Course Overview
My AP Biology course has been influenced by the PAK: Individualized Biology workbooks by Dr.
Marvin
Druger. Although I no longer use these workbooks, I have adapted my program to follow a similar
sequence to that of the workbooks. My main goals are for my students to have a good
understanding of
the concepts in biology and a grasp of its relevance to themselves and society. I also aim to promote
selflearning among my students.
I usually begin the year with taxonomy/phylogeny followed by evolution and ecology, concepts that
establish the big picture of this wonderful biosphere. Students already know a little about these
concepts,
and at this point in the school year they are relaxed and it is easy to hook them into the course. By
the
time I get into difficult biochemistry, it is too late to drop the course so they stick with it and
continue to
enjoy it.
In order to cover so much information, I must be very organized and stick to the deadlines I have set.
I
provide my students with several planning tools.
• Course Schedule. At the beginning of the school year I give students a course schedule for the
whole year. It indicates the time allocated for each topic and the dates of the unit tests. The course
schedule, annotated for this Teacher’s Guide, can be found in the course planner section of this
syllabus.
• Monthly Calendars. These give students a time frame for the readings, indicate the chapters I
plan to cover in lectures, and give the dates for the unit tests. A sample calendar for September
immediately follows the course schedule.
• Reading and Lecture Guidelines. There is a lot of material to cover during the lectures and class
discussions, so I give my students handouts throughout the year. These can be detailed notes or
a mixture of notes and spaces for students to fill in during class. I provide them with reading
guidelines for most of the textbook chapters. I also give them lecture guidelines so they can follow
along as I lecture and make notes directly on the guidelines. I have found that such handouts help
students participate more in class discussions; instead of concentrating on writing detailed notes,
they are more focused on trying to understand the topics and concepts (sample reading and lecture
guidelines can be found in the sample guidelines section of this syllabus).
The textbook for the course is the seventh edition of Neil A. Campbell and Jane B. Reece’s Biology.
Students also use the AP Biology Lab Manual for Students.
Course Planner
The school year begins in mid-August and ends in late May. The first semester begins with
orientation and
a discussion on how to use the Campbell textbook before we move to themes of biology.
Chapter 3
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Unit 1. Survey of Animals/Protists and Classification Concepts (2 weeks)
Readings
• Themes of biology, chapter 1
• Animal survey and classification, selected readings from chapters 25.2–25.3, 24, 26.6, 28,
31, 32,
33, 34
Class Activities
• Review terms like prokaryotic/eukaryotic and autotroph/heterotroph, and terms used in
classification
and the formation of phylogenetic trees, like symmetry, and types of coelom
• Receive outline notes and guidance on the textbook readings and the major phyla
• Observe specimens and practice placing the organisms on the phylogenetic trees
Labs
• Hydra/Planaria behavior lab (this is described in the student activities section of this
syllabus)
• Daphnia (AP Lab 10, Exercise 10C)
• Microscope use and measurement (this lab can be found in most lab manuals)
• Itty-bitty city lab (this is described in the student activities section of this syllabus)
Unit 1 test on survey of animals/protists and classification concepts
Unit 2. Evolution and Past Diversity of Life (2 weeks)
Readings
• Evolution, chapters 22–25
• Receive outline notes and guidance on the textbook readings
Lecture Topics
• Historical background behind Darwin’s theory; voyage of the Beagle
• Evidences for evolution
• Evolution in action today
• Modern synthesis, population genetics, Hardy-Weinberg law of genetic equilibrium,
problems
• Natural selection, microevolution events, types of selection, preservation of variation
• Speciation, prezygotic and postzygotic isolating mechanisms, allopatric and sympatric
speciation
• Gradualism/punctuated equilibrium
• Fossil record, extinctions, dating of fossils
Lab
• Population genetics and evolution (AP Lab 8)
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Course Organization
Class Activity
• At the end of the unit watch the video The Odyssey of Life: The Ultimate Journey, which
supports the
concepts in the lecture and notes
Unit 2 test on evolution
Unit 3. Ecology (2 weeks)
Readings
• Ecology, Chapters 50, 52–55
• Receive outline notes and guidance on the textbook readings
Lecture Topics
• Biomes: aquatic and terrestrial biomes and the factors that influence them
• Community ecology, ecological succession, soil and its role in succession
• Ecosystem ecology, trophic structure, and productivity
• Population ecology
Independent Work
• Students use the Internet and chapter 50 in their textbooks to find the latitude,
temperature range,
rainfall, flora, fauna, and anything that is unique about their assigned biome. They provide their
classmates with a one-half- to one-page handout and give a presentation that lasts for five minutes
or
less. In order to speed things along, and because I know students covered biomes in their first-year
biology course, I make this a two-day assignment.
Lab
• Dissolved oxygen and aquatic primary productivity (AP Lab 12). Students have the weekend
to
complete a lab write-up (to be counted as a test grade) for this lab.
Unit 3 test on ecology
