Download AP BIOLOGY COURSE PHILOSOPHY This intensive class is

AP BIOLOGY
COURSE PHILOSOPHY
This intensive class is equivalent to the required introductory course all college freshmen must take if
they want to major in the biological sciences. This equates to three semesters of lecture and the
corresponding lab hours. To be able to cover this large amount of material in a relatively short period of
time, students will be expected to do a lot of work on their own time. We need to use the classroom
hours we have together for laboratory design, experimentation and facilitation. I know you can handle
reading and lecture material on your own; I want to make sure you can handle the labs.
CONTENT
A more detailed breakdown of each unit will be provided in separate documents. However, the content
of AP Biology can be organized around four Big Ideas:
1. Evolution
a. It drives the diversity and unity of life.
b. Heritable variations occur in individuals in a population; because of a competition for
resources, individuals with more favorable phenotypes are more likely to survive and
reproduce, thus passing traits to offspring. The number of surviving offspring in a
population is a measure of evolutionary success.
c. Long-term survival of a species depends on a diverse gene pool because the
environment acts upon phenotypes through natural selection.
2. Cellular Processes: Energy and Communication
a. Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce
and maintain dynamic homeostasis.
b. Cells and organisms must exchange matter with the environment.
3. Genetics and Information Transfer
a. Provides for the continuity of life and is passed from parent to offspring via DNA.
b. Mitosis is a controlled mechanism that ensures that each daughter cell receives an
identical and complete complement of chromosomes.
c. Meiosis allows for sexual reproduction and the development of new phenotypes.
d. Changes in genetic information are the ultimate source of variability.
4. Interactions
a. Living systems from cells to ecosystems require free energy and matter to maintain
order, grow, and reproduce, with organisms using various strategies to capture, use and
store free energy and other resources.
b. Whether or not an organism can survive in its environment depends on its ability to
respond to environmental change.
HOW THE CLASS WILL BE ORGANIZED
This class will follow what it technically considered to be an inverted approach (aka flipped classroom).
For each unit, students will be expected to read on their own, watch specific videos, and take your own
notes. This will leave the class time available for me to help you work on the labs and activities that need
to be completed for each unit. As you will see, these are long-running activities so you will have to keep
track of many different due dates at the same time. I need to be available as a facilitator for you and
your lab partner.
COMMUNICATION OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Experimental results must be communicated to peers to have value. Some ways this will be
accomplished are as follows:
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Peer Review Sessions – This provides an opportunity to practice scientific argumentation. This
involves asking critical questions on experimental design, data, and conclusions. Here are some
things to consider when reviewing other’s work:
o Equivalency of sources for comparison:
 Is there the same amount of material in each experiment?
 How was the amount of material measured? Dry weight? Wet Weight?
 Was the activity reported per unit measure?
 Was the experimental procedure repeated several times?
 Was the sample size sufficient?
o Confounding Variables:
 What conditions were controlled in the experiment?
 How were these conditions controlled?
 Were any variables overlooked?
o Results and conclusions:
 Are the results significant? Do they support or refute the original hypothesis?
 Are the results reproducible?
 Are the conclusions supported by the data?
 Are their alternative conclusions?
 What additional questions can be asked that lend themselves to further
investigation?
Mini-Posters and Presentations – At scientific conferences, many experiments are presented as
posters. They are an effective way to articulate the essential elements of their research clearly
and briefly. The elements are as follows:
o Title
o Abstract
o Introduction with primary question, background context and hypothesis
o Methodology
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o Results, including graphs, tables, charts and statistical analyses
o Conclusions, or your interpretation of your results based on your hypothesis
o Literature cited
Lab Notebooks – This allows you to organize your work so you have the necessary information
for a more formal report. There is a specific convention to follow. This lab notebook is your
proof that your experiment is yours, is original, and protects again plagiarism. Your lab notebook
should contain the information necessary for making a formal report, which includes a prelab
experimental outline with the following information:
o Members of work group
o Primary question for investigation
o Background observations and contextual information
o Hypothesis and rationale for the investigation
o Experimental design – strategies for testing hypothesis, using appropriate controls and
variables
o Materials required
o Safety issues
o Procedure in sufficient detail so that someone could replicate your results
In addition, your lab notebook should contain the following:
 Results, including graphs, tables, drawings or diagrams and statistical analysis
 Conclusion and discussion – was the hypothesis supported? What additional questions
remain for further investigation?
 References
Lab Reports – A formal report provides an effective method for you to organize your work and
mimics papers in scientific journals. It has a specific scoring rubric. This type of report gives you
writing experience and opportunities to reflect on your work. It contains several elements in
addition to the information in the lab notebook, such as an introduction that may be prefaced
by an abstract, and perhaps a discussion before the conclusion. The introduction gives a context
for the experiment, and the discussion may include information from other sources that pertain
to the experiment.
GRADING
In this class, you will have a wide variety of assignments, FRQs, tests, and the communication
experimental results that will be graded. I do everything by total points (there are no weighted
categories). I will make sure that all grades are updated for eligibility. It is your responsibility to
keep track of your grade. I do not give extra credit.
We will have both individual and group assignments. The group assignments will be with your
lab partner. There is no extension of due dates because you partner is absent. Make sure you
have a way of contacting them outside of school, don’t procrastinate, and always prepare for
the unexpected.
You are expected to prepare, take and do the best you can on the AP Biology exam. As far as I
am concerned, this is your “final exam”.
As per school policy, you will have a final exam. The exam will be a project.
You never want to miss a class, but it will probably happen at some point. Be sure to make
contact with your lab partner if appropriate. No late work will be accepted. If you
know you will be missing class, any work due that day will be turned in before you leave. If you
come in late to school and an assignment was due, you must turn it in that day. You are
responsible to make up any work – no extensions. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to
find out from someone what you missed. Long-term absences will be dealt with on an individual
basis. If you are absent on the day of a test or quiz, you will take the make-up assessment as
soon as you enter my classroom. Any student who engages in any type of "creative borrowing"
(cheating), or who helps another student do so, will receive a zero on that assignment. All
sources will be cited, including in laboratory reports. I believe in the Credible Hulk.
CONTACT INFORMATION - Email: [email protected]