June 2015
Welcome to AP Biology!
You are in for a fun and challenging year! AP Biology is truly a college level course that follows
the curriculum of an introductory biology course taken by biology or science majors. You will be
expected to keep up with the pace of the course, which will require diligent study habits and a strong
desire to learn.
The AP Biology curriculum is designed for students who have completed and excelled in 1 year
of high school biology and 1 year of high school chemistry. As we have done over the past few years, we
have opened this course to underclassmen, including freshmen, who have demonstrated the ability to
master difficult concepts at a fast rate.
Due to the fact that many of you are over 1 year removed from biology and chemistry or haven’t
taken them yet, I am asking you to review the prerequisite concepts of biology and chemistry. Attached
is an outline of the materials that I expect students to know prior to taking this class. To insure that
you have the prerequisite knowledge, there will be a test of the concepts covered on the outline within
the first 2 weeks of class. There will be opportunities outside of class during the first week to meet with
me to discuss any questions you may have with regard to the prerequisite material. There will be a
minimum passing score (83%) that must be earned on this test in order to continue in the course. Those
students who do not meet the minimum passing score will be required to get remediation outside of class
or consider dropping the course. Because this is prerequisite material, the AP Biology textbook is not at
the appropriate level to prepare for this information. There are several resources that I have to help you
prepare:
1. The textbook Modern Biology, the old Biology 1 textbook (a limited number available in the
HS counseling office).
2. The freshmen biology course class notes and study guides, available on my website:
www.gvsd.org/gvhs > teacher pages > Bradley, Joseph > Biology 1 > Mr. Bradley’s Class
Notes OR Study Guides.
3. A study aide to help you review this material. It is available to download on my course page,
from my teacher page, click on AP Biology. The study aide is not going to be graded.
4. The first week in August, a Moodle Quiz will be available. Moodle will be used throughout
the year for homework. There are other resources available on Moodle as well. Again, this is
not going to be graded. To access Moodle, you will need to add yourself to the class. There
is a password = apbio
Finally, for the first day of school, you should have the following items prepared:


A set of 8-12 colored pencils (a hand sharpener is also handy)
A 2” 3 ringed binder for class notes (w/ some loose leaf paper)
I look forward to our year together!
Regards,
Mr. Joe Bradley
AP Biology Teacher
Prerequisite knowledge for AP Biology
Principles of Inquiry
 Controlled experiments
 Hypotheses vs. Predictions
 Theories vs. Laws
 Independent variable
o Treatment levels
o Control group
o Experimental group
 Dependent variable
o Qualitative measurement
o Quantitative measurement
 Displaying and Analyzing data
o Creating Line graphs/Scatter plots
o Creating Bar graphs/histograms
o Calculating rate or slope
o Calculating average
o Calculating x or y intercept
Chemistry:
 Atomic structure
o Periodic table
o Nucleus
o Electron configuration (Bohr Model)
 Electronegativity
 Bonding
o Covalent
 Polar
 Nonpolar
o Ionic
o Hydrogen
o Hydrophobic interaction
 Acids, Bases, Salts, and Buffers
o pH scale
 Chemical reactions
 Concentration
o Moles/L (Molars)
o Percent
 Making dilutions
 Properties of water
o Adhesion
o Cohesion
o Surface tension
o Heat capacity
o Viscosity
Cells Structure:
 Levels of Organization
 Basic structure and function of animal cells
o Nucleus, nuclear envelope, nuclear pores, chromatin, nucleolus
o Plasma membrane, protein channels/receptors, phospholipid bilayer
o Mitochondrion
o Endoplasmic reticulum
o Ribosome
o Golgi complex
o Vesicles/vacuoles
 Concept of Homeostasis (at the cell level)
 Basic differences between eukaryotes and prokaryotes
Cell Reproduction and Heredity
 Basic stages of the cell cycle
o Interphase
o Mitotic stages
 Prophase
 Metaphase
 Anaphase
 Telophase
 Chromosome structure
o Diploid stage
 Homologous pair
o Haploid stage
 Basic Inheritance
o Punnett squares
o Dominant and recessive alleles
o Genotype
 Homozygous (pure)
 Heterozygous (hybrid, carrier)
o Phenotype
Evolution
 Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
 Evidence of Evolution
o Homologous structures
o Vestigial structures
o Fossil record
o Molecular evidence
Diversity of Life
 6 Kingdoms and basic characteristics of each:
o Multicellular or Unicellular
o Prokaryotic or Eukaryotic
o Means of gaining nutrition
o Means of reproduction
 Linnaean classification system (KPCOFGS)