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Course Overview

My AP Biology course is designed to offer students a solid foundation in introductory college-level biology. By structuring the course around the four big ideas, enduring understandings, and science practices I assist students in developing an appreciation for the study of life and help them identify and understand unifying principles within a diversified biological world.

What we know today about biology is a result of inquiry. Science is a way of knowing. Therefore, the process of inquiry in science and developing critical thinking skills is the most important part of this course.

At the end of the course, students will have an awareness of the integration of other sciences in the study of biology, understand how the species to which we belong is similar to, yet different from, other species, and be knowledgeable and responsible citizens in understanding biological issues that could potentially impact their lives.

Instructional Context

I teach AP Biology to juniors and seniors at a high school that is on a 7 period day. AP Biology meets every day for a period of 50 minutes. Occasionally, students come in after school and during their study hall to work on labs.

Students must have completed at least one year of Biology I and one year of Biology II with a grade of B or higher.

Instructional Resources

Urry, Lisa, et al., Campbell Biology in Focus, AP Edition, 2014, Pearson Education.

Reece, Jane, et al., Campbell Biology, 8th Edition, 2009, Pearson Benjamin Cummings.

Heitz, Jean. Practicing Biology (to accompany Campbell-Reece Biology), 6th Edition, 2004, Pearson Benjamin Cummings.

Mastering Biology-advanced biology self-study, tutorial, and assessment system (Provides animations, investigations, PowerPoint and other audio-visual sources to enhance instruction)

AP Biology Investigative Labs: an Inquiry Based Approach. The College Board, 2012

Holtzclaw, Fred & Holtzclaw, Theresa, AP Biology Test Prep Series. 2013. Pearson Education.

5 Steps to a 5: AP Biology workbook, 2014-2015, McGraw-Hill

McGraw-Hill Biology Online Resources:

Hippocampus Biology:

Biology Corner Online Resources:

Advanced Placement Biology Content

My AP course is structured around the four big ideas, the enduring understandings within the big ideas and the essential knowledge within the enduring understanding.

The 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.

The Investigative Laboratory Component

The course is also structured around inquiry in the lab and the use of the seven science practices throughout the course.

Students are given the opportunity to engage in student-directed laboratory investigations throughout the course for a minimum of 25% of instructional time. Students will conduct a minimum of eight inquiry-based investigations (two per big idea throughout the course). Additional labs will be conducted to deepen students’ conceptual understanding and to reinforce the application of science practices within a hands-on, discovery based environment. All levels of inquiry will be used and all seven sciences practices skills will be used by students on a regular basis in formal labs as well as activities outside of the lab experience. The course will provide opportunities for students to develop, record, and communicate the results of their laboratory investigations.

Science Practices (SP)

1. The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.

2. The student can use mathematics appropriately.

3. The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course.

4. The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.

5. The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.

6. The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.

7. The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains.

Materials needed for class: Notebook for note taking, lab notebook, gloves for laboratory.

Assessment

Assessment of student learning will be accomplished through a variety of formative, summative, informal, and formal methods including, but not limited to:

Student-teacher conferences

Quizzes and exams

■-Practice quizzes and exams with immediate feedback are available

through the Mastering Biology website.

■-Summative exams with both multiple choice and essay sections will be

administered at appropriate times during the course.

Free-response questions and other short essays

Science journals will be kept and evaluated throughout the course.

Topics and Timelines

(Regular 7 period day with 50 minutes per period)

Units of Instruction

Unit 1: Introduction and Biochemistry (15 days)

Big Ideas: 1, 2, 3, 4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1.A Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.

1.A Growth, reproduction and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.

1.D The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes.

2.A Growth, reproduction and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.

3.A Heritable information provides for continuity of life.

4.A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

4.B Competition and cooperation are important biological systems.

Chapters:

1. Introduction: Evolution and the Foundations of Biology

2. The Chemical Context of Life

3. Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life

6.4-6.5 Enzymes

Lecture Topics:

1. Themes of Biology

2. Characteristics of Controlled Experimentation

3. Structure of Atoms

4. Properties of water

5. Carbon as the “backbone of life”

6. Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules

7. Enzymes

Activities/Labs:

1. Students will design and conduct a controlled experiment investigating one aspect of animal behavior. Groups will develop a miniposter to communicate the design and results of the experiment. Class members will question them regarding possible design flaws and results. Each group will describe possible extension of their research. (SP 2,3,4,5, 6)

2.. Each student will construct a miniposter of a particular amino acid and present it to the group being sure to include properties of its R groups. (SP 1)

3. Students will conduct a lab entitled “Properties of Water”. (SP 6)

4. Students will conduct a lab entitled “Organic Molecules Testing” in which they will identify indicators for the 4 macromolecules.

5. Students will complete 3 assignments on Mastering of Biology on the following topics:

Evolution and the Foundations of Biology

Chemical Context of Life

Organic Chemistry and Enzymes.

6. Big Idea #4 Laboratory Investigation Enzyme Activity. Students will focus on the enzyme peroxidase, obtained from a turnip, which will break down peroxide. Then they will develop a method for measuring peroxidase and determining a baseline. Then students will investigate the effect of pH on the action of the enzyme using a spectrophotometer. Finally, students will develop a protocol to investigate the effect of other environmental conditions on enzyme activity. Students will develop a mini-poster and present findings to the class. (SP 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)

Unit 2: Chapter 9-The Cell Cycle (9 days)

Big Ideas: 1, 2, 3, 4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1.B Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.

3.A Heritable information provides for continuity of life.

3.B Expression of genetic information involves cellular and molecular mechanisms.

3.C. The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.

3.D. Cells communicate by generating transmitting and receiving chemical signals.

4.A. Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

4.B Competition and cooperation are important biological systems.

Chapters: 9 The Cell Cycle

Topics for Lecture and Discussion

1. Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells

2. Inside Cancer

3. Mitosis and Cell Cycle

4. Control of Cell cycle

5. Chi Square Analysis

6. Introduction to Essay Writing

Activities and Labs:

1. Students are given data of different types and they must decide the type of graph that is appropriate and graph the data. SP 5

2. Students conduct a webquest on the subject of Henrietta Lacks and then write an essay, a haiku, and make a PowerPoint presentation on her life and the contributions to science that her cells have made. SP 7

3. Students conduct parts 1, 2, and 3 of Lab 7-Cell Division: Mitosis and Meiosis SP2, SP 4,SP 5

4. Students work with different kinds of data and use Chi-Square Analysis to determine which results are statistically significant. SP 2,SP 5

5. Students grade sample essays, write their own and grade it using rubrics.

6. Students will perform 3 assignments (Introduction to Mastering, The Cell Cycle, and Control of the Cell Cycle) from Mastering Biology (The Mastering platform is the most effective and widely used online tutorial, homework, and assessment system for the sciences)

Unit 3: Cell Structure, Function, and Communication (13 days)

Big ideas: 1,2,3,4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1.A Growth, reproduction and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.

2A. Growth, reproduction and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.

3A. Heritable information provides for continuity of life.

3D. Cells communicate by generating, transmitting and receiving chemical signals.

3E. Transmission of information results in changes within and between biological systems.

4A. Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

4B. Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.

4C. Naturally occurring diversity among and between components within biological systems affects interactions with the environment.

Chapters:

4 A Tour of the Cell

5. Membrane Transport and Cell Signaling

Unit 3 Overview of Lecture and discussion topics:

1. Types of cells

2. Organelles and their importance in cellular functions

3. Endosymbiotic Theory

4. Membrane structure and function

5. Transport in and out of cells

6. Cell signaling

7. Quorum Sensing-Bonnie Bassler ()

8. Second Messengers

Activities/Labs:

1. From Mastering Biology (The Mastering platform is the most effective and widely used online tutorial, homework, and assessment system for the sciences):

Tour of Plant Cell

Tour of Animal Cell

Membrane Transport Tutorial

Cell Signaling

2. BUILD-A-MEMBRANE” Cut, fold, and paste biological molecules to create a three-dimensional cell membrane with embedded proteins, followed by whole class discussion of membrane structure and function. (SP 1)

3. Diffusion and Osmosis Lab Inquiry. Students use agar cubes and dialysis tubing as models of cells and determine the effects of their environment. Students will plan and execute investigations to explore the effect of concentration on diffusion and osmosis in different types of cells. During their experiment, they will hypothesize, collect data, calculate percent change, graph results and analyze data. (SP 1,2,3,4,5,6) 4 days

4. The Evolution of the Cell: > The endosymbiotic theory explains how relative of ancient bacteria ended up in modern-day cells. Class discussion revolves around evidence supporting the theory and students write a summary of the discussion. (SP 1,6)

UNIT 4: Nervous Systems and Behavior (13 Days)

Big Ideas 1, 2, 3, 4

Connected to Enduring Understandings:

1.B Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.

2.A Growth, reproduction and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.

2.C Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth and reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.

2.E Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and coordination.

3.E Transmission of information results in changes within and between biological systems.

4.A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

4.B Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.

Chapters:

37. Neurons, Synapses and Signaling

38. Nervous and Sensory Systems

39. Motor Mechanisms and Behavior

Overview of Lecture and Discussion Topics: This section furthers student understanding of cell signaling by delving into its importance in the nervous system.

1. Neuron structure and organization

2. Action Potentials

3. Communication at Synapses

4. Evolution of Nervous Systems

5. Divisions of the Nervous system

6. Brain structure and function

7. Disorders of the Nervous System

8. Sensory Receptors

9. Muscle Contraction

10. Animal Behavior

Activities/Labs:

1. From Mastering Biology, students complete the following activities (SP7) (Each activity is interactive and graded):

a. Activity: Neuron Structure

b. Activity: Action Potentials

c. Activity: Membrane Potentials

d. Activity: Nerve Signals: Action Potentials

e. Activity: Signal Transmission at a Chemical Synapse

f. Solve It: What Is Causing Episodes of Muscle Weakness in a Patient?

g. Scientific Skills Exercise: Designing an Experiment Using Genetic Mutants

h. The Vertebrate Nervous System

i. Activity: Structure and Function of the Eye

j. Activity: The Vertebrate Eye

k. Current Events: Human Muscle, Regrown on Animal Scaffolding (New York Times, 9/16/2012)

l. Current Events: Could Conjoined Twins Share a Mind? (New York Times, 5/25/2011)

m. Interpreting Data: Variation in Percentage of Muscle Fiber Types

n. Activity: Muscle Contraction

o. Activity: Skeletal Muscle Structure

p. Activity: Structure and Contraction of Muscle Fibers

q. Scientific Skills Exercise: Interpreting a Graph with Log Scales

r. Activity: Human Skeleton

s. Activity: Honeybee Waggle Dance Video

t. Animal Behavior and Learning

2. Research: Students prepare and deliver a PowerPoint or Prezi on a neurological disorder. Classmates question each presenter about their presentation. (SP 6,7)

3. Jumpin’ the Gap: Students act out communication at the neural level by behaving as vesicles, neurotransmitters, receptor, secondary messengers and transporters. (SP 1,7)

UNIT 5: Cellular Energy and Related Processes (17 Days)

Big ideas 1, 2, 4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1.A Change in the genetic makeup of a population is evolution.

1.D The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes.

2.B Growth, reproduction, and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.

4.A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

4.B Competition and cooperation are important biological systems.

Chapters:

6.1- 6.3 An Introduction to Metabolism

7. Cellular Respiration and Fermentation

8. Photosynthesis

Unit 5 Overview of Lecture and Discussion Topics:

1. Metabolic pathways

2. Laws of energy transformation

3. How ATP powers cellular work

4. Harvesting chemical energy: glycolysis, citric acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation

5. Light reactions and Calvin cycle

6. Evolution of alternative mechanism of carbon fixation

Activities:

1. From Mastering Biology:

a. Activity: Energy Transformations

b. Chemistry Review - Enzymes & Pathways: Metabolic Pathways

c. ATP and Energy

d. Activity: Chemical Reactions and ATP

e. Activity: The Structure of ATP

f. Activity: Build a Chemical Cycling System

g. Activity: Overview of Cellular Respiration

h. Activity: Redox Reactions

i. Activity: Glycolysis

j. Activity: The Citric Acid Cycle

k. Activity: Electron Transport

l. Activity: Fermentation

m. Activity: Glucose Metabolism

n. Energy Flow in Plants -- Concept Map

o. Activity: Overview of Photosynthesis

p. Activity: The Sites of Photosynthesis

q. Experimental Inquiry: Which Wavelengths of Light Drive Photosynthesis?

r. Interpreting Data: Absorption Spectra and Photosynthetic Pigments

s. Activity: The Light Reactions

t. Activity: Photosynthesis

u. Activity: Photosynthesis in Dry Climates

v. Activity: The Calvin Cycle

2. From National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science: Case Study-Tougher Plants:  Beating Stress by Protecting Photosynthesis in Genetically Modified Plants

Big Idea #2 Laboratory Investigations

1. Pea and Bean Respiration. After constructing a respirometer, students will investigate the rate of cellular respiration by measuring the consumption of oxygen. They will test different kinds of seeds and use beads for volume control and room pressure control. Groups will make graphs and miniposters and present findings to the class. Students will then take a quiz over the lab procedures.

2. Photosynthesis. Students will learn the floating disc method of measuring photosynthesis and then investigate their own experimental variable to gage difference in photosynthesis rates. Some variables include: type of leaf, amount of light, color of light, etc. Results are shared with the class by PowerPoint presentations.

Unit 6: Molecular Basis for Inheritance and Biotechnology (19 Classes)

Big Ideas, 1, 2, 3, 4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1.A Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution

2.C Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth and reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.

2.E Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and coordination

3.A Heritable information provides for continuity of life.

3.B Expression of genetic information involves cellular and molecular genetic variation.

3.C The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.

4.A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

Chapters:

13. The Molecular Basis of Inheritance

14. Gene Expression: From Gene to Protein

15. Regulation of Gene Expression

16. Development, Stem Cells, and Cancer

17. Viruses

18. Genomes and their Evolution

Unit 6 Overview of Lecture and Discussion Topics:

1. DNA is the genetic material (historical experiments, DNA structure and function, DNA replication)

2. Flow of genetic information (genetic code, role of other polymers, transcription, translation)

3. Mutations

4. Gene expression (operon systems in prokaryotes, eukaryotic gene expression)

5. Virus structure and activity

6. Restriction enzymes, plasmids, transformation

7. DNA technology (how gel electrophoresis works and applications of this technology)

8. Plasmid mapping

Activities

1. Operon Function: students develop a model or a skit to show how operons work (SP 1,6)

2. DNA and Histone Model A 3-D cut and paste model depicting how histone, acetyl and methyl molecules control access to DNA and affect gene expression. (SP 1,6)

3. Plasmid mapping: Students take gel electrophoresis results and map plasmids. (SP 2,5)

4. Mastering Biology: Students will conduct online interactive activities

1. Scientific Skills Exercise: Working With Data in a Table

Students build scientific skills by making predictions of base composition in DNA based on Chargaff’s rules.

2. Activity: DNA Double Helix

3. Activity: The Hershey-Chase Experiment

4. DNA Replication

5. Activity: DNA Replication: A Closer Look

6. Activity: DNA Synthesis

7. Activity: Overview of Protein Synthesis

8. Activity: RNA Synthesis

9. Chemistry Review - Nucleic Acids: Transcription

10. Activity: RNA Processing

11. Types of RNA

12. Scientific Skills Exercise: Interpreting a Sequence Logo

13. Activity: Translation

14. Current Events: Bits of Mystery DNA, Far From 'Junk,' Play Crucial Role (New York Times, 9/5/2012)

15. Activity: The lac Operon

16. Activity: The lac Operon in E. coli

17. Activity: Control of Transcription

18. Activity: Review: Control of Gene Expression

Big Idea #3 Laboratory Investigations: 1. Transformation. Students will perform a transformation experiment in which they transform a bacterial cell to contain a plasmid containing a gene which can be expressed so as to cause colonies to turn blue when grown on agar containing X-gal and to grow in the presence of ampicillin. Students will study the structure of the plasmid and make predictions about growth on various agar plates. They will then examine growth and collect data and then determine transformation efficiency. (SP 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

2. Gel Electrophoresis. Students will us micro-techniques to restrict DNA and use standard fragments to plot a curve showing size and distance relationships in order to extrapolate the size of unknown fragments. (SP 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Unit 8: Genetic Basis of Life (9 classes)

Big ideas: 1, 3, 4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1. A Change in the genetic make-up of a population over time is evolution.

3. A Heritable information provides for continuity of life.

3. C The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.

4. C Naturally occurring diversity among and between components within biological systems affects interactions with the environment.

Chapters:

10. Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles

11. Mendel and the Gene Idea

12. The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance

Unit 8 Overview of Lecture and Discussion Topics:

1. Genes are passed from parents to offspring by the inheritance of chromosomes.

2. How meiosis reduces chromosome number

3. Evolutionary significance of genetic variation that results from sexual life cycles

4. Concepts of Mendelian genetics

5. Genes are located along chromosomes (concepts of gene linkage, mapping distance, causes of genetic disorders)

Activities:

1. Students will complete an online activity entitled: The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans. () After viewing a short film, students will work through a series of questions pertaining to the genetics of sickle cell disease and its relationship to malaria resistance. (SP 3, 6, 7)

2. Students will use a chromosome bead kit to simulate the process of meiosis. (SP1)

3. Student will use Chi Square to analyze data from a Drosophila cross. (SP 2, 5)

From Mastering Biology:

1. Activity: Asexual and Sexual Life Cycles

2. Meiosis (1 of 3): Genes, Chromosomes, and Sexual Reproduction (BioFlix tutorial)

3. Meiosis (2 of 3): The Mechanism (BioFlix tutorial)

4. Activity: Meiosis Animation

5. Video Tutor Session Quiz: Mitosis vs. Meiosis

6. Determining Genotype: Pea Pod Color

7. Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment

8. Mendel's Law of Segregation

9. Activity: Dihybrid Cross

10. Activity: Gregor's Garden

11. Activity: Mendel's Experiments

12. Activity: The Principle of Independent Assortment

13. Scientific Skills Exercise: Making a Histogram and Analyzing a Distribution Pattern

14. Incomplete Dominance and Codominance

15. Inheritance of Fur Color in Mice

16. Pedigree Analysis: Dominant and Recessive Autosomal Conditions

17. Pedigree Analysis: Galactosemia

18. Current Events: Ecuadorean Villagers May Hold Secret to Longevity (New York Times, 2/16/2011)

19. Experimental Inquiry: What Is the Inheritance Pattern of Sex-Linked Traits?

20. Pedigrees and Sex Linkage

21. Sex Linkage

22. Video Tutor Session Quiz: Sex-Linked Pedigrees

23. Linked Genes and Linkage Mapping

24. Make Connections: Chromosomal Inheritance and Independent Assortment of Alleles

25. Recombination and Linkage Mapping

26. Scientific Skills Exercise: Using the Chi-Square Test

27. Activity: Mistakes in Meiosis

28. Activity: Polyploid Plants

Current Events: In Choosing a Sperm Donor, a Roll of the Genetic Dice (New York Times, 5/14/2012)

Laboratory Investigation:

1. Meiosis in Sordaria. Students analyze outcomes of Sordaria crosses, determine phenotypes due to crossover or non-crossover, and determine percent recombination and map units. (SP 2,5)

2. Artificial Selection. Investigation 1.Students determine if extreme selection change the expression of a quantitative trait in a population in the span of one generation. (SP 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)

Unit 9: Evolution and Phylogeny (20 classes)

Big Ideas: 1, 3, 4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1. A Change in the genetic makeup of a population overtime is evolution.

1. B Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.

1. C Life continues to evolve within a changing environment.

1. D The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes.

3. A Heritable information provides for continuity of life.

3. C The processing of genetic information is imperfect and is a source of genetic variation.

4. C Naturally occurring diversity among and between components within biological systems affects interactions with the environment.

Chapters:

19. Descent with Modification

20. Phylogeny

21. The Evolution of Populations

22. The Origin of Species

23. Broad Patterns of Evolution

24. Early Life and Diversification of Prokaryotes

Unit 9 Overview of Lecture and Discussion Topics:

1. Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life

2. Scientific evidence supporting evolution

3. Hardy-Weinberg concept

4. How allele frequencies can be altered in a population

5. Concepts of speciation

6. Origin of Life; Fossil Records

7. Events in the “history of life”

Activities

1. Investigation 3 Comparing DNA Sequences to Understand Evolutionary Relationships with BLAST Students will learn how to analyze cladograms and understand evolutionary relationships using the Basic Local Alignment Sequencing Tool. Students will analyze morphological details about a newly discovered fossil, hypothesize as to the position of the fossil in a pre-constructed cladogram, then test the hypothesis using BLAST. Once students become comfortable, they will use the tool to answer questions of their choice regarding gene sequences.

2. “What on earth is the Chilean Blob?” Students will use the NCBI website () to determine the identity of the Chilean Blob. (SP 1,3,4,5)

3. Investigation 2 Mathematical Modeling: Hardy-Weinberg Students will build a spreadsheet that models how a hypothetical gene pool changes from one generation to the next. This model will allow for the exploration of parameters that affect allele frequencies, such as selection, mutation, and migration. Students will then develop a scenario representing a group of organisms in a population that is undergoing environmental pressure and they will use their model to predict the effect on allele frequencies over many generations. They will present their finding on a mini-poster and present it to the group.

4. After viewing a 10 minute film about the Rock Pocket Mouse that describes the groundbreaking research of Dr. Michael Nachman and colleagues on the physical and genetic evolutionary changes in rock pocket mouse populations, students will do the following activities obtained from the HHMI website: Variation Over Time in Rock Pocket Mouse Populations, Allele and Phenotype Frequencies in Rock Pocket Mouse Populations, Molecular Genetics of Color Mutations in Rock Pocket Mice, Biochemistry and Cell Signaling Pathway of the Mc1r Gene, Natural Selection and Evolution of Rock Pocket Mouse Populations

5. From Mastering Biology:

1.Activity: Artificial Selection

2.Activity: Darwin and the Galapagos Islands

3.Activity: Natural Selection for Antibiotic Resistance

4.Activity: Reconstructing Forelimbs

5.Evidence for Evolution

6.Scientific Skills Exercise: Making and Testing Predictions ABC News Video: Exploring Evolution in the Solomon Islands

7.Current Events: A Colorful Way to Watch Evolution in Nebraska's Sand Dunes (New York Times, 8/8/2011)

8.Video Tutor Session Quiz: Phylogenetic Trees

9.Video Tutor Session Quiz: Survey of Biodiversity Constructing Phylogenetic Trees  Scientific Skills Exercise: Interpreting Data in a Phylogenetic Tree

10.Activity: Classification Schemes

11.Interpreting Data: Hardy-Weinberg Equation

12.Scientific Skills Exercise: Using the Hardy-Weinberg Equation to Interpret Data and Make Predictions The Hardy-Weinberg Principle

13.Activity: The Hardy-Weinberg Principle

14.Activity: Three Modes of Natural Selection

15.Current Events: Evolution Right Under Our Noses (New York Times, 7/25/2011)

16.Defining Species

17.Activity: Allopatric Speciation

18.Activity: Speciation by Changes in Ploidy

19.Interpreting Data: Evolution of Reproductive Barriers in Lab Populations of Fruit Flies

20.Current Events: Genetic Data and Fossil Evidence Tell Differing Tales of Human Origins (New York Times, 7/26/2012)

21.Scientific Skills Exercise: Estimating Quantitative Data from a Graph and Developing Hypotheses

22. Activity: Adaptive Radiation

Unit 10: Defense, Development, and Homeostasis (12 classes)

Big Ideas: 1, 2, 3, 4

Connected to Enduring Understandings:

1.B Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.

2.A Growth, reproduction and maintenance of the organization of living systems require free energy and matter.

2.C Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth and reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.

2.D Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological system are influenced by changes in the system’s environment.

2.E Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and coordination.

3.D Cells communicate by generating, transmitting and receiving chemical signals.

3.E Transmission of information results in changes within and between biological systems.

4.A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

4.B Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.

Chapters:

35. The Immune System

32. Homeostasis and Endocrine Signaling

31. Plant Responses to Internal and External Signals

36. Reproduction and Development

Unit 10 Overview of Lecture and Discussion Topics: This section furthers student understanding of cell signaling by delving into its importance in the endocrine and immune systems. It also addresses hormonal systems in plants and animals, feedback mechanisms, structure and function of the kidney, evolutionary trends of osmoregulation, and functional units of mammalian systems.

1. Evolutionary trends of both systems

2. Structure and function of immune systems including communication between macrophages, T cells, and B cells.

3. Endocrine system

4. Signal transduction pathways (plant and animal hormones)

5. Phototropism in plants

6. Positive and Negative feedback control systems

7. Functioning units in mammal systems

8. Development

Activities:

1. Students are assigned a jigsaw activity in which they are assigned different parts of the Immune System and develop activities, PowerPoints, prezis, skits, or diagrams to teach the concepts to others in their lab group.

2. Students develop charts to help them learn the endocrine system.

3. What affects urine production? , Chapter 44. Through animation, students explore the role of a solute gradient on maximum urine productions and explore the effect of hormones.

4. On Mastering Biology, students will do the following activities:

1. Activity: The Inflammatory Response

2. Interpreting Data: Primary and Secondary Immune Responses

3. Scientific Skills Exercise: Comparing Two Variables on a Common x-Axis

4. Acquired Immunity

5. Activity: Immune Responses

6. Activity: The Adaptive Immune Response

7. Activity: HIV Reproductive Cycle

8. Current Events: An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer (New York Times, 9/12/2011)

9. Activity: Homeostasis

10. Solve It: Does Sex Determination Have Only Two Possible Outcomes: Male or Female?

11. Coordination of the Endocrine and Nervous Systems

12. Activity: Human Endocrine Glands and Hormones

13. Activity: Peptide Hormone Action

14. Activity: Steroid Hormone Action

15. Scientific Skills Exercise: Describing and Analyzing Quantitative Data

16. Activity: Structure of the Human Excretory System

Unit 11: Structure and Function in Animal Systems (5 classes)

Big Ideas: 1, 2, 3, 4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1.B Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry.

2.C Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth, reproduction and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.

3.D Cells communicate by generating transmitting and receiving chemical signals.

3.E Transmission of information results in changes within and between biological systems.

4.A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

4.B Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.

Chapters:

32. Homeostasis and Endocrine Signaling

33. Animal Nutrition

34. Circulation and Gas Exchange

Overview of Lecture and Discussion topics: This “mini-unit” examines the structure of the functional units of the excretory, digestive, circulatory, and respiratory systems.

1. Evolutionary trends of the systems

2. Emphasis of structure and functions of each organ/cell

3. Regulation of systems

Activities:

1. Effect of temperature on the respiration rate of ectothermic organisms-students observe the effect of temperature on the operculum movements of goldfish. They also explore the effect of various substances on the vessels in the fish tail.

2. From Mastering Biology:

1. Make Connections: Fat Absorption and Fat Structure

2. Math Practice: Calculating How Microvilli Increase the Surface Area of the Small Intestine

3. Math Practice: Calculating Epinephrine's Effect on the Heart

4. Activity: Mammalian Cardiovascular System Function

5. Activity: Path of Blood Flow in Mammals

6. Activity: The Human Heart

7. Activity: Gas Exchange in the Lungs and Tissues

8. Interpreting Data: Female Reproductive Cycle Hormones

3. Students make drawings of a functional unit to present to the class.

Unit 12: Ecology (17 Classes)

Big ideas: 1, 2, 3, 4

Connected to enduring understandings:

1.A Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution.

1.C Life continues to evolve within a changing environment.

2.A Growth, reproduction and maintenance of the organization of living

systems require free energy and matter.

2.C Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate growth, reproduction

and dynamic homeostasis.

2.D Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological system are influenced by

changes in the system’s environment.

2.E Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic

homeostasis include temporal regulation and coordination.

3.E Transmission of information results in changes within and between

biological systems.

4.A Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties.

4.B Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.

4.C Naturally occurring diversity among and between components within

biological systems affects interactions with the environment.

Chapters:

40. Population Ecology and the Distribution of Organisms

41. Species Interactions

42. Ecosystems and Energy

43. Global Ecology and Conservation Biology

Overview of Lecture and Discussion topics:

1. Terrestrial and Aquatic Biomes

2. Population Ecology

3. Biological Communities- Symbiosis, trophic structure, and disturbance

5. Threats to the biosphere and conservation attempts

Activities:

Big Idea #4 Laboratory Investigation

1. Transpiration: Students investigate the effects of environmental factors on transpiration of plants. During their experiment, they will hypothesize, collect data, calculate percent change, graph results and analyze data. (SP 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

2. From Mastering Biology:

1.Activity: Tropical Atmospheric Circulation

2.Activity: Terrestrial Biomes

3.Aquatic Biomes

4.Interpreting Data: Cholera and Sea Surface Temperature

5. Activity: Madagascar and the Biodiversity Crisis

6.Activity: Human Population Growth and Regulation

7.Activity: Tropical Atmospheric Circulation

8.Activity: Terrestrial Biomes

9.Aquatic Biomes

10.Interpreting Data: Cholera and Sea Surface Temperature

11.Activity: Madagascar and the Biodiversity Crisis

12.Activity: Human Population Growth and Regulation

13.Scientific Skills Exercise: Making a Bar Graph and a Scatter Plot

14.Experimental Inquiry: Can a Species’ Niche Be Influenced by Interspecific Competition?

15.Activity: Food Webs

16.Make Connections: Character Displacement and Modes of Selection

17.Scientific Skills Exercise: Interpreting Quantitative Data in a Table

18.Energy Flow Through Ecosystems

19.Make Connections: Pyramid of Net Production and Bioenergetics

20.GraphIt!: Animal Food Production Efficiency and Food Policy

21.Activity: Introduced Species: Fire Ants

22.Interpreting Data: Input of Nitrogen to Earth’s Ecosystems

23.Scientific Skills Exercise: Graphing Cyclic Data

24.Interpreting Data: Atmospheric Concentrations of Greenhouse Gases

25.Activity: Conservation Biology Review

26.Activity: The Greenhouse Effect

3. Students will create a brochure or PowerPoint to advertise a trip to the biome assigned them.

AP Exam Review (6 days, in addition to integrated review throughout instruction)

AP Biology Exam Review study materials

AP Biology Exam practice questions and essays

AP Biology quizzes and unit tests to simulate AP Biology exam

AP Biology Exam: Monday, May 11, 2015

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