Summer Assignment for AP BIOLOGY
ALL WORK is DUE the first Day of school 2014-2015 School Year
I know what you are thinking….why a summer assignment? AP Biology is a vigorous, yet manageable and rewarding class. In order to meet the demands of the curriculum it is necessary for you to complete some work before you come back in August. All work is to be done by individual students. There is no “group-work” for this. I know that it may be tempting to divide the work, and email the answers to each other, but it will not be worth the consequences, which will likely result in dismissal from this course. *Important Note: Since we are working on getting NEW books (Fingers crossed) for the new school year, ALL assignments will be completed via Internet research as well as purchase of a book from Amazon.com (see link below). IF we get books before the summer is up, I will be contacting you.
The two main goals of AP Biology are to help you develop a conceptual framework for modern biology and to gain a deeper appreciation of science as a process (as opposed to an accumulation of facts). Because of the rapid pace of discovery in the life sciences our primary emphasis is on developing an understanding of unifying concepts that connect the major topics of biology. The AP Biology Curriculum centers around the four Big Ideas and you will need to not only know these but also understand how they all relate:
- 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.
What to do before the first day of school:
· Text verification: To verify you indeed are receiving this information and are enrolled in AP Biology (as well as ensure you get your name and number on the group text list), please text me your full name to 606-425-2177. This I my personal phone number. I don’t mind sharing it because quite frankly, I believe it is my job to be available to help you when I can. HOWEVER, I do ask you respect a little of my personal time, which means please don’t text me on weekends unless it is an emergency, of course, or before 8 am or after 10 pm.
· (Highly suggested but not mandatory) Purchase a copy of 5 Steps to a 5 by Mark Anestis (Amazon or your local book store). It must be the NEWEST addition because the course was redesigned this year.
o Note: The last I checked in May 2014, the Kindle version was $9.68 on Amazon and the Paperback copy I purchased from Amazon was $14.33
· AP Biology was designed by a select group of college professors and high school science teachers to be equivalent to an introductory college biology course. Visit the below College Board site to explore what an AP Biology course is like:
o https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/exploreap?affiliateId=apcentral&bannerId=exploreap1
· We will engage in a great deal of collaborative learning. It is important that you now, as a young adult getting ready to enter college, create a PROFESSIONAL e-mail account. may be cool, but not good for your future endeavors in the academic arena or placing on a job application!!!
o I need a clear, easy to understand e-mail address for you. . . don’t have one? . . create a gmail account now. It is great for sharing information and documents.
§ Once you have an account, email me to introduce yourself. I’d like to know some of your immediate and long term goals as well as why you decided to take AP Biology. My email is and I will be checking it all summer. If you encounter problems with your summer assignment, please contact me through that email as well.
o We also know social media is here to stay. Please follow me on twitter at @Penley_SHS
o Alas, we have a small problem in AP Biology. Each year new advances in science are discovered but the length of the school year (and when the test occurs) stays the same. What does this mean? We are short on time. We only meet 54 minutes per day, 5 days a week. We CANNOT POSSIBLY COVER ALL THE MATERIAL IN A SCHOOL YEAR before the AP exam. I cannot stress to you the importance of beginning your reading, reading, reading, and studying, studying, studying asap. Vocabulary is of the utmost importance. In order to cover ALL of the material, you are responsible for reviewing the Chemistry section on your own, especially important if you have not had Chemistry yet (hence, why Chemistry is one of your summer assignmentsJ).
Use the following checklist to guide you through your summer assignments:
All of these assignments are found in the AP Biology page, Summer Assignment folder on my webpage.
1) Graphing Packet. You must answer every question and draw every graph requested. When a question asks you to "describe what the graph shows," look at the overall picture and trends, not just the apex/highest point. Making and interpreting graphs is an important part of biology. Every AP exam has a few questions about graphs. The AP Exam has also frequently had students make and interpret a graph on an essay question. This is a basic skill that you need to do well in any AP science class. You should complete this packet before performing any labs. While I will expect you to use computer generated graphs in the year, I want these graphs made by hand. This will ensure academic integrity.
2) Complete the Chemistry/Word Origin Assignment
3) Complete the 8 Article assignment
4) Sign and turn in the last page of the AP Biology Class Expectations document.
5) Read, sign and return the lab safety contract on the first day of school.
· To reach these documents on my website::
o Go to the Somerset High School homepage at: http://www.somerset.kyschools.us/school_home.aspx?schoolid=1
o Select “Teacher Websites” from the left hand side of the page.
o Scroll down to the letter “P” and select Lynette Penley
o From my webpage, select “AP Biology” on the left hand side of the page
o Go to “Class Files/ Links” on the right hand side and choose “Summer Assignments”
o All the required documents are found in this folder.
Again, I am SUPER excited about this upcoming year’s AP biology….it is the LARGEST class yet and we will grow very close as a class and though we will work hard we will have a lot of fun! I feel incredibly blessed to be at SHS and though I have taught at other high schools, I can say without hesitation the students at SHS are the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with & AP biology for some reason always seems to be the class with that “family” feeling to it by the end of the year. Please, don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email at or . I will check these emails at least 2-3 times per week.
Have a great summer!
Mrs. Lynette Penley
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