**AP Biology Daily Schedule for 1

st
, 2
nd
, 3
rd
, 5
th
, and 6
th
class periods

Start Time End Time
1st period 8:00 AM 8:45 AM
2nd Period 8:55 AM 9:55 AM
3rd period 10:00 AM 10:50 AM
5th Period 12:50 PM 1:40 PM
6th Period 1:45 PM 2:35 PM

Week 1, Introduction to biology and ecology
Day 1: Take care of administrative work including text book distribution, going
over the syllabus, supplies, and equipment (flash drives, lab note books, etc),
set the tone for the year, establish classroom norms, and assess the students
knowledge and writing ability. Students should begin reading chapter 1.
Day 2: Lead a discussion of the major themes of biology paying special
emphasis to 1) The cell is the basic unit of structure and function, 2) All
organisms contain heritable information in the form of DNA, 3) Structure and
Function are correlated, 4) Organisms are open systems that interact with their
environments, 5) Regulatory Mechanisms & Ensure Dynamic Balance, 5)
Evolutionary connections explain the unity and diversity of life. Students should
be reading Chapter 1.
Day 3: Basic overview of ecology with an emphasis the scale of ecology, the
relationship between the Earth and the Sun and how that influences distribution
of terrestrial biomes. Students should be reading Chapter 50.
Day 4: Population Ecology I. Emphasize population distribution patterns, and
define the difference between density and distribution. Introduce survivorship
curves by graphing typical survivorship curves. Students should be reading
Chapter 52.
Day 5: Population Ecology II. Relate survivorship curves to r- and k- selection
and how these selection pressures influence life history strategies. Work with
students to describe the characteristics of typical r- selected and k-selected
organisms. Students should be reading Chapter 52.
Week 2, Populations and Communities: Daily Schedule
Day 6: Graph logistic growth of a model population. Have students identify the
r-phase and the k-phase and relate this concept back to r- and k- selection.
Students dont need to know the formula for the Logistic Growth model, but
they do need to understand what little r is, that it represents the difference
between births and deaths, know that r represents exponential growth and that
as population size (N) reaches K, the overall rate of growth reaches zero. The
population doesnt crash; it just reaches equilibrium. (Emphasize that this is a
form or negative feedback and regulation.) Students should be reading Chapter
52.
Day 7: Introduce basic community interactions and basic community concepts.
Students should begin reading Chapter 53.
Day 8: Lead a discussion of the more difficult community concepts like
disturbance, succession and island biogeography. The good news is this is really
just common sense, but you can help students formalize their knowledge.
Students should be reading Chapter 53.
Day 9: Lead a discussion or allow students to draw food webs, food chains and
trophic structures of typical terrestrial and aquatic biomes. If time permits,
relate these interactions back to the basic interactions you discussed on Day 7.
Students should be reading Chapter 53.
Day 10: Introduce the ecosystem concept using the Model depicted in Chapter
54 (7th Ed) or Chapter 55 (8th Ed.). Make sure to differentiate between
ecosystem concepts (primary producers and primary consumers) and
community concepts (plants and herbivores). This can be tricky. Also bring in
the rule of 10 Generally, only 10% of the biomass at one trophic level is
converted to biomass at the next trophic level. The other 90% is lost as heat.
Students should begin reading Chapter 54.
Week 3, Ecosystems
Day 11: Finish discussion of the ecosystem model and make sure to emphasize
links between living and detritus-based trophic pyramids. Be sure to emphasize
the Rule of 10 and the disproportionate size between the primary producer
trophic level and the tertiary consumer level. Relate these concepts to aquatic
ecosystems. (Students should be reading the sections of Chapter 54 related to
the ecosystem model and primary and secondary productivity.)
Day 12: Relate the Rule of 10 to Community Productivity and Community
Respiration. Perform part B of AP Lab 12 (measuring initial DO of water), set up
light and dark bottles and light attenuation experiment
Day 13: AP Lab 12 Data Collection: Unwrap bottles and measure DO in all
bottles. Assign Questions at end of lab for a lab write up. (A formal lab write up
is not necessary.)
Day 14: Brief review of Ecology concepts BASED ON STUDENT QUESTIONS. If
they dont ask questions, assume they know their content and begin your
summative assessment. Seriously. You need to train them to speak up and ask
questions. This is essential for their success in AP Biology.
Begin Summative Assessment Part 1: Students should write a published AP
Biology FRQ.
Day 15: Summative Assessment Part 2: 45 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
Exam. Use the ecology questions available on the NMSIteachers website, the
LTF site, use questions from my old ecology exams, or build your own. The key
is to use published AP questions and AP-level questions from your Campbell test
bank.
Week 4: Chemistry of Life I
Day 16: Review basic chemistry, Assign Chapter 2 as reading for homework. If
you have a chemistry diagnostic, use it. Jump right into discussing the
importance of water to biological systems. (Students should be reading
Chapters 2 and 3)
Day 17: Continue discussing waters role in biological systems. Continue
discussing water and the fitness of the environment. Discuss water at several
levels of organization. Be sure to discuss the fact that water is a polar molecule,
has a relatively high specific heat, and a high heat capacity. Review the pH
scale. It is important to get students to describe adhesion and cohesion, and
hydrophobic vs. hydrophilic molecules. (Chapter 3) Begin teaching the central
role of Carbon in biological systems. Emphasize the other key atoms of life (H,
N, O, P, S) (Students should be reading Chapters 3 and 4)
Day 18: Continue with the importance of Carbon and the big 6 Functional
Groups. Dont linger here. Make sure your students know the Big Six Functional
groups. They should recognize them and know their functions. If you have a
molecular modeling kit available, use it. 2) Make sure students can differentiate
between Monomers and Polymers as well as hydrolysis and dehydration
synthesis. If time permits, continue on to carbohydrates. (Students should be
reading Ch 5)
Day 19: Continue with macromolecules. Focus on the structure and function of
carbohydrates (polysaccharides) such as amylose/glycogen, and cellulose. Lead
an overview of lipids. Be sure to describe the wide variety of functions lipids
serve. (Students should be reading Ch 5)
Day 20: Finish lipids. Teach the structure and function of nucleic acids.
Describe both DNA and RNA, but do not bog down here. You will teach this in
much greater detail in unit 5 (Molecular Biology). If time permits, begin
proteins. (Students should be reading Ch 5)
Week 5: Chemistry of Life II
Day 21: Teach the structure of proteins. Integrate student manipulation of 3-D
models during the lesson. (Students should be reading Chapter 5)
Day 22: Teach the functions of various proteins in cells. Pay special attention to
integrins and to enzymes. Describe how enzymes work and highlight the active
site. I suggest modeling enzyme activity with the toothpickase activity, the
pool noodle activity Carol Leibl introduced at the Aubun APSI, or using starch
packing peanuts, water and saliva. If you want/need more information. Please
ask me. (Students should be reading Chapter 8, pp. 150-155)
Day 23: Perform AP Lab 2: Enzyme Catalysis. Collect data on H2O2
degradation in the presence of catalase. If probeware is available, I strongly
encourage you to use it. It will allow you to obtain your learning objectives.
(Students should be reading Chapter 8, pp. 150-155)
Day 24: Analyze data from AP Lab 2. Discuss the effects of various
environmental parameters on enzymes. If probeware is available, students
should design an independent experiment to test the effects of various
environmental parameters on catalase activity. Assign lab write up for AP Lab 2.
(Students should be reading Chapter 8, pp. 150-155)
Day 25: Tie up any loose ends on macromolecules (like how enzymes work) or
review macromolecules. Begin the first part of assessing this lab. Assign the
Question 1, Part A from the 2008 AP Biology FRQ exam.
(Students should be reviewing Chapters 2,3,4,5,8)
Week 6, Summative Assessment of Chemistry and Introduction to cells
Day 26: Unit 2 Exam. I suggest no more than 45 MCQ. Use released AP
questions, AP-level questions from LTF Diagnostics, AP-Level Questions from
your test bank. I have old tests I am happy to share.
Day 27: Introduce cells by comparing prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Perform
a quick microscope lab on Eukaryotic cells. (Begin with section 6.2). Assign
student groups short research projects on membrane-bound organelles.
(Students should be reading Chapter 6.)
Day 28: Discuss the importance of Surface Area to Volume Relationships and
how this relationship drives the evolution of cell structure and function. Perform
one of the Surface Area to Volume labs described in the Learning Objectives
section. I can help you with these resources. (Students should continue reading
Chapter 6.)
Day 29: Begin discussing the structure and function of the phospholipid bilayer
and discuss diffusion and osmosis across the membrane. (Students should be
reading Chapter 7.)
Day 30: Have students perform AP Lab 1, Part A and discuss of facilitated
diffusion, active transport and co-transport. Describe how these processes are
different than whats happening in the dialysis tubing. (Students should be
reading Chapter 7.)
Week 7, Cells, Intercellular Interactions
Day 31: Students should perform AP Lab 1, Part B and Set up Part C. (Students
should be reading Chapter 7.)
Day 32: Students should finish AP Lab 1, Part C, and analyze group data from
AP Lab 1, Parts B and C to determine concentration of each sucrose solution.
Assign Part D for homework. Assign Part E as an extra credit assignment or
perform after discussing Extra Cellular Structures. (Students should be reading
Chapter 7.)
Day 33: Lead a discussion of the structure and Function of The Cytoskeleton
and the extracellular structures in Chapter 6, section 7. (Students should read
Chapter 6, sections 6 & 7.)
Day 34: Lead a brief overview of Cell-to-Cell signaling. No more than 45
minutes, even if you are on extended block. Emphasis should be on the basic
components of a Signal Transduction Pathway and the role of kinases in cells.
(Students should look at important figures in Chapter 11.)
Day 35: Introduce the cell cycle by asking students what is being dividedthe
cells genome. Direct student attention to Figure 12.5. AP Biology is not as
interested in the stages of mitosis so much as it is interested in the relationship
of mitotic division to the rest of the cell cycle. (Students should be reading
Chapter 12.)
Week 8, Cells, The Cell Cycle
Day 36: Students should perform AP Lab 3A, Part 1: Identifying phases of the
cell cycle. I recommend Onion Root Tips and avoiding Whitefish Blastula. Onion
chromosomes are easier to see. (Students should be reading Chapter 12.)
Day 37: Students should perform AP Lab 3A, Part 2. They should partner up on
the microscopes and count at least 200 cells. If students are accurate, then
they should see a majority of cells in Interphase and the 2nd highest
percentage in prophase or metaphase. Assign write up questions for Lab 3A.
(Students should be reading Chapter 12.)
Day 38: Lead a discussion on Control of the cell cycle. Emphasis should be on
Checkpoints and internal controls of the cell cycle like Cyclins and MPF.
(Students should be reading Chapter 12.)
Day 39: Lead a discussion on the external controls of the cell cycle and ask
students to research the basics of cancer, cancer cells, metastasis and how
cancer relates to the cell cycle. (Students should be reading Chapter 12.)
Day 40: Wrap up any loose ends on your Cell Unit, and begin summative
assessment. There are very few AP Bio FRQs on the cell cycle exclusively, so I
recommend 2007, Question 1, Part A from the 2007 exam. For 2 bonus points,
ask them to answer the fourth bullet in Q1, Part B. It links back to cell signaling.
(Students should be reading Chapters 6,7, 11 important figures and 12.)
Week 9, Cells: Summative Assessment on Cells. Begin Bioenergetics: Overview
of Metabolism and Cellular Respiration.
Day 41: Unit 3 Exam: 50-60 MCQ. These will range from easy to challenging.
Again, use published AP Bio MCQ, LTF diagnostics, or your test bank. I have
several tests that I am willing to share.
Day 42: Begin Bioenergetics. Open the unit with an overview of the laws of
thermodynamics and energy concepts: Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy and
Equilibrium. I lead my students on a tour of the school grounds and ask them to
make observations and write down examples of the concepts above. Relate the
laws of thermodynamics to the two sides of Metabolism: Catabollism and
Anabolism. These two processes are coupled by Cellular Respiration, and
specifically oxidative phosphorylation.
Day 43: Lead an overview of Cellular Respiration. Focus on how the phases of
Cellular Respiration are linked. Spend a little time on the concept of Re-
Dox (use the OIL RIG or LEO the lion says GER examples. OIL RIG =
Oxidation Is Loss, Reduction is Gain; LEO = Loses an electron, Oxidized; Gains
electron, Reduced. For those students that really want to know, gaining an
electron reduces the charge of an atom because electrons are negative. This is
a tough concept for AP Bio students to get. Dont get bogged down. Tell them
its something they need to know and get on with it. With Cellular Respiration,
were usually following the Hydrogen (e.g. NAD+ is reduced to NADH, notice the
charge of NADH is lower than NAD+). Teach students that glycolysis is literally
sugar break, Glyco = sugar, Lysis = break. Do not focus on the 12 steps
of glycolysis. Focus on energy investment (ATP) to trap and destabilize
glucose, then energy return (ATP) via Substrate Level Phosphorylation (SLP).
What is SLP? Its an enzyme facilitated transfer of a phosphate group to ADP.
Thats all they need to know. Dont make it complicated.
Day 44: Introduce the Krebs Cycle. Keep it very simple. Pyruvate converted
to Acetyl Co-A enters the Krebs cycle. Whats the point? Electron shuttles
(NADH) are generated for the electron transport chain (ETC) and CO2 is given
off. This is where CO2 is generated. Do a pre lab activity for AP Lab 5 (cellular
respiration)
Week 10: AP Lab 5 and focus on oxidative phosphorylationof ATP via Electron
Transport Chain and Chemiosmosis.
Day 45: Perform AP Lab 5: Cellular Respiration. Use probeware if at all
possible. All you need are data collection devices (LabQuest, SPARK or GLX) and
CO2 sensors. Talk to your ASIM specialist, or ask me for help if you dont have
access to probeware. Use the glass vials as a last resort. With probeware, this
lab is snap. Its very cool to see how temperature affects rates of cellular
respiration in either germinating peas or crickets.
Day 46: Analyze Data from AP Lab 5. Assign a write up for AP Lab 5. I prefer
the questions contained in the College Board Lab Manual to a formal lab report.
Begin a discussion of the Electron Transport Chain.
Day 47: Teach the concept of the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis of
H+ through ATPase. Together this mode of ATP synthesis is called oxidative
phosphorylation. This is a tough concept, but if students get it, it unlocks an
understanding of metabolism and in a sense, evolution.
Day 48: Wrap up cellular respiration by reviewing the connections between the
phases of cellular respiration, the inputs and outputs of each phase, the NADH
that shuttles between each phase and the energy (ATP) payoff at each phase.
Finally, compare oxidative phosphorylation with fermentation (=gycolysis).
Aerobic energy production in the presence of oxygen is roughly 18 times more
efficient that anaerobic energy production. That is a profound difference, and it
points to the evolutionary significance of cellular respiration and it how it paves
the way for eukaryotic cells and ultimately, to multicellular life.
Lead a quick discussion on the significance of ATP. What is its role in cells: it
powers mechanical work, it powers biosynthesis, and it mediates metabolism by
participating in biochemical reactions. Begin with an overview of
photosynthesis. Dont make the mistake of saying its the reverse of cellular
respiration. It is the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy. Whereas
cellular respiration is the harvesting of chemical energy into something even
more useful.
Day 49: Lead a thorough discussion of photosynthesis. Discuss the properties
of light, the visual spectrum and how the visual spectrum relates to plants,
specifically chlorophyll. Review the anatomy of a chloroplast. Dont bog down,
but highlight the areas where photosynthesis takes place: the thylakoids for
light reactions and the stroma for the light independent reactions. Preview AP
Lab 4.
Week 11: Photosynthesis and Summative Assessment
Day 50: Perform AP Lab 4, Part b: Light Dependent Reactions. Again, use
probeware if possible. A colorimeter set to 610 nm is as good as a
spectrophotometer, and you can run the reactions in the colorimeter cuvettes
without a test tube rack. This is very convenient. Follow the set up from the
College Board Manual and merely substitute the colorimeter for the Spec 20.
Day 51: Be sure to revisit the data from AP Lab 4. Students have a difficult
time discerning what happened in each tube. Make sure they understand that
DPIP was reduced, and use that knowledge to teach what happens in light
reactions along the thylakoid membrane. (BTWchemiosmosis happens, but
this time chlorophyll is oxidized by light, (electrons are boosted by light) and
the flow of electrons is used to create a chemo-electric gradient that is tapped
to make ATP via facilitated diffusion of H+ through ATPase. This is
chemiosmosis all over again, but we call it photophosphorylation because light
drives the reactions. (Notice that I skip the plant pigment chromatography
activity. You can go back and do this during your botany unit if you have time.)
Day 52: Lead a discussion on the light independent reactions. Be sure to
indicate that the ATP and the NADPH generated during the light reactions are
used to reduce CO2 to CH2O in the Calvin Cycle. The details of the Calvin Cycle
are unimportant. What is important is this is an anabolic reaction that converts
CO2 (an oxidized form of Carbon) to Glyceradehyde 3-Phosphate (G3P). This
G3P is a reduced form a carbon, a carbohydrate, that is building block of all the
molecules a plant synthesizes: sugars, proteins and lipids.
Day 53: Review Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis. Be sure to ask
students why plants make ATP, and be sure to remind students that plants have
mitochondria. The ATP generated during photosynthesis is used to make sugar.
Plant cells (and plant mitochondria) use sugar from photosynthesis to generate
ATP via cellular respiration. This can be a particularly difficult concept for
students to grasp. If they get it, they truly understand cellular respiration. Give
students the 2009 FRQ #2. (Perhaps the best FRQ Ive ever seen for AP
Biology.)
Day 54: Summative assessment of bioenergetics. 50-60 MCQ test. Students
traditionally score poorly on this exam, but their lab work should hold up their
overall grades. If they do poorly on this exam, but they understand the
concepts, they will do well on this section of the AP Biology Exam.
Day 55 (its a flex day)
Day 56: Lead a discussion on the Road to the Double Helix. How deep should
you go? This discussion shouldnt last more than 45 minutes, and it should end
with a look at the double helix. I like to include the evidence each scientist, or
group of scientists, generated and show how that evidence was cobbled
together to determine the structure of DNA. You might have groups of students
take a particular scientist/experiment (e.g. Griffiths) and have them present the
evidence (e.g. heat killed S-bacteria mixed with living R-bacteria lead to dead
mice and living S-bacteria)
Day 57: Perform a DNA extraction experiment. Going Bananas from LTF, a
classic Strawberry DNA extraction, or a human cheek cell DNA extraction (Bio-
Rad has a great kit, and I can send you that protocol and tell you how to
perform this experiment on the cheap)
Day 58: Discuss the Semi-Conservative Nature of DNA replication. If you have
pop beads (and you should) have students build a quick and easy model of a 3
to 5 strand of DNA and then build the complimentary strand (5 to 3) off that
template. Then have students split the original strand and build two new
strands off the original strand. This is simple and cheap, and its a nice visual of
semi-conservative DNA replication. Have each group of students explain how
they did it to you.
Day 59: DNA replication up close: Meet the 6 enzymes responsible for
replicating DNA. I like the simple cartoon from McGraw Hill on the DNA
Replication fork:http://highered.mcgraw-
hill.com/sites/0072437316/student_view0/chapter14/animations.html.I want
students to know what all the major enzymes do. I dont get too concerned with
DNA polymerase I vs. DNA polymerase III. They do need to realize that DNA
polymerase only works in the 5 to 3 direction, and therefore the 3 to 5 strand
is the leading strand (that means this strand is replicated quickly and in one
piece). The 5 to 3 strand is the lagging strand because its replication lags
behind as the enzymes continually loop around to stitch the new strand
together. Why? Because the active site of DNA polymerase only recognizes the
free Hydroxyl group (-OH) on the 3 end of the new DNA strand. See,
biochemistry is important!
Day 60: Finish DNA replication and do a quick overview of Excision Repair.
Dont get too bogged down with Telomeres. If your students ask you, tell them
they are non-coding regions of DNA that play a role in cell death. When
telomeres get short enoughthe cell has divided enough, its time for the cell to
die.
Day 61: Lead a discussion on the Central Dogma. Start with an overview (Fig
17.3) and get down to the triplet code (Fig. 17.4). Have students model this by
having a template DNA strand that code that codes for an mRNA strand, which
codes for a polypeptide.
Day 62: Finish modeling the Central Dogma. Pop Beads work great. Check
out http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/ for other ideas. Ask me if you get stuck.
Day 63: Discuss the details of Transcription (see Weekly Learning Objectives)
Day 64: Discuss the details of Translation (see above). By modeling these
complex processes first, you have some grounding to talk about these concepts.
Day 65: Discuss the role of mutations. Most teachers use Sickle Cell Anemia as
an example. Ive got some decent pencil and paper and pop bead activities to
explore this concept. Email me if you want copies of them.
Day 66: Introduce the concept of bacterial genetics, plasmids and
transformation. Walk students through the idea behind the transformation lab.
(These are microscopic processes, so students NEED a way to visualize this
concept)
Day 67: Perform part 1 of AP Lab 6a: Transform bacteria and plate transformed
and non-transformed bacteria on LB and LB-amp plates. Again, Bio-Rads pGLO
Bacterial Transformation kit is fool proof. For those of you in Huntsville and
Madison County, Hudson Alpha will come out and perform this lab with you and
your students.
Day 68: Analyze plates and observe them under normal light and UV (long
wave UV) light. Discuss WHY the bacteria survive in the presence of ampicillin
and WHY only the cells with arabinose in the plate glow under UV light. If you
need help with the concepts PLEASE ASK ME. I have taught this lab over 24
times, and I always learn something new. It is an excellent lab and really opens
the door to understanding control of gene expression. This is an essential
concept in AP Biology.
Day 69. Discuss the role of operons in bacterial genetic control. Students
should be able to model both repressible and inducible operons, discuss their
component parts and describe the evolutionary advantage of each. I realize this
is considerable detail, but the operon model reinforces the relationship between
proteins, DNA, transcription and translation. (Ask me for help with ideas about
teaching operons without lecturing.)
Day 70: Wrap up any loose ends with the pGLO lab and bacterial genetics,
overview of viruses: phages and retroviruses should be highlighted.
Day 71: Briefly describe eukaryotic control of gene expression (CHAPTER 19).
Focus on Week 15 Learning Objective 1.
Day 72: Perform AP Lab 6A: Electrophoresis. I like the Bio-Rad PV-92 kit
because students can perform PCR of their own DNA and see their DNA in a gel.
Obviously, I would love for you to use my Mitochondrial Genetics module from
PASCO and Edvotek, but thats not required.
Day 73: Analyze gels and discuss the banding patterns
Day 74: Exam on molecular genetics (40-50 points)
Day 75: FRQ on molecular geneticsthere are several to choose from. I
suggest 2009, Q4. Notice that my learning objectives fit this question extremely
well. This question goes from easy and general (part A), to specific (part C).
5 days over the winter break (probably due to final exams). No worries. The
idea is were picking up on classic genetics and we have two weeks to uncover
this material.
WEEK 19: Classic Genetics 1
Day 80: Mendels monogenic traits and Mendels Laws (the law of segregation
and the law of independent assortment). Relate Mendels to chromosomes
during Meiosis 1. Campbell has nice diagrams regarding this concept. Have your
students perform AP Lab 3B (Meiosis Simulation) during class or for homework.
Day 81: Use Mendels Pea experiments as an example of simple dominance
(100% penetrance). Move QUICKLY to other patterns of inheritance
(codominance, incomplete dominance and polygenic inheritance). It is
important for students to know that Mendel was right, but that monogenic
inheritance (100% penetrance) is the exception, not the rule. It is also
important for students to know Mendels laws and understandings of particulate
inheritance help us understand the basis of genetic diseases. Assign Punnet
Square problems (monohybrid, dihybrid, polygenic, sex-linked, etc.) as
homework. I never took these problem sets up for a grade, but told students
that these types of problems would be on the unit exam.
Day 82: Using Campbell and Reeces Biology as a resource, have students
explore the relationship between complete, incomplete and codominant using
Tay-Sachs disease, Sickle Cell Anemia and Mendels Round vs. Wrinkled Seeds.
Students should look at these three diseases at the organismal,
biochemical/metabolic level, and a molecular level. This sounds simple, but it
really helps students understand the relationship between gene (genotype),
gene product, gene product interaction and phenotype.
Day 83: Students should research the genetic diseases found in Chapter 14
(Tay Sachs, Sickle Cell Anemia, Cystic Fibrosis, Huntingtons Disease and
achrondoplasia), and report on the gene, the type of mutation in the gene that
causes the disease, describe the mutated gene product and describe the clinical
presentation of the gene. Also, have students report the target population. I
have included other diseases in the past. My graphic organizer for these
diseases is available to any teacher who wants it.
Day 84: Students should working on pedigrees and be able to use pedigrees to
describe the following Patterns of Inheritance (Autosomal Recessive, Autosomal
Dominant, X-linked recessive, mitochondrial/plastid).
Week 20: Classic Genetics 2
Day 85: Continue your discussion of the genetics of complex traits by
addressing the following concepts: epistasis or epigenetics, multiple alleles,
plieotropy and sex-linked (usually X-linked) traits. Understanding X-linkage is of
primary importance. Understanding epigenetics can be accomplished two ways.
First, helping students understand albinism is an excellent way of teaching
epistasis and it allows you to reinforce the concept of dihybrid crosses. Second,
looking at the SRY (the Sex determining Region of the Y chromosome) is a
great way to explain how some genes turn on other genes. You can also relate
epigenetics back to histone acetylation and methylation (Ch. 19) and X
inactivation (Ch. 15). Plieotropy can best be explained by looking at Sickle Cell
Anemia. Challenge students to follow the effects of a single point mutation
through the protein, cell, tissue, organ and organismal levels.
Day 86: Discuss the idea of gene linkage with students. This is a complex idea
that can be explained very simply (the best approach) would be to use the bead
chromosome models from AP Lab 3. Genes that are close to each other on a
chromosome are likely to get recombined together during prophase 1 of meiosis
and are, therefore, linked. Chromosomes far away from each other are likely to
get recombined. Geneticists visualize this by constructing linkage maps for
chromosomes. Increased percentage of recombination is mapped as a large
distance between genes on a chromosome. The opposite is true for genes with a
low percentage of gene recombination.
Day 87: Teach students about non-disjunction and aneuploidy by leading a
karyotyping activity or a lecture. Students also need to understand the basic
alterations of chromosome number. Its essential to relate these chromosomal
aberrations to real genetic diseases. I deemphasize abnormalities in sex
chromosomes, but students do want to be aware of them. (Theyll look this up
on their own!)
Day 88: Flex Day One. Finish any of the genetics concepts listed above or
review genetics problem sets. Also, familiarize your students with multifactorial
disorders (e.g. cancer, diabetes II, cardiovascular disease), organellar (e.g.
mitochondrial) disorders and methods of genetic screening. This is good
knowledge for students to have and helps them understand the relationship
between an individuals genetics and their environment.
Day 89: Flex Day Two. Wrap up concepts listed above, review for exam, or go
over genetics practice problems. If you are more than one day ahead, dont
wait. Administer Genetics Exam a day early.
Day 90: Classic Genetics Exam (ideally 50 Q) and one FRQ (use your structured
after school sessions to debrief this exam.
Week 21: Darwins big ideas, Evidence for Evolution, Population Genetics and
understanding natural selection
Day 90: Briefly introduce pre-Darwinian ideas about evolution. Briefly, discuss
the big influences on Darwins thinking: geologist Charles Lyell, his trip around
the globe on the H.M.S. Beagle and Thomas Malthus. Introduce Darwins main
two ideas: 1) Decent with Modification and 2) Natural Selection as the
mechanism. I find it helpful to have students dissect the observations and
inferences contained in the yellow box on page 444 in Campbell (7th Ed.)
Day 91: Discuss various lines of evidence for evolution. Ideally you have
specimens for students to look at. Compare fish and amphibians, reptiles and
mammals. Compare ferns (esp. Equisetum), a cone bearing plant, a magnolia
and a flowering plant.
Day 92: Introduce Population genetics. A population is the smallest biological
system that can evolve! You need to drive this point home. Introduce the
modern synthesis of evolution, paying particular attention to polygenic traits
that exhibit a continuum of phenotypes (p 455, Campbell 7th Ed.). This concept
will show up on the AP Exam. Discuss the language of Population Genetics
including population, gene pools, and allelic frequencies. Introduce Hardy-
Weinberg Theorem. Its a fake system where evolution (change in gene
frequency) does not occur.
Day 93: Testing the Hardy Weinberg Theorem. Perform AP Lab 8 (Population
Genetics).
Day 94: Discuss the evidence gathered from AP Lab 8 (Population Genetics).
Student will throw up a math barrier. Dont accept the barrier. Students can
learn that little p and little q represent dominant and recessive alleles. They
understand homozygous and heterozygous. They need to know that the H-W
equation representes all the potential matings in a breeding population. Work
one or two H-W problems with your students and then assign the problems in
AP Lab 8 for homework (a rare homework assignment in AP Biology).
Week 22: Natural Selection in the real world and introduction to
macroevolution.
Day 95: Start the week with a review of natural selection (I strongly suggest
leading students through Figure 1.20 From Cambell 7th Ed. (the first chapter).
This focuses students on the essential concept: phenotypic differences
(hereditary variations) lead to Differential Reproductive Success. Students need
to be able to define this concept and have a concrete example of this concept.
Day 96: Discuss some of the nuances of population genetics and mitigating
factors that influence micro evolution (change in allelic frequency) like genetic
drift, bottle neck effect (both of which can lead to founder effect) and gene
flow (the opposite of genetic drift). Have examples of each. Discuss different
modes of selection (Directional, Disruptive and Stabilizing). Put this on the
students. Provide them with the graphs and let them define the mode (or type)
of selection, explain why it occurs, and come up with a real-world example of
the mode of selection.
Day 97: Discuss the role of sexual selection in evolution of populations. Student
should be able to differentiate between intra-sexual selection (competition
within gender) and inter-sexual selection (competition between genders).
Students should be able to explain how this drives the fitness of a population.
Begin Speciation (reproductive isolation)
Day 98: Continue with speciation/reproductive isolation. Students need to know
pre-zygotic and post-zygotic barriers to inter-specific reproduction. Students
need to know that the key to evolution of species is reproductive isolation. This
is a simple lesson that will help reinforce population genetics concepts.
Day 99: Students need to be familiar with allopatric and sympatric speciation.
In short, animals are more likely to exhibit allopatric speciation, while plants are
more likely to exhibit sympatric speciation because of plants relative ease of
hydridization and tolerance of aneuploidy. (And who said biology isnt a
cumulative science.)
Week 23: Continue with Macroevolution, Overview of Systematics and the
Origins of Life. Summative assessment on evolution.
Day 100: Modern Speciation. Familiarize students with the concepts of
gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. The need to know how
evolutionary/developmental biology (Evo-Devo) has led to a deeper
understanding of reproductive isolation. Focus on Hox genes, heterochrony and
allometric growth. Basically, changes/mutations in genes that control
development greatly change the size, shape and behavior of an individual. If
enough individuals have these changes, then they can become reproductively
isolated from the parent population and give rise to a new species.
Day 101: Systematics. Students need understand clades and cladistics. They
need to be able to construct phylogenetic trees and cladograms from character
tables (see Fig. 25.11 in Campbell 7th Ed.). It is essential that students
understand shared primitive characters and shared derived characters. Ask me
for help with this if you need it. I have a good activity. Skip the rest of this
chapter. I dont cover the principle of parsimony. However, students should be
familiar with the Universal Tree of Life and they should know two things: it is
based rRNA sequences across all domains of life. It suggests that horizontal
gene transfer (non-darwinian mechanism) drove much of prokaryotic speciation
and drove the evolution of eukaryotic kingdoms. The new AP Bio curriculum
highlights horizontal gene transfer as essential knowledge.
Day 102: If time permitshave your origin talk. Students need to have a feel
for natural selection on a molecular level and they need a rudimentary
understanding of a RNA-based world. Campbell writes about this beautifully on
pp. 515-516 (7th Ed.). I have a cool slide on Darwinian Machines if anyone
wants it. It elegantly describes how Natural Selection applies to non-living
systems. Students also need to understand the endosymbiotic origins of
eukaryotes and have two or three pieces of evidence supporting this theory.
Day 103: Evolution Unit Exam (50 MCQ)
Day 104: Evolution FRQ I will have two up soon. And let students pick one to
write. Time them. They need to be finishing within 22-25 minutes now. Debrief
unit exam.
Week 24: Biodiversity Blitzkrieg
Day 105: Prokaryotes (Ch. 27). This is one of the more important biodiversity
chapters. Students should walk away with the following understandings about
prokaryotes: 1) they keep us alive and we need them a lot more than they need
us; 2) individually, they are metabolically simple, but as a pair of Domains
(Archea and Bacteria) they are metabolically diverse (see Table 27.1) 3)
bacteria enter into a myriad of beneficial symbiotic relationships with
eukaryotes.
Day 106: Protists (Ch. 28). Students need to know three things about protists.
First, they are grouped together because they dont fit anywhere else. They are
the most metabolically diverse clade of eukaryotes. Second, they evolved via
endosymbiosis. Third, members of the protist clade gave rise to the metazoan
organisms were more familiar with in the Eukaryotic Domain. Chlorophyta
(green algae) gave rise to terrestrial plants. Choanoflagelates are the likely
ancestors to animals. Slime molds are similar to fungi
Day 107: Do a quick scope Lab on Protists if you have time, decent
microscopes and good slides. Carolina and Wards have excellent protist sets. I
like students to be familiar with a green algae (Volvox), a mixotroph (Euglena)
an endoparasite (Plasmodia or Trypanosoma), and a radiolarian.
Day 108: Fungi (Chapter 31). (Well circle back to plants at the end of the
year.) This should be super quick. Your students need to be aware of a few
things things. One fungi are the workhorse decomposers in terrestrial
ecosystems. Two, they accomplish their digestion and absorption of detritus by
maximizing their surface area: volume ration below ground. Three, they
maintain their genetic variability by performing both asexual and sexual
reproduction (funky). Four, they are responsible for the colonization of land by
terrestrial plants, and plants owe their success to a symbiotic relationship with
fungi. Five, fungi are famous as plant and animal pathogens, yet they also make
life as we know it worth living. Im talking about yeast (beer and bread)not
mushrooms and acid.
Day 109: Introduction to Animal Diversity Invertebrate Diversity (Ch 33) 1: In
AP Biology, the simplest concepts are usually the most important. Thats clearly
illustrated in Chapter 32. Take time to review basic concepts in animal structure
and function such as symmetry, tissues (germ layers) and body cavities
(coelom) and development (protostomes vs. dueterostomes). Use the
Phylogenetic tree in Figure 32.10 to guide your investigations of invertebrates
and chordates. I ignore Figure 32.11.
Week 25: Biodiversity Continued: Intro to Animal Structure and Function.
Invertebrates, Vertebrates and basic physiology
Day 110: Invertebrate Diversity 1 (Ch 33): Using the phylogenetic tree
described in Figure 32.10, focus on the following phyla: Cnidaria and
Ctenphores, Platyhelminthes, Nemotoda, Rotifera, Mollusca, Annedlida,
Arthropoda and Echniodermata.
Day 111: Invertebrate Diversity 1 (Ch 33): Continuing with the above phyla,
your students should know the shared primitive characters of all inverts along
with the shared derived characters and adaptations of each phyla. If youve got
good samples, have students observe and draw examples of each phyla.
Day 112: Vertebrate Diversity (Ch 34): Given that students are likely familiar
with their vertebrate cousins, you dont need to spend a ton of time here. My
sincerest apologies to all my zoologist friends. Your students should be very
familiar with the phylogenetic tree that describes vertebrate evolution in Figure
34.2 they should also be able to describe how each derived characteristic has
led to the success of each clade of vertebrates. Students should also know the
defining characteristics of each of the major classes of vertebrates.
Day 113: Continue with your investigation of vertebrates. If time permits,
spend a moment on Tiktalik and the vertebrate invasion of land. Check
outhttp://tiktaalik.uchicago.edu/ for more. I skip the section on human
evolution as current research is rapidly expanding our knowledge of hominid
and human evolution.
Day 114: Basic principles of Animal form and function. Like Ch 32, this simple
chapter is one of the most important in the book. In fact, Figure 40.7 (the
bioenergetics of an animal) is one of the three most important figures in the
text. The other two are 9.16 and 54.2 (all of them deal with energy). Figure
40.4 gives students an overview of all the mammalian systems (and their
connectivity). This chapter also looks at the relationship between size and
metabolic rate and introduces homeostasis, using thermoregulation as an
example. I would hit these high points and move on. Students should be
familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of endothermy and ectothermy.
Week 26: Animal Physiology I: Neurophysiology and Cardio-Vascular Physiology
Day 115: Overview of CNS, Take a macro to micro approach here. Students
should know the divisions of the CNS (somatic, autonomic SNS and PNS and
enteric). They should know the different parts of the brain and their function.
They should also know the difference between an arc reflex and an integrated
loop.
Day 116: Begin looking at the cellular basis of neural conduction. Students
need to know the anatomy of a neuron, the role of glial cells. They need to
know what the resting potential of a neuron is (-70 mV) and how the resting
potential is set (the Na/K pump). I dont get too deep into the Nernst Equation.
They do need to know that this is active transport and the neuron is an energy
glutton. It used the energy to set up the resting potential. Consider the resting
neuron like a loaded spring, ready to depolarize.
Day 117: Students need to know why and how an action potential is generated.
Students also need to understand salutatory conduction, how the electrical
signal generated by the axon hillock results in a release of chemicals (neuro-
transmitters) at the synapse. Its all thanks to Ca++ and voltage gated ion
channels, but I digress. This is something I have the students draw and label.
Day 118: Finish Neurophysiology by looking at Summation of action potential
(EPSP and IPSP) and teaching the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) and how
muscles contract (Ch. 49). Skeletal muscles and the NMJ are the only parts of
Chapter 49 I teach. I leave the special senses alone.
Day 119: Introduction to vertebrate Cardio-vascular physiology. Students
should know the difference between open and closed circulatory systems, the
evolution of 4-chambered hearts and double circulation, but concentrate on
mammalian (e.g human C-V physiology). Students need to know the gross
anatomy of the heart, the pulmonary and systemic circulatory system and the
cardiac cycle.
Week 27: Animal Physiology II: Cardio-vascular physiology and immune system
Day 120: AP Lab 10: Mammalian circulatory physiology. Students should meet
all the laboratory objectives for human circulatory physiology. Pay particular
attention to the baro-receptor reflex portion of the lab and the Step test
(exercise physiology). Getting blood pressure is nice, but dont bog down on it. I
skip the daphnia experiment and I occasionally look at fish tail circulation, but
only when time permits.
Day 121: Finish AP Lab 10, and make sure students know why HR increased
during exercise and why it may not have fallen back to resting HR before the
experiment ended.
Day 122: Review blood pressure and the flow of blood through capillaries.
STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW how gasses and nutrients are exchanged across
capillary beds (see Fig 42.14). Its very important. Briefly discuss vertebrate
respiratory systems. Students need to know how negative breathing works and
they need to know the partial pressures of CO2 and O2 in various parts of the
body (Fig. 42.27). I suggest graphing this data and having students see that
these gasses will just diffuse along their concentration gradients.
Day 123: Brief, brief, brief overview of blood constituents, the differentiation of
RBC, WBC and platelets. Students should be familiar with the clotting cascade,
but enough with all the stuff please.
Day 124: Overview of immune systems (Ch 43). Spend time discussing the
general immune response and inflammation (Fig. 43.6).
Week 28: Animal Physiology I (Immunology) and II (digestion and excretion)
Day 125: Cell-mediated immunity. Students need to know the roles of Helper T
cells, B cells, killer T-cells and antibodies. They also need to know the difference
between MHC I and MHC II and how these molecules activate Killer T cells and
Helper T cells respectively.
Day 126: Finish the immune system. Discuss HIV as an example of how the
immune system (specifically cell-mediated immunity works). Students also need
to be familiar with clonal selection and immune memory and specificity.
Day 127: Digestion and Nutrition (Ch 41). This is essential information, but
ultra-basic. I suggest students know the four stages of digestion, know the
primary and secondary digestive organs and their functions. They also need to
know the flow chart of enzymatic digestion of food within the GI tract (Fig.
41.21).
Day 128: Finish digestion and be sure to review homeostasis in terms of blood
glucose levels and discuss the hormonal control of digestion (Fig.
41.22)interesting stuff.
Day 129: Osmoregulation (Ch. 44). This is complicated stuff, but you need to
take birds eye view. Students should take four things away from this chapter.
One, water balance is probably the greatest regulatory challenge for terrestrial
animals. Two, there is a cost-benefit spectrum for excreting various types of
nitrogenous waste (see Fig. 44.8). Three, all kidneys have four essential
functions: filtration, reabsorption, secretion and excretions (Fig. 44.9). Four, the
nephron is the functional unit of the kidney and the parts and general functions
of each part matter (Fig 44.14). Plus the names are kind of cool. Bowmans
capsule. Loop of Henle. I love it.
Week 29: Finish Animal Physiology and Summative Assessment
Day 130: Do a very brief discussion of reproductive physiology. Dont focus on
the anatomy (your students can figure that out for themselves!). Instead focus
on the hormonal regulation of the menstrual cycle and the hormonal regulation
of spermatogenesis and sexual development in males.If timer permits, discuss
the embryo and its relationship to the placenta.
Day 131: Do a quick overview of development. Students should know how
fertilization works, they should understand the idea of cleavage, early stages of
development, gastrulation, the differentiation of the three primary germ
layersand the tissues that are derived from these layers.
Day 132: Review Animal Physiology. Tie up any loose ends.
Day 133: Exam on Animal Physiology (50 MCQ)
Day 134: FRQ on Animal Physiology (give your students a choice of two)
Final Exam