1. AP Biology: Big Ideas
The Study of Life

2. What is Biology? Science The study of life
A set of concepts, theories, and principles that allow people to understand the natural world

3. AP Biology Curriculum & Framework
What this means for you is that the test should be easier!
We are faced with the challenge of balancing breadth of content coverage with depth of understanding
AP Biology has shifted from a traditional “content coverage” model to one that focuses on enduring, conceptual understandings and the content that supports them
Given the speed with which scientific discoveries and research continuously expand scientific knowledge, we are faced with the challenge of balancing breadth of content coverage with depth of understanding

4. Enduring Understandings
To foster this type of learning, the breadth of content coverage is defined in a way that distinguishes
content essential to support the enduring understandings
from the many examples or applications that supports them

5. Emphasis on Science Practices
A practice is a way to coordinate knowledge and skills in order to accomplish a goal or task
Science practices enable you to establish lines of evidence and use them to develop and refine testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena

6. Overview of the Concept Outline
Big Ideas encompass
core scientific principles
theories
and processes governing living organisms and biological systems
For each Big Idea I will identify enduring understandings which incorporate the core concepts that you should retain from the learning experience
The key concepts and related content that define the revised AP Biology course and exam are organized around a few underlying principles called Big Ideas which encompass core scientific principles theories and processes governing living organisms and biological systems

7. How we have to organize content
Underlying Content: stuff you have to memorize
Illustrative Examples: the context in which you have to understand the content
You DON’T have to memorize this
You do have to be able to understand these
Exclusion Statements: stuff you definitely don’t have to know
Concept & Content Connections: where 2 seemingly different topics intersect
Learning Objectives: what you should know and be able to do with the knowledge

8. 4 Big Ideas
The Process of evolution drives the diversity & unity of life
Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce, and maintain dynamic homeostasis
Living systems store, receive, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes
Interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties

9. Characteristics of Living Things
All living things:
Have an orderly structure
Can produce offspring
Grow & develop
Adjust to changes in the environment

10. Living Things Are Organized
All living things show an orderly structure, or organization
All living things are composed of one or more cells
Each cell contains genetic material which provides all the information needed to control the organisms life proceses

11. Structure and Function are related at all levels
Analyzing a biological structure gives us clues about what it does and how it works

12. Living Things Make More Living Things
Living things reproduce their own kind
Reproduction: production of offspring by an organism

13. Reproduction Requires Heritable Characteristics
Life on Earth uses the nucleic acid DNA and codes for Heritable Information.

14. Is reproduction essential for the survival of an individual?NO
It is essential for the continuation of the species, not the individual
Species: a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring in nature

15. The donkey and the horse are both members of the genus Equus, but they are different species.
They are similar enough genetically to produce offspring, why aren’t they members of the same species?

16. Living Things Change During Their Lives
An organisms life begins as a single cell
Over time, this single cell grows and takes on the characteristics of it’s species
Growth results in an increase in the amount of living material and/ or the formation of new structures

17. Organisms increase in size and complexity
Growth - increase in size.
Development - increase in complexity.

18. Living things Adapt to Their Surroundings & Transform Energy
Organisms live in a constant interface with their environment including
Air
Water
Weather
Plants
Animals
The ability of organisms to respond to stimuli is a necessary characteristic

19. Evolutionary Adaptations involve both responding to your environment and growth/ development over time
Organisms change over time as they adapt to their environment.

20. Energy Utilization
Organisms are “open” systems, they must continually take in energy.
Organisms take in energy and transform it to do work.

21. Response: how the organism reacts to the stimulus
Stimulus: anything in an organisms environment that causes an organism to react in some way
Response: how the organism reacts to the stimulus
For Example: Homeostasis
Regulation of an organisms internal environment to maintain conditions suitable for it’s survival
Huh???
Lets talk about this, can anyone give me an idea of what they think homeostasis is in normal language? Can anyone give me an example of a homeostatic process?

22. Homeostasis Homeostasis is a characteristic of life
It is a process that occurs in all living things
The way it works is through feedback mechanisms
“homeo” = same
“stasis” = state

23. Homeostasis Example Its hot outside so you sweat
Your body detects the loss of water and makes you thirsty 
you drink a glass of water homeostasis is restored! Everybody is happy 

24. Living Things Adapt & Evolve
Adaptation: any inherited structure, behavior, or internal process that enables an organism to respond to environmental factors and live to produce offspring
There are always some variations in the adaptations of individuals within a population of organisms

25. Success of an Organism is measured by:
1. Survival
2. Reproduction
Note – organisms survive because of their adaptations, they do not adapt to survive.

26. Is this a “good” adaptation?
Organisms must adapt, move, or die!
Is this a “good” adaptation?

27. Individuals with more suitable adaptations are more likely to survive and reproduce
As a result, individuals with these adaptations become more numerous in a population, gradually changing the species
Evolution: the gradual changes of a species through adaptations over time

28. Science is a Process The Scientific Method
Observation/ Stating a Problem
Gather Information
Form a Hypothesis
Experiment /Test the hypothesis
Data Collection/ Analysis
Drawing Conclusions

29. Observations: Are the “keystone” to Science.
If it can’t be “observed”, it can’t be studied by the Scientific Method.
Can be made through your senses or through the use of tools.

30. Reasoning Induction Deduction
Specific observations to reach general conclusion
Deduction
From general premise make specific prediction

31. Process of Science Observational Science Experimental Science
Naturalists, human genome
May lead to experiments
Experimental Science
Hypothetico-Deductive Science
Hypothesis
Deductive reasoning

33. Researching and Gathering Information
Before testing a hypothesis it is useful to learn as much as possible about the background of the problem
Often, other scientists have found information that is helpful in determining the types of tests to run

34. Hypothesis
Hypothesis: an explanation for a question or problem that can be formally tested
A Hypothesis is NOT a random guess
Scientists make a hypothesis based on observation, extensive reading, and/ or previous investigations

35. Testing the Hypothesis
The purpose of forming a hypothesis is to offer an explanation for something
Once a hypothesis is made, it should be tested to see if the results disprove or support your hypothesis
If the results disprove your hypothesis, does this mean you wasted your time?
If your results support your hypothesis, does this mean your absolutely right?

36. Comment Nothing is ever proven in science
Can be disproven
Experiments either support or fail to support a particular hypothesis.
Disproving a hypothesis is as important as supporting it
These experiments are not a failure
Conclusions and new hypothesis.

37. Experimenting
Experiment: An investigation that tests a hypothesis by the process of collecting information under controlled conditions.
Example: You’re baking a cake that calls for vegetable oil in the recipe, and you want to try it with butter, the control is the original cake with oil

38. 2 Ways to Describe Things
Quantitative: information that uses numbers or measurements
30 students in a class
7 meters long
Qualitative: information that expresses qualities or behavior
Blue sky
Smooth surface

39. Quantitative Data May be used to make a graph or table
Should be reported using the SI system
International System of Measurement
SI standards are understood & universally accepted by scientists throughout the world
Each type of SI measurement has a base unit

40. SI Base Units Quantity Measured Unit Symbol Length Meter m Mass Gram g
Time
Second s
Electric Current
Ampere A
Temperature
Kelvin K
Intensity of Light
Candela cd
Amount of Substance
Mole
mol

41. SI Prefixes The SI system is based on multiples of 10
Prefixes are used with the names of the units to indicate what multiple of 10 should be used with the units
For Example:
Kilo = 1000
So if you have 1 kilogram, you have 1000g

42. Common SI Prefixes Prefix Symbol Multiplying Factor Kilo- K 1,000
Deci- d
0.1
Centi- c
0.01
Milli- m
0.001
Micro-
Nano- n

43. Qualitative Information
Qualitative data are given in written or verbal descriptions, and are not easily described using a numeric value
When you make observations during an experiment, these usually fall under the banner of qualitative data
Quantitative = quantity or number
Qualitative = quality, what something is like

44. Science & Society
Scientific research often provides society with important information that can be put to practical use
Sometimes the methods used to make the discovery are controversial
Sometimes the discovery itself can be taken and used for unsavory purposes

45. Ethics Refers to the moral principles and values held by humans
Problem: not all humans have the same values and principles
Knowledge gained through scientific research is, itself neither inherently good or inherently evil

46. Variables
In a controlled experiment, only one variable is changed at a time.
Dependant Variable: the result of what you changed
Independent Variable: the thing you changed or are looking at

47. Dependant Variables
Dependant Variable: the condition that results from changes to the independent variable
What happens because you made a change
In the previous example, the dependant variable might be that the cake burns because you used butter instead of oil
The cake only burns if you use butter, so the burning (dependent variable) is dependant on if you use butter (independent variable)

48. Independent Variables
Independent Variable: in an experiment, the only condition that is tested
The factor that effects the outcome of the experiment
In the previous cake example the independent variable would be oil or butter

49. Constants & Controls
To be certain that you are really testing weather butter or oil make a better cake, you must keep other possible factors the same for each test or trial
Constant: a factor that does not change when other variables do
Control: a standard by which the test results can be compared

50. Scientific Theories are Broader in scope than hypothesis
Not determined by single experiment, but have been supported by many experiments by many scientists
A Scientific theory is an explanation of things or events based on knowledge gained from many observations and investigations
Theories can be modified

51. Examples of Theories Atomic Theory Gravitational Theory
Theory of Relativity
Cell Theory
Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

52. Scientific Laws
A Scientific Law is a statement about what happens in nature and seems to be true all the time
Laws tell you what happens under certain conditions
Laws do not explain why or how something happens
A theory can be used to explain a law

53. Summary Themes can provide a common framework for learning Biology
What are the characteristics of Life?
What is Science and how does it work?
Evolution’s role in the study of Biology