Hello AP Bio,
I hope that you are enjoying your summer break. Here are some activities that you need to do this
summer to be prepared for AP Biology in the fall. You will begin to think scientifically and brush up on
some math skills. Please note that this assignment will be collected for a grade at the end of the first week
of school.
Have a fun summer and please check out this class website (www.phsapscience.weebly.com) as the new
school year approaches.
I. Materials: These are the materials that you need for the year.
Composition Notebook (like you had in elementary school) we will do an interactive notebook
Colored pencils/markers (your choice)
Sticky notes (the smaller ones work better but if you like the big ones go for it.
Index cards (3x5 please) we will be making flash cards. At least 200.
II. File Sharing: I am trying something new this year. Most of your assignments will be submitted
electronically using Google Drive.
1. Create a Gmail account (if you have one already GREAT use that one.)
2. Go to Google Drive
3. Create a new folder (under the red button on the right)
4. Title it [Your Name AP Bio 2015]
5. Open the folder and click on the share icon (head with a +)
6. Share your folder with mbrown1@hampton.k12.va.us
Lost? I have posted a video on the website.
III. “Novum Organum” by Francis Bacon
Read the selection from Bacon’s “Novum Organum” and answer the following questions.
1. What is the difference between “the instrument of the hand” and “the instrument of the mind”?
2. For Bacon, what is the relationship between experience and experiment?
3. Why do the “experiments of light” that Bacon describes never miss or fail?
4. Why is curbing the imagination’s flight important to the advancement of science, in Bacon’s view?
5. In most current descriptions of experimental biology, a researcher formulates a question, makes
observations, and then constructs a hypothesis as a tentative casual explanation. The researcher the
conducts an experiment or experiments to test the hypothesis. How does this approach to the
scientific method compare to Bacon’s description of “experiments of light”?
6. In what fundamental ways does Bacon suggest that scientific inquiry differs from beliefs based on
faith?
IV. Flashcards: We will be making flash cards of important terms and concepts. You are going to start off
with a few of the basics.
Your cards will look like this.
Unit title
Information
Term
Side 1
Unit: Macromolecules
1. Amino Acid 2. Carbohydrate
3. Nucleic Acid
4. Lipid
5. Monomer
6. Polymer
7. Dehydration Synthesis
8. Hydrolysis
9. Hydrogen Bond
10. Covalent bond
11. Ionic bond
12. Nucleotide
13. Peptide bond
14. Endergonic reaction
15. Exergonic reaction
Unit: Water Chemistry
1. Polarity
2. Cohesion
3. Adhesion
4. Water
5. Surface Tension
6. Heat Capacity
7. Solvent
8. Solute
Side 2
Unit: Enzymes
1. Enzyme
2. Catalyst
3. Active Site
4. Substrate
5. Endergonic reaction
6. Exergonic reaction
7. Anabolism
8. Catabolism
9. Entropy
10. Denaturation
Amino Acid Reference Chart
The human genome codes for unique 20 amino acids. You will draw each amino acid and use the color
key to categorize each one.
Put the name in the following colors
☐Polar (Green) ☐ Non-polar (blue)
Circle the side chain in RED if it is Hydrophobic
Lightly color the box in the following colors if it is
☐ Acidic (yellow)☐ Basic (purple)