AP

Summer 2009

Introduction to Conversational French

AP Biology Syllabus 2013-2014 Instructor: Rosanne Rudd Room: 401 email: [email protected] phone #: 956-399-4331 ext. 1255 Welcome to AP Biology. This is a course in which the textbook, range of topics, and workload are all at the college level. Everyone can excel at this course, but it is achieved with hard work. Congratulations on being an active learner and accepting the challenge.

Course Description AP Biology is a year long course that is designed to prepare students for the Advanced Placement Exam in May of 2014. The course has been revised to reflect the new curriculum framework which focuses on the students as independent thinkers and learners. Students are given opportunities to connect biological and scientific knowledge to major social issues. Therefore, at least 40% of our scheduled class time will be dedicated to laboratory investigations. Students enrolled in this course are expected to demonstrate the commitment, and produce the scholarly work, commensurate with such a course. Content, reasoning, and inquiry are equally important in this course. A great deal of class time will be spent on the reasoning and the inquiry piece, and will relate the content piece to our work. A large part of the content needs to be completed outside of class time. This includes reading assignments and preparation for class discussions, quizzes, and laboratory work. This knowledge will be applied to investigative work.

Expectations • Experience has shown that those students who make qualifying scores on the AP Biology Exam complete the assigned readings on time. Expectations for success in this course are to complete all assigned readings. Interactive readers are recommended to purchase their own textbook from Amazon. • Make up work, including exams, must be completed upon the day of return after an absence. Assignments, notes and links to podcasts can be found on Blackboard. • Test scores will only be curved upon the completion of test corrections within the assigned groups. • Academic Integrity is expected of all students on all work submitted in this course. Infractions will result in loss of credit for that assignment.

Advanced Placement Biology Syllabus 2013-2014

1

2013-2014

AP Biology

Resources and Supplies

Biology, by Campbell and Reece, 7th Edition, Pearson is the main textbook used in this course. A pdf version is available on Blackboard. The electronic version of Biology, by Campbell and Reece, 8th edition, Pearson is also used as a primary resource. AP Biology Investigative Labs: An Inquiry-Based Approach, College Board, 2012 will serve as the source for many of the labs. • General Notebook (or Binder)- All class notes and readings, class handouts, etc will be kept in this notebook. • Laboratory Notebook (Composition NB) - All lab work will be documented in this notebook. • Looseleaf paper and Graph paper • Pens, pencils, highlighters, and colored pencils • Gmail account • UT Quest user name and password • Smartphone or other electronic device with the Socrative and Nearpod applications.

• Biology study books are highly recommended. If purchasing a study book, make sure to get one that reflects the new curriculum. Anything published earlier than 2012 will not be helpful in preparation for the revised test.


2

2013-2014

AP Biology

Student Evaluations and Assessments Each quarter will be averaged by the following: Daily Work

20%

Quizzes

20%

Tests, Projects, etc

50%

Academic Involvement

10%

Each semester will be averaged according to the following: 1st Quarter

37.5%

2nd Quarter

37.5%

Semester Exam

25%

Extra-Credit Opportunities Participation in any of the following opportunities within the grading period, will be awarded extra credit points for that quarter. Appropriate documentation must be presented in the form of a sign-in sheet to receive credit for this work. These points cannot be carried over to the next term. • Peer Tutoring during Academic Mentoring • After School Tutorials • Saturday Test Prep Sessions • Research of Enrichment Topics & Scholarly Reports or Posters

Course Overview The curriculum is built around the four AP® Biology Big Ideas: Big Idea 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life. Big Idea 2: Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis. Big Idea 3: Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes. Big Idea 4: Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.


3

2013-2014

AP Biology

2013-2014 Curriculum Plan 1st Quarter Ecology

Chapters 50-55

Evolution

Chapters 22-26

Biochemistry

Chapters 3-5

2nd Quarter Cells & Membranes

Chapters 6, 7, 11

Photosynthesis

Chapter 10

Cellular Respiration

Chapter 8 & 9

DNA

Chapters 16 & 17

1st Semester Exam

3rd Quarter Gene Regulation & Biotechnology

Chapters 18 - 21

Cell Division

Chapters 12 & 13

Genetics

Chapters 14 & 15

Taxonomy

Chapter 27

4th Quarter Botany

Chapters 38 & 39

Homeostasis

Chapters 40, 43, 45, 47, 48

2nd Semester Exam


4

2013-2014

AP Biology

AP Biology Exam Information The AP Biology Exam is administered in the morning on Monday, May 12, 2014. All students enrolled in AP Biology are expected to register for and take the exam. The AP Biology Exam consists of two sections: multiple choice and free response. Both sections include questions that assess students’ understanding of the big ideas, enduring understandings, and essential knowledge and the ways in which this understanding can be applied through the science practices. These may include questions on the following: • the use of modeling to explain biological principles; • the use of mathematical processes to explain concepts; • the making of predictions and the justification of phenomena; • the implementation of experimental design; and • the manipulation and interpretation of data. The exam is 3 hours long and includes both a 90-minute multiple- choice section and a 90-minute free-response section that begins with a mandatory 10-minute reading period. The multiple-choice section accounts for half of the student’s exam grade, and the free-response section accounts for the other half. Scores are not available until July.


5