1. Advanced Placement Biology
Welcome to Meet the Teacher night

2. Years of Service
3rd year as a teacher
9th year as a Hackett parent

3. About the teacher
Originally from Jackson; oldest of 6 kids; 5 younger brothers; graduated from Lumen Christi High School
Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Biology from Aquinas College
Worked at a research lab in Muskegon, then in Ashland, Ohio, then at The Upjohn Company for 19 years.
Went back to school at Western Michigan University; Secondary Education major and Earth Science minor.

4. More about me… Pre-internship at Paw Paw Middle School
Internship at Portage North Middle School
Long-term sub at Otsego High School
Long-term sub at Galesburg-Augusta Middle School
2 ½ years as an at-risk math paraprofessional at Portage Central Middle School
Long-term sub at Lawton High School

5. My Family Husband John – married 27 years
Daughter Jackie (22) – graduated from Hackett in 2013; graduated from Michigan State University in 2017; employed at MPI Research
Son Brennan (19) – graduated from Hackett in 2016; student at KVCC
Daughter Lindsey (16) – junior at Hackett
Dog Zeus (7) – 50% Labrador retriever, 25% rat terrier, 25% shih tzu

6. Why take AP Bio? To get ready for AP Exam for college credit
Get better prepared for college biology course
Have fun doing the labs (can also create frustration but that is normal)
Understand more about biology

7. Exam changed in 2013
Used to be that you would do well if you were good at memorizing information
Did 12 labs in class and would get asked about 2 of them
Now it’s inquiry-based instruction and inquiry-based labs
Now students do 13 labs (or more) and none of them are on the exam
Now students have to read/comprehend/analyze

8. AP Exam On the second Monday in May
2 parts…both 90 minutes…each worth 50%
1st part: 63 Multiple Choice and 6 “Grid Ins” that are mathematical manipulation/calculation
2nd part: free response…10 minute required reading time in advance of the free response section…80 min to answer the questions
Graded on a curve

9. Free response questions
2 long free-response questions, 1 of which connects to the lab experience…10 pts each
6 short free-response questions; 3 are 4 pts each; 3 are 3 pts each
The exam ends up having 110 total pts.

10. Calculators
Only a basic 5 function calculator can be used on the exam so…
We will only use 5 function calculators in class
There are plenty available for class
I will have to check to see if there are enough for exam day…otherwise some students may have to bring them, or I may have to order more

11. AP Biology Exam National Stats for 2017
Tests range from 1 to 5 with a 3 passing
1 = 8.4% (8.3% in 2016)
2 = 27.8% (27.6% in 2016)
3 = 36.7% (35.9% in 2016)
4 = 20.9% (22% in 2016)
5 = 6.2% (6.2 % in 2016)

12. More Stats
Only 1 out of 256,000 students that took the exam in had a perfect score (*only 86 students took the first exam in 1956)
63.8% “passed” (a score of 3 or more)…up from 60.5% in 2016
National average:
Highest scores were on cellular processes
Lowest scores were on genetics questions
Free response questions: Did the best on question #4 and #5; 59% earned 0 pts on question #6

13. Examples of college credit
Michigan State University:
4 or 5 = BS 161 and BS 162 for 8 credits
Michigan Technological University:
5 = BL 1010 and BL 1020 for 8 credits
4 = BLU 1040 for 4 credits
Western Michigan University
3 to 5 = BIOS 1600 for 3 credits

14. Even if you don’t pass…
Even if you don’t pass the AP Exam, this class will make your college biology course easier (e.g. if you take Biology at KVCC)

15. 4 Big Ideas
Big Idea 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.
Big Idea 2: Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
Big Idea 3: Living systems store, retrieve, transmit and respond to information essential to life processes.
Big Idea 4: Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.

16. 7 Science Practices
1. The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
2. The student can use mathematics appropriately.
3. The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course.
4. The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.

17. Science Practices cont.
5. The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence.
6. The student can work with scientific explanations and theories.
7. The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains.

18. There are additional resources available to help your child prepare for the exam.

19. My Contact Info.
Website:
Phone: (269) ext. 151