Green Hope High School
2008-2009

Teacher: Kevin Jordan, NBCT, MS, MAT
[The 2007-2008 version of this syllabus was approved by the College Board during the 2007 AP Course Audit.]

Course:  Advanced Placement Biology®/Honors Research Methods & Techniques

Textbook: Campbell’s Biology, 5e/6e
In-class reference text = Solomon’s Biology
Recommended exam review book: Cliff's AP Biology
Lab book: AP® Biology Lab Manual for Students [will be reproduced]

AP Biology is designed to be the equivalent of an introductory college-level course for first-year Biology majors. This is college, period. The entire course is designed to be taught in approximately 150 days; therefore, we will move at a very fast pace.  The first test will most likely be on Friday, August 29 and cover Campbell's chapters 1-3. The last test will likely be on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 and cover Campbell's chapters 45-49 and 51. Students will be expected to do extensive reading outside of class as well as many formal lab reports.  There will also be many essays throughout the year since the Advanced Placement Biology Exam will feature essays.  

AP Exam: All students should plan to take the AP exam Monday, May 11, 2009.  The AP exam is graded on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest.  Some universities will accept a score of 3, but many require a 4 or 5 for exemption from the freshman Biology course.  For example, UNC-Chapel Hill awards credit for their Biology 101 and 101L (4 credit hours) for an exam score of 3; a score of 5 earns credit for Biology 101 and 101L and Biology 279 and 279L (8 credit hours). It is the student’s responsibility to research what is an accepted score for his/her desired college.  Students are also advised to hold on to formal lab reports, since colleges may ask to view them.  The AP exam is 3 hours in length.  

AP Students: Due to the intensive nature of the course, AP Biology students should enjoy science and have a strong background in both Biology and Chemistry.  If a student is lacking general background information in these subjects, it is the student’s responsibility to relearn that information.  There will not be enough class-time to discuss very general concepts.  AP students should be highly self-motivated and mature since the majority of the work will be done outside of class.  I highly advise you to form study groups as early as possible.  Excellent attendance is essential for an AP class.  In general I am in the lab for make ups Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3:00 - 4:30.

Assignments:  Tests will count as approximately 70% of the grade in this class.  Labs will be 20%, and other assignments such as classwork and homework will count 10%.  The AP exam does not count towards your grade in this class; however, you will have a final exam.  There are twelve required AP Biology labs.  Occasionally assignments other than tests or labs will be given, such as supplemental books, class discussions, computer activities, and worksheets.  The majority of the work will be reading done outside of class.  It is highly recommended that you read the material before the lecture or class discussion.

Research Methods & Techniques:  AP Biology is taught paired with an Honors Research Methods course.  Students must be enrolled in both courses.  Research Methods covers topics such as the scientific method, interpreting scientific literature, designing controlled experiments, and implementing research projects.  In this course, students perform long-term research projects in groups which they present at a symposium.  Students are responsible for all parts of the project, from design to filling out order forms.  Each project must have a multimedia presentation and a research paper.  The presentation usually includes a PowerPoint presentation, a trifold display board, a hands-on manipulative, and a video the students have edited themselves.  The papers typically reach 20-25 pages in length.  The research topics review AP Biology concepts and may even be extensions of the required labs.  Students also enter either the DuPont Science Essay Challenge or the Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition for this portion of the course.

Make-Up Work: It is the student’s responsibility to see the teacher about missed work.  Labs and other missed assignments are made up by appointment.  Since many of the AP Biology labs require live organisms, labs should be made up as soon as possible.

Honor Code: As a general rule each student is to do her or his own work.  The gray areas are mainly involved with peer teaching and group lab work.  Students may explain concepts and course objectives to one another freely.  However, the responses to work assigned to be done individually may not be dictated or copied from another student's paper.  Looking at another's work while writing on yours is unacceptable.  Copied work will not be accepted for credit and may not be made up.  Cogent material discovered out during a test/quiz will result in a grade of zero. You must beware of the WCPSS definition of plagiarism: copying the language, structure, or idea of another and representing it as one's own work. Major assignments will be submitted electronically and analyzed by www.mydropbox.com.

AP Biology Outline/Course Description
The AP Biology topic outline was developed by the AP Biology Development Committee and is the one that is followed in this course.
I.	Molecules and Cells (25% of course)
A.	Chemistry of Life (12 days)
	Water, organic molecules in organisms, free energy changes, enzymes
	Chapters 1-6
	Lab- Themes of Biology Exhibits (hands-on; 20 minutes)
	Lab- H2O2 & Potassium Permanganate (hands-on; 45 minutes)
	AP LAB #2 – Enzyme Catalysis – liver catalase (hands-on lab; 120 minutes)
	Monosaccharide Computer Assignment 
		(Dr. Jon Maber’s website at http://www.terravivida.com/vivida/monosaccharide)
	Lab- Urinanalysis Defined Simulated Urine Preparation 
		(hands-on lab; 30 minutes)
	Lab- Urinanalysis to Review Macromolecules (hands-on lab; 30 minutes)
	Enzyme Internet Assignment (virtual; 60 minutes) (http://www.biology.arizona.edu/
	biochemistry/problem_sets/energy_enzymes_catalysis/Energy_Enzymes_catalysis.html)
B.	Cells (13 days)
	Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, membranes, subcellular organization, cell cycle
	and its regulation
	Chapters 7-8, 11-12
	Lab- Cell Structure / Phylogeny (hands-on lab; 45 minutes)
	Lab- Solute Potential of Eggs of Gallus gallus (hands-on lab; 30 minutes)
	AP LAB #1 – Diffusion & Osmosis – dialysis tubing, potatoes, onion cells 			(hands-on lab; 120 minutes)
	Lab - Onion Root Tip Staining (hands-on lab; 30 minutes)
	AP LAB #3 (part) – Mitosis – onion root tip, whitefish blastula 
		(hands-on lab; 60 minutes) 
		Cancer Scavenger Hunt online (90 minutes)
		Cell Signaling Internet Assignment (virtual; 60 minutes) 							(http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/problem_sets/signaling/Index.html)

C.	Cellular Energetics (13 days)
	Coupled Reactions, fermentation and cellular respiration, photosynthesis
	Chapters 9-10
	Lab- It's a Gas! ([Sucrose] vs. volume of gas produced) (hands-on; 30 minutes)
	AP LAB #5 – Cell Respiration – respirometers (peas & beads) 
		(hands-on; 90 minutes)
	Lab- Spectra, Wavelength, Absorption, Transmission, Reflection 
		(hands-on; 60 minutes)
AP LAB #4 – Plant Pigments & Photosynthesis – spinach chromatography,
	Spectrophotometry (hands-on; 180 minutes)
		Photosynthesis I Internet Assignment (virtual; 60 minutes) 						(http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/problem_sets/
			photosynthesis_1/photosynthesis_1.html)
		Photosynthesis II Internet Assignment (virtual; 60 minutes) 						(http://www.biology.arizona.edu/ biochemistry/problem_sets/
			photosynthesis_2/photosynthesis_2.html)

II.	Heredity and Evolution (25% of course)
A.	Heredity (12 days)
		Meiosis and gametogenesis, eukaryotic chromosomes, inheritance patterns
		Chapters 13-15
		Microscope Lab- Normal versus Sickle Cells (hands-on; 20 minutes)
		Lab- Fair Dice Chi-Square Test (hands-on; 20 minutes)
		AP LAB #3 (part) – Meiosis – chromosome simulation kits, Sordaria 
			(hands-on; 45 minutes)
		Lab- Random Number/Crossing Simulation (hands-on simulation; 30 minutes)
		AP LAB #7 – Genetics of Organisms – Drosophila lab 
			(hands-on lab; one month, ongoing)
		(also AP LAB #11B – Dros. Mating Behavior)
	Lab - Drosophila Polytene Chromosome Staining (hands-on lab; 30 minutes)
		Meiosis Internet Assignment (virtual; 60 minutes) 							(http://www.biology.arizona.edu/ cell_bio/tutorials/meiosis/problems.html)
B.	Molecular Genetics (29 days)
	RNA & DNA structure and function, gene regulation, mutation, viral structure
	and replication, nucleic acid technology and applications
	Chapters 16-17, 18-19, 20
	AP LAB #6 – Molecular Biology – restriction enzymes, transformation,
 		(hands-on; usually performed at local pharmaceutical company)
	Destiny Bus’ “BioBusiness” activities
	Video- Understanding Bacteria by the Discovery Channel
	AP Lab #6- Molecular Biology – Electrophoresis (hands-on; 90 minutes)
		DNA Technology Projects (presented by students; one week)
		Bioinformatics Lab- PCR, Sequencing, and BLAST searches – 
			performed along with a localuniversity genomics center 
			(hands-on; 135 minutes)
		Bioinformatics Internet Assignment (hands-on; 60 minutes) 						(http://www.geospiza.com/education/worksheets/BLASTing_kingdom.pdf)
		Lab- UV Mutagenesis of Serratia marcecsens (hands-on; 60 minutes)
C.	Evolutionary Biology (10 days)
	Early evolution of life, evidence for evolution, mechanisms of evolution
	Chapters 22 – 26
	Video – Charles Darwin: Evolution’s Voice by A&E Biography
	AP LAB #8 – Population Genetics and Evolution – PTC tasting, 
			Hardy-Weinberg case studies (hands-on; 90 minutes)
	Box of fossils (hands-on; 30 minutes)
	Formulating Dichotomous Keys (hands-on & worksheets; 45 minutes)
	Book reviews on viruses, evolution, DNA, and/or biotechnology
	Making Cladograms (worksheet, 30 minutes) 
		http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/mclad.html
III.	Organisms and Populations (50% of course)
A.	Diversity of Organisms (13 days)
	Evolutionary patterns, survey of the diversity of life, phylogenetic classification,
	evolutionary relationships
	Chapters 27, 28, 31
	Lab- Fungus Identification of Collected Samples ((hands-on; 30 minutes)
	Websearch – Tree of Life (http://www.tolweb.org/tree/)
	Bacteria – Gram Staining (hands-on; 90 minutes)
	Protists Microscope Lab (hands-on; 180 minutes)
B.	Structure and Function of Plants and Animals (41 days)
	Reproduction, growth, and development, Structural, physiological, and behavioral
	adaptations, Response to the environment
	Chapters 21, 32, 33, 34; Systems (parts of Chapters 40 –49)
	Chapters 29, 30, 35, 38; Chapters 36, 37, 39; Chapter 51
	AP LAB #9 – Transpiration – plant photometer 
		(altered version of lab, hands-on, one week), 
	Microscope lab (roots, stems, leaves) (hands-on; 90 minutes)
	Roots, Stems, & Leaves Lab Practicum (hands-on; 60 minutes)
	AP LAB #11 – Animal Behavior – pillbugs (hands-on; 90 minutes)
	Lab- Behavior of Planaria, Hydra, and Daphnia (AP LAB #10)  
		(hands-on; 45 minutes)
	Earthworm dissections (hands-on; 30 minutes)
	Crayfish dissections (hands-on; 45 minutes)
	Invertebrates Lab Practicum (hands-on; 45 minutes)
	C-ferns (Ceratopteris) – Alteration of Generations (hands-on; one month)
	AP LAB #10 – Physiology of the Circulatory System – blood pressure, pulse
	 	(hands-on; 90 minutes)
	ATP & muscle lab (hands-on; 30 minutes)
	Senses Web Assignment (60 minutes)
		Dissection Lab – Comparative anatomy – One each per class: 
		mink, dogfish shark, rabbit, rat, and either cat or pig (hands-on; 180 minutes)
	Vertebrates Lab Practicum (hands-on; 45 minutes)
C.	Ecology (7 days)
	Population dynamics, communities & ecosystems, global issues
	Chapter 50, 52-55
	AP LAB #12 – Dissolved Oxygen (video & hands-on; 90 minutes)
	Macroinvertebrates Identification
	Owl pellets (hands-on; 30 minutes)
	Read excerpt from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
Review for AP Exam (using a class set of Kaplan’s AP Biology books)

Works Cited
Biography: Charles Darwin-Evolution's Voice. Hosted by Joseph Campanella. Videocassette. A & E Television Networks, 1987.
Biotechnology Explorer: pGLO Bacterial Transformation Kit.  Hercules, CA: BioRad Laboratories, Inc.
Campbell, Neil A. and Jane Reece.  Biology.  6th ed.  San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings, 2002.
Cane Toads.  Dir. Mark Lewis.  Videocassette.  First Run Features.
Carson, Rachel.  Silent Spring.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1962.
"Cell Signaling Problem Set." The Biology Project. 25 Sept 1996. The University of Arizona. 10 April 2007. <http://www.biology.arizona.edu/ cell_bio/problem_sets/signaling/Index.html>.
College Board.  Advanced Placement Biology Laboratory Manual for Students: Exercises 1-12.  Edition D.  USA: The College Board, 1997.
College Board.  Advanced Placement Biology Laboratory Manual for Teachers: Exercises 1-12.  Edition D.  USA: The College Board, 1997.
Croston, Glenn E.. AP Biology: 2004 edition. New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2004.
Cycles of Life: Exporing Biology; Plant Reproduction. Videocassette. Annenberg/CPB Collection, 1997.
"Energy, Enzymes, and Catalysis Problem Set." The Biology Project. 25 Sept 1996. The University of Arizona. 22 Mar 2007. <http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/problem_sets/energy_enzymes_catalysis/ Energy_Enzymes_catalysis.html>.
Kramer, Beth and Flammer, Larry. "Making Cladograms" Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes. 1999. The University of Indiana. 10 April 2007. <http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/ lessons/mclad.html>.
Jones, James H.  Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.  New York: The Free Press, 1993.
Lodish, Harvey, David Baltimore, Arnold Berk, S. Lawrence Zipursky, Paul Matsudaira and James Darnell. Molecular Cell Biology. 3rd ed. New York: Scientific American Books, 1995.
Maber, Jon.  “Monosaccharide Browser.”  Terra Vivida.  2005.  22 March 2007 <http://www.terravivida.com/ vivida/monosaccharide>.
"Meiosis Tutorial." The Biology Project. 25 Sept 1996. The University of Arizona. 10 April 2007.  <http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/tutorials/meiosis/problems.html)
Morgan, T.H., 1910.  “Sex Limited Inheritance in Drosophila.”  Science, 32:120-122.  (Obtained from Electronic Scholarly Publishing, http://www.esp.org).
Morgan, T.H., 1909.  “What are ‘Factors’ in Mendelian Explanations?” American Breeders Association Reports, 5:365-368.  (Obtained from Electronic Scholarly Publishing, http://www.esp.org).
"Photosynthesis Problem Set 1." 25 Sept 1996. The University of Arizona. 10 April 2007. 
	<http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/problem_sets/photosynthesis_1/photosynthesis_1.html)
"Photosynthesis Problem Set 2." 25 Sept 1996. The University of Arizona. 10 April 2007. 
	<http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/problem_sets/photosynthesis_2/photosynthesis_2.html)
Porter, Sandy. "BLASTing through the kingdom of life" Geospiza, Inc. 10 April 2007. <http://www.geospiza.com/ education/worksheets/BLASTing_kingdom.pdf>.
Robbins, Stanley L., Ramzi S. Cotran, and Vinay Kumar. Pocket Companion to Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 1995.
Solomon, Eldra P., Linda R. Berg, and Diana W. Martin. Biology. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2005.
Sullivan, Jim. Cells Alive!. 2007. 22 Mar 2007 <http://www.cellsalive.com>.
Taylor, Martha R.. Student Study Guide for Biology. 5th ed. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin Cummings, 1999.
Theil, Teresa, ed. "It's a Gas" from Science in the Real World: Microbes in Action. 1999. University of Missouri-St. Louis. 10 April 2007. <http://www.umsl.edu/~microbes/pdf/Its%20a%20Gas.pdf>.
Understanding Bacteria. Narrated by Jane Curtin. Videocassette. Discovery Channel School, 2004.
Wrobel, David and Claudia Mills.  Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates: A Guide to the Common Gelatinous Animals.  Monterey, CA: Sea Challengers and Monterey Bay Aquarium, 1998.