Advanced Placement Biology Course Overview The AP Biology class is structured to simulate an entry-level biology curriculum at a four-year college or university. The course has two major foci: 1) to prepare students for college by offering a rigorous curriculum and 2) to prepare students for success on the AP Biology Exam. All students enrolled in the course are required to take the Exam. The pacing plan for the course was developed using AP Survival Guide software and reflects the suggested time proportions for the three main sections of Molecules and Cells (25%), Heredity and Evolution (25%) and Organisms and Populations (50%). Students begin work on the first course unit (Chemistry and Biochemistry) during the summer preceding their enrollment. Throughout the school year class time is divided between discussions, demonstrations, multimedia presentations and hands-on laboratory work. Class time is roughly equally divided between “lecture” and ”labs” to simulate, as much as possible, a college biology course. It is occasionally necessary to conduct Saturday and evening labs to accommodate the schedules of the school and students. Additional content-specific tutoring sessions are scheduled as necessary throughout the year. The three major AP Bio units (mentioned above) are divided into ten smaller units. Students are required to read assigned chapters for each unit and complete objectives that help focus their study. These objectives incorporate the eight major unifying themes of AP Biology (listed in order of emphasis): evolution; energy transfer; continuity and change; relationship of structure to function; regulation; interdependence in nature; science, technology and society; and science as a process. Emphasis is placed on connecting each of these themes to each unit (in all assigned activities) and students are required to chart these relationships on a per unit basis. This approach helps the students recognize how the unit-specific details relate to the overarching themes. Course Content Course material is covered in a variety of ways. Because traditional lecture has been proven through research to be the least effective way for students to learn it is infrequently used to convey content. Instead, discussions are offered that more actively involve students. These discussions center on the assigned objectives and a considerable emphasis is placed on using the eight themes to connect concepts and details from one unit to the next. Discussions are augmented with both video content from a variety of sources (internet news, Planet Earth and Deep Ocean DVD series, for example) and demonstrations. Other realia such as preserved specimens and fossils help to engage students in connecting with the material. Discussions often loop back to previous units as a means of connecting details through the overarching themes. At the end of each unit class time is allotted to discuss and demonstrate how the unit is related to each of the themes and students are required to take notes in table format to prepare for the upcoming unit test as well as the AP Bio Exam. The most emphasis is placed on the themes of evolution, energy transfer and continuity and change. Through this activity students begin to develop thematic connections that will serve as concrete details for their AP Exam free response answers. There is considerable time devoted to the Page 1 examination of evolution (by natural selection) as the core theme in modern biology. For example, our exploration of molecules and cells includes a careful look at molecular evolution, the evolution of cell membranes, and the endosymbiotic theory. Supplemental readings from prominent evolutionary biologists (Margulis, Darwin, Gould, Dawkins) reinforce the importance of evolution as a central component of biological thought. The Laboratory Program The twelve core AP Biology labs are conducted in a sequence that is dependent upon the unit for which there is the closest conceptual connection. For example, Lab 12 on Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Productivity is scheduled when we are covering the Ecology content. The AP Laboratory Manual is followed as closely as possible using the packaged AP Bio lab kits available from Ward’s Natural Science. An attempt is being made to upgrade each of the labs to include more current technology. Specifically, protocols for several of the core labs (Lab 5 on Cellular Respiration and Lab 9 on transpiration) have been enhanced through the use of Vernier LabPro interfaces and probes in conjunction with a class set of Macintosh iBooks running LoggerPro software. This added level of technological complexity enables students to quickly collect and analyze data and, where appropriate, graph data for use in lab reports. All labs are related to the theme of “science as a process” plus the other themes that are lab-specific. All labs are scheduled as wet labs, but occasionally the consumables or perishable items for a lab do not arrive in time or in viable condition. When this occurs the lab is converted to a dry lab: the equipment is set up, artificial data is supplied (usually from successful experiments from previous years) and students are expected to follow all wet lab procedures. Below is a list of the twelve core labs and their duration (1 class session = 54 minutes): Lab 1: Diffusion and Osmosis 7 sessions Lab 2: Enzyme Catalysis 6 sessions Lab 3: Mitosis and Meiosis 5 sessions Lab 4: Plant Pigments and Photosynthesis 6 sessions Lab 5: Cellular Respiration 8 sessions Lab 6a: Bacterial transformation 4 sessions Lab 6b: DNA electrophoresis 7 sessions Lab 7: Mendelian genetics with Drosophila 10 sessions Lab 8: Population Genetics 3 sessions Lab 9: Transpiration 6 sessions Lab 10: Cardiovascular Physiology 4 sessions Lab 11: Animal Behavior 4 sessions Lab 12: Dissolved Oxygen 6 sessions For each of the core labs there is an introduction or review of equipment protocols, pre-lab group preparation, pre- and post-lab discussions and the lab itself. In addition to these labs, the curriculum includes five supplemental college-level labs using equipment borrowed through a partnership with a private local college. The program, funded initially by the National Science Foundation, allows us to conduct labs based upon equipment (such as a research-grade gas chromatograph) that would otherwise be unavailable to our school. The program funds the delivery of the equipment to our school site, most consumables used in the labs, and training on the use of all equipment and protocols. These labs average three days in duration and ensure that students are involved in labs during more than 90 class sessions. Page 2 Connections to research and commercial use of the processes and equipment involved help further student understanding about the theme of science, technology and society. These additional labs are as follows: 1. Analysis of Fish Protein 2. Photosynthesis in CAM Plants 3. Yeast Fermentation 4. Analysis of Urban, Rural and Bottled Water Quality 5. Amylase Activity Other small quick-labs and computer simulations complete the lab program. Students organize into lab groups of usually four to five individuals. Group members rotate through the various roles (experimenter, data collector, manager) from one lab to the next. At the conclusion of each lab, groups must prepare a word-processed lab report that includes the following four sections: 1. Introduction—a general summary of the underlying principles and concepts with specific correlation to objectives, themes and other class reading assignments. 2. Methods—a summary of the procedure and lab equipment used with drawings of lab apparati and setups. This section also includes a summary of the student’s expected results. 3. Results—data are presented in appropriate formats (usually tabular for numerical data) and numerical data are also graphed. 4. Discussion—analysis of data, comparison of experimental data to expected results and synthesis of implications with broader themes. The Course Outline and Pacing Plan The following course syllabus for each semester outlines the overall topics and content covered, the reading assignments for each unit, the scheduled labs and the rough due dates for major assignments. The “U” stands for Unit and the parenthetical info represents the number of class sessions (days) required for each unit. For example, in Week 3 [ U2 Cells (15d) ] means we begin Unit 2 on Cells and will spend approximately 15 days covering that material. In the column labels Chs are the student reading assignments for the topic of that week. The labs appear in the Labs column and the Assignments column contains information regarding scheduled tests, rough due dates for major assignments and supplemental reading assignments from the Nature of Life anthology. A. P. Biology Fall Semester Syllabus Wk Dates 1 2 3 9/49/8 9/119/15 9/189/22 Topics / Concepts Chs Lab Activities Class Intro, reqs, books, Chemistry review from summer assignments free energy changes, enzymes 1-6 Goals assign Study Schedule General Lab Prep U2: Cells (15d): Prokaryotic, eukaryotic cell structure 7 Amylase lab Page 3 Assignments Unit 1 Test (2-6) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 1/151/19 1/221/26 1/29-2/2 Wk Dates 1 Feb 5-9 2 Feb 12-16 3 Feb 19-23 7 Feb 26Mar 2 8 Mar 5-9 4 Mar 12-16 5 Mar 19-23 19 8 Fish Protein Lab Margulis Article Lab 1: Diffusion & Osmosis Lab 5: Cellular Respiration YEAST LAB Unit 2 Test (7,8,12) Lab 7: Genetics Lab 4: Photosyn Unit 3 Test (9-10) 12 U3: Cellular Energetics (12d): coupled reactions fermentation, cellular respiration 9 10 photosynthesis Lab 1 Report Lab 5 Report U5: Molecular Genetics (14d): RNA & DNA struct/funct, gene to protein viral structure & replication 16, 17 Mutation gene regulation THANKSGIVING DNA technol. & applications 19 20 Lab 7: F2 Unit 5 Test (16-20) U4: Heredity (12d): meiosis, gametogenesis eukaryotic chromosome inheritance patterns WINTER BREAK 13 Lab 3: Mitosis & Meiosis Lab 7 Report 14. 15 Lab 3 Report Unit 4 Test (13-15) U6: Evol Bio (13d) Darwin, evol. theory/mechanisms Mechanisms of Evolution Evolution U7: Diversity of Organisms (12d): 22, 23, Darwin Article 18 24, 25 Lab 6: Molec. Bio Lab 7: F1 Lab 4 Report Watson Article Dawkins Article Lab 6 Report Lab 8: Population Genetics 26 Unit 6 Test (22-26) Lab 8 Report Final Exams Darwin Article (NS) Topics / Concepts Unit 9A Chs 40-42 6 membranes, organelles, subcellular organization cell cycle & its regulation Unit 9B Ch 43-45 5 9/259/29 10/210/6 10/910/13 10/1610/20 10/2310/27 10/3011/3 11/611/10 11/1311/17 11/2011/24 11/2712/1 12/412/8 12/1112/15 12/181/5 1/8-1/12 U 9C: 46-49 4 Chs Unit 9a(12d): Intro to Animal Structure & Function 40 Nutrition, Circulation 41 42 Gas Exchange Lab Activities Lab 2 Catalase Lab 10 Physio of Circ. System Unit 9b (10d): The Body’s Defenses Controlling Internal Environment Chemical Signals Assignments 43 44 Lab 2 Report Unit 9a Test Lab 10 report 45 Unit 9c(12d): Animal Repro Animal Development 46 47 Nervous system Sensory & Motor Mech. 48 49 Page 4 Sea Urchin Devel. Unit 9b Test (43-45) Mar 26-30 9 Apr 2-6 10 April 9-13 11 Apr 16-20 12 Apr 23-27 13 Apr 30May 4 14 May 7-11 15 May 14-18 16 May 19-23 17 May 28Jun 1 18 Jun 4-8 19 Jun 11-15 Paper presentations Discussion Groups 20 Jun 18-22 Class evaluations & GRADUATION! Test Prep U 10 50-55 Unit 8: Chs 35-39 6 Unit 8(16d): Plant structure, growth & transport 35, 36 SPRING BREAK Unit 9c Test (46-49) Gould Art. Plant nutrition, reproduction & development 37, 38 Plant control systems 39 Unit 10: Ecology (15d): intro to ecol, behavioral bio, pop. ecol 50-55 Practice Test APRIL 28th Lab 9: Transpir Lab 9 report Water Quality Lab Unit 8 Test Carson Art. Unit 10 Test Lab 12: Dissolved O2 AP TEST REVIEW Lorenz Art. AP TEST! AP TEST! MONDAY 5/14 Research Paper Photosynthesis Lab Research Paper Intro, topic & lit. search Research docs due Research Paper skeletal outline & rough draft Rough draft due Research Paper Final draft, presentation prep Research Paper due Student Assessment Student achievement is determined by the following weighting of assignments: FALL SEMESTER SPRING SEMESTER written objectives 25% written objectives 20% lab reports 15% lab reports 10% multiple choice exams 35% multiple choice exams 25% free response exams 5% free response exams 5% final exam 20% full length Practice AP Exam 20% Research paper 20% Page 5 Objectives are assigned for each unit and are collected after the free response essay exam for that unit. Lab reports are submitted approximately one week after each lab. Unit exams consist of two parts: a multiple-choice test on one day and a free response essay the next. Many exam questions are derived from previously released AP Bio exams. Scoring rubrics (available from the AP Central website) are used for the free responses. In the first semester the final exam consists of 100 questions from Units 1-6. In the second semester the final exam is a released full length AP Exam that serves as practice for the exam in May. After the May AP exam students conduct research for a 4 to 5 page research paper on the topic of their choice. Initial research is done via classroom internet access. Primary source documents are downloaded from online sites such as PubMedCentral or are obtained directly from college libraries. In the final week before the end of the second semester the students conduct a research symposium. In groups of 4-6 they present an abstract of their research papers and are responsible for leading a round-table discussion of their respective topics. See the previous semester syllabi for details concerning scheduled tests and due dates for major assignments such as lab reports and objectives. Page 6 Reading Materials The primary textbook used is Campbell, Reece and Mitchell’s Biology (7th edition). Each student has a book for home and has access to a book for work done during school hours. Supplementary readings are assigned from The Great Books Foundation’s The Nature of Life: Readings in Biology (2001), an anthology of seminal works by scientists of historical import. These readings give students insight into writings by some of the most important individuals that have influenced biological thought and progress. Organization of the chapters allows for easy application to the eight major themes and the book includes shared inquiry discussion questions. The articles regularly used thus far and the syllabus units or themes to which they correspond are: Lynn Margulis’ Life From Scum James Watson’s The Double Helix Richard Dawkin’s The Selfish Gene Darwin’s Natural Selection Darwin’s Conclusion to On the Origin of Species Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Konrad Lorenz’ Ecce Homo! Stephen Jay Gould’s Just in the Middle unit 2 (cells) unit 5 (molecular genetics) unit 5 (molecular genetics) unit 6 (evolution) unit 7 (diversity) unit 10 (ecology) unit 10 (ethology) science, technology & society Other supplementary readings come from special reports by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute such as The Genes We Share With Yeast, Flies, Worms, and Mice, The Race Against Lethal Microbes, and Arousing the Fury of the Immune System. There is a class set of each of these reports for student use. Page 7