AP Biology
Advanced Biology/AP Biology, Fall 2023
Ms. Kwan
In teaching Advanced Placement Biology at Lincoln High School, I hope not only to help students pass the Advanced Placement examination on May 16, 2024 but also to help you come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the natural world around you, to help you become better analytical thinkers, and not shy away from searching for answers yourselves. The AP Biology course is designed as a college level course that covers all of the California State Standards for Biology, and goes far beyond.
The overarching “Big Ideas” around which this course is built are the ideas that
1) the process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life;
2) biological systems utilize energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce, and maintain homeostasis;
3) living systems retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes; and
4) biological systems interact, and these interactions possess complex properties.
The Big Ideas are
- Evolution
- Energetics
- Information Storage and Transmission
- Systems interactions
The 8 units are
- Chemistry of Life 8-11%
- Cell Structure and Function 10-13%
- Cellular Energetics 12-16%
- Cell Communication and Cell Cycle 10-15%
- Heredity 8-11%
- Gene Expression and Regulation 12-16%
- Natural selection 13-20%
- Ecology 10-15%
To help students come to a deeper appreciation of how science really works, hands-on laboratory work and homework will accompany the majority of units covered, totaling to approximately 25% of the course. This will include both informal, open-ended investigations, as well as formal, complex labs such as those recommended by the College Board, stressing inquiry & reasoning whenever possible (see addendum, Science Practice Skills). A formal laboratory notebook is required and will be evaluated periodically. It should include formal lab write-ups, clear data collection presented in charts and graphs, and complex analysis of results (see addendum, Lab Write-ups). Students will also be expected to make periodic oral presentations to the class of “Biology in the News”, to help bring everyone to a new level of understanding of how truly important Biology is to our daily lives. By doing this, students should be able to make connections to a variety of learning objectives (see addendum, Learning Objectives).
Grading: The class is curved on a scale similar to college board and ranges from minimum of 58% for a C/C to minimum 83% for an A/A. As one of the main objectives of this course is to provide you the tools and skills to pass a most difficult, college-level examination, about 75% of your grade in the course will be based on assessment results which includes multiple choice and free response questions. This does not mean that homework, classwork, and laboratory experiences are not important. On the contrary, I expect all students choosing this level of academic excellence to do all the required assignments as a matter of course. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Anyone who chooses to skip formative assignments like labs, reading or homework questions that are assigned, or who does not do everything possible to keep up with the workload will jeopardize their learning and grade and will be counseled. Students can make up no more than 3 exams and 3 non-test assignments per semester. Finally, there is nothing more important to me than honorable behavior. Therefore, I expect every student to do their own work, and cheating will call for severe repercussions, including expulsion from class.
For my part, I will work very hard preparing and updating lecture material and labs, will be available to you at lunchtime or after-school, and will put in all the energy I can to make this a successful and exciting year for all of us! If parents have any questions, or if students need to call to get help or find out about missing work, please feel free to contact me at school (3:30-4:30PM is best) at 323-441-4600, Room 701. I will consistently use schoology updates throughout the year and give timely feedback. The best way to contact me is schoology messaging or email at [email protected] . We will also be using the Remind link for AP biology2023-24 or text to 81010 this message @apbiokwan
Exam Format
- Multiple-Choice Questions 60 50% 90 Minutes
- Free-Response Questions 6 50% 90 Minutes
Online practice-Personal Progress Checks per Unit from College Board code https://myap.collegeboard.org/ 2426RM
Required Text: Neil Campbell and Jane Reece, Biology, 11th ed., Benjamin Cummings Pub.
Lab Report Guidelines
Your composition notebook will be used for a majority of your lab reports and will be turned in on a regular basis. Each of your lab reports should include the following sections:
- Title
- Dates
- Purpose and Objectives
- Hypothesis
- Materials
- Procedures
- Data
- Analysis
- Discussion/Conclusions
Distinguish each section by underlining the section header and leave a space between each section. What is required for each part is described in more detail below:
- Title - Be as specific as possible and briefly denote primary topic dealt with during the experimentation. The title should be written at the top of the first page of the report only. Underline, highlight, or box the title.
- Dates: Include the dates when the lab/experiment was conducted.
- Purpose/Objectives - Background information that will help others to understand the experiment that you have conducted. Important terms should be defined in the section. No bullet points! Complete sentences only. Purpose of the lab should be clearly stated. For example, you might start by writing, “The purpose of this lab is to…” or “The objective is …”
- Hypothesis: Clearly state what you are testing in an if-then statement. For example: If the pH and temperature changes, the activity of enzyme B will not be affected.
- Materials - A complete listing of the materials and supplies that were used to conduct the experiment should be included in this portion of the report or materials used should be included into procedures.
- Procedures - In this section of the report you should present the exact steps that were followed in your experiment. Clearly identify the control, variables and the measurement techniques used. If a handout is given to you, you may simply state, “Refer to handout entitled (title of lab handout)” and glue the necessary document.
- Data- All of the raw data that was collected during the experiment should be presented as data table(s) or sketches. Additionally, a graph of the data or calculations should be included in this section. Make sure that the graph is appropriately titled and axes are labeled. Include a legend if necessary.
- Analysis – Include data analysis and error analysis. The discussion questions found throughout the laboratory should be written and answered in this section.
- Discussion/Conclusions - This portion of the report is used to clearly explain whether the results support or refute the hypothesis being tested. Explain what your findings mean and what conclusions you can draw from the data. Sources of error and suggestions for improvement should be included in this section.
Conclusion template: use this to help you organize your ideas into a coherent response to the lab.
The purpose of this experiment was to (state the purpose or the question). We found that (what you found out or the answer to the lab question). This is supported by the following data_(summarize the main numerical result from analysis). Our result was (consistent/inconsistent) with the accepted theory, in that,(state experiment in relationship to theory). Sources of error, including confounding variables, that might have affected our data include _(list errors/variables)__ because (be sure to explain how each variable affects the data)__.
Holistic Scoring Rubric for Literacy Standards in Science using the C-E-R-(R) Framework: Grades 9 – 12