AP Biology 2014-2015
AP Biology Summer Work
Welcome to AP Biology! I know “summer” and “work” are not the words you want to hear before you begin
your well-deserved summer break, but I assure you that the work you put in this summer will prepare you for
the rigorous and exciting year ahead. In order to meet the demands of the curriculum (before the AP exam) it
is necessary for you to complete some work before you come back in August. AP Biology is a challenging
course, but it is filled with exploratory labs and rewarding educational experiences (i.e. field trips!) that will
prepare you not only for the AP exam, but for the rigor of college courses.
e-Textbook and supplemental reading:
 Starr, C. and Taggart, R. (2013). Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life AP Edition, 13th Edition.
Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
 Barron’s AP Biology, 4th edition
Website:
www.wecanwithmisschan.weebly.com
Contact info:
E-mail: mchan@uplandchristianacademy.org
What are you required to do?
1. Introductions
 Send me an email. Yes, the first task is that easy. Here is what I would like you to email me at
mchan@uplandchristianacademy.org by Monday, July 7, 2014:
o Your full name (& nickname if you have one)
o Who was your last science teacher? What class? What grade did you earn?
o What other science classes have you taken?
o Why are you taking AP biology? What do you hope to accomplish?
o What do you like to do (hobbies, sports, music, interests)?
o What are your plans for summer break?
o Tell me a little about your family and home life.
o What are your plans after high school (college, major, career)?
o What do you think your greatest area of strength will be in AP Biology?
o What do you think your greatest area of struggle will be in AP Biology?
 These questions will help me to get to know you better before we start the year and hopefully give
me a better understanding of how to help you the most in this class. 
2. Vocabulary
 Familiarize yourself with the terms on “100 Words to Know before Starting AP Biology”. You
will have three vocabulary quizzes (25 terms each) during the first couple weeks of school.
 Create a Quizlet account at www.quizlet.com. Do not purchase an account, just use the free
option. When you create your account, go to “add a class” in the left panel and search for “AP
Biology-Miss Chan”. You will create flashcards for the chapter vocabulary (terms in red). Each
card should have the definition and you should include a root word and meaning for terms that you
find difficult to memorize. These flashcards will be due on Monday, August 11th. You do not
need to add the cards to the class, I can log in and check completion on my end.
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AP Biology 2014-2015
3. Unit One Reading
 Read chapters 1, 2 and 3 from our AP Biology textbook. You are not required to outline the
chapters, but I do suggest making highlights and notes to the pdf document (this can be done using
Notability). At the end of each chapter you will complete the self-quiz, critical thinking questions
and AP review questions. Responses must be typed with an MLA heading and will be e-mailed to
be on Monday, August 11th.
4. Current events and Peer-reviewed articles
 Find one news article that covers a topic in plant research. The article should be dated within the
last two years (2012-2014). Article and document will be e-mailed to me on Monday, August
11th. For the article do the following
o Obtain a copy of the article. Circle vocabulary/unfamiliar science terms in each article.
o In a word document,
 Identify the chapter to which the article relates.
 Write a summary of the article (100 word minimum)
o Find a peer-reviewed research article that relates to the topic of the news article (dated
from 2000-2014). Read the abstract and include the citation in your news article summary.
Below are instructions for finding and citing your article.
 Go to http://pubs.acs.org/. In the top yellow search box, type in a key term(s) for
your topic. Refine the search by clicking on the “research” tab under “search
results”. If you have trouble finding an article, e-mail me and I will guide you
through the process.
 Citations should be in APA format (refer to
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/07/ for citation guidelines).
5. Last one I promise…AP Exam Preparation
 Go to https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-biology/exam-practice
 Download and review the AP course and exam description. Create a word document including the
following information:
o Exam date & fees
o Exam structure (Section descriptions, time allotment, scoring, question types)
o What is the calculator policy for the exam?
o What are the 4 big ideas covered in the course? (do not need the full summary)
o What are the curricular requirements of the course?
o What are the resource requirements of the course?
o E-mail the document to me by Monday, August 11th.
 Read the AP Exam Prep section of your AP Textbook.
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