Download AP Biology Syllabus

AP Biology Syllabus
Instructional Materials
Textbook: Campbell, N. A., & Reece, J. B. (2005). Biology: AP Edition (7th ed.). San
Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Lab Manual: AP Biology Lab Manual for Students (Rev. ed.). (2001). CollegeBoard.
Student Workbooks: Senior Biology 1 and Senior Biology 2 Biozone (2008).
Test Prep: Barron’s AP Biology 2008
Access to textbook and workbook publisher websites.
Course Overview
All classes meet every day five days a week for approximately 160 days, including
approximately 44 lab days. Class periods are 50 to 55 minutes long. The goal of
the class is to develop an understanding of concepts rather than memorizing facts,
terms, and technical details. All labs are hands-on in nature. Online labs, if used,
are included as reference and review material after actual labs are completed.
Each of eight units (described under Course Plan) will require textbook readings outside
of class, lectures including text companion website resources, reading quizzes,
and a unit test. Labs, problem- solving, discussion of current media events, and
other activities are included when appropriate. Labs are followed up with a
discussion of processes and results.
Students compose short essays to tie each chapter to one or more of the eight major
themes connecting the concepts of biology: Science as process; Evolution; Energy
transfer; Continuity and change; Relationship of structure to function; Regulation;
Interdependence in nature; and Science, technology and society.
Course Plan
Introduction (2 days):
Exploring life from the microscopic to the global scale across its great diversity of
species, we find that biological systems are much more than the sum of their
parts. Relying on a set of themes that connect the concepts of biology, we will
use various forms of inquiry in our exploration. Evolution is stressed as the
foundation that accounts for life’s unity and diversity.
Reading from the textbook, Ch. 1
Unit One: The Chemistry of Life (8 days):
Review the chemical foundations as they apply to biology.
Understand the relationship between structure and function at the atomic level.
The four properties of water give it the ability to support all of life.
Organic chemistry, the study of carbon compounds, will show us how the
diversity of life begins with the diversity of carbon bonding.
The structure and function of the four macromolecules existing in all living things
will support and demonstrate the unity of life.
Readings from the textbook, Ch. 2 through 5
Problem-solving set
Unit Two: A Tour of The Cell (28 days, including 14 lab days):
Prokaryotic and eukaryotic similarities and differences demonstrate unity and
diversity, continuity and change.
Understand the endomembrane system as a protein factory.
Membrane structure and function results in selective permeability and regulation.
AP Lab 1: Diffusion and Osmosis
The energy of life includes metabolism, cellular respiration, and photosynthesis.
AP Lab 2: Enzyme Catalysis
AP Lab 5: Cell Respiration
AP Lab 4: Plant pigments and Photosynthesis
The phases of the cell cycle include cell division and interphase.
Readings from the textbook, Ch. 6 through 12
Unit Three: Genetics (28 days, including 12 lab days):
Hereditary similarity and variation is explained by meiosis and sexual life cycles.
AP Lab 3: Mitosis and Meiosis
Mendel’s Laws predict inheritance patterns, with exceptions; an example of
science as a process.
AP Lab 7: Genetics of Organisms and Statistical Analysis.
DNA is the genetic material for reproduction as well as gene expression,
providing a basis for continuity and change.
Viruses have genomes and are formidable pathogens in animals and plants.
Understand the evolution and operations of eukaryotic genomes.
Using DNA technology to understand and manipulate genomes.
AP Lab 6: Molecular Biology
ELSI: The ethical, legal, and social implications of genetic engineering.
Human Genome Project Information (www.genomics.energy.gov and
www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml )
The genetic basis of development involves cell differentiation and morphogenesis.
Readings from textbook Ch. 13 through 21
Multimedia resource: DNA Interactive DVD, copyright 2003, Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory. (www.dnai.org)
Problem-solving sets
Unit Four: Mechanisms of Evolution ( 14 days, including 4 lab days):
Darwin introduces a revolutionary theory, descent with modification; an example
of science as a process.
Natural selection is the primary mechanism of adaptive evolution.
The smallest unit of evolution is a population.
The Modern Synthesis: Population genetics is a foundation for studying evolution.
AP Lab 8: Population Genetics and Evolution
The biological species concept emphasizes reproductive isolation.
Investigating the tree of life: phylogeny and systematics.
Much of an organism’s evolutionary history is documented in its genome.
Readings from textbook Ch. 22 through 25
Problem-solving set
Unit Five: The Evolutionary History of Biological Diversity (30 days):
Part I.
The Tree of Life: Three domains- Archae, Eubacteria, and Eukaryotes
The conditions on early Earth made the origin of life possible.
The fossil record chronicles life on Earth.
As prokaryotes evolved, they changed young Earth.
A great diversity of nutritional and metabolic adaptations have evolved in
prokaryotes.
Protists are an extremely diverse assortment of eukaryotes.
Plant diversity: How plants colonized land evolving from green algae and
deriving terrestrial adaptations, ability to regulate internal environment.
Seed plants: Gymnosperms and angiosperms; structure and function.
Human welfare depends greatly on seed plants, but we threaten their diversity.
Part II.
Fungi are heterotrophs that feed by absorption.
Fungi have a powerful impact on ecosystems and human welfare – for better and
for worse.
Animals are multicellular, heterotrophic eukaryotes with tissues that develop from
embryonic layers.
Animals are characterized by body plans, symmetry, tissue layers, and
protostome or deuterostome development.
(http://www.student.loretto.org/zoology)
The diversity of invertebrates and vertebrates reflects continuity and change:
phylogeny and classification.
Parasitic animals affect humans and agricultural species.
Readings from textbook Ch. 26 through 34
Activities include observing organisms using microscopes and prepared slides or
live specimens, Planaria regeneration lab, and a nematode soil extraction lab.
Unit Six: Plant Form and Function (8 days, including 3 lab days):
Growth, morphogenesis, and differentiation produce the plant body.
The plant body has a hierarchy of cells, tissues, and organs; relationship
of structure to function.
Transport in vascular plants depends on physical forces.
AP Lab 9: Transpiration
Plant nutrition adaptations often involve relationships with other organisms.
Angiosperm reproduction and life cycle: gametophyte development and
pollination.
Plant responses to internal and external signals: stimuli and a stationary life;
an example of regulation.
Readings from textbook Ch. 35 through 39
Unit Seven: Animal Form and Function (14 days, including 3 lab days):
Diverse forms face common challenges: physical laws and the environment
constrain animal size and shape.
Animal nutrition: evolutionary adaptations of vertebrate digestive systems are
often associated with diet.
Circulation and gas exchange: circulatory systems reflect phylogeny.
AP Lab 10: Physiology of the Circulatory System
The immune system provides defenses against infections: innate and acquired
immunity.
Animal Reproduction: sexual and asexual reproduction occur in animals.
The nervous system: From the CNS to sensory and motor mechanisms.
Readings from textbook Ch. 40 through 49
Unit Eight: Ecology (18 days including 8 lab days):
The scope of ecology: the study of interactions between organisms and the
environment.
Behavioral ecology: distinguishing the causes of behavior, genetic component.
AP Lab 11: Animal Behavior
Behavioral traits can evolve by natural selection, favoring behaviors that increase
survival and reproductive success.
Population ecology: dynamic biological processes influence population density,
dispersion, and demography, emphasizing continuity and change.
Exponential and logistic growth models – interaction of biotic and abiotic factors.
Human population growth has effects on the biosphere: global issues.
Communities: competition, predation, symbiosis, and disease; interdependence.
Ecosystems: energy flow and chemical cycling.
Physical and chemical factors limit primary productivity in ecosystems.
AP Lab 12: Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Primary Productivity
Conservation biology and restoration ecology: human activities threaten Earth’s
biodiversity.
Readings from textbook Ch. 50 through 55