Course Overview and Philosophy Biology AP/Tyler AP Biology meets 5 days a week for 70 minutes each day. The course is discussion format with a heavy emphasis on critical thinking and laboratory analysis. The laboratory component of this course is at least 30%. Labs are typically 2-3 hours in length and span at least two full class periods. I believe that the essential components of the AP Biology course should be taught in accordance with relative recent research as seen in various science journals such as Scientific American, Nature and Science. Within the past 20 years there has been an explosion of biological research which is shaping technology today. I want my students to be good problem solvers, critical thinkers and be knowledgeable of recent scientific breakthroughs. I like to share my passion and love of biology with my students while emphasizing the importance of biological knowledge in everyday life. Recent technology has driven a need for ethically minded policy decisions which we will explore in classroom discussions and case investigations. Environmentally, this generation will be making some important changes to how we treat our earth, and I would like my students to be leaders in the realization and policy change concerning environmental issues as well. Evolution is a theme which is woven throughout my course. It can be found in each of the main themes and not strictly a separate entity. Evolutionary themes are found in nine of the seven themes that I teach: (1) Evolution/Themes/Science as a Process, (2) Matter Energy and Transport, (3)The Cell: Structures, Function, Homeostasis and Development, (4) Inheritance and Molecular Genetics, (5) Evolutionary History and Biological Diversity, (6) Plant Physiology and (7) Ecology. These themes have incorporated all of the eight major themes required by the College Board. Contact Information: Judy Tyler Phone: (847) 825-4484 extension 1364 Email: judtyler@maine207.org Website: http://www.tylerbiology.com I can stay after any day for extra help and I arrive at school early usually around 7:00, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursday, or by appointment. Materials Textbook: Campbell, Neil, A. Biology 2011 9 th ed. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc. Laboratory Manuals: The AP Development Committee, Advanced Placement Biology Laboratory Manual for Students Revised 2001. Advanced Placement Program, The College Board.
Morgan, Judith G. & Carter, Eloise Brown Investigating Biology Lab Manual 2005 5 th ed. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc. Supplemental Readings: Scientific American, Science, Nature, and recent news reports. Internet and Interactive online activities: I have a web page for student use and incorporate web based activities weekly. Whenever possible, we use computer probes for data collection. Evaluation: Homework and projects are 10% of the student s grade. Lab reports are 30% quizzes are 20 % and exams are 40% of the student s grade. Unit Exams consist of multiple choice questions and at least one free response. The free response questions are taken from old exams to allow students to practice actual test questions. Grades will be updated weekly (generally) and will be available on-line through the parent and student portal. This capability should be available within the first few weeks of September. Late work will not be accepted for grade. Student will also be required to submit at least one formal write up approximately every two to three weeks. The formal write up will consist of: Title, Background/Discussion, Purpose, Hypothesis, Experimental Design, Materials and Methods, Data, Data Analysis, Conclusion. Academic Dishonesty Students are expected to complete all tests and assignments honestly and will not collaborate in dishonest actions. Students will not give or accept answers or assignments unless directed to by the teacher. Students caught cheating or plagiarizing will be subject to discipline as stated in the Student Handbook on page 40.
UNIT CONCEPTS Campbell Chapters Evolution / Themes/ Science as a Process (2 weeks) Matter, Energy and Transport (10 weeks) Darwinian Evolution Animal Behavior Overarching Themes Experimental Design Biochemistry Properties of Water Diversity of Carbon Organic Chemistry Macromolecules Cell Membrane and Transport Circulation and Gas Exchange Excretion Digestive System Energy and ATP Enzymes Cellular Respiration AP Labs, Exploration labs, Activities, Technology resources 1, 22, 24, 51 AP lab 11 (animal behavior) 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 42, 44,41, 8, 9 AP lab 1 (osmosis and diffusion) AP lab 10 (physiology of the circulatory system) AP lab 2 (enzyme catalysis) AP lab 5 (cellular respiration) ph and buffer lab The Cell: structures, function, homeostasis and development (8 weeks) Prokaryotic / Eukaryotic cells Plant vs. Animal Cells Endomembrane System Cell Signalng and Regulation Hormones (animal and plant) / Endocrine system Sensory and Motor Mechanisms Cell Cycle DNA replication Mitosis Protein Synthesis Animal Reproduction and Development Immune system 6, 27, 11, 45, 39,48, 49, 12, 16, 17,21, 43, 46, 47 AP lab 3a (mitosis) Microscopes and cells lab
Inheritance and Molecular Genetics (5 weeks) Evolutionary History and Biological Diversity (3 weeks) Plant Physiology (2 weeks) Ecology (4 weeks) Meiosis Mendelian inheritance Chromosomal inheritance and abnormalities Regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes Regulation of gene expression in Eukaryotes DNA technology Population genetics Origin of Life Cladistics and Phylogenetics Bacteria, Protists, Fungi Plant evolution and colonization of land Vascular and non vascular plants Gymnosperms and Angiosperms Invertebrate and Vertebrate diversity Photosynthesis Plant cells, tissue, growth Transport in plants (vascular) Angiosperm reproduction Species interaction and distribution Patterns of dispersion Life histories Population growth models Population density and dynamics Carrying capacity Keystone species Trophic systems Energy transfer Human impact and conservation biology 13, 14,15, 18,19, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27,28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 10,35, 36, 37,38 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 AP lab 3b (meiosis) AP lab 7 (genetics of organisms drosophila) AP lab 6 (molecular biology) AP lab 8 (population genetics) Plant Diversity I Plant Diversity II Animal Diversity I Animal Diversity II AP lab 9 (transpiration) AP lab 4 (plant pigments and photosynthesis) AP lab 12 (dissolved oxygen and primary productivity) 5/15-6/1 Mink Dissection Dissection of Mink Culminating with a lab practicum that will serve as ½ of their final exam Homework: Consists of text readings and readings from scientific media such as Science Nature and Scientific American Formal Lab write up are expected every two to three weeks.
Laboratory: All Laboratories Listed are Wet-Labs unless otherwise noted. AP Lab #11 Animal Behavior Objectives: Students will observe pill bugs and design an experiment to investigate their response to environmental variables. They will observe and investigate mating behavior in fruit flies. Lab: ph and Buffers Pasco Lab Objectives: Students will investigate why buffers are important to organisms and use a buffering system to show how buffers work. The students will also interpret a titration curve to determine whether a solution has buffering capacity and, if so, over what ph range. AP Lab #10 Circulatory Physiology Objectives: Students will learn how to measure blood pressure. They will measure pulse rate under different conditions: standing, reclining, after the baroreceptor reflex and during and immediately after exercise. The blood pressure and pulse rate will be analyzed and related to an index of relative fitness. Lab: Microscopes and Cells Objectives: While discovering features of specific cells, the students will determine characteristics shared by all cells studied. They will also explore the evolutionary significance of increasing complexity from unicellular to multicellular organization. AP Lab #1: Diffusion and Osmosis Objectives: To investigate the processes of diffusion and osmosis in a model membrane system and investigate the effect of solute concentration on water potential as it relates to plant tissues. AP Lab #3A Mitosis Portion of lab Objectives: Students will use prepared slides of onion root tips to study plant mitosis and calculate the relative duration of the phases of mitosis in the meristem of root tissue. AP Lab #2 Enzymes Objectives: To observe conversion of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen gas by the enzyme catalase and measure the amount of oxygen generated as well as calculate the rate of the enzyme catalyzed reaction. AP Lab #5 Cellular Respiration Objectives: The students will measure oxygen consumption during germination and measure the change in gas volume in respirometers containing either germinating or non-germinating pea seeds and measure the rate of respiration of these peas at two different temperatures. Lab: Fermentation Objectives: Design and execute an experiment testing factors that influence fermentation or cellular respiration.
AP Lab #3B Meiosis Objectives: Students will simulate the stages of meiosis by using chromosome models and will study the crossing over and recombination that occurs during meiosis. They will observe the arrangement of ascospores in the asci from a cross between wild-type Sordaria Fimicola and mutants for tan spore coat color in this fungus. These arrangements will be used to estimate the percentage of crossing over that occurs between the centromere and the gene that controls the tan spore color. AP Lab #7 Genetics of Organisms Objectives: Students will use fruit flies to do genetic crosses. They will learn how to collect and manipulate the organisms, collect data from F1 and F2 generations and analyze the results from a monohybrid, dihybrid, or sex-linked cross. AP Lab 6 Molecular Biology Objectives: Students will use plasmids containing specific fragments of foreign DNA to transform Escherichia coli cells, conferring antibiotic (ampicillin) resistance. They will also use restriction enzyme digests of phage lambda DNA to demonstrate techniques for separating and identifying DNA fragments using gel electrophoresis. Lab 10.2 Mapping DNA Objectives: This is a dry lab and provides a practice problem for mapping DNA. AP Lab #8 Population Genetics and Evolution Objectives: Students will learn about the Hardy-Weinberg law of genetic equilibrium and study the relationship between evolution and changes in allele frequency by using the class to represent a sample population. Lab 12: Population Genetics Determining Genetic Variation Objectives: This is a dry lab that will help students to determine the relationship between genetic variation and evolution. Lab 14 Protists and Fungi Objectives: Students will investigate protists and fungi and their phylogenic relationships. They will design and perform an independent investigation of a protist or an organism in the kingdom Fungi. Lab 15 Plant Diversity I Objectives: Students will describe the distinguishing characteristics of nonvascular and seedless vascular plants while discussing their primitive and advanced features of nonvascular plants and seedless vascular plants relative to their adaptations to the land environment. Students will study the general life cycle of these plants and discuss the ecological role and economic importance of these groups of plants.
Lab 16 Plant Diversity II Objectives: Students will identify examples of and describe the life cycles of gymnosperms and angiosperms. They will describe factors influencing pollen germination, dispersal mechanisms and relate the structures of seed plants to their functions in the land environment. Students will compare the significant features of life cycles for various land plants and state their evolutionary importance and summarize major trends in the evolution of land plants while providing evidence from the laboratory investigations. Lab 17 Animal Diversity I Objectives: Students will compare the anatomy of the representative animals, describing similarities and differences in organs and body form that allow the animal to carry out body functions. The students will discuss the impact of molecular studies on traditional phylogenetic trees and discuss the relationship between body form and the lifestyle or niche of the organism. Lab 18 Animal Diversity II Objectives: Students will look for similarities and differences among organisms to provide information about phylogenetic relationships among the more complex animal phyla, while noting how body form is related to function, environment and lifestyle. The students will also be looking for characteristics that can be the criteria for major branching points in producing a phylogenetic tree. AP Lab #4 Plant Pigment Chromatography and Photosynthesis Objectives: Students will separate plant pigments using chromatography, and measure the rate of photosynthesis in isolated chloroplasts. The measurement technique involves the reduction of the dye DPIP. The transfer of electrons during the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis reduces DPIP, changing it from blue to colorless. Lab 19 Plant Anatomy Objectives: Students will describe the structure and function of each cell type and tissue type of various plants while describing the organization of tissues and cells in each plant organ. Students will relate the function of an organ to its structure and discuss adaptation of land plants to the terrestrial environment as illustrated by the structure and function of plant anatomy. Students will then apply their knowledge of plants to the kinds of produce you will find in the grocery store. AP Lab #9 Plant Transpiration Objectives: Students will apply what they have learned about water potential from Lab 1 to the movement of water within the plant. They will measure transpiration under different lab conditions and study the organization of the plant stem and leaf as it related to these processes by observing sections of tissue. Lab 24 Animal Development Objectives: To study and evaluate the types of embryonic development in various organisms including the starfish, frog, bird and human.
AP Lab #12 Dissolved Oxygen Objectives: Students will measure and analyze the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in water samples at varying temperatures. They will measure and analyze the primary productivity of natural waters or lab cultures using screens to simulate the attenuation (decrease) of light with increasing depth.