A.P. Biology Exam Tips!!!

Pencils (MC) and pen (FRQ) Calculator 2019 AP biology exam Monday 5/13/2019- 7:30 am CHS South Gym Bring: Pencils (MC) and pen (FRQ) Calculator Stop by Mrs. Ohlsen’s room beforehand for coffee and donuts!

New format (2013)- 63 multiple choice questions 6 grid-in computations 90 minutes ¼ point guessing penalty no longer used

Time is critical!!!!! answer all questions on first attempt- skip if you don’t know use left over time for skipped questions first answers normally correct study all diagrams carefully look for “odd man out” answer

Free response 2 long free response (essay) 6 short free response (paragraph) 80 minutes+ 10 minute reading time Lab based questions- Interpret data and experimental design!!

Scoring- the readers gain points for correct statements no deduction for wrong answers can abbreviate use sentences- NOT outline NO 5 paragraph format! drawing permitted- must be explained- only part of credit

Writing tips!!!! read question carefully outline then write give details and specific examples If question in parts, write answer in parts (Label!) underline key words or phrases equal amounts of time on each question

don’t refer to another question NEVER leave essay question blank! no money in pages don’t assume reader will “know” what you mean give definition to all terms watch handwriting use English

Test day tips!!! get plenty of sleep take caffeine stimulant if necessary to get going in morning money for sugar drink during break between two parts

Things to remember!!! You have trained all year- if you have prepared, you should do well each essay point “counts more”- attempt to earn as many as possible

AP Biology: Percentage of Students Earning Each AP Grade 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 5 6.5% 6.2% 6.3% 7.1% 4 22.2% 22% 20.6% 20.9% 21.5% 3 35.1% 35.9% 33.6% 36.7% 32.9% 2 27.3% 27.6% 29.2% 27.8% 28.5% 1 8.8% 8.3% 10.3% 8.4% 10.0%                    Average score 2018- 2.87 Passing grade- ~43%

2013 Reflections (redesign) 1,200 college students were administered redesigned AP Biology exam questions this spring; their work was scored at the AP Reading. College professors also took the full redesigned AP Biology exam themselves & evaluated each question to set the pts needed for 2,3,4,5. Most AP Biology students earned enough pts to get a 2,3,4, but very few scored well enough on the grid-ins and free-response to score a 5. AP Biology grid-in questions require students to use mathematics to solve biological problems. The avg score on these was very low: 36%. (Up to 55% in 2015) Multiple-choice: last year, students earned 63% correct on average; this year, 61% FRQs require students to "explain," "describe," "justify" their content knowledge. Very low scores on avg. % of AP Bio students earning 0 pts on these FRQs: Q5 (polypeptides): 45%. Q6 (organelles): 49%. Q8 (hormone-signalling): 54%.

2017 Reflections AP Biology students and teachers have achieved the highest number of scores of 3+ of any of the past 5 years.  1 student out of 256,000 worldwide earned all 120/120 pts possible on this year’s AP Biology exam. Looking forward to him/her curing cancer. Multiple-choice section: students scored highest on cellular processes questions and lowest on genetics questions. Free-response: students did very well constructing & analyzing food webs (Q4) and evaluating impact of algal growth (Q5). Free-response: many students really struggled with detecting DNA damage (Q6); 59% earned 0 pts on it. 

2018 Reflections This year, there were more strong students, and more weak students – fewer in the middle. So all score categories expanded, in comparison to 2017, except 3s. AP Biology multiple-choice: students generally scored best on questions about Big Idea 4 (interactions) and least well on questions that required use of mathematics, including the grid-ins, where 35% of students scored 0/5 points. AP Biology students demonstrated a very strong understanding of species interactions, generally earning high scores on FRQ5 (symbiotic relationship between warblers and cuckoos). 30% of students earned all 4/4 points possible. AP Biology FRQ3 (investigating aquatic pollination) best differentiates between students getting 3s & those getting 2s. Students getting 3s are usually earning at least 3 of these 4 points.  AP Biology FRQ7 (investigating sex determination in fish) best distinguished between students getting 3s and those getting 5s. Students getting 5s are usually earning all 3 of these points.

Chapter correlation: 2013- 2018 Chapters that show up the most: 15- evolution*** 8- genetics 6- photosynthesis and respiration 5- membranes and cell signaling** 9- DNA, replication and mutation** 11- gene expression* 30, 31, 34- systems (endocrine*) 44- interactions** 45- ecosystems** 4- cells Interpreting graphs/tables/diagrams/data!!! Experimental design!!