AP Biology Gearing up for May 2013!

Today’s Objectives  What is AP?  How to get to course website  How to sign on to  The “Big Ideas”

What is AP Biology to me?  Big ideas trump details  Inquiry  Scientific literacy  An “edge”

How is AP different than a typical senior elective  College course, college credit?!?  Time commitment  Assignments follow a college model  Lab notebooks  Formal lab reports  Journal Club  Online HW  Tests count for a lot; prepare you for the AP test!

How has AP changed?  Test: more data analysis and application questions  Labs: inquiry based and include statistics  Be careful if you buy a review guide that it reflects the changes in the 2013 test!

Course Website  Needham Teacher Pages  rt/ rt/  Resources: Calendar, virtual handouts, Powerpoints, rubrics

Campbell Book and Mastering Biology  Masteringbiology.com  Sometimes its easier to sign up online  Reading follow-up questions  Online labs  Online version of your book (think ipad, ipod) Sign up today! Your first assignment is up and its time sensitive.

Big Ideas  Can we put all of biology into 4 boxes?  1-The process of evolution drives the unity and diversity of life  2-Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain homeostasis.  3-Living things store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes  4-Biological systems interact and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.