1. AP Biology INTRODUCTION TO AP BIOLOGY & UNIFYING THEMES IN BIOLOGY

2. Course Structure  Lab-centered  Inquiry-based  Molecular Level Content  Science Practices  Process and reasoning driven  Big Ideas -> Enduring Understandings -> Essential Knowledge  Learning Objectives as AP Question Focus  College Level (Pace, Level, Assignments, etc.)  AP Score of 5 is equivalent to A in College Biology

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

4. Unifying Themes of Biology (8)  Science as a process  Evolution (“The Overarching Theme of Biology”)  Energy Transfer  Continuity and Change  Relationship of Structure to Function  Regulation  Interdependence of Nature  Science, Technology, & Society

5. 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 an AP course.  4) The student can plan and implement data collection strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.  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.

6. Syllabus Highlights  Review

7. Summer Assignment  Pass it up  It will be graded

8. Heads Up: Possible College Lab Credit  Keep a portfolio of lab-related work throughout the year.  Lab Notebook (data, calculations, notes)  Formal Reports  Lab Slides or mini-posters  Handouts corresponding to lab procedures  WHY?: In college, lab courses are worth multiple college credits. If you can display to the college the evidence of college level lab work in this course, it may be possible to get lab credit in college. The AP exam gets you lecture credit, but does not get you lab credit.

9. Summary Notes: Handout (Ch. 1)  Where applicable, I will hand out summary notes for a topic as an aid to students  Please keep them organized

10. Fundamentals Matter  * We will return to these themes many times  * Chemistry is a foundation. Chemistry happens in the cell and throughout the body, and is used in interactions between organisms.  * Scientific Method will be employed, by YOU, in the lab throughout the year.

11. Emergent Properties at higher levels of organization  Text examples (p.3)  * chloroplast components in test tube v. intact chloroplast  * brain injury / physical presence of components  * Memory / thought as emergent properties v. single nerve cell  * Ecosystem level – recycling of chemical elements  Recall Big Idea 4: Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.  Example: Nervous system and muscular system interacting to create directed movement.

12. Seven Emergent Properties  Order  Reproduction  Growth & Development  Energy Utilization  Response to Environment  Homeostasis  Evolutionary Adaptation

13. Technology as crucial to cell theory  Microscope (Hooke, Van Leeuwenhok): cells  Schleiden and Schwann (1839) reasoned that from their own microscopic studies and those of others, all living things are made of cells (basis of cell theory)  Cell theory has since incorporated the concept that all cells come from pre-existing cells.  In past 40 years, the electron microscope has revealed the complex ultrastructure of cells.  Plasma membranes, DNA, etc.

14. Prokaryotic Cells  Prokaryotic cell = Cell lacking membrane-bound organelles and a membrane-enclosed nucleus.  Found only in the archaebacteria and bacteria. Single-celled microorganisms.  Generally much smaller than eukaryotic cells  Contains DNA that is not separated from the rest of the cell, as there is no membrane-bound nucleus  Lacks membrane-bound organelles  Almost all have tough external walls

15. Prokaryotic Cells

16. Eukaryotic Cells  Eukaryotic cell = Cell with a membrane-enclosed nucleus and membrane-enclosed organelles. (4.A.2, essential cellular processes provided by structure, function, interaction of subcellular components)  Found in protists, plants, fungi, and animals  Subdivided by internal membranes into different functional compartments called organelles. Effectively, eukaryotic cells are partitioned into specialized regions by membranes (2.B.3). Mitochondria as example.  Contains DNA that is segregated from the rest of the cell. DNA is organized with proteins into chromosomes that are located within the nucleus, the largest organelle of most cells. In eukaryotes, heritable information is passed to the next generation via processes that include the cell cycles and mitosis or meiosis plus fertilization. (3.A.2)  Cytoplasm surrounds the nucleus and contains various organelles of different functions  Some cells have a tough cell wall outside the plasma membrane (e.g., plant cells). Animal cells lack cell walls.  Though structurally different, eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells have many similarities, especially in their chemical processes  Evidence supports the evolutionary relatedness of eukaryotic cells: example is membrane- bound organelles, linear chromosomes, cytoskeleton (structural proteins), etc. 1.B.1

17. Eukaryotic Cells

18. Evolution: Core Unifying Theme  Evolution is the one unifying biological theme.  Life evolves. Species change over time and their history can be described as a branching tree of life.  Species that are very similar share a common ancestor at a recent branch point on the phylogenetic tree.  Less closely related organisms share a more ancient common ancestor.  All life is connected and can be traced back to primeval prokaryotes that existed more than three billion years ago  Conserved Core Life Processes as evidence for descent with common ancestry: DNA/RNA as genetic information carriers, metabolic pathways, etc. (Essential Knowledge 1.B.1, 3.A.1)

20. Darwin’s Contribution to the Conceptual Framework of Biology  In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in which he made two major points :  1. Species change, and contemporary species arose from a succession of ancestors through a process of " descent with modification."  2. A mechanism of evolutionary change is natural selection.  Darwin synthesized the concept of natural selection based upon the following observations:  Individuals in a population of any species vary in many inheritable traits.  Populations have the potential to produce more offspring than will survive or than the environment can support.  Individuals with traits best suited to the environment leave a larger number of offspring, which increases the proportion of inheritable variations in the next generation. This differential reproductive success is what Darwin called natural selection.  Darwin proposed that cumulative changes in a population over long time spans could produce a new species from an ancestral one. Descent with modification accounts for both the unity and diversity of life.  Similarities between two species may be a reflection of their descent from a common ancestor.  Differences between species may be the result of natural selection modifying the ancestral equipment in different environmental contexts.

21. Scientific Methods & Processes  The key ingredient of the scientific process is the hypothetico-deductive method, which is an approach to problem-solving that involves:  1. Asking a question and formulating a tentative answer or hypothesis.  2. Using deductive reasoning to make predictions from the hypothesis and then testing the validity of those predictions.  Deductive reasoning = Making an inference from general premises to specific consequences, which logically follow if the premises are true. In science, deductive reasoning usually involves predicting experimental results that are expected if the hypothesis is true.  Example: Question  I wonder what will happen if I supply a spinach leaf with water, nutrients, carbon dioxide, and sunlight? Hypothesis: Photosynthesis will occur, since I will be supplying the necessary inputs for photosynthesis. Deductive reasoning  If photosynthesis occurs, then oxygen will be given off.  6CO 2 + 6H 2 O ------> C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2

22. Scientific Methods & Process  Another feature of the scientific process is the controlled experiment which includes control and experimental groups.  Control group = In a controlled experiment, the group in which all variables are held constant.  Controls are a necessary basis for comparison with the experimental group, which has been exposed to a single treatment variable.  Allows conclusions to be made about the effect of experimental manipulation.  Setting up the best controls is a key element of good experimental design.  Variable = Condition of an experiment that is subject to change and that may influence an experiment's outcome.  Experimental group = In a controlled experiment, the group in which one factor or treatment is varied.

23. Scientific Methods & Process  Science is an ongoing process that is a self-correcting way of knowing. Scientists:  Build on prior scientific knowledge.  Try to replicate the observations and experiments of others to check on their conclusions.

24. Scientific Methods & Process 

25. Characteristics of Scientific Hypotheses  Hypotheses are possible causes.  Hypotheses reflect past experience with similar questions.  Multiple hypotheses should be proposed whenever possible.  Hypotheses must be testable via the hypothetico-deductive method. Predictions made from hypotheses must be testable by making observations or performing experiments.  Hypotheses can be eliminated, but not confirmed with absolute certainty. (Science is an ongoing process).  Note: If you think statistically, very little in life has absolute certainty anyway. Consider accidents, insurance, etc.  Absolute certainty would be inconsistent with the scientific process we just discussed.

26. Interdependence of Science & Technology  Science and technology are interdependent.  Technology extends our ability to observe and measure, which enables scientists to work on new questions that were previously unapproachable.  Science, in turn, generates new information that makes technological inventions possible.  Example: Watson and Crick's scientific discovery of DNA structure led to further investigation that enhanced our understanding of DNA, the genetic code, and how to transplant foreign genes into microorganisms. The biotechnology industry has capitalized on this knowledge to produce valuable pharmaceutical products such as human insulin.