1. AP Biology Examination Important facts and exam analysis

2. Start with the booklet Use the green Released Exam booklet for this session. Page one - who and how Page two - M. choice and Free Response. Note that they are looking for students to relate content, be novel and put numbers to what they are saying.

3. Scoring the exam By all accounts, the AP exams are scored fairly. I have yet to be surprised by a students score (sometimes a 3 is a 4 on a good day and the other way around). Pages 2 & 3 provide details. Proper completion of the course and lab objectives is crucial to student success. (page 4 and 5)

4. Content - Format All three units are covered by the following percentages. I Molecules and Cells - 25% II Heredity and Evolution - 25% III Organisms and Populations - 50% Section I - 120 M.Choice questions (60%) Section II - 4 Free answer questions (40%) Labs are important in both sections.

5. Instructions The Instructions are very detailed!! Skip the details and go to page 14. Examine the instructions for M.choice. Students should know M.Choice instructions before the get to the start page. They should just start writing - time is important, these exams are designed not to be finished. What is the guess strategy? Very important!

6. Try Some! Give some of the multiple choice a try. I’ll time you for completion of questions 11 - 20 (page 16-18) 7min and 30 seconds. Go! Just note your answers in the book. Answers: B, D, A, E, B, A, A, D, B, D 2 of those 10 were related directly to labs. Did you guess. How did it work?

7. Free Response Page 49 instructions for the free response. Note that they are looking for the students to demonstrate more than knowledge. Clearly, knowledge is required to do well in this section. Student must emphasised correct terminology. Buzz words include: hypothesis, control, quantify, steps of scientific method, statistics, model. Others?

8. Free Response Take some time to examine one or two essay questions. It is very important that students be taught to plan their answers before they start pouring information out the end of a pen. See pages 59, 75, 84 and 93 for details relating to teachers.

9. How Grades are Determined This starts on page 94. Grades are not raw scores, they are manipulated to make a mark distribution table. (page 97). What the mark means as a letter grade is on page 98. end