Advanced Placement Biology Syllabus

Paulette Evans
biology.evans@gmail.com Minor High School Office Hours: Prep

National Math and Science Initiative

The State of Alabama is pleased to be one of seven states that have been selected to participate in the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). My school district, Jefferson County Schools, is one of two school districts in our state to participate in the pilot year of the NMSI grant. The grant will provide funds for AP teacher training, vertical team training for English, math, and science teachers, training for pre-AP teachers down to the sixth grade, equipment for AP classrooms, as well as financial incentives for students (and their teachers) who achieve qualifying scores on the AP exams. For the first time, our district will pay for all students to take the AP exam. Schools in our district competed to participate in the grant and our school was selected.

Class Profile
At Minor High School AP Biology is offered as a second year biology course. Students enrolled in the course have also had chemistry as a pre-requisite. In my school, and throughout the Jefferson County School district, there has been a very small AP science presence. The AP Grant described above has helped to raise the interest in AP courses at my school. This will be my first year to teach the course. We will have 4 sections of AP Biology. Most of our students are not accustomed to the expectations of an AP level course; therefore, I will have to work hard during the school year to raise students confidence in their ability to achieve on a higher level while maintaining the rigor demanded by the course.

Course Overview
AP Biology will meet 96 minutes every other day on an alternating block schedule for the entire school year. That means that the class will meet five (5) times during a two-week period. In addition to the five 96 minute periods every two weeks, students will have a field trip day in the fall and a field trip day in the spring to spend all day in the laboratory. Students will also attend three six hour Saturday sessions to address specific content topics in more depth. Although this is a limited time schedule, the course is designed to spend 56 days in class time and 19 days in laboratory in order to complete all 12 required laboratories and to place appropriate emphasis on scientific process skills. In order to complete all topics before the AP examination, students will be given a summer ecology assignment. They will be given a packet of materials as well as an on-line assignment to complete. Our students are very familiar with many of the ecology objectives from their middle school and 9th grade biology experience. At the beginning of the school year, I will spend a day discussing a few topics from the ecology unit, offer an after school tutorial, and students will be tested on this unit the third week of school. My goal is to help students conceptualize the major ideas in biology rather than learn a myriad of isolated facts. Therefore, the course will be organized around the eight themes found in the College Boards Biology Course Description: Science as a Process, Evolution, Energy Transfer, Continuity and Change, Relationship of Structure to Function, Regulation, Interdependence in Nature, and Science, Technology, and Society. These eight themes are prominently displayed in

my classroom and after each lesson; we will discuss how the topic of the day relates to one or more of the eight themes.

Textbook
Each student will have a copy of Campbell and Reeses 7th edition Biology for the course. Additionally, students will have access to laboratory instructions for each of the 12 required laboratories. Some of the laboratories will be conducted using the AP Biology Laboratory Manual and some will be conducted using the Advanced Biology with Vernier Lab Manual. All of the required course materials including laboratory kits and equipment will be supplied by the local school district and the National Math and Science Initiative Grant.

AP Biology Syllabus
Date Unit Topics Textbook Correlation Chapters 3, 4, 5

Aug. 13 Chemistry 29 of Life

Sept. 2-5

Sept. 8 19

Ecology (summarize & test summer assignment) Cells

Water Chemistry of Carbon Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic Acids Theme Focus: Structure & Function Population Dynamics Chapters 50, 52, 53, Communities & Ecosystems 54, 55 Global Issues Theme Focus: Evolution, Energy Transfer, Interdependence Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Cells Chapters 6, 7, 11 & 12 Cellular Organelles Cellular Transport & Plasma Membrane Cell Cycle Mitosis Cell Cycle Regulation AP Laboratory 1: Osmosis & Diffusion AP Laboratory 3A: Mitosis Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Evolution, Continuity & Change, Structure & Function, Regulation Free energy changes Chapters 8, 9, 10 Enzymes Cellular Respiration & Fermentation Photosynthesis AP Laboratory 2: Enzyme Catalysis AP Laboratory 4: Plant Pigments & Photosynthesis AP Laboratory 5: Cell Respiration Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Evolution, Energy Transfer, Continuity & Change, Structure & Function, Regulation, Interdependence

Sept. 22 Cellular Oct. 16 Energetics

Date Oct. 17Nov. 4

Unit Heredity

Topics Meiosis Eukaryotic Chromosomes Mendel and Inheritance Patterns

Textbook Correlation Chapters 13, 14, 15

Nov. 5 Dec. 5

Molecular Genetics

AP Laboratory 3B: Meiosis AP Laboratory 7: Genetics of Wisconsin Fast Plants AP Laboratory 8: Population Genetics Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Evolution, Continuity & Change, Structure & Function, Regulation RNA & DNA Structure & Function Chapters 15, 16, 17, Protein Synthesis 18, 19, 20 Gene Regulation Viruses DNA Technology

Dec. 8 Dec. 19

Jan. 6 Jan. 30

Feb. 2 Feb. 20

AP Laboratory 6: Molecular Biology Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Evolution, Continuity & Change, Structure &Function, Regulation, Science, Technology, and Society Evolutionary Early Evolution of Life Chapters 22, 23, 24, Biology Evidence for evolution 25, 26 Darwin & Natural Selection (selected sections) Mechanisms of Evolution Theme Focus: Evolution, Continuity & Change Diversity Evolutionary Patterns among organisms Chapters 25, 26, 27, Survey Bacteria, Protists, Fungi, Plants, Animals 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, Survey 34 Classification (selected sections) Theme Focus: Evolution, Interdependence Animals Animal System Physiology Chapters 32, 33, 34, Animal Reproductive Trends 40 Animal Response to the Environment AP Laboratory 11: Animal Behavior Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Evolution, Energy Transfer, Structure & Function, Regulation, Interdependence Digestion, Circulation & Respiration Chapters 41, 42, 43, Endocrine & Nervous Systems 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 Urinary & Reproductive Systems AP Laboratory 10: Physiology of the Circulatory System Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Energy Transfer, Structure & Function, Regulation

Feb. 23 Mar. 30

Human Biology

Date Apr. 1 Apr. 22

Unit Plants

Topics Plant structure, growth & development Plant Reproduction Plant Response to the Environment

Textbook Correlation Chapters 29, 30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39

AP Laboratory 9: Transpiration AP Laboratory 12: Dissolved Oxygen & Aquatic Primary Producers Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Energy Transfer, Structure & Function, Regulation, Interdependence Apr. 23 May 8

AP Exam Review

May 11

AP Biology Examination

Laboratory Component
Students will complete all 12 of the required biology laboratories. These labs will be completed in 19 classroom sessions devoted to laboratory in addition to a day in the fall and a day in the spring during which students will be on a in-school field trip to work in the lab. The protocols of the labs and resources to be used are as follows:

Laboratory
1. Osmosis & Diffusion 2. Enzyme Catalysis 3. Mitosis & Meiosis 4. Plant Pigments & Photosynthesis 5. Cell Respiration 6. Molecular Biology 7. Genetics of Organisms 8. Population Genetics & Evolution 9. Transpiration 10. Physiology of the Circulatory System 11. Animal Behavior 12. Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Primary Productivity

Description of Protocol/Resources
Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 1 Kit from Wards Scientific Protocol in Advanced Biology with Vernier using oxygen probes and LabQuests Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using chromosome models from Carolina Biological and onion root tip & whitefish blastula slides Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 4 Kit from Wards Scientific Protocol in Advanced Biology with Vernier using carbon dioxide probes and LabQuests Protocol and Materials from Bio-Rads pGlo Bacterial Transformation Kit and Restriction Digest and Analysis of Lambda DNA Kit Protocol from Carolina Biological Alternative AP Lab Kit 7 utilizing Wisconsin Fast Plants Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 8 Kit from Wards Scientific Use of Impatiens (whole plant) and Margaret Bahres transpiration lab testing the effect of environmental factors on the rate of transpiration. Protocol in Advanced Biology with Vernier using blood pressure probes, heart rate sensors, and EKG sensors Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 11 Kit from Wards Scientific Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 12 Kit from Wards Scientific

Student Evaluation
Students will be evaluated at the end of each unit with an examination that mirrors the AP exam. Students will be given 50 multiple choice items and 2 free responses on each examination. The multiple choice section will count for 60% of the test grade and the free response section will count as 40% of the test grade. Students will also be required to write lab reports, take lab quizzes, classroom quizzes, and complete homework assignments. Each nine weeks grade will be determined by the following formula: Unit Exam Average Lab Reports/Quizzes Homework/Classwork Quizzes TOTAL 70% 20% 10% 100%

Alternative Approach
Although the course is being taught on an alternating block schedule, our daily class meeting time is 96 minutes compared with the customary 90 minutes in a traditional block schedule. This extra six minutes allows for 540 extra classroom minutes (9 hours) during the course of the school year when compared to a traditional 90 minute block schedule. My students will also have three Saturday sessions, 6 hours each, where they will learn difficult concepts in greater depth. These sessions will be presented by expert AP Biology teachers and will include students from other schools in my district. Each of the Saturday sessions will allow students an hour and a half review session on a single AP Biology topic. These Saturday sessions will add 18 hours of contact time to the course. Finally, my students will take a field trip day in the fall and a field trip day in the spring but will stay at the school. During those two days we will conduct laboratories. These field trip days will add an additional 12 hours of contact time to the course.

References
Campbell, Neil A., and Jane B. Reece. Biology. 7th ed. San Francisco, Calif.: Benjamin Cummings, 2004. Masterman, David, and Kelly Redding. Advanced Biology with Vernier. Beaverton, Oregon: Vernier Software and Technology, 2007. The College Board. AP Biology Lab Manual for Students. New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 2001.