COURSE SYLLABUS FOR MR. SORENSEN’S ADVANCED PLACEMENT
BIOLOGY COURSE
Introduction: This course will be highly demanding and unlike others that you have
taken in high school. AP Biology will require a daily commitment from you and will be
taught like a university class. We will have a large amount of content to cover and a
limited amount of time so there won't be much flexibility in our schedule. Your AP
exam will test you over all the material covered in class and over all of the new AP
Objectives.
On the positive side however, you'll have some big advantages over most AP
biology students in the country. For example, because our school and district puts a
very high priority on your academic success, you will be in a class that will meet for 85
minutes instead of 55 minutes. In exchange for your commitment and hard work, you'll
learn an amazing amount about Biology and will have an excellent chance of passing
your AP exam.
Grading: The grading of this course as far as the U. C. system is concerned will be the
same as that for an honors class. An A will be worth five points; A B will be worth for
four points, and so on. Diamond Bar HS does not weight classes for the school GPA.
Tests will account for 60 percent of your grade, while homework and lab reports
will account for 20 percent. Participation is 10 percent. Each semester there will be a
comprehensive Final Exam worth 10%. The first semester Final is comprehensive over
the semester and the second semester Final is comprehensive over the whole year.
Late homework or lab reports can only be turned in a maximum of one day after
the due date and you'll be docked 50 percent. Homework is due when the bell
rings. If you are late, your work is late. Keep in mind, your only true goal in this
class should be to get a 3 or better on the AP exam! 
Participation: Your participation grade will be determined by how well you focus in
class and contribute to class discussions and the group learning process. It will be 10%
of your overall grade but more importantly, listening and asking questions and paying
attention are critical to learning.
Participation points will be tallied regularly and updated in the grade book at least every
six weeks. Answering questions can get you +2 for an outstanding answer, +1 for a
good answer, 0 for a mediocre answer, -1 for a poor answer or -2 for little or no
attempt to answer.
You can gain points by:
1)
2)
3)
4)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Doing the Opening Activity correctly and on your own.
Answering discussion questions in class correctly.
Taking notes and paying attention.
Asking thoughtful and relevant questions and listening during the answers.
You can lose participation points by:
Not doing the Opening Activity independently or by constantly “borrowing” answers
from others for discussion questions.
Being tardy or not being in your seat when the bell rings disrupts the Opening Activity
and can result in a loss of participation points.
Interrupting others, blurting out answers inappropriately, or giving away answers.
Doing other work in class, sleeping, or being openly inattentive (sitting with your head
down for long periods or reading a magazine would be examples of this), negative, or
disruptive.
Not bringing necessary materials to class such as books and notes.
Four or more tardies is a disruption of class and will result in the loss of at least 10% of
your participation grade. Each additional pair of tardies beyond four will result in the
loss of an additional 10%.
Rules: Common sense, common courtesy, and years of school experience will be your
guide on how to conduct yourself in this class. I will speak to your right away if I feel
that you are being rude or distracting. Please bear in mind that you'll have to maintain
a very high level of concentration for a longer time than you are used to. Since you are
taking a university level class, I will expect university level behavior. All school rules will
be enforced, including no food and no cell phones in class.
Specific Situations: Expect to cover a chapter about every four days, with a test or
quiz every fifth day. Although this pace along with the demands of your other courses
will tire you out, it is important that you are on time, awake, alert, and attentive in
class. If your schedule is unworkable, please change it during the first two weeks
before it is too late. Students with unreasonable schedules will find sometimes find
themselves piling up tardies, unable to get their work done, asleep in classes, doing
homework for other classes during lectures, or in other unacceptable situations. These
things can earn you referrals, impact test scores, and impact your participation grade.
The amount of time needed to be successful in AP Bio varies widely from student to
student, but make sure you have the time and are willing to do the work needed to be
successful.
Topics to be covered:
I. The chemistry of life
II. Energy in living systems
III. Viruses, prokaryotes, and eukaryotes
IV. Cell reproduction
V. DNA and genetics
VI. Evolution and speciation
VII. Classification and simple organisms
VIII. Botany
IX. Zoology
X. Systems of the body
XI. Ecology
Schedule: A sample schedule will be available to you. This will serve as a rough guide
to our classes, lectures and tests this year. Although it may be modified from time to
time, it gives you a good idea of the pacing and content of the class. We will take at
least one AP practice test before you must commit to taking the AP test. The practice
test will give you a good idea of a projected score and what you need to work on.
Reading for AP Biology: I cannot spend a lot of time teaching how to read your text
effectively, but studies show that your effectiveness as a reader has a huge impact on
your success. Reading the chapter is always something I expect. The test questions
come from the test bank from the book and the text is obviously your major
resource. You might consider a reading strategy such as the SQ3R method. This is
where you:
1) Survey the chapter
2) Question: Formulate questions you want to answer as you read the text (these may be
homework questions) and goals you want to reach.
3) Read the chapter, possibly taking notes as well.
4) Recall what you have read in each section before going on.
5) Review what you have read when you are done.
Other Recommendations: I recommend forming study groups so you can pool your
knowledge and keep each other motivated. I also recommend coming to see me if you
have questions. I am around right after school pretty much every day, so feel free to
stop by. My email address is on the school website. I hope you have a great year in AP
Biology!!