Welcome to AP Biology!!

*College level studies What is AP? *College level studies *May earn college credit or advanced placement *Worldwide comprehensive exam in May

What are your goals for AP? My goals for you! Acquire subject matter Laboratory procedures and content Exam strategies Reading and writing skills and strategies High score on AP exam What are your goals for AP?

How you succeed in AP! Willing to spend the time! Self motivated! Self responsibility! (If you need something— Ask For IT!!!!!) Ability to communicate! (Vocabulary) Write, write, write!!!!!!!

The Class! 8-13 inquiry based labs (some lengthy!) Brisk pace (about 1 chapter per week) Grade about 60-70% test, 20-30% lab, 10% homework Lots of writing practice! You will learn to “think outside the box”!!! website

Why We Are Changing AP Biology and Other AP Science Courses? To Emphasize scientific inquiry and reasoning To Respond to changes recommended by the National Research Council and the National Science Foundation To Reduce the emphasis on broad content coverage and focus on depth of understanding To Support teachers in their efforts to foster students’ deep understanding of science VO: Following recommendations from the National Research Council and the National Science Foundation, the AP Program embarked on a multi-year process to revise all AP science courses and exams. All AP courses should provide students with a rigorous college-level learning experience. However, AP Biology has been criticized for requiring teachers to march through an enormous amount of content, often sacrificing students’ depth of conceptual understanding so that you can cover all of the topics. The revised AP Biology course is still equivalent to a college and university introductory level biology course. But we have reduced the breadth to allow for a focus on depth of understanding. It also focuses on teaching students to apply this knowledge through the practice of science, specifically inquiry and reasoning skills.

Goals of the AP Biology Revision Working Directly With Experts From Colleges and High Schools, the College Board Has Created a Revised AP Biology Course That: Reduces and defines the breadth of the required content so that teachers have more time to develop students’ deep conceptual understanding and to engage in inquiry-based lab experiences Allows teachers to select specific contexts for teaching key concepts in ways that are meaningful to their own strengths and preferences and to their students’ interests Makes knowing what will be on the AP Biology Exam completely transparent VO: The revisions to the AP Biology course have several goals. The course will: Engage students in college-level learning of essential concepts and science practices (skills) Reduce the breadth of required content so you have more time to develop students’ conceptual understanding and engage them in inquiry-based experiences. Allow you to decide how to teach key concepts. You will be able to use your own strengths and preferences to engage your students.

Goals of the AP Biology Revision (continued) Working Directly With Experts From Colleges and High Schools, the College Board Has Created a Revised AP Biology Course That: Supports the awarding of college credit/placement for qualifying student exam performance Provides students the opportunity to prepare for success in sequent college courses in biology VO: The revised course will: *meet colleges’ expectations for what students should learn and do in an introductory college-level biology course. and prepare students for success in the courses that follow introductory biology.

The New Curriculum Framework Supports and Furthers Conceptual Knowledge 4 Big Ideas Enduring Understandings Science Practices: Science Inquiry & Reasoning Essential Knowledge Learning Objectives The new curriculum framework allows you to develop your own course. It organizes knowledge into: Four Big Ideas 17 Enduring Understandings 61 Essential Knowledge Components 7 Science Practices – And 155 Learning Objectives The organization of the curriculum framework helps teachers and students focus on the most important science practices (skills) and concepts that students should learn and retain for success in future biology courses.   During this presentation, we will show you how these new elements will give you the tools for success with your students.    Let’s review each component in depth.

AP Biology Curriculum Is Framed Around Four Big Ideas The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life. B I G I D E A 1 Biological systems utilize energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce, and maintain homeostasis. B I G I D E A 2 Living systems retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes. B I G I D E A 3 The new course content is organized along four Big Ideas. This allows you to tie concepts together and reinforce them throughout the course. These four Big Ideas, or recurring themes, are: Evolution Cellular Processes: Energy and Communication Genetics and Information Transfer Interactions These four Big ideas will help the student organize their depth of understanding of biology. Biological systems interact, and these interactions possess complex properties. B I G I D E A 4

Building Enduring Understandings E X A M P L E Building Enduring Understandings For each of the four Big Ideas, there is a set of Enduring Understandings which incorporates core concepts that students should retain from these learning experiences The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life. B I G I D E A 1 Enduring Understanding 1.A: Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution Enduring Understanding 1.B: Organisms are linked by lines of descent from common ancestry Under each Big Idea, there are Enduring Understandings. These are the core concepts in biology. Enduring Understandings should be retained by the student throughout college and beyond.   AP Teachers will return to the Enduring Understandings throughout the course. Enduring Understanding 1.C: Life continues to evolve within a changing environment Enduring Understanding 1.D: The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes

Building Essential Knowledge E X A M P L E Building Essential Knowledge Each Enduring Understanding is followed by statements of the Essential Knowledge students must develop in the course The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life. B I G I D E A 1 Enduring Understanding 1.A: Change in the genetic makeup of a population over time is evolution Essential Knowledge1.A.1: Natural selection is a major mechanism of evolution The term “Essential Knowledge” refers to the supportive content essential for understanding the Big Ideas and Enduring Understandings. The learning objectives for the course are derived from coupling the Essential Knowledge statements with specific Science Practices. The learning objectives are what will be tested on the AP Biology Exam. a. According to Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, competition for limited resources results in differential survival . Individuals with more favorable phenotypes are more likely to survive and produce more offspring, thus passing traits to subsequent generations b. Evolutionary fitness is measured by reproductive success c. Genetic variation and mutation play roles in natural selection. A diverse gene pool is important for the survival of a species in a changing environment

Emphasis on Science Practices The science practices enable students to establish lines of evidence and use them to develop and refine testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena 1.0 The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems 2.0 The student can use mathematics appropriately 3.0 The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course 4.0 The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question 5.0 The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence 6.0 The student can work with scientific explanations and theories 7.0 The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts, and representations in and across domains SCIENCE PRACTICES There is an emphasis in all AP science courses on the practice, or “doing,” of science. Each one of these seven practices gives students the opportunity to engage in the practice of science through inquiry and reasoning. Students will be asked to: use representations and models, to calculate answers, to question their data, to develop data-collection strategies, to perform analyses to explain theories and to make connections across scales, concepts and domains These practices are infused throughout the course and integrated into the exams. Many AP Biology teachers are already engaging their students in meaningful inquiry activities. The articulation of the science practices is intended to make them a centerpiece for the revised course. And you will see in the next slide how each learning objective in the revised course contains a science practice.

Clearly Articulated Science Practices Underpin the Entire Course E X A M P L E Clearly Articulated Science Practices Underpin the Entire Course SCIENCE PRACTICES 6.0 The student can work with scientific explanations and theories. 6.1 The student can justify claims with evidence 6.2 The student can construct explanations of phenomena based on evidence produced through scientific practices 6.3 The student can articulate the reasons that scientific explanations and theories are refined or replaced. 6.4 The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on scientific theories and models. 6.5 The student can evaluate alternative scientific explanations Each of the seven science practices contain skills that students must acquire to reach competency in the practice. The Science Practices are further detailed in the Curriculum Framework which is located in the new Course and Exam Description.

An Example of Integrating the Concept, Content, and the Science Practice Essential Knowledge 1.B.2 Phylogenetic trees and cladograms are graphical representations (models) of evolutionary history that can be tested Content Science Practice Learning Objective Science Practice 5.3 The student can evaluate the evidence provided by data sets in relation to a particular scientific question + The required content along with a science practice come together to form the learning objectives for the revised course. All of the questions on the exam will directly relate to one or more of the AP Biology learning objectives. There will be no more guesswork about what will be on the exam! Learning Objective (1.B.2 & 5.3) The student is able to evaluate evidence provided by a data set in conjunction with a phylogenetic tree or a simple cladogram to determine evolutionary history and speciation objectives

The New Course Emphasizes Inquiry-Based and Student-Directed Labs Topic Previously Now Primary Question A primary question framed the lab Students generate their own questions for investigation Alignment to Big Ideas Not as clearly tied to the curriculum Labs are clearly tied to Big Ideas, enduring understandings, science practices, and the learning objectives Experiments Experiments were teacher-directed Students design and conduct their own experiments, based on investigative questions they pose for themselves Variables Students are told which variables to investigate Students choose which variables to investigate Steps Each lab provided clear steps to follow Students design their own experimental procedures Tables and Graphs Tables and graphs were provided for the students to fill in Students construct their own tables and graphs for presentations Providing Conclusions Students were given specific questions to answer Students determine how to provide their conclusion Another shift in the revised AP Biology Course will be the emphasis on inquiry based and student-directed labs.   Take a minute to review the new approach. As with the current course, you will be expected to devote 25 percent of instructional time to labs. Students must do at least two student-directed labs per Big Idea, or or a minimum of eight for the course. Each of the new labs will clearly identify which of the learning objectives for the course are being met through the lab experience. The labs should be student directed: students should generate their own questions about a topic, design their own experiments, and come to their own conclusions. We will provide you with a new lab manual with inquiry-based, student led labs. We will also provide you with information on how to conduct student-led investigations. Teachers can adapt or transition their existing labs, use external (inquiry based and student directed labs that meet the learning objectives) or use labs from the new manual. We will also provide professional development starting in the summer of 2011, so there will be plenty of time to update your existing labs. No new major lab equipment purchases will be required. Later on, you’ll see how the exam will assess the Science Practices developed through their lab work.

AP Biology Investigative Labs: An Inquiry-Based Approach 13 inquiry-based lab investigations Investigations are broken up by big ideas and map directly to the AP Biology curriculum framework Each investigation provides guidance to the teacher pre-, during, and post-investigation Many of the investigations provide suggestions for extension

The Test! Redesigned for 2013!!!! 5- point scale 63 Multiple choice, 6 grid-in (50%), 6 short response, 2 long response (50%) Graded against all others taking test (normalized curve set by colleges) At least a 3 for chance at credit/ advanced placement Based on four “big ideas” and seven “science practices”

AP Biology New Exam Design Section Information: Item Types & Weight Question Types and Distribution Timing Multiple Choice + Grid-ins (50% of exam weight) 63 multiple choice 6 grid-in questions (New type: mathematical manipulation/calculation. Students will write and bubble in numerated answer) 90m Ten Minutes Required Reading Time in Advance of the Free Response Section Free Response 2 long free response questions, 1 of which connects to the lab experience 80 minutes + 10-minute reading period 6 short free response questions Chapter 2: The exam While the revised AP Biology Exam will still consist of multiple choice, grid-in and free response questions, the number of multiple-choice questions has been reduced to 63.   All of the items on the new exam will be directly tied to the Learning Objectives. There will be no more guesswork about what will be tested on the AP Biology Exam. In a few minutes, you’ll see some sample questions, including some new question types. You will see how the new questions focus on student understandings of Big Ideas, Enduring Understandings, and Essential Questions – and do not demand memorization of facts. If factual information or specific details of a phenomena are needed in an exam question, this information will be provided to the students in the actual stem of the question. link

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