Chaparral AP Biology Expectations & Curriculum
Instructor: Lisa Nolte
Email:
Phone: 303-387-3500
Website: www.noltescience.com
General
· Always be respectful of others.
· Always come to class prepared to work.
· Always do your best.
· Always observe the safety rules-see safety sheet!
Supplies
· Textbook
· Binder (2-3inch ring) with dividers for each unit
· Notebook paper, loose leaf graph paper
· Pens, pencils, colored pencils
· Index cards for vocab words (optional)
· Four function calculator for AP Exam
· Review Book-optional-good choices are from Kaplan and Princeton Review
Grading
· You will be graded primarily on tests, quizzes, lab work, and other assignments.
· Course grades will be calculated as 60% tests/proficiencies, 25% graded work (labs, some quizzes, and other assignments), and 15% responsibility grades (completion and participation). The fall final exam is worth 20% of the semester grade. The spring final exam will be the Mock and will also be worth 20%.
· The grading scale is as follows:
A: 100-90% B: 89-80% C: 79-70% D: 69-60%.
· The grade program in IC is set up to automatically round at 0.5. This is a college level class so the work will be challenging. With good effort on your part, there will be sufficient opportunities to achieve the grade that you are hoping for in this class. Therefore, I will not “bump” grades at the end of the semester.
Attendance
· Students are expected to be in attendance daily. With this being an AP level course, an absence results in a great deal of missed class time and work.
· Absences must be called into the office or they are unexcused. You will receive no credit for any work missed during an unexcused absence.
· Make sure to access the calendar on my website for work missed.
Makeup Work
· Any labs, quizzes, and exams from an excused absence are to be made up within one week to receive credit. Make-ups will not be during class time.
· It is difficult to miss lab days. You will need to arrange a time when you can make up the lab. This must be done prior to the day when the final lab report is due. You will be able to complete some make-up labs individually. However, some labs are difficult to complete by yourself. You will need to recruit someone from class to come with you during the make-up time.
Assignments
· Work must be turned in on time. NO LATE assignments will be accepted. You will typically have plenty of time to complete an assignment, especially labs. If you are going to be absent on the day something is due, please make arrangements to get your work turned in on time.
Preparation
· Read/outline the assigned reading and complete the reading guide before the lecture. This will allow you to be familiar with the material that will be covered. There will typically be a quiz over the material.
· There will be a vocabulary (roots, prefixes, suffixes) quiz every Tuesday when class begins.
· Bring materials with you to class every day!
· Take good lecture notes. The lectures are available on my website. You can print out the PowerPoints and the lecture guide if you wish. You may want to bring them to use and write on in class. But it will probably be a good idea to recopy the notes.
· You will need to print out the reading guides for the chapter to complete at home.
· You will need to create a study group with 2-3 other students. Exchange phone numbers so that you may contact each other to study, get help with homework, etc. This group will be different from your lab group which will continually change.
· Success in AP Biology will be determined by how much you are willing to do your part! J
Units 1 & 2: Molecules, Cells, and Energy August 10-Oct 9
Molecules Text Chapters 2-5, 8, & 55
· Chemical Bonds
· Water
· Functional Groups
· Carbohydrates
· Lipids
· Proteins
· Free Energy Change
· Enzymes
Function of enzymes
Active site function
Kinetics
Influence of temperature, pH
Enzyme regulation (inhibitors)
· Chemical Cycling
History of Life Text Chapter 25
· Macromolecules joining to form life
· RNA first genetic material?
· Age of Earth
Cells Text Chapters 6, 7, & 11
· Cell Theory
· Animal Cell Structure
· Plant Cell Structure
· Prokaryotes vs. Eukaryotes
· Membranes
Plasma membrane function
Fluid mosaic model
Active and Passive Transport
· Cell communication
Immunity Text Chapter 43
· Acquired and Innate response
· Self vs. Non-self
Cellular energetics Text Chapters 8-10
· Structure/function of mitochondria
· ATP-Anabolism vs. Catabolism
· Stages of Respiration (O2 present)
· Fermentation (no O2 present)
Anaerobic respiration
· Photosynthesis
· Compare/contrast to respiration
Units 3 & 4: Heredity, Genetics, and Evolution Oct 9-Dec 18
Molecular Basis of Inheritance Text Chapters 16 & 17
· Molecular Genetics
Structure/function of DNA and RNA
· Protein synthesis
· Mutations
Mitosis and Meiosis Text Chapters 12 & 13
· Structure of a Eukaryotic Chromosome
· Cell Cycle
· Mitosis
· Cancer
· Meiosis and Gametogenesis
Mendelian Genetics Text Chapters 14 & 15
· Mendel’s laws and inheritance patterns
Monohybrid, dihybrid, sex linkage
3:1 and 9:3:3:1
· Gene linkage
Molecular Genetics Text Chapters 17-20
· Central dogma
· Gene expression:
Transcription
Translation
· Effects of Mutation
· Viral structure and replication
· Recombinant DNA technology
Evolutionary Biology Text Chapters 22-25
· Origin of life-biological models
Where did the building blocks originate?
· Evidence of evolution
Fossil record
Comparative anatomy, embryology
Molecular clocks
· Mechanism of evolution
Populations: Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium/Dynamics
Natural selection, mutation, migration in/out
Micro/macroevolution
Units 5-8: Organisms and Populations______2nd Semester______
Biological diversity Text Chapters 25-27, 29, 30
Microbiology (prokary, eukary) BLAST
Plant diversity Text Chapters 35-39
Transpiration, flower dissection with fruits, plant growth lab
Animal diversity Text Chapters 32-24, 40-49
Daphnia or fish (heart rate), survey animal phyla, dissection
Ecology Text Chapters 50-55
Animal behavior (fruit flies, pill bugs), (taxis, kinesis, agonistic behaviors), termites, communities and ecosystems