Advanced Placement Biology Syllabus 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 Pleasant Grove 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 the first time students at my school have had the opportunity to take AP Biology and this will be my first year to teach the course. 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 9 th 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 Board s 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 Reese s 7 th 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 Aug. 13 29 Chemistry of Life Water Chemistry of Carbon Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic Acids Chapters 3, 4, 5 Sept. 2-5 Sept. 8 19 Sept. 22 Oct. 16 Ecology (summarize & test summer assignment) Cells Cellular Energetics Theme Focus: Structure & Function Population Dynamics Communities & Ecosystems Global Issues Chapters 50, 52, 53, 54, 55 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
Date Unit Topics Textbook Correlation Oct. 17- Nov. 4 Heredity Meiosis Eukaryotic Chromosomes Mendel and Inheritance Patterns Chapters 13, 14, 15 Nov. 5 Dec. 5 Dec. 8 Dec. 19 Jan. 6 Jan. 30 Feb. 2 Feb. 20 Feb. 23 Mar. 30 Molecular Genetics Evolutionary Biology Diversity Survey Animals Human Biology 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 Protein Synthesis Gene Regulation Viruses DNA Technology Chapters 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 AP Laboratory 6: Molecular Biology Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Evolution, Continuity & Change, Structure &Function, Regulation, Science, Technology, and Society Early Evolution of Life Chapters 22, 23, 24, Evidence for evolution 25, 26 Darwin & Natural Selection (selected sections) Mechanisms of Evolution Theme Focus: Evolution, Continuity & Change Evolutionary Patterns among organisms Bacteria, Protists, Fungi, Plants, Animals Survey Classification Theme Focus: Evolution, Interdependence Animal System Physiology Animal Reproductive Trends Animal Response to the Environment Chapters 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 (selected sections) Chapters 32, 33, 34, 40 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
Date Unit Topics Textbook Correlation Apr. 1 Apr. 22 Plants Plant structure, growth & development Plant Reproduction Plant Response to the Environment Chapters 29, 30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Apr. 23 May 8 May 11 AP Laboratory 9: Transpiration AP Laboratory 12: Dissolved Oxygen & Aquatic Primary Producers Theme Focus: Science as a Process, Energy Transfer, Structure & Function, Regulation, Interdependence AP Exam Review 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 Description of Protocol/Resources 1. Osmosis & Diffusion Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 1 Kit from Ward s Scientific 2. Enzyme Catalysis Protocol in Advanced Biology with Vernier using oxygen probes and LabQuests 3. Mitosis & Meiosis Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using chromosome models from Carolina Biological and onion root tip & whitefish blastula slides 4. Plant Pigments & Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 4 Kit Photosynthesis from Ward s Scientific 5. Cell Respiration Protocol in Advanced Biology with Vernier using carbon dioxide probes and LabQuests 6. Molecular Biology Protocol and Materials from Bio-Rad s pglo Bacterial Transformation Kit and Restriction Digest and Analysis of Lambda DNA Kit 7. Genetics of Organisms Protocol from Carolina Biological Alternative AP Lab Kit 7 utilizing Wisconsin Fast Plants 8. Population Genetics & Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 8 Kit Evolution from Ward s Scientific 9. Transpiration Use of Impatiens (whole plant) and Margaret Bahre s transpiration lab testing the effect of environmental factors on the rate of transpiration. 10. Physiology of the Protocol in Advanced Biology with Vernier using blood Circulatory System pressure probes, heart rate sensors, and EKG sensors 11. Animal Behavior Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 11 12. Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Primary Productivity Kit from Ward s Scientific Protocol in AP Biology Laboratory Manual using AP Lab 12 Kit from Ward s 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 70% Lab Reports/Quizzes 20% Homework/Classwork Quizzes 10% TOTAL 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. 7 th 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.