Course Overview / Educational Philosophy
It is my belief science and specifically the science of biology is a lens that instructs our world vision. The four big ideas when supported by the seven science practices and framed by the enduring understandings yield a meaningful and powerful approach to the instruction of biology.
I also believe that biology is as much a verb as it is a discipline of science. When the class is designed as a constructivist inquiry into our living world, biology goes beyond the classroom and into our daily lives. Students must gain the skills that allow them to inquire, investigate and communicate about the biological issues that are impacting them today and in the future. The 13 inquiry based labs along with my supplemental laboratory experiences will put students in the laboratory setting at least 25% of their class time. (CR 7)
Biology is most meaningful when each new concept or piece of information is woven back into the prior learning. The course is designed in such a way that we will explore the underlying fundamental principles for each of the four big ideas and then explore their integration or impact on the living world as detailed by the enduring understandings and individual learning objectives(CR2). By structuring the class in such a format the fundamental concepts become more deeply ingrained and students gain the ability to predict outcomes based on these big ideas.
To promote the connection between big ideas and enduring understanding I give students an assignment at the beginning of each unit that is due on the day of the unit test. This assignment lists the big idea and asks specific objective based questions inspired by the enduring understanding and learning objectives for each unit. This assignment acts as their key to the exam and I encourage my students to use this as a means of studying for the unit test.
Materials
Campbell, Neil and Reece, Jane B. 2005. AP Edition Biology, Seventh Edition, San Francisco, CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings. (CR 1)
Campbell, Neil and Reece, Jane B. 2005 Student Study Guide Biology, Fifth Edition, San Francisco, CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings. (CR 1)
AP Biology Investigative Labs: An Inquiry Based Approach, The College Board, 2012
Released multiple choice tests and free response questions 1968-present.
2012 Practice Exam, The College Board, 2012
Commonly Used Websites
Course Schedule/Outline
Currently the class meets for 1 50 minute period per day each day of our school week, Monday through Friday. In the 2013-2014 school year, we will be expanding to a double class period for AP Biology to accommodate the time required to successfully complete the inquiry based laboratory experiences and allow for more student opportunities to construct their own understanding. This year the extra time is being fulfilled before and after our regular school day. At least 25% of our time, whether it is part of our regular schedule or supplemental time, will be in the laboratory setting. (CR 7)
The Four Big Ideas (BI)
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.
The Seven Science Practices (SP)
- The students can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems
- The student can use mathematics appropriately
- The students can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course.
- The students can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.
- The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
- The student can work with scientific explanations and theories (Throughout the course this SP is put into practice)
- The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts, and representations in and across domains. (Throughout the course this SP is put into practice)
Course Outline – Including
- Sequence of study
- Correlations to Curricular Requirements (CR), Big Ideas (BI), and Science Practices (SP)
Unit 1
Unit 1 – Introduction to LifeBI 1,2,3,4
CR 2, 3a,d, 4b-c, 6, 8
Topics / Readings / Labs / Assessment
Chapter 2-3BI 2
- The Chemistry of Life
- Waters is Amazing
- Emergent Properties
- Organic Chemistry
- Functional Groups
- Polymerization
- Macromolecules
- Relating Molecular Form and Function
- Emergent Properties
- Metabolic Balance
- Thermodynamics
- Energy Coupling
- Enzymatic Reactions
- Feedback Loops
- Form and Function Analysis
- Feedback Loops in relation to homeostasis
- Homeostatic regulation of cellular fuel
- Evolution of mammalian digestion
- Nutrition
- Digestion of macromolecules
- Relating tissue and organ form and function
- Enzyme catalysis of macromolecules
CR4b,c / Macromolecule Kits– Understanding the versatility of carbon based molecules (Rings, Chains, Isomers)SP 1
7 Station water lab – Exploring Water – How waters unique properties promote conditions required for life.CR 4b SP 2,3,4,5
Nutrition Lab
- students analyze food for macromolecule content and build calorimeter to calculate energy content of food. Energy content and molecular structure compared.CR 4b
BI 2
(SP 2,3,4,5,6)
Modified Enzyme Catalysis Lab with full lab reportCR 3d,6 SP 2,3,4,5 / Formative Assessment:
- Study Guide Questions Chapters 2,3,4,5,8,40,41
- Chapter Objective Questions
- Pre-Lab Questions
- Unit Objective sheet
- Lab reports
- Chapter Quizzes
- Unit Exams – Exam is both free response and multiple choice CR8
Unit 2 – The Cell
BI 1, 2, 4
CR2, 3a,b,d, 4b, 6, 7
Topics / Readings / Labs / Assessment
Chapter 6BI 2,4
- Comparing prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in terms of complexity and size
- Endosymbiosis
- The nucleus and ribosome
- The endomembrane system
- Chloroplast and Mitochondria
- Endosymbiosis
- Fluid Mosaic Model
- Function of membrane components (phospholipids, sterols, proteins, carbohydrates)
- Movement/Transport into and out of cells
- Redox chemistry
- Energy flow in cells
- Relate cellular structure to mechanism used to harvest free energy for cellular use
- Maintenance of homeostasis for cellular ATP levels
- Fermentation as a common metabolic process for the harvesting of free energy from organic compounds
- Biochemical processes of photosynthesis
- Relationship of cellular structure to mechanisms used to harvest free energy for cellular use
- Alternative mechanisms for carbon fixation as an adaptation to harsh environments
- Innate and Acquired Immunity (lines of defense)
- Humoral and cell-mediated immunity
- Active and passive immunity
- Correlation of Nitrogenous waste and animals environment
- Structure and Function of mammalian Kidney
- Adaptions of vertebrate kidney to different environments
44 / Review cellular structure and function on Cells Alive website
Surface Area to Volume Ratio Lab – Agar blocks determine rate at which materials can move into and out of cells CR 4b SP 2,3,4,5
Analysis of cellular models from three different Kingdoms constructed by the previous year’s AP class (after AP Exam). Endosymbiosis and evolutionary relationships are highlighted. CR 3a SP 1
Osmosis Diffusion Lab with addition of Magic Fountain Introduction (How concentration gradients store free energy)– Connects - BI 2 and 4CR 3b,d SP 2,3,4,5
Cellular Respiration LabCR 6 SP 2,3,4,5
Photosynthesis LabCR 6 SP 2,3,4,5 / Formative Assessment
- Study Guide Questions Chapter 6,7,9 and 42
- Pre-lab questions and hypotheses
- Unit Objective sheet
- Osmosis diffusion lab reportCR 8
- Cellular respiration lab reportCR 8
- Photosynthesis Poster CR 8
- Chapter quizzes
- Unit exam
Unit 3 – Communication
BI 1,2,3,4
CR2, 3a-c, 4c, 6
Topics / Readings / Labs / Assessment
Chapter 11 BI 3
- Cell communication
- Reception (proteins and lipids)
- Transduction/ amplification
- Cellular response
- Mitotic cell cycle
- Control of the cell cycle
- Comparison of life cycles among organisms
- Examining sexual life cycles
- Meiotic cell cycle
- Sources of genetic Diversity that arise from a Sexual life cycle
- Review signal Transduction pathways
- Examine example plant responses to stimuli including – photoperiodism, gravity, hormones, environmental stress
- Review transduction pathways
- Explore examples of feedback loops including pituitary and nonpituitary
- Maintenance of homeostatic conditions
- Anatomy and physiology of a neuron
- Action potentials
- Synapses – electrical and chemical (neurotransmitters)
- Divisions of the vertebrate nervous system
- Pathway of a nervous signal (reception, transduction, amplification, transmission and integration
- Examining examples using sensory inputs of sight, sound and smell
Involuntary Movement vs. Voluntary movement lab. – Students explore the autonomic and somatic nervous systems.CR 4c SP 2,3,4,5
-Measurement of reaction time
-Exploration of involuntary responses constriction and dilation of the pupil, increased decreased heart rate, salivation / Formative Assessment
- Study Guide Questions Chapters 11, 12, 13, 39, 45, 48, 49
- Pre-lab questions and hypotheses
- Diagram of Voluntary Motor pathway
- Unit Objective sheet
- Lab reports (Mitosis, Meosis)
- Chapter Quizzes
- Unit Exams – Exam is both free response and multiple choice CR8
Unit 4 – Introduction to Genetics and Gene Expression
BI 1,2,3
CR2, 3a-c, 4c, 6, 8
Topics / Readings / Labs / Assessment
Chapter 14BI 3
- Mendel’s laws of inheritance
- The use of probability to understand inheritance
- Extending Mendeliangenetics
- Human examples of Mendelian genetics
- Genetic testing/screening
- The chromosomal basis of inheritance
- Linked genes
- Sex-linked inheritance
- Chromosomal alterations
- Outside of simple inheritance (genomic imprinting, nonnuclear DNA)
- Historical development of modern gene theory
- DNA replication and enzymes involved
- Telomeres
- Continued development of modern gene theory
- Processes of protein synthesis
- Varied role of RNA
- Comparison of gene expression on prokaryotic and eukarotic cells
- Genetics of bacteria and viruses
- Other genetic elements associated with disease
- Operons – As a model of gene regulation
- Regulation of gene expression
- Cancer as a result of genetic changes associated with regulation of the cell cycle
- Modern understanding of eukaryotic genome
- Cloning and recombinant DNA
- Restriction enzyme analysis of DNA
- Sequencing genomes
- Practical application of genomics
- Correlating embryonic development, cell differentiation with the regulation of gene expression
- Stem cell research
Karyotype activity performed on Karyotypes collected from Michigan State University CR 4c
Restriction Enzyme Analysis of DNA LabCR 6 SP 2,3,4,5
Student Reviews of the Film GATTACA – Student must comment on the moral, social, ethical issues presented by the film and connect the world portrayed in the film to what is occurring in the world of genomics today. CR 5
View – PBS: Secret of Life Video regarding the race to elucidate the correct 3 dimensional structure of DNA. CR 4c
View – PBS Video – “Playing God” Video regarding the implications of modern genetic research and the potentials pitfalls associated with this research. Students will follow up with an internet assignment on this topic. (CR 5) / Formative Assessment
- Study Guide Questions Chapter 6,7,9 and 42
- Pre-lab questions and hypotheses
- Unit Objective sheet
- Lab reports
- Completed Karyotype with correct diagnosis
- Film Analysis
- Chapter Quizzes
- Unit Exams – Exam is both free response and multiple choice CR8
Unit 5 – Evolutionary Biology
BI 1, 4
CR 2, 3a,b,d, 4a,c,d 6, 8
Topics / Readings / Labs / Assessment
Chapter 22 BI 1
- The Evolution of modern evolutionary theory
- Evolutionary theory as an explanation of observations (drug resistance, homology/analogy, biogeographical patterns, molecular biology
- The Modern Synthesis
- Hardy-Weinberg Theorem in action
- Natural selection in action – change in allele frequencies for a population in response to environmental pressures in combination with random events (mutation, genetic drift)
- Sexual selection
- What is a species and why is it so difficult to define?
- Speciation – with and without geographic barriers
- Macroevolutionary events – Geological Time Line
- Phylogenic systematics to construct an accurate cladogram
- Use of molecular biology and computer modeling toreconstruct accuratephylogeny
- Origin of life on earth
- RNA as first genetic material
- Understanding our current model of biological diversity
- Exploring the diversity of life and reconstructing divergence from ancestry
- Reconstruction of animal development
27.1, 3
28.1
29
30.1-3
31.1
32.2,3
33 –Highlighting invertebrate evolution
34 – Highlighting vertebrate evolution / Artificial Selection LabCR 6 SP 2,3
Mathematical Modeling of Hardy-WeinbergCR 6 SP 2,3
Comparing DNA Sequencing to Understand Evolutionary Relationships with BLASTCR 3a, 6 SP 1,2,3,4,5
Students read selected chapters from the The Song of the DoDo, Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction – By David Quammen Understand the process of allopatric speciation on archipelagoes
Students write a brief (1 page) paper describing the conditions that favor or inhibit speciation and predict future human evolution. CR 4a, 5, 8 SP 3
Students construct a geological time line to scale include:
Geological Era’s and Periods, major extinctions, origin of man and the evolutionary history of an animal of their choosingCR 4a SP1,2,3
Evolution HHMI Video – Artificial Selection – modern pharmacology and genetic manipulation – Student discussion follows video SP 3 / Formative Assessment
- Study Guide Questions Chapter 22, 23, 24, 25. Select questions from 26-34
- Pre-lab questions and hypotheses
- Unit Objective sheet
- Lab reports
- 1 Page summary of assigned reading from The Song of the Dodo
- Geological Timeline to scale with chosen animal evolution highlighted
- Chapter Quizzes
- Unit Exams – Exam is both free response and multiple choice CR8
Unit 6 – Form and Function (Plant and Animal)
BI 1-4
CR 2, 3a-d, 4c,d
Topics / Readings / Labs / Assessment
Chapter 35BI 1-4 CR 3a-d
- Plant anatomy and physiology
- Plant cell and tissue types as study of form and function
- Transpiration
- Water potential
- Regulation of water loss/transpiration by plant
- Flower anatomy – life cycle of angiosperms
- Asexual reproduction of plants
- Plant biotechnology
- Tissue types in animals and associated functions
- Cell organisms progression
- Bioenergetic regulation of animal form
- Endo/ectotherm bioenergetic comparison
- Evolution of mammalian circulatory and respiratory systems
- Examination of double circulation
- Examination of respiratory system
- Correlation of body systems
- The Progression from fertilization to organogenesis
Students dissect a white tail deer heart and lungs collected by local hunters. Students then complete a lab report that focuses on the relationship between the two body-systems represented in the dissection.
CR 4d SP 4
Inquiry Based Transpiration Lab-
student are also asked to produce hypotheses as to how transpiration rates for differing plants such as succulents would respond to similar alterations of environmental conditions and then explain why they made these predictions.
CR 3a,b,c 4c,d
CR 6 SP 2,3 / Formative Assessment
- Study Guide Questions Chapter 35, 36, 38, 40, 42, 47
- Pre-lab questions and hypotheses
- Unit Objective sheet
- Diagram and heart and lung dissection that highlights their interconnectedness
- Lab reports
- Chapter Quizzes
- Unit Exams – Exam is both free response and multiple choice CR8
Unit 7 - Ecology
BI 1,2,3,4
CR 4d,5,6
Topics / Readings / Labs / Assessment
Chapter 50 BI 1,2,3,4
- What is ecology and what ecology issues are we facing today
- The impact of biotic and abiotic factors on species diversity and distribution
- Review terrestrial and aquatic biomes
- Behavioral Ecology – nature vs. nurture studies
- Kinesis vs. Taxis
- Exploring growth models for population and determining what factors impact growth rates (limiting factors)
- Human population growth rates
- Interaction of populations in natural environments (symbiosis)
- The Impact of Dominant or “Keystone” species on an environment
- Ecological Succession – stages and the associated species
- Tracing the path of energy through an ecosystem and predicting the impact on trophic distribution
- Biogeochemical cycles
- Measuring primary productivity
- Species diversity and the relationship to ecological stability
- Man’s relationship to the natural world
- Conservation Ecology
Fruit Fly Behavior labCR 6 SP 2,3,4,5
Staged – capture recapture event to estimate population size and hunting/bag limitsBI 4d, 6 SP 2,3,4,5
Isle Royale Webquest Assignment BI 4, CR 4d, 5, 6, 8 (Teacher created)
SP 3
Yellowstone Wolf Study – Internet research assignment where students predict, research and then explain the impact the reintroduction of wolves to YellowstoneNational Park has had on biodiversity and other ecological factors. BI 4, CR 4d, 5, 6, 8 SP 3
Land Lab Analsysis – Students walk through our school land lab (a former farm abandoned 30 years ago and look for evidence of succession – both previous and current) CR 4d, 6 SP 3 / Formative Assessment
- Study Guide Questions Chapters 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55
- Isle Royale Webquest
- Ecological Succession assignment
- Pre-lab questions and hypotheses
- Unit Objective sheet
- Yellowstone Wolf Study
- Ecological succession analysis
- Lab reports
- Chapter Quizzes
- Unit Exams – Exam is both free response and multiple choice CR8
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