1. AP Biology Exam Overview
VO:
Welcome to the College Board’s presentation of the revised AP Biology Course. In this presentation, we will:
Explain why and how we have changed the AP Biology Course by introducing you to the new curriculum.
Show you how the exam ties to the curriculum and how the exam will test your students’ skills and conceptual knowledge.
Show how we have reduced the breadth of the course, which has sometimes been found to be “a mile wide and an inch deep.” Now, you will be able to engage students in “doing science” and in deeper conceptual learning.
And finally how we will be supporting you as you begin to teach this revised program.

2. REMINDER: Sites that may help you out
You Tube:
Crash Course Biology
Bozeman Science
Khan Academy Biology
GetAFive
Wolfram Alpha

3. BOOKS – Go to Barnes & Noble and study while there . . . Don’t have to buy
Preparing for the Biology AP Exam (2014 School Edition)
Pearson Education Test Prep Series
Cracking the AP Biology Exam 2017 Edition
Princeton Review
Baron’s AP Biology 5th Edition
5 Steps to a 5 AP Biology 2017 (more of a study strategy, not a review of the actual material)

4. AP Biology College Board Website
The College Board website gives a LOT of information about the AP Biology exam
Some important features
AP Biology Lab Resource Center (gives teacher editions of lab manual for a fuller explanation)
About the AP Biology Exam (has several examples of past AP essay questions)
Course Content – Related Articles (some supplemental information that applies to biological concepts)
blic/courses/teachers_corner/2117.html

5. Teacher Resources: AP Central

6. The 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.

7. 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

8. Tying the Big Ideas to the AP Exam
Whenever you are reviewing in your study groups, think about how the content you are studying applies to the Big Ideas
This will give a better understanding of the types of questions that will be asked on the AP exam

9. Illustrative Examples and Exclusion Statements
Illustrative Examples are suggested contexts for instructional purposes. The specific examples will not be assessed on the AP Biology exam. What is required is an understanding of the contexts/concepts that are illustrated
In other words, you should not spend
a lot of time memorizing every
miniscule fact Learn the processes
and how they apply to the big ideas
CHAPTER 3:
As mentioned earlier, one of the primary goals of the revised AP Biology Course was to reduce the breadth of content coverage compared to the current course, allowing teachers to focus students on depth of understanding.  The revised AP Biology Curriculum Framework (located in the new Course and Exam Description) contains several features that will help you focus the course, and constrain breadth:
Illustrative examples are just that – examples that you can use to foster students understanding of required concepts. They will not be assessed on the exam.
An “X” in the framework marks Exclusion Statements. These are typically details that students do not need to memorize. By moving away from memorization of facts, you will be able to focus on key concepts and support deeper understanding of the content.
Finally, Concept and content connections show where there is overlap in the curriculum – you can choose how to spiral these through your course.

10. Illustrative Examples and Exclusion Statements
Speciation and extinction have occurred throughout the Earth’s history.
1.C.1 SPECIATION
Speciation rates can vary, especially when adaptive radiation occurs when new habitats become available.
Species extinction rates are rapid at times of ecological stress
Students should be able to demonstrate understanding of the above concept by using an Illustrative example such as:
Five major extinctions
Human impact on ecosystems and species extinction rates
They do NOT need to know the names and dates of these extinctions
Here you see a specific example of breadth reduction in the curriculum framework.
Notice that below the learning objectives are two statements. The one on the left is the Illustrative Example for the objective. On the right is a statement that clearly defines what is NOT covered. In the current AP Biology course, AP teachers spend a great deal of time teaching many “factoids” and examples because what could be tested on the exam is not transparent.
Learning Objective (Pairing of Content + Science Practice)

11. In Other Words . . .
For the AP exam it is more important to understand the causality of many concepts, NOT just memorizing the events themselves
If you know how to apply the concept, you do not need to memorize a lot of stuff

12. Question Types and Distribution
AP Biology 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 (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.

13. E X A M P L E
Example of a Multiple Choice Question Integrating Concept, Content and Science Practice
Two flasks with identical medium containing nutrients and glucose are inoculated with yeast cells that are capable of both anaerobic and aerobic respiration. Culture 1 is then sealed to prevent fresh air from reaching the culture; culture 2 is loosely capped to permit air to reach the culture. Both flasks are periodically shaken. Which of the following best predicts which culture will contain more yeast cells after one week, and most accurately justifies that prediction?
Culture 1, because fresh air is toxic to yeast cells and will inhibit their growth
Culture 1, because fermentation is a more efficient metabolic process than cellular respiration
Culture 2, because fresh air provides essential nitrogen nutrients to the culture
Culture 2, because oxidative cellular respiration is a more efficient metabolic process than fermentation
You can see in this question how the AP Program has reduced the breadth of the required content. Exam questions will no longer require students to recall factoids. Any essential facts that are not required content will be provided in the body stem of the exam question.

14. Answer
D. Culture 2, because oxidative cellular respiration is a more efficient metabolic process than fermentation
You did not need to know any specifics about yeast, but you did need to know the basics of cellular respiration

15. M U L T I P L E C H O I C E E X A M P L E
Example of a Multiple Choice Question Integrating Concept, Content and Science Practice
Animal
Jaws
Lungs
Claws Nails
Feathers
Fur/Mammary Glands
Lizard X
Mouse
Hagfish
Chimp
Perch
Pigeon
Salamander
Let’s take a look at some sample test questions from the new exam.
This is the first part of a two part multiple-choice question. The student will be given this chart showing the integration of a concept, content and practice. As you can see, the students are given key information in the question – they don’t have to memorize these facts.

16. And Here Is the Exam Question…
M U L T I P L E C H O I C E E X A M P L E
And Here Is the Exam Question…
Assume that the cladogram shows the correct ancestral relationships between the organisms listed. Which of the following describes an error in the data table?
Perch have swim bladders, and therefore the table should indicate the presence of lungs.
Salamanders should not show claws or nails in the data table.
Pigeons produce a nutritious milk-like substance for their young, and therefore the data table should indicate the presence of mammary glands.
Hagfish are the animals least like chimps, but since they are fish, the data table should indicate the presence of jaws.
And now here is the question. You can see that the student will have to use science practices in combination with essential knowledge to demonstrate their understanding of the learning objective.

17. Answer
B. Salamanders should not show claws or nails in the data table.
Again, you do not need to know anything about the organisms discussed. You just need to know how to read the cladogram.

18. Grid-In Question Requiring Calculator Use
E X A M P L E
Grid-In Question Requiring Calculator Use
The data below demonstrate the frequency of tasters and non-tasters in an isolated population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The allele for non-tasters is recessive
Tasters
Non-tasters
8235
4328
This is a new type of question. The raw data is presented in the question and students will use their calculators to determine the correct answer. The “grid” will be used to capture the students’ answer, and is located on the new answer form.
How many of the tasters in the population are heterozygous for tasting?

19. Answer Use Hardy-Weinberg q2 = 4328/12,563 = 0.345 q = .587 p = .413
heterozygous = 2 pq
2pq = 2(.587)(.413)
2pq = 0.485
Remember, they did not ask for percentage. The asked for “how many tasters are heterozygous”
12,563 x 0.485
6091 are heterozygous
You would bubble in 6091

20. Short Free Response Question
E X A M P L E
Short Free Response Question
Currently, all living organisms are classified into one of three domains: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya.
In a sentence or two, provide two pieces of evidence that justify a common origin for the three domains.
B I G I D E A 1
Oxygen can diffuse into cells by passing between plasma membrane lipids.
In a sentence or two, explain why ions, such as Na+, cannot pass between membrane lipids.
B I G I D E A 2
Next we have an example of short, short free response question. You will see that discrete facts and details are now provided in the questions themselves. The questions also integrate the concept, the content and the science practice. The students then use the essential knowledge and science practices that they have learned to answer the question. This is further evidence that the breadth of required content has been reduced. Students and teachers can have complete confidence about what knowledge will and will not be required for the AP Exam by careful examination of the Curriculum Framework located in the new Course and Exam Description. The corresponding AP Exam will not ask for non-specified rote factual memorization as the focus of an exam question.
Since there will be somewhat more reading involved in the multiple-choice questions, the number of multiple-choice questions has been reduced.

21. Answers
They do not want to hear all the characteristics about the 3 Kingdoms. They are looking at evidence for evolution.
Common genetic code
Utilize the same 20 amino acids for all organism
B I G I D E A 1
Again, do not focus on oxygen, they are only asking about the ion permeability
Ions are hydrophilic, while the membranes have a hydrophobic interior
Ions need an ion channel to be able to diffuse
There must be some signal to open the ion channel
B I G I D E A 2

22. Another Short Free Response Question…
E X A M P L E
Another Short Free Response Question…
The role of tRNA in the process of translation was investigated by the addition of tRNA with attached radioactive leucine to an in vitro translation system that included mRNA and ribosomes. The results are shown by the graph.
Describe in one or two sentences how this figure justifies the claim that the role of tRNA is to carry amino acids that are then transferred from the tRNA to growing polypeptide chains.
B I G I D E A 3
Here’s another single response question. Once again, we see that facts and details are provided in the question - students need not memorize the factoids. The student’s answer will demonstrate that he or she understands the connection between the learning objective, Big Idea, Enduring Understanding, Essential Knowledge and Science Practices.

23. Answer
Remember Focus on the question. Do not get caught up in extraneous information.
Leucine is an amino acid that is attached to the tRNA
The job of translation is to ADD amino acids from the tRNA to the growing protein chain.
The figure shows the radioactive count decreasing on the tRNA because the amino acids are being removed from the tRNA and transferred elsewhere. The increased radioactive count on the peptide chain indicates this is where the amino acid is being added. Thus, the tRNA is transferring the amino acid to the peptide chain.

24. Short Free Response Questions
E X A M P L E
Short Free Response Questions
The activity rate of an enzyme was measured at various temperatures based on the amount of substrate, in micromoles, produced per square meter of reaction surface per second. The table below shows the data collected.
In two or three sentences, indicate the nature of the relationship between enzyme structure/function and environment temperature that explains the data shown in the table.
B I G I D E A 4
Ok, let’s check off the components of this question.
Are the facts and details given? Check
Are the components aligned to the Curriculum Framework? Check
Does the question assess the student’s grasp of the Science Practice, Essential Knowledge and Enduring Understandings? Check

25. Answer Be careful that you fully answer the question.
By looking at the chart, you can see that the enzyme has the best activity at about 40 ̊C, but this doesn’t answer the questions
You must talk about the structure of proteins also
Enzymes are proteins that facilitate various metabolic reactions. In general, as you increase the temperature, you increase the rates of reactions. Proteins have a specific shape based on their amino acid sequence. Various side chains give proteins their 3D shape. When you alter the temperatures to a large extent, it is possible to disrupt the side chain-interactions and cause the protein to denature. The enzyme, at this point, would no longer function.

26. Essay tips Highlight the question they are asking
Make an outline that emphasizes points that answer the above question
Make sure you write LEGIBLY
I have heard tales of handwriting so bad that the graders were unable to give any points (print if you have to)
Do not deviate from answering the question with extraneous information
Keep an eye on your time

27. Grading the essay question
I’m going to give you some essays to grade in the near future.
Based on what we’ve discussed, you are going to grade each essay.
Afterwards, we will discuss what the actual grade is and why