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ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY

COURSE OVERVIEW & SYLLABUS

The Plano West Senior High School AP Biology course and the College Board AP Biology Exam are based on the revised College Board
Advanced Placement Program for Biology. The AP Biology course is equivalent to a two-semester college introductory biology
course for biology majors. The goal for our students is readiness for the study of advanced topics in subsequent college courses.
Emphasis will be placed on enduring, conceptual understanding and inquiry-based learning experiences organized around four
underlying principles called the Big Ideas. These Big Ideas encompass the core scientific principles, theories, and processes
governing organisms and biological systems. For each Big Idea, enduring understandings incorporate the core concepts that
students should retain from the learning experience.

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.

AP BIOLOGY INVESTIGATIVE LABS


Laboratory work is a major component of this course highlighting all of the recommended labs in the AP Biology Investigative Labs:
An Inquiry-Based Approach manual for students. Focus will be on enduring, conceptual understandings and the content that
supports them. Students will develop advanced inquiry and reasoning skills, such as designing a plan for collecting data, analyzing
data, applying mathematical routines, and connecting concepts in and across domains. Many additional laboratory activities will be
incorporated in this course to engage students in hands-on learning throughout each unit.

TEXTBOOK AND REFERNCE RESOURCES


Campbell Biology, AP Edition
Reece, Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, Jackson 2011.
AP Edition Biology, Ninth Edition, San Francisco, CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings
ISBN 978-0-13-137504-8
Students are required to study the chapters as listed in the syllabus.

Supplements to the text in the form of current scientific articles, books, radio programs, and videos are carefully chosen to
encourage critical thinking of social and environmental concerns as well as to supplement lectures and labs. Examples of assigned
articles include, but are not limited to:
The Great Stem Cell Divide, National Geographic
The Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance, Scientific American
Henriettas Dance, the HeLa cell line

STUDENT EVALUATION
The students nine-week grade is composed of the three categories below daily, labs, and tests. The semester average is
composed of the nine-week scores and the semester exam, each weighted equally. The second semester will award an additional
laboratory credit that receives the same nine-weeks and semester scores as the course. If the student meets the eligibility
requirements, this course is available for semester averaging to receive course credit.

25% Daily Assignments: Comprehensive quizzes are given after each major concept covered in lectures, assigned reading, and
presentations. Frequent quizzes are designed to encourage learning at a regular pace and to discourage cramming.

50% Tests: Generally 3 tests are given per nine week grading period. Unit tests will be administered in the style of the AP College
Board Biology Exam and typically include objective questions, and 1 or 2 essays/free responses, and short answers.

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