Syllabus
AP Biology
11, 12th grades
Mr. Charles Massie
Syllabus (Revised March, 2011)
Textbook:
Biology
Neil A. Campbell, Jane B. Reece
Pearson, Benjamin Cummings, copyright 2005
Readings:
Associated newspaper articles, Magazine articles from subscriptions of Scientific American, Science News, and Discover
General Description and Course Overview:
AP Biology at the high school level during the approximate forty week academic year includes a minimum 25 percent of the instruction time (55 minutes X 5 days per week) devoted to labs.
Course Philosophy
We all share the belief that students will be more successful if their learning includes essential life skills. Such skills as learning to organize, display good study habits and communicate knowledge verbally, kinesthetically, and in writing all create effective students. Understanding these ideas in an AP Biology class and learning how scientists apply these same concepts are essential. AP Biology strives to get students to think like scientists and to question natural phenomena. These goals can be aided by content standards that help focus teacher instruction. All this will help the students make connections throughout the course and to expand critical thinking skills.
Teaching Strategies:
Various teaching techniques used in the course include individual, small group, and large group instruction. Discussion and student input is essential.
- The foremost ideas within the AP Course involve review of lab safety and procedures, note taking, general scientific processes and themes, structure and function at various biotic levels, energy transfers, continuity and change, evolution, interdependence of life, regulation, and science/technology/nature. These themes will be stressed throughout the course with evolution as a unifying idea.
- Hands on activities include short participation demonstrations, lab exercises and specimen identification/organization.
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- The Science—Technology—Society—Environment approach is the basis for the AP Biology curriculum. In-class activities will include critical thinking discussions from newspapers, journals or other readings.
- Students must write a research paper from their own laboratory or field research in a thesis format concerning current issues to be completed by the end of the year. Part of this research involves using proper library or electronic sources for background investigation.
- A Power Point presentation is completed by each lab group dealing with biological ethics. Lab groups are assigned opposing views for these Power Points with each presented and debated in class. Finalization of views is discouraged.
- Computer simulations concerning respiration, photosynthesis, genetic engineering, and evolution are used interactively with individual students or small groups.
Course Planner:
I. Molecules and Cells
A. Chemistry of Life—4 weeks Chapter 3-5, 8
1. Water
2. Organic molecules in organisms
Lab Activity 1 (Properties of Proteins and Carbohydrates)
3. Free energy changes
4. Enzymes
AP Lab 1 (Enzyme Catalysis)
B. Cells—3 weeks Chapters 6, 7, 1, 12
1. Prokaryote and eukaryote cell review
2. Membranes and transport in cells
AP Lab 2 (Diffusion and Osmosis)
3. Subcellular organization
4. Cell cycle and its regulation
C. Cellular Energetics—2.5 weeks Chapters 8-10
1. Coupled reactions
Interactive Photosynthesis/Respiration Software 1
2. Fermentation and Cellular Respiration including physiological effect
3. Photosynthesis including C4/CAM/carbon cycle
Lab Activity 2 (Plant Pigments Using Paper Chromatography)
AP Lab 4 (Plant Pigments and Photosynthesis)
II Heredity and Evolution
A. Heredity—3 weeks Chapter 13-15
1. Meiosis and gametogenesis
AP Lab 5 (Mitosis and Meiosis)
2. Eukaryotic chromosomes
Interactive Mitosis/Meiosis Software 2
3. Inheritance patterns
Lab Activity 3 (Monohybrid and Dihybrid Crosses)
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AP Lab 6 (Genetics and Organisms)
Interactive Mendelian Genetics Software 2
B. Molecular Genetics—5 weeks Chapters 16-20
1. RNA and DNA structure and function
Lab Activity 4 (Creating a DNA Model)
Lab Activity 5 (Isolation of DNA from Onion Cells)
Interactive DNA Structure Software 3
2. Gene regulation
3. Mutation
4. Viral structure and replication
Lab Activity 6 (Demonstration of Disease Transmission)
5. Nucleic acid technology and applications
AP Lab 7 (Molecular Biology)
C. Evolutionary Biology—3.5 weeks Chapters 22-26
1. Early evolution of life
2. Evidence for evolution
Lab Activity 7 (Making Microspheres)
AP Lab 8 (Population Genetics and Evolution)
3. Mechanisms of evolution
III Organisms and Populations
A. Diversity of Organisms—6 weeks Chapters 25-34
1. Evolutionary patterns
Lab Activity 8 (Demonstration of Natural Selection)
2. Survey of the diversity of life
3. Phylogenetic classification
4. Evolutionary relationships
Lab Activity 9 (Comparative Anatomy of Plant Divisions)
Lab Activity 10 (Comparative Anatomy of Animal Phyla)
B. Structure and Function of Plants and Animals—6 weeks Chapter 21, 29, 35-39,
1. Reproduction, growth, and development (plants) 40-49, 51
Lab Activity 11 (Gametophyte and Sporophyte Analysis)
2. Reproduction, growth, and development (animals)
3. Structural, physiological, and behavioral adaptations (plants)
4. Response to the environment (plants)
Lab Activity 12 (Light Color, Intensity and Plant Physiology)
5. Response to the environment (animals)
AP Lab 9 (Physiology of the Circulatory System)
Lab Activity 13 (Use of a Spirometer)
C. Ecology—3 weeks Chapter 50, 52-55
1. Populations dynamics
Lab Activity 14 (Graphing Yeast Populations)
2. Communities and ecosystems
3. Global issues
Lab Activity 15 (Demonstration of Global Warming)
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Tutorials:
Tutorials are held after school for 30 minutes 1-2 times each week. These tutorials will be utilized for the following:
- understanding and completion of lab activities or AP lab exercises,
- time to review computer software for various activities,
- finishing outside readings that will be assigned periodically during the course,
- discussion of assigned topics for further understanding,
- completion of formatted chapter outlines, and
- assessment of practice AP testing
Lab Component:
To stress biology and science in general as an on-going process, lab activities and AP lab assignments will emphasis developing/testing of the hypothesis, collection and presentation of data, and analysis/discussion of results. Formal lab reports are drawn up with the students required to include all the former elements, as well as properly labeled tables and graphs. Statistical analysis is encouraged whenever possible. At times, software, probeware and Internet simulations are conducted to support the lab being undertaken.
Student Evaluation:
Evaluation in this course stresses:
- ability to use various research techniques as applied to labs or individual work
- showing the use of scientific reasoning through all assigned work
- presenting a point of view in writing as applied to an essay format
- displaying appropriate group and individual work skills and lab participation
Many essay questions used on the evaluations are former AP Exam questions, as are some of the multiple-choice questions. During the first semester the evaluation is based on:
- Chapter assignments/Critical thinking discussion notes 30%
- Lab activities/AP Labs 30%
- Power Point/Computer simulations 10%
- Tests/Quizzes 20%
- Midterm Exam 10%
During the second semester evaluation is based on:
- Chapter assignments/Critical thinking discussion notes 30%
- Lab activities/AP Labs/Computer simulations 30%
- Research project 10%
- Tests/Quizzes 20%
- Final Exam 10%
