Facts About the AP Biology
Exam
Structure of Test
3
Hours long
Divided into two sections
Section
I --100 multiple choice
questions
Section II--4 Essay questions
Section I
100
multiple choice questions
45
seconds per question
80 minutes
3 parts
to answer 100 questions
Regular multiple choice questions
Matching questions
Questions dealing with experiments
data
or
Section II
4
Essay questions
10 minute reading period
90 minutes to answer all 4 essays
22
minutes per essay
Section I--58 multiple choice questions
Example: If a segment of DNA
reads 5’ATG-CCA-GCT-3’, the mRNA strand that
results will be
(A) 3’-TAC-GGT-CGA-5’
(B) 3’-UAC-AGT-CAA-5’
(C) 3’-TAA-GCU-CGA-5’
(D) 3’-UAC-GCU-CGA-5’
Section I-Experiments
or data
Given a diagram and multiple choice
questions about diagram
Common sense/ logical deduction
more useful than strict science
Section II
4
free response essays
Divided into parts--vary in difficulty
Questions
Area
1: Molecules and cells
Area 2: Heredity and Evolution
Area 3: Organisms and populations
Sample Free Response
Enzymes
A.
are biological catalysts
Relate the chemical structure of an enzyme
to its catalytic activity and specificity
B. Design an experiment that investigates the
influence of temperature, substrate
concentration, or pH on the activity of an
enzyme
C. Describe what information concerning
enzyme structure could be inferred from the
experiment you have designed
Scoring
Maximum
points Section I-100 pts
Maximum
points Section II- 40 pts
60%
of grade
10 pts per essay
40% of grade
Raw
question
scores translated into composite
scores---then to AP number grade 1-5
Example
 (Raw
score for section I)=(Number answered
correctly)-(Number wrong÷4)
 Convert raw score to composite score
 (Composite
Section I)
 (Raw
score of section I=0.75x(Raw score for
score for section II)=(Points for essay
1)+(Points for essay 2)+(Points for essay 3)+(Points
for essay 4)
 (Composite score for section II)=1.5 x(Raw score
for section II)
ETS Grading System
Composite score
AP Grade
Comment
82-135
5
63-81
4
Extremely well
qualified
Well Qualified
47-62
3
Qualified
29-46
2
Possibly Qualified
0-28
1
No
recommendation
Strategy 1: Pace Yourself!
 Take
your time--do not need to answer every
question--mistakes accounted for
 Go for questions you know skip the ones you don’t
To get score
Section I
Section II
1
25
2 to 3 essays
2
40
3 essays
3
60
3 to 4 essays
4
85
4 essays
5
100
4 essays
Strategy 2: Three-Pass System
Perfect
score- do not have to answer every
question
Skip most difficult questions
Easiest questions first
Medium questions second pass
Hard question last pass
WATCH THE BUBBLES!
Strategy 3: Process of
Elimination (POE)

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
The structure that act as the sites of
gas exchange in a woody stem are the
Lungs
Gills
Lenticels
Ganglia
Lentil beans
Strategy 4: Aggressive
Guessing
4
wrong answers = Loss of 1 point
Eliminate 2 answer choices--guess
Strategy 5: Word Associations
Know
your science vocabulary
Help you to narrow down choices
Strategy 6: Mnemonics
King
Phillip of German came over for
great spagetti
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family,
genus, species
Strategy 7: EXCEPT questions
10
percent -Except/Not/Least
Wrong--Least correct
Cross of the ones that apply to
question
Strategy 8: ETS Essay
ETS
readers looking for hot button terms=
points
Read each question 2x
10 minute period- brainstorm write down
key terms
Outline essay using key terms
If asks for 2 examples--give just 2
examples
Use diagrams but must label correctly
Signal Words
Description-
detailed verbal picture”just
the facts”--not opinions
Discussion-conversation among ideas
Explain-take something complicated and
make it more clear--simpler terms
Compare- answer that is focused on
similarities between 2 things
Contrast- answer emphasizing differences