AP Biology Summer Assignment



AP Biology Summer Assignment 2012-2013 (Starr and Taggart Ch 1-3; Campbell Ch 1-6)

Dear Perspective AP Biology Student,

I am happy that you have chosen this course. This program has very high expectations of students. It requires you to learn a tremendous amount of material in order to prepare for the exam next May. There is no time to waste!

The following assignments are due on the first day of school in September. If you need any help completing the assignment during the course of the summer, please contact me via email at mstrickhart@. I will answer it as soon as possible. Please remember that I may be away from home for several weeks at a time. I will get back to you as soon as possible. The last week of August, I will not have access to a computer. You have the entire summer to complete this assignment. If you wait until the last few days and then have questions, I will be unavailable until September 1, 2011.

Assignment 1 – Scientific Method and Biological Chemistry:

Read and outline Chapters 1-3 (Starr and Taggart). Or 1-6 in Campbell

This chapter may or may not be a review from your Biology I course. This outline MUST be written in your handwriting.

Expect a quick quiz on these chapters during the first full week of school. Come to class prepared on the first day to discuss basic chemistry.

Assignment 2 – Experimental Design:

As a student, you have been introduced to the scientific method throughout your educational experience. After reading chapter 1 of the textbook, design a controlled biological experiment that you can do at home or on vacation this summer. Read pages 16-20 of the textbook carefully and you will see that your experiment needs to have a control group and a variable. Be sure to develop a hypothesis and a prediction. Explain the methods that you use in detail. Carefully collect quantitative data. Analyze your results and draw conclusions. Write a lab report, make a poster, brochure or a presentation documenting your experiment and be prepared to present your experiment to the class during the first week of school. Sign up for a gmail account and share your document with mstrickhart@.

Assignment 3– Biological Reading: (Due on the second day of school) Read a book that includes biology content in the story-line. For the book, explain the science and science processes in the book, as well as describe the accuracy of their use and presentation in the book. Your response will consist of a 1-2 page paper consisting of no more than 1000 words or a computer generated presentation accomplishing the same task. A list of possibilities may be found at the following link: . Any book listed on this link is acceptable. If you would like to use a different book, email me for approval at mstrickhart@.

Assignment 4– Biological Current Events: Each student will generate a current events notebook containing at least one article per month. Your article may come from a newspaper, magazine or other media. Be sure to include a copy of the article. On the first day of school, you should have one article in the notebook and a brief commentary outlining the article. Each month a current events day will be identified and you will discuss your article with the class. Interesting articles often appear on this website:

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Suggestions:

Students from previous years have suggested that an AP review guidebook but they have indicated that the Campbell book is the best for studying. Both have sample questions for each unit covered.

Advice from former AP Biology students 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011

Don’t start the summer work a week before school. Begin earlier!

STUDY:

AP requires self discipline

Review a little chemistry in the summer; you’ll need it in the beginning of school

Overall, most students indicated that they would not procrastinate, buy a study guide over the summer and review each topic in the review book as it is covered in class during the year and not at the end.

“Campbell is the best way to study. Study guides are not enough.”

Pay attention and study throughout the year

“Do the outlines! They are so helpful.” “Read difficult chapters in the book” “Don’t copy them, learn them!”

“It takes more than what is covered in class.”

“Study books help with narrowing down what to study.”

“Get a Barron’s book or 5 steps and while reviewing what you go through in class, review the same chapters in the study guide book. Then read the whole book and do the practice exams a month before the exam.” Some students suggested the “Spark notes Powerpack”

“Study hard for the tests because they are similar to AP Test questions. Don’t slack off!”

LABS: Many students stressed that the 12 AP Labs are very important.

“Keep up with the labs, they really com in handy”

“Understand the labs. Don’t just go through the motions.”

“Take time to really complete the lab objectives in detail.”

“Learn your labs!”

“Pay attention to objectives of labs…really read everything so you know what you are doing when you come to class. ”They’re on the AP Exam. Real talk.”

“Master the labs; they will reappear on the AP exams future tests, and in college.”

OTHER:

Many students indicated that reading the Campbell book and completing the outlines was helpful.

“Take advantage of the rewrites to take a second look at the things you do not know.”

“Pay attention to what is said in class, not just what is written in the notes.”

“Ask more questions.” “Don’t be afraid to ask questions!”

“Go over tests to learn from your mistakes.”

“Take good notes and complete the outlines…they really help.”

“Ask questions. You’ll understand, and a funny story from Strickhart will probably follow.”

“Pay more attention, rather than zoning out”

“Prepare more at home and pay attention in class”

“To prepare for tests, try not to copy off people, try doing your own work, because it really does affect you in the long run”

“Just do the work! One thing that killed me this year was late/not handed in work. A lot of it (the material on the AP test) is gone over in class, so take advantage of it!”

“Don’t stress over the exam, do your work, listen in class”

“Don’t sleep in class!” and “Come to class.”

“Take a couple of practice test on your own. Helps with getting familiar with the test and timing

Name:_____________________________________________________________ Date:_______________________ Period:________________

Title of book chosen:

Please complete this worksheet as you read your chosen summer book. Limit yourself to these two pages. That means, you do not need to sue a page per chapter but you can just write about the chapters that you found most interesting. This method of note-taking will be a useful guide in how to take notes when reading the AP Biology textbook.

1. After reading the title and first few sentences of the chapter, record what background information you think

Name:_____________________________________________________________ Date:_______________________ Period:________________

2. After reading the title and first few sentences of the chapter, record what background information you think

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After reading the title and the first few sentences of this chapter, record what background information you think you might need to know before reading this chapter.

While reading the chapter, record the big ideas in this chapter.

List/describe some of the interesting information you learned while reading the chapter.

List question you have, or describe what you are left wondering about at the end of the chapter.

After reading the title and the first few sentences of this chapter, record what background information you think you might need to know before reading this chapter.

List/describe some of the interesting information you learned while reading the chapter.

While reading the chapter, record the big ideas in this chapter.

List question you have, or describe what you are left wondering about at the end of the chapter.

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