AP Biology
AP Biology will be offered again in the 2022-23 school year, as a spring semester course.
Course Description
AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course. Students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following topics: evolution, cellular processes — energy and communication, genetics, information transfer, ecology, and interactions.
The course is based on four Big Ideas, which encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of thinking about living organisms and biological systems. The following are Big Ideas:
• The process of evolution explains the diversity and unity of life.
• Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
• Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes.
• Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.
Course Description
AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course. Students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following topics: evolution, cellular processes — energy and communication, genetics, information transfer, ecology, and interactions.
The course is based on four Big Ideas, which encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of thinking about living organisms and biological systems. The following are Big Ideas:
• The process of evolution explains the diversity and unity of life.
• Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
• Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes.
• Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.
What are the prerequisites for the course?
Students must have competed both Biology and Chemistry AND a winter assignment that helps students to review key topics covered in AP Bio
**Please note that the winter assignment is often worth multiple grades. Students who do not complete the assignment by the due date will receive zeros for that work.**
**Please note that the winter assignment is often worth multiple grades. Students who do not complete the assignment by the due date will receive zeros for that work.**
How is the class scheduled?
AP Biology will be offered again spring semester of 2023.
What is the class like?
This course is student driven with students expected to take responsibility for their learning of the material- this means for most topics students will be taking notes independently. Open discussions among the class and instructor are encouraged and students work in groups at least once a week. The class is fast paced with one chapter being covered every two days. Students complete at least four writing assignments and read multiple scholarly journal articles per grading period. The 2-3 tests given per grading period cover multiple chapters and consist of 20 multiple choice AP style questions and one or two essay questions. Laboratory work is an integral part of the course. Students should expect to spend a minimum of one hour per night on the course material in order to be successful.
View the free response questions from a past AP exam: |
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