of water vapor, hydrogen gas,
methane, and ammonia, Stanley Miller obtained data that
showed that a number of organic molecules, including
many amino acids, could be synthesized. Miller was
attempting to model early Earth conditions as understood
in the 1950s. The results of Miller’s experiments best
support which of the following hypotheses?
(A) The molecules essential to life today did not exist at the
time Earth was first formed.
(B) The molecules essential to life today could not have been
carried to the primordial Earth by a comet or meteorite.
(C) The molecules essential to life today could have formed
under early Earth conditions.
(D) The molecules essential to life today were initially selfreplicating proteins that were synthesized approximately
four billion years ago
NEW MATH QUESTIONS
Section 2 Example:
In a certain species of flowering plant, the purple allele
P is dominant to the yellow allele p.
A student performed a cross between a purple-flowered
plant and a yellow-flowered plant. When planted, the
146 seeds that were produced from the cross matured
into 87 plants with purple flowers and 59 plants with
yellow flowers.
Calculate the chi-squared value for the null hypothesis
that the purple-flowered parent was heterozygous for
the flower-color gene. Give your answer to the
nearest tenth.
10 POINT FREE RESPONSE
Plants lose water from their aboveground surfaces in the process of transpiration. Most of this water is lost from
stomata, microscopic openings in the leaves. Excess water loss can have a negative effect on the growth,
development, and reproduction of a plant. Severe water loss can be fatal. Environmental factors have a major
impact on the rate of plant transpiration.
TRANSPIRATION RATE VERSUS TEMPERATURE
Temperature (°C)
20
23
27
28
Transpiration rate (mmol/m2• sec)
1.5
3
5
4.5
(a)
Using the data above and the axes provided, draw a graph showing the effect of temperature change on the
rate of transpiration. Explain the shape of the curve from 23 degrees to 28 degrees.
(b)
Humidity is an environmental factor that affects transpiration rate. Using the axes provided, draw a curve
that illustrates what you predict would be the rate of transpiration with increasing humidity and constant
temperature. Justify the shape of the curve based on your prediction.
(c)
The curve below illustrates the rate of transpiration related to the percent of open stomata on the leaf of a
particular plant. Explain why the curve levels off with increasing percentage of open stomata per area of
the leaf. (Graph would be present on actual test)
(d)
The data below show the density of stomata on the leaf surfaces of three different species of plants.
Describe the environments in which each plant most likely evolved. Justify your Descriptions.
Stomata Density (# of stomata/mm2)
Plant
In Upper Epidermis
In Lower Epidermis
Anacharis
0
0
Water lily
420
0
Black walnut
0
465
3 TO 4 POINT FREE RESPONSE
Populations of a plant species have been found
growing in the mountains at altitudes above
2,500 meters. Populations of a plant that appears
similar, with slight differences, have been found
in the same mountains at altitudes below 2,300
meters.
(a) Describe TWO kinds of data that could be
collected to provide a direct answer to the
question, do the populations growing above 2,500
meters and the populations growing below 2,300
meters represent a single species?
(b) Explain how the data you suggested in part (a)
would provide a direct answer to the question.
BREAK
Getting to know you…
Let’s play “2 truths and 1 lie”
1.
I was married outside in a thunderstorm – Mt.
Gretna, PA.
2.
My hands and feet are certified lethal weapons –
1st degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
3.
This summer my family and I vacationed at the
Galapagos Islands.
EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS CLASS

Desire to learn biology

You will read your textbook

Complete assignments

Participate in class

1 Research Paper – DNA DAY essay contest

Read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”
GRADING

Tests and Quizzes
55%

Lab
25%

Projects
10%

Homework
10%
UNITS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Intro/Nature of Science &
Chemistry/Biochemistry
Cells, Cell Membranes & Cell Transport
Energy, ATP & Cellular Respiration
Photosynthesis & Plants
Cellular Reproduction
Genetics
Molecular Genetics / Biotechnology
Evolution
Cell Signaling & Animal Systems
Ecology
TEXTBOOK
Campbell, Reece, et al., AP Edition Campbell
Biology, 9th edition, Benjamin Cummings, 2011.
 On-line access code – I will have this for you
soon.

1ST HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
View Bozeman Biology video 005 “Essential
Characteristics of Life”
(http://www.bozemanscience.com/005-essentialcharacteristics-of-life) and complete video
worksheet. Due Tuesday 8/26/14 - Start of
class.
 Read & Sign Lab Safety Contract. Get
parent/guardian signature on Lab Safety
Contract. Due Thursday 8/28/14 – Start of
Class.
 Ask your parent to complete the “AP Biology
Parent Survey” found on my website. Due
Tuesday 9/2/14 – by 7:34 am.
