UCONN/ECE - AP BIO Summer Assignment
Ms. Cruz 2018-2019
UCONN ECE/AP Bio Summer Assignments:
- Sign up to Google Classroom by 06/08/18: 20 pts. – Quiz grade
- Sign up to Remind.com by 06/08/18: 20 pts. – Quiz grade
- AP Bio Letter of Introduction by 06/08/18: 40 pts. – Quiz grade
- Guided Reading by 08/27/18: Ecology Unit 50 pts. – Test grade
- Get School Supplies by 08/27/18: 20 pts. – Quiz grade
- Book Report by 08/27/18 50 pts. – Test grade
**You must pick up a textbook in Room 214 by 6/08/18**
Assignment 1: Google Classroom
The first assignmentis to successfully sign up to Google classroom. Go to and sign in using your “ansoniaps.org” email. Once you are in the classroom main page, add classroom. The code for the UCONN ECE BIO 2018 class is: trj6uai.
The due date for this assignment is: 06/08/2018
Assignment 2: Remind
The second assignment is to successfully sign in and add a class in the Remind web site. Simply text the code @28d38h to 81010. Instructions attached.
The due date for this assignment is: 06/08/2018
Assignment 3: Intro Letter
Write an introduction letter and upload it to the corresponding assignment using Google classroom. DO NOT email me the letter. Use Google Docs and submit it through Google Classroom.
Your letter must adhere to the following guidelines:
Use clear, full sentences with correct punctuation. Use spell check before you hit that“send” button.Do not use text language! Do not abbreviate words like you would when texting a
friend. Rather, use a formal style of communication. Remember that I am your UCONN professor within AHS. This will be a good practice for you to communicate with your college professors in the future.
Make the document heading: AP Biology Letter of Introduction: (Your first and last
name). Do not include the parentheses; just add your first and last name.
Begin the letter with a formal salutation, like “Ms. Cruz,” or “Dear Ms. Cruz.”
–Now introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about you:
(“Hello, my name is ___)
–What do you like to do (hobbies, sports, music, and interests)?
–Tell me a little about your family (Mom, Dad, Guardian, Siblings, Pets, how
long you’ve lived in the area?)
–What do you like most about Biology?
–Why are you taking this class and what do you hope to learn about?
–What are you most anxious about in AP Biology?
End the letter with a formal closing, like “Sincerely.” Then skip four spaces and write
your name below the closing like you would if you were writing a letter.
The due date for this assignment is: 06/08/2018
Assignment 4: Guided Reading
Use your book and complete the guided reading packet for the Ecology Unit. Answers must be handwritten.Pick up the printed copies in room 214 by 06/08/18.
The due date for this assignment is: 08/27/18
Assignment 5: Get School Supplies
•1 three-ring binder with dividers
• Standard size, loose leaf notebook paper
• Pencils with erasers, pens, highlighters
• Calculator - to be used in class very often
• Agenda – paper versions only – to keep track of due dates (Mandatory)
The due date for this assignment is: 08/27/18
Assignment 6: Book Report
This assignment requires that you read a book and write a report. You can:
- Buy new, used, paper or online versions
- Get it from the Ansonia Public Library
- Sign out an AHS copy with me – it must be returned on 08/27/18 – failure to return book will result in a charge to your AHS account.
You will not read the book during class, but I will refer to it during the DNA Unit. You will also read this book during the year in your English classes and the book will be provided by the English teachers at that time.
Read the book and write a well thought out and detailed report of the book of at least 6 pages. You will focus on the scientific aspects of the story, which will lead to the ethical aspects and medical practices. Do not tell me the story – I already know it!
The due date for this assignment is: 08/27/18
I am including 2 helpful tools:
1) The Book Report Guide **This should be (at least) the FIRST PAGE of your report**
2) Guiding questionsto help you stay focused on the scientific aspect. Do not write a report by simply answering the questions. Use the questions to make sure you are including all the pertinent information. Read ALL chapters!!! The report must be written as an essay, please do not number or use bullet points. It MUST have a minimum of 6 pages, double spaced, 12 font:
**The answers to the questions below should fit in the SUBSEQUENT PAGES of your report **
PART 1:
Book Report Guide: Nonfiction
FIRST PAGE(S)
Your book report should answer the following questions. All questions should be answered in complete sentences. THIS IS THE FIRST PAGE OF YOUR REPORT. PAGES 2 and beyond WILL FOCUS ON THE SCIENTIFIC, ETHICAL AND MEDICAL ASPECTS.
1. Title
2. Author
3. Year the book was written
4. Point of View: First-person or Third-person
5. Number of pages
6. Subject: Who/what is the book about? Why did you choose this subject? What did you know about this subject before reading the book?
7. Occasion: Where does the story take place? When does the story take place?
8. Audience: Who was the book written for? Who will read the book?
9. Purpose: What is the point of the book? Why was the book written?
10. Speaker: Who is telling the story? How is this person related to the subject?
11. Summary: List five things you learned about the subject. Why is each important? List five things you found interesting. Why is each interesting to you?
12. Your Reaction: How will you use the information you learned from the book? What did you like about the book? What did you not like about the book?
13. On a five-star scale (five being the best) how would you rate the book? Why?
14. Would you recommend it to others? Why or why not?
PART 2:
Guiding Questions: Scientific, Ethical, and Medical Aspects
Subsequent pages
Prologue: The Woman in the Photograph
- The author uses several similes to describe cells. What simile does she use to describe the way a cell looks? What simile does she use to explain the functions of the different parts of the cell? What do these similes suggest about biology?
- What is mitosis? What beneficial biological processes involve mitosis?
- What simile does Donald Defler use to describe mitosis?
- What happens when there is a mistake during the process of mitosis?
- According to Defler, how important was the discovery of HeLa cells?
- As a high school student, Skloot began researching HeLa cells to find out more about Henrietta Lacks. Examine pages 5 and 6 and write down each step that Skloot took to begin her research.
Chapter One: The Exam
- What did Howard Jones find “interesting” about Henrietta’s medical history? What does this finding suggest about Henrietta’s cancer?
Chapter Three: Diagnosis and Treatment
1. How are different types of cancer categorized?
2. Explain how the development of the Pap smear improved the survival rate of womendiagnosed with cervical cancer.
3. Explain what an immortal cell line is.
4. Explain how TeLinde and Gey’s relationship led to Gey obtaining a tissue sample fromHenrietta’s tumor.
5. Analyze the consent statement that Henrietta signed on page 31. Based on thisstatement, do you believe TeLinde and Guy had the right to obtain a sample from hercervix to use in their research?
6. Do you think Henrietta would have given explicit consent to have a tissue sample usedin medical research if she had been asked? Do you think she would have understoodwhat was being asked of her? Explain your answers.
Chapter Four: The Birth of HeLa
1. Summarize the main obstacles Gey and his assistants faced in their effort to grow cells.
2. Where did the name “HeLa” come from?
3. Explain how Gey’s roller-tube culturing technique works.
4. What happened to the HeLa cells that Mary cultured?
5. Gey chose to give away samples of HeLa to his colleagues almost immediately. Do youthink this was a good decision? Explain your answer.
6. What is the implication of the author’s decision to use the term “birth” to describe theinitial growth of HeLa cells?
Chapter Seven: The Death and Life of Cell Culture
1. What did Gey hope to accomplish with HeLa cells?
2. What did HeLa allow scientists to do for the first time?
3. Who was Alexis Carrel? Why did he win the Nobel Prize?
4. How did the media react to Carrel’s announcement that he had grown immortalchicken heart cells?
5. What controversial beliefs did Carrell have?
6. Give an example of propaganda that was used to fuel the public’s fear and distrust oftissue culture.
7. What details suggest that Carrel’s claims about the immortal cell line were notscientifically sound?
Chapter Thirteen: The HeLa Factory
1. Explain how a neutralization test is used to determine a vaccine’s efficacy.
2. What unusual characteristics of HeLa cells made them ideal for use in the polio vaccinetrials?
3. Why did the Tuskegee Institute become involved in the mass production of HeLa cells?
Describe the depth of the Institute’s involvement.
4. Paraphrase the explanation of how a virus reproduces found on page 97. Why did thefact that HeLa cells are malignant make them particularly useful in the study of viruses?
5. Why was the development of methods of freezing cells an important scientificbreakthrough?
6. Why is standardization important in scientific research?
7. Why did scientists want to be able to clone cells for research?
8. Explain the contribution that HeLa made to the emerging field of genetics.
9. Describe the role Microbiological Associates played in the development of the field of cell culture, and the industry of selling HeLa cells and other human biological materials.
Chapter Twenty: The HeLa Bomb
1. What did Stanley Gartler discover about eighteen of the most commonly used cellcultures?
2. How was Gartler able to link the contamination problem to HeLa?
3. What unique abilities did HeLa have that allowed it to contaminate cultures withoutresearchers being aware that contamination had occurred?
4. Why would HeLa contamination be a problem for researchers?
5. What is “spontaneous transformation”? What did Gartler suggest about spontaneoustransformation?
6. How did the scientific community respond to Gartler’s theory about HeLacontamination?
Chapter Twenty-Three: “It’s Alive”
- Why did researchers want DNA samples from Henrietta’s family?
Chapter Twenty-Six: Breach of Privacy
- How have laws regarding medical privacy changed since the early 1980s?
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Secret to Immortality
1. Explain how the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer.
2. Are scientists able to definitively explain why HeLa grew so powerfully?
3. Explain the theories that Henrietta’s family have about why her cells are so powerful.
4. Describe the contribution that HeLa has made to research on the HIV virus and the
AIDS epidemic.
5. Explain Van Valen’s theory that HeLa cells are “no longer human.” Was his theoryaccepted by the scientific community?
6. According to Stevenson, why did scientists develop the argument that HeLa cells are nolonger human?
7. Who do you think makes the more persuasive argument, Van Valen or Stevenson?