Download Rocky River High School AP Biology Syllabus 2014

Rocky River High School
AP Biology Syllabus
2014-2015
Course: Advanced Placement (AP) Biology
Room: A101
Website: drcaobiology.cmswiki.wikispaces.net
After-school tutoring: Thursdays 2:30-3:30 PM
Instructor: Dr. Nhi Cao
E-mail: [email protected]
Text: Campbell Biology AP Edition
By Reece et al.
Campbell (Pearson), 9th edition
Course Description: AP Biology is equivalent to one year of college-level Biology. This course uses a
college text book, requires college-level skills, and prepares high school students for the national AP
exam. AP Biology aims to provide students with the conceptual framework and analytical skills necessary
to understand and assess the growing science of biology. This course includes laboratory work in which
students will collect and analyze data, then write complete scientific lab reports. These labs are an
essential component for learning about science as a process.
Exam Date: The AP Biology exam will be on Monday, May 11, 2015 at 8 AM at Rocky River High School.
Course Outline: The course is centered on four Big Ideas, which encompass the core scientific principles,
theories, and processes governing living organisms and biological systems. Within each of these Big Ideas
are Enduring Understandings, which incorporate the core concepts that students should retain from their
learning experiences in class. The Big Ideas and accompanying Enduring Understandings are listed in the
table attached at the end of this syllabus, along with the tentative outline of topics for the year.
Laboratory Component:
Students will be given the opportunity to engage in student-directed laboratory investigations throughout
the course for at least 25% of instructional time. Students will conduct at least eight inquiry-based
investigations. Students will be given the opportunity to develop, record and communicate the results of
their laboratory investigations.
Committment:
1. This college-level course is intense and fast paced by nature! Thus, students will be expected
to keep up with readings from the text book and review notes outside of class. Commitment
and persistent studying are key elements for succeeding in this course. We will cover 2-3
chapters per week. Students have reported spending an average of 7-10 hours per week
studying outside of class.
2. Labs comprise at least 25% of the course. In the event that longer labs run outside of the
class timeframe, students may have to come in during lunch or after school to complete the
labs.
Classroom Conduct: I expect college-level behavior for a college-level course!
1. Show respect for your school, teacher, classmates, and yourself at all times. Disrespect and
misconduct will not be tolerated.
2. Come to class prepared, on time, and ready to learn. This means come ready to take your
warm-up quiz, and have your necessary materials each day.
3. Follow directions the first time.
4. Adhere to all school and classroom policies and procedures.
5. Always participate in class and be ready to provide answers.
6.
Make-up/late Work: If you are absent on the day of a formal assessment or when a formal
assignment/project is due, you must provide documentation for an excused absence and the assignment
must be handed in within five school days upon your return. If it is a formal assessment that you miss, you
must arrange a test day and time with Dr. Cao upon your return, and the assessment must be taken
within five days of your return. If you have an unexcused absence on the due date of a formal
assessment/assignment, you have one day to make it up or hand it in, for a maximum grade of 70%. If you
are in class but do not hand in an informal assignment on that due date, you will have one day to hand it
in for a maximum grade of 50%. The College Board requires all AP students to participate in the AP Exam
on the assigned date, unless an extenuation circumstance arises.
Evaluation:
1. Each class period will begin with a short ‘warm-up’ quiz that will be based on the previous
lecture and/or assigned readings.
2. There will be occasional in-class assignments.
3. There will be 8 exams throughout the whole year.
4. The components for the quarterly grades are as such:
70% Formal assessments: exams/projects/lab write-ups
30% Informal assessments: warm-up quizzes, homework, classwork, notebook
checks
Required Materials:
1. Campbell Biology text
2. AP Biology lab manual
3. 1.5” or 2” three-ring binder
4. Loose-leaf notebook paper
5. Lab book with graphing paper – keep in mind that some colleges may require a copy of this
in order for student to receive credit.
6. Blue or black ink pens- all labs must be written in ink.
Course Policies:
1. Class attendance and participation is essential for success. You are also responsible for making
up any missed ‘warm-up’ quizzes and in-class assignments. All of my lecture notes and
homework assignments will be posted on my wiki website
2. All excused absence work, including labs, must be made up within the excused absence time
frame of 5 days.
3. If you miss more than 10 days of class, it results in an automatic failure. You will need to attend
recovery in order to pass. It is your responsibility to keep track of your attendance and seek
recovery before the end of the semester.
4. Assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date.
5. Requests for exceptions to these policies must be discussed with me in advance.
6. Students are to submit only their own work for evaluation, to acknowledge the work and
conclusions of others, and to do nothing that would provide an unfair advantage in their
academic efforts. Students who fail to comply with the Rocky River High School Academic Honor
Code are subject to disciplinary action.
7. Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated and may lead to failure on an assignment, in the
class, or loss of credit for the class.
Classroom Rules:
1. Turn off cell phones and mp3 players during class.
2. All policies set forth in the Student Handbook must be adhered to.
3. Safety is a primary concern and all students must comply with the Laboratory Safety Contract.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Outline of Course Units and Topics
Unit 1: Introduction Unit (5 days)
a. Chapters 1-3
b. Overivew of topics:
i. Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection
ii. Inquiry as a way to learn Science
iii. Structure of Atoms
iv. Emergent Properties of Water
Unit 2: Evolution (19 classes)
a. Chapters: 22-27
b. Overview of topics:
i. How natural selection serves as a mechanism for evolution
ii. Scientific evidence supporting evolution
iii. Hardy-weinberg concept
iv. How allele frequencies can be altered in a population
v. Concepts of speciation
vi. Origin of life; fossil records
vii. Events in the “history of life” (origin of single-celled and multicellular
organisms; mass extinctions; adaptive radiations)
Unit 3: Biochemistry and introduction to cell (11 days)
a. Chapters 4-7
b. Overview of topics:
i. The impact of carbon as the “backbone of life”
ii. How monomers build polymers, including the role of nucleic acids
iii. Examples of organelles that are membrane bound to compartmentalize their
functions
iv. Membrane structure and function
Unit 4: Cellular Energy (14 classes)
a. Chapters: 8-10
b. Overview of topics:
i. Metabolic pathways
ii. Laws of Energy Transformation
iii. How ATP powers cellular work
iv. Enzyme structure and function
v. Harvesting chemical energy: glycolysis, citric acid cycle, oxidative
phosphorylation
vi. Light reactions and the Calvin cycle
vii. Evolution of alternative mechanism of carbon fixation
Unit 5: Cell Communication and the Cell Cycle (9 classes)
a. Chapters: 11-12
b. Overview of topics:
i. Evolution of cell signaling
ii. Reception, transduction, response
iii. Apoptosis
iv. How mitosis produces genetically identical daughter cells
v. Evolution of mitosis
vi. How eukaryotic cell cycle is regulated by a molecular control system
vii. Origin of cell communication
Unit 6: Genetic Basis of Life (7 classes)
a. Chapters 13-15
b. Overview of topics:
i. Genes are passed from parents to offspring by the inheritance of chromosomes
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
7.
8.
9.
How meiosis reduced the number of chromosomes (diploid to haploid)
Evolutionary significance of genetic variation that results from sexual life cycles
Concepts of Mendelian genetics (laws of probability, inheritance patterns)
Genes are located along chromosomes (concepts of gene linkage, mapping
distance between genes, causes of genetic disorders)
Unit 7: Gene Activity and Biotechnology (13 classes)
a. Chapters: 16-21
b. Overview of topics:
i. DNA is the genetic material (historical experiments, DNA structure and
function, DNA replication)
ii. Flow of genetic information (genetic code, role of other polymers,
transcription, translation)
iii. Mutations
iv. Gene expression (operon systems in prokaryotes, eukaryotic gene expression)
v. Virus structure and activity
vi. Restriction Enzymes, plasmids, transformation
vii. DNA technology (how gel electrophoresis works and application of this
technology)
Unit 8: Diversity in the Biological World: Organisms Form and Function (22 classes)
a. Chapters: 40, 43, 49.2 (28-49 will be used for examples to supplement new information)
b. Overview of topics: This section covers a broad survey of the diversity of life; specific
topics will connect big ideas and enduring understandings
i. Evolutionary trends (endosymbiosis, adaptations that allowed plants to move
from water to land, reproductive adaptations of angiosperms, environmental
roles of fungi, animal body parts, progressively complex derived characteristics
in animal groups)
ii. Unique features of the angiosperm life cycle
iii. Signal transduction pathways (plants and animal hormones)
iv. Photoperiodism in plants
v. Feedback control loops in animals
vi. Thermoregulation in animals
vii. Energy allocation and use in animals
viii. Examples
ix. Of functioning units in mammal systems (alveoli in lungs, villi of small
intestines, nephrons in kidneys)
x. Structure and function in the immune system
xi. Structure and function in the nervous system (neurons, resting potential, action
potential, synapses)
xii. Structure and function in the human brain
Unit 9: Ecology (17 classes)
a. Chapters: 51, 52.2, 53-56
b. Overview of topics:
i. Aspects of animal behavior
ii. Aspects of biomes
iii. Models of describing population growth
iv. Regulation of population growth
v. Community interactions
vi. Species diversity and composition
vii. Community biodiversity
viii. Energy flow and chemical cycling in ecosystems
ix. Primary productivity
x. Energy transfer between trophic levels
xi. Human activities that threaten biodiversity
Big Ideas
Enduring Understandings
1. The process of evolution
drives the diversity and unity
of life.
A. Change in the genetic makeup of a population
over time is evolution.
B. Organisms are linked by lines of descent from
common ancestry.
C. Life continues to evolve within a changing
environment.
D. The origin of living systems is explained by
natural processes.
2. Biological systems utilize free
energy and molecular building
blocks to grow, to reproduce,
and to maintain dynamic
homeostasis.
A. Growth, reproduction, and maintenance of
the organization of living systems require free
energy and matter.
B. Growth, reproduction, and dynamic
homeostasis require that cells create and
maintain internal environments that are
different from their external environments.
C. Organisms use feedback mechanisms that
regulate growth and reproduction, and to
maintain dynamic homeostasis.
D. Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a
biological system are influenced by changes in
the system’s environment.
E. Many biological processes involved in growth,
reproduction, and dynamic homeostasis
include temporal regulation and coordination.
3. Living systems store, retrieve,
transmit, and respond to
information essential to life
processes.
A. Heritable information provides for continuity
of life.
B. Expression of genetic information involves
cellular and molecular mechanisms.
C. The processing of genetic information is
imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.
D. Cells communicate by generating,
transmitting, and receiving chemical signals.
E. Transmission of information results in changes
within and between biological systems.
4. Biological systems interact,
and these systems and their
interactions possess complex
properties.
A. Interactions within biological systems lead to
complex properties
B. Competition and cooperation are important
aspects of biological systems.
C. Naturally occurring diversity among and
between components within biological
systems affects interactions with the
environment.