AP Biology
I N T R O D U C T I O N
The AP Biology course is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester college introductory biology course usually taken by biology majors during their first year.
After showing themselves to be qualifi ed on the AP Exam, some students, in their first year of college, are permitted to take upper-level courses in biology or register for courses for which biology is a prerequisite. Other students may have fulfilled a basic
requirement for a laboratory-science course and will be able to undertake other courses to pursue their majors.
AP Biology should include those topics regularly covered in a college biology course for majors. The college course in biology differs significantly from the usual first high school course in biology with respect to the kind of textbook used, the range and depth of topics covered, the type of laboratory work done by students, and the time and effort required of students. The textbooks used for AP Biology should be those used by college biology majors. The kinds of labs done by AP students must be the equivalent of those done by college students.
The AP Biology course is designed to be taken by students after the successful completion of a first course in high school biology and one in high school chemistry as well. It aims to provide students with the conceptual framework, factual knowledge, and analytical skills necessary to deal critically with the rapidly changing science of biology.
G O A L S O F T H E C O U R S E
Goals have been set for percentage coverage of three general areas:
I. Molecules and Cells, 25%
II. Heredity and Evolution, 25%
III. Organisms and Populations, 50%
The exam is constructed using the percentage goals as guidelines for question distribution.
The two main goals of AP Biology are to help students develop a conceptual framework for modern biology and an appreciation of science as a process. The ongoing knowledge explosion in biology makes these goals even more challenging.
Primary emphasis in an AP Biology course should be on developing an understanding of concepts rather than on memorizing terms and technical details. Essential to this conceptual understanding are a grasp of science as a process rather than as an accumulation of facts; personal experience in scientific inquiry; recognition of unifying themes that integrate the major topics of biology; and application of biological knowledge and critical thinking to environmental and social concerns.
Emphasizing concepts over facts makes the content of a biology course more meaningful and less overwhelming. A biology course has more structure and meaning when the key concepts for each topic are placed in the broader context of unifying themes. As an example, the theme of “energy transfer” helps students connect topics as diverse as cellular respiration and ecosystem dynamics. Concepts are the key ideas, restricted in scope to a certain topic. Themes cut across the topics. Increasingly, the AP Biology Exam will emphasize the themes and concepts of biology and place less weight on specific facts.
Source: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap-biology-course-description.pdf
AP Biology
