AP Biology Syllabus 2016-2017

Instructor: Keishar Dewberry

E-mail address:

Room Number: 340

Materials:

  • Main Textbook – Biology AP* Edition by Sylvia S. Mader and Michael Windelspecht

Supplemental textbook -- Biology (by Neil A. Campbell and Jane R. Reece) 6th Edition – 2002

  • 2-inch 3-ring binder for items within the dividers
  • Package of notebook paper
  • Dividers with 5 tabs (1. notes, 2. quizzes, 3. tests, 4. homework, 5.classwork)
  • Blue or black ballpoint ink pens
  • #2 pencils
  • Four-function calculator (cell phones will not be allowed as substitutions for the calculators)
  • Glue sticks
  • Graph paper
  • Composition notebook or 1-inch college-ruled spiral

The New AP Biology Curriculum Framework

The revised Advanced Placement Biology course shifts from a traditional teacher-directed “content coverage” model of instruction to one that focuses on helping students gain enduring understandings of biological concepts and the scientific evidence that supports them. This approach enables students to spend more time understanding biological concepts while developing reasoning skills essential to the science practices used throughout their study of biology. A practice is a way to coordinate knowledge and skills in order to accomplish a goal or task. The science practices enable students to establish lines of evidence, and use them to develop and refine testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena.

The key concepts and related content that define the revised AP Biology course and exam are organized around four underlying principles called the big ideas, which are as follows:

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.

These four big ideas will be referred to as evolution, cellular processes: energy and communication, genetics and information transfer, and interactions, respectively, for the sake of brevity. The big ideas encompass the core scientific principles, theories, and processes governing organisms and biological systems.

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A more student-directed, inquiry-based lab experience supports the AP Biology course revision and curricular requirements by providing opportunities for students to design plans for experiments, data collection, application of mathematical routines, and refinement of testable explanations and predictions. Such a lab experience reinforces the revised curriculum’s focus on quantitative skills.

The seven science practices listed below capture important aspects of the work that scientists engage in, at the level of competence expected of AP Biology students.

Science Practice 1: The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena

and solve scientific problems.

Scientific Practice 2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.

Scientific Practice 3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide

investigations within the context of the AP course.

Scientific Practice 4: The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a

particular scientific question.

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

Scientific Practice 6: The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.

Scientific Practice 7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts,

and representations in and across domains.

Behavioral Expectations:

  1. Students will adhere to the Townview dress code policy and wear their ID badges at all times during class.
  2. Students will come to class prepared with the materials (textbook, pen, pencil, notebook, and etc.) ready to work. Students will not be permitted into class without these items.
  3. Students must be in their seats when the tardy bell rings.
  4. The six pillars of character – trustworthiness, responsibility, respect, fairness, citizenship, and caring- will be emphasized in this class.
  5. Students are expected to complete their tests and quizzes without aid from other students or study resources (i.e., textbook, old quizzes & tests, notes)
  6. Cell phones must be turned off and put away during class.
  7. Students will have to have permission from me to access the computers anytime during class.
  8. Students are not allowed to work on assignments from other classes during class time unless given permission by me to do so.
  9. Food and drinks are not allowed in the classroom at any time!

AP Biology Grading Policy

Tests (Practice AP style tests/unit tests) = 45%

Lab Reports/Projects/Quizzes = 40%

Classwork/Homework/Case Studies = 10%

TREK/TAG-IT = 5% 2