Science
Suffolk Public Schools
Honors to AP
Preparation Marks Success
AP Biology
Pre-requisite(s): ―B or better in Chemistry or Honors Chemistry
Expectations:
1) Students are expected to perform on a level acceptable for a college course.
a. Self-sufficiency in learning is necessary. A student should expect to invest a
minimum of 5-10 hours per week in outside study/reading time.
b. The use of outside resources, such as websites and AP Biology study guides, is
expected.
2) Students are expected to use critical and analytical thinking skills in applying knowledge to
new situations, such as labs, free-response essays, etc.
3) Students are expected to prepare for the AP examination with the intention of earning a
passing score.
4) Students should expect that grades will reflect their level of academic performance based
on criteria set by the CollegeBoard.
5) Students are expected to become proficient in the laboratory setting; with the goal of
developing the skills to self-design lab investigations, both for analysis and presentation.
Suggested reading list:
 The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner
 Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honeybee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis by Rowan
Jacobsen
 The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Suggested websites:
 Learn Genetics (http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/)
 Bozeman Science (http://www.bozemanscience.com/)
 Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/)
 The Biology Place
(http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/index.html)
Summer Assignment:
Suffolk Public Schools wishes to promote a summer assignment that prepares students for a rigorous
program in Biology. The following assignments are designed to promote a serious academic attitude
that demonstrates a high degree of self-discipline and self-motivation.
OPTION 1
Assignment:
 Read The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan.
 Please download the Word document entitled Citywide Omnivore’s Dilemma Study Guide. This
can be located at http://www.spsk12.net/departments/high/science.htm.You may type your
answers into the document. Include the page number(s) on which you found your answers. (A
copy of the document has been placed in this assignment as a reference.)
Science
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Suffolk Public Schools
Honors to AP
Preparation Marks Success
Some of the terms are not fully explained in the book, so some research may be required to
answer the questions. Seek help from the Cliffs AP Biology study guide, textbooks, or internet
sources. Be sure to cite your sources.
Electronic copies may be submitted into Edmodo (www.edmodo.com). To access the group
code, please contact your instructor at the following e-mail address:
o Mrs. Ficklen – NRHS (carficklen@spsk12.net)
o Mrs. Story – KFHS (shestory@spsk12.net)
Due Date:
 The work is due on the second day of class.
Guided Reading Questions for Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by
Michael Pollan
Introduction
1. What prompted the “low carb/high protein” movement of the early 2000s?
2. Name four things that the author states would never happen in a stable food culture.
3. What is the “omnivore’s dilemma”?
4. Describe three ways in which our brain size helps us deal the omnivore’s dilemma.
5. How does the lack of a stable food culture leave us vulnerable?
6. How do humans differ from other eaters in nature?
7. How has industrial agriculture changed our reliance on the sun for our energy?
Part I – Industrial Corn
Chapter 1 – The Plant: Corn’s Conquest
8. Define biodiversity and describe how the grocery stores would appear to promote it.
9. Cite five reasons as to why corn has come to narrow the biological diversity of the foods
from which we choose.
10. What advantage do C4 plants have over C3 plants?
11. What are isotopes?
12. Citing evidence from carbon-13 levels in human tissues, explain why North Americans are
found to have ingested more corn than Mexicans, whose staple food is corn?
13. Cite five reasons why corn appealed to wheat growers in North America.
14. How did genetic changes in teosinte lend to the success of corn as a food source, yet
caused it to become dependent on humans?
15. Define the parental generation, the F1 generation and the F2 generation.
16. Why has the F1 generation hybrid become the center of industrial technology? Why is the
F2 generation not as successful?
Chapter 2 – The Farm
17. How does the production of today’s farms compare with the production of farms during
the early 20th century?
18. What makes George Naylor’s farm a “food desert”?
19. Why does Naylor not plant genetically modified corn?
20. How has the F1 hybrid affected the competitive attributes of corn?
21. How did corn affect the biodiversity of farms?
22. Prior to the 1950s, what methods did farmers use to replenish the nitrogen levels in the
soil?
23. Why is nitrogen necessary for living organisms?
Science
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Honors to AP
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24. What is the source of hydrogen that is used in the Haber-Bosch method of producing
fertilizer? What are the ecological concerns of this method?
Chapter 3 – The Elevator
25. What are “deficiency payments”? How does the government use these to keep corn
production high?
26. Define biomass. What do large amounts of biomass lend to? Gove some examples of these
as it pertains to the high production of corn.
27. Where does most of the corn end up? What have been substituted for the cow and why?
Chapter 4 – The Feedlot: Making Meat
28. How much of the commodity corn goes to feed livestock?
29. Explain how government policies have produced suburbs for humans and cities for animals.
30. Describe the economic and biological repercussions of CAFOS.
31. What is the ecological benefit of cows feeding on grass?
32. What is the benefit of feeding corn to cows? Why is it unhealthy for us?
Chapter 5 – The Processing Plant: Making Complex Foods
33. About how much actual corn does each person eat per year?
34. Describe what happens to each part of the corn kernel.
35. What is the purpose of the endosperm in a seed?
36. In what ways does the wet milling process mimic digestion?
37. What is high fructose corn syrup?
38. What is the benefit of processing food?
39. What is resistant starch and what is its appeal?
Chapter 6 – The Consumer: A Republic of Fat
40. Describe the events in the 1970s that have contributed to obesity in America.
41. Discuss why the use of HFCS beginning in 1984 caused people to drink more soft drinks.
42. What was David Wallerstein’s reasoning for lobbying for larger portions of junk food?
43. What is the “thrifty gene”? How has it contributed to obesity?
44. Compare the calories that $1 will purchase in junk food and whole foods. How has this
influenced food purchases?
Chapter 7 – The Meal: Fast Food
45. Why is fast food so appealing to people?
46. List the ingredients of McDonald’s chicken nuggets that are derived from corn and describe
their purpose.
47. What is the purpose of “leavening agents” in chicken nuggets? Discuss two that are
potentially harmful to us.
48. About how much corn, does the author estimate is contained in a family meal from
McDonald’s? Why does he include the amount of corn that the chickens consumed?
49. What is the function of a mass spectrometer?
50. Why does the author refer to the industrial eater a “corn’s koala”?
51. How much energy from corn is received if eaten directly? How much is pass from
steers/cows? Draw an ecological pyramid to illustrate.
Part II – Pastoral Grass
Chapter 8 – All Flesh is Grass
52. Define “pastoral.”
53. Give two “services” performed by chickens at Polyface.
54. Why does Salatin refer to soil as the “earth’s stomach”? List at least six organisms that Salatin
states are contained in a square foot of land.
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55. Describe how animals contribute to the “human-grass alliance.”
56. What was the purpose of hunter-gatherers setting fire to the savanna?
57. What advantage do grasses have over trees?
58. Why is Polyface farm more sustainable than other organic farms?
Chapter 9 – Big Organic
59. In what ways was the author disillusioned by Whole Foods’ claims of organic food?
60. Why did organic gardening become popular around 1969?
61. What is humus?
62. Describe two symbiotic relationships involving plants.
63. Why is the increase in yields that artificial fertilizer gives not sustainable?
64. How did alar contribute to the rise of the organic food industry?
65. Why was the USDA’s ruling requiring “access to pasture” for organic cows considered a hollow
rule?
66. Why is frequent tilling bad for the soil?
67. How do legumes help build up nitrogen in the soil?
68. Why are polyphenols important? How do they compare in conventionally-grown vs. organicallygrown foods? Why is this true?
69. In what ways could “industrial organic food chain” be considered a contradiction in terms?
Chapter 10 – Grass: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Pasture
70. Discuss the principles of grass farming.
71. What problems occur from overgrazing?
72. How does grazing help grasses thrive?
73. What is the greatest source of new organic matter in grassland? How do ruminants help renew
this source?
74. Why is high biodiversity beneficial to an ecosystem?
75. List some additional “costs” that are typically calculated into the cost of cheap, fast food.
76. For what reasons does grass farming no mesh well with industry logic?
Chapter 11 – The Animals: Practicing Complexity
77. Describe the relationship between birds and herbivores and why it is beneficial.
78. Why is placing excess nitrogen on a pasture harmful?
79. Describe the role of Salatin’s “predators” in the production of compost. How do the cows
contribute?
80. Define “monoculture.” What disadvantages are associated with it?
81. List five benefits of maintaining forest near farmland.
Chapter 12 – Slaughter: In a Glass Abattoir
82. What is the “biological wealth” of the waste products from the chicken slaughter?
Chapter 13 – The Market: “Greetings from the Non-Barcode People”
83. How much of our income is spent on food? How does this compare to the 1950s? what kinds of
things do we spend money on in place of healthier food?
84. Discuss the research findings of Dr. Weston Price.
85. What are some of the drawbacks of globalization of food?
86. Why is a diverse food economy a positive thing?
Chapter 14 – The Meal: Grass Fed
87. In what ways are pastured meats better for us?
Science
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Part III – Personal: The Forest
Chapter 15 –The Forager
88. What are some of the problems that have arisen from agriculture?
89. How do plants, fungi, and bacteria protect themselves from predation?
Chapter 16 – The Omnivore’s Dilemma
90. In what ways are humans obviously omnivorous?
91. Analyze the statement by Pinker: “Disgust is intuitive microbiology.”
92. Discuss at least three things that have resulted from the advent of cooking food.
93. How does the French food culture compare to the American food culture?
Chapter 17 – The Ethics of Eating Animals
94. Discuss the conflicting attitudes that humans have regarding the treatment of animals.
95. Evaluate three of the arguments presented by the author in response to Singer’s Animal
Liberation. In your evaluation, discuss why you do or do not agree with them.
96. How has genetic engineering played a role in the raising of animals for food?
97. Explain how domestication has been an evolutionary event.
98. Discuss four ecological problems that have occurred as a result of pigs being introduced to Santa
Cruz Island.
Chapter 18 – Hunting: The Meat
99. In what ways do the predator and prey act alike?
100. Discuss the history of California’s wild pigs.
101. Describe the parts that each component plays in the food chain involving the pig.
Chapter 19 – Gathering: The Fungi
102. What advantage do humans have when determining which foods are good to eat?
103. Describe the structure of the mushroom, both what we see and what we cannot see.
104. In what two ways do fungi obtain energy? How are they beneficial to the ecosystem?
105. Why do the morels appear after a forest fire?
Chapter 20 – The Perfect Meal
106. How did the author feel toward the organisms that he had “harvested” to prepare the meal for
his friends?
107. What method did the author use to gather yeast for the bread? How did he know whether he
was getting the “right” kind of yeast?
108. Analyze the author’s statement that fast food and slow food “stand at the far extreme ends of
the spectrum of human eating.”
109. Analyze the author’s statement that fast food and slow food “stand at the far extreme ends of
the spectrum of human eating.”
Science
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OPTION 2
The 30 Somethin’ Photo Shoot
Insect Collection --- out! Photo Collection --- in!
The digital age of the 21st century makes taking photo’s easy! With this AP Bio Summer Assignment, you can
demonstrate your creative side while building a base of knowledge by working with the bio terms below.
Here is the meaning of “bio collection” … Digital Style!
1.
2.
COLLECT an item by finding it and taking a photograph (digital or paper printed) of that item. Choose
items that represent a bio-term from the 110 choices below! You need a total of 35.
You do not need to find the exact item on the list, say for example, if it is an internal part to an organism, but
you must apply the term to the specimen you find and explain how this specimen represents the term.
a.
EXAMPLE: If you choose the term “phloem”, you could submit a photograph you have taken of a
plant leaf or a plant stem and then explain what phloem is and specifically where phloem is in your
specimen.
b.
ORIGINAL PHOTOS ONLY:
You cannot use an image from any publication or the Web. The photograph must be original. As
proof of its originality either you, or some object that you own, (i.e. your student i.d. or school
i.d.) must be included in EVERY photo. 
c.
NATURAL ITEMS ONLY:
‘Some’ specimens may be used for more than one item, but all must be from something that you have
found in nature. Take a walk around your yard, neighborhood, and town. Research what the term
means and in what organisms it can be found... and then go out and find one. If you go on vacation …
enjoy gathering pics from a different biome, perhaps.
3.
MINIMUM: 35 photos/terms … with a concise, original explanation linking photo to the term.
a. Be accurate.
b. Make it your explanation for the linking of the picture with the term.
4.
PROJECT PRESENTATION: Your choice --- digital photo story (Microsoft software is free) digital
photograph book, printed pictures in a bound story book format, digital Prezi presentation (free software) ,
printed pics in a creative scrap book … upload to You-Tube with music??... Make it YOU!
Science
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Honors to AP
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5. Email final project to AP Instructor when completed or bring the first week to class.
(Adapted from Kim Foglia)
BIOLOGY - COLLECTION TERMS
1. adaptation of an animal
2. adaptation of a plant
3. abscisic acid
4. actin
5. amniotic egg
6. amylase
7. angiosperm
8. animal that has a segmented body
9. annelid
10. anther & filament of stamen
11. arthropod
12. archaebacteria
13. autotroph
14. auxin producing area of a plant
15. basidiomycete
16. Batesian mimicry
17. biological magnification
18. bryophyte
19. C 4 plant
20. Calvin cycle
21. carbohydrate – fibrous
22. cambium
23. cellulose
24. chitin
25. chlorophyta
26. cnidarian
27. coelomate
28. conifer leaf
29. commensalism
30. connective tissue
31. cuticle layer of a plant
32. deciduous leaf
33. deuterostome
34. dicot plant with flower & leaf
35. diploid chromosome number
36. echinoderm
37. ectotherm
38. endosperm
39. endotherm
40. enzyme
41. epithelial tissue
42. ethylene
43. eubacteria
44. eukaryote
45. exoskeleton
46. fermentation
47. flower ovary
48. frond
49. fruit – dry with seed
50. fruit – fleshy with seed
51. gametophyte
52. gastropod
53. genetically modified organism
54. gibberellins
55. glycogen
56. gymnosperm cone
56. gymnosperm cone
57. haploid chromosome number
58. heartwood
59. hermaphrodite
60. insect
61. K-strategist
62. keratin
63. leaf – gymnosperm
64. lepidoptera
65. lichen
66. lignin
67. lipid used for energy storage
68. littoral zone organism
69. long-day plant
70. meristem
71. modified leaf of a plant
72. modified root of a plant
73. modified stem of a plant
74. monocot plant with flower & leaf
75. muscle fiber – striated
76. mutualism
77. mycelium
78. mycorrhizae
79. myosin
80. nematode
81. niche
82. nymph stage of an insect
83. parasite
84. parenchyma cells
85. phloem
86. pine cone – female
87. platyhelminthes
88. pollen
89. pollinator
90. porifera
91. prokaryote
92. protein – fibrous
93. protein – globular
94. protostome
95. pteridophyte
96. r-strategist
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40. enzyme
41. epithelial tissue
42. ethylene
43. eubacteria
44. eukaryote
45. exoskeleton
46. fermentation
47. flower ovary
48. frond
49. fruit – dry with seed
50. fruit – fleshy with seed
51. gametophyte
52. gastropod
53. genetically modified organism
54. gibberellins
55. glycogen
96. r-strategist
97. radial symmetry
98. rhizome
99. scale from animal with two-chambered
heart
100. spore
101. sporophyte
102. stem – herbaceous
103. stem – woody
104. stigma & style of carpel
105. tendril of a plant
106. thorn of a plant
107. unicellular organism
108. vascular plant tissue
109. xerophyte
110. xylem