Advanced Placement Biology
This course is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory biology course usually taken by biology majors during their first year. 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. The two main goals of AP Biology are to help students develop a conceptual framework for modern biology and to help students gain an appreciation of science as a
process. The AP Biology Curriculum for this course is framed around four Big Ideas. For each of these Big Ideas, there is a set of core concepts called Enduring Understandings which will be used to guide the AP Biology course curriculum. The
revised AP Biology course shifts from a traditional “content coverage” model of instruction to one that focuses on enduring, conceptual understandings and the content that supports them. This approach will enable students to spend less time on factual recall and more time on inquiry-based learning of essential concepts, and will help them develop the reasoning skills necessary to engage in the science practices used throughout their study of AP Biology. This course is also a Dual Enrollment course. PREREQUISITES: 85% in Biology and the successful completion of Chemistry.
process. The AP Biology Curriculum for this course is framed around four Big Ideas. For each of these Big Ideas, there is a set of core concepts called Enduring Understandings which will be used to guide the AP Biology course curriculum. The
revised AP Biology course shifts from a traditional “content coverage” model of instruction to one that focuses on enduring, conceptual understandings and the content that supports them. This approach will enable students to spend less time on factual recall and more time on inquiry-based learning of essential concepts, and will help them develop the reasoning skills necessary to engage in the science practices used throughout their study of AP Biology. This course is also a Dual Enrollment course. PREREQUISITES: 85% in Biology and the successful completion of Chemistry.
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iTunes U Course Materials
iTunes U Enroll Code - (click the link below to request enrollment)
* Use your school Apple ID Only
https://itunesu.itunes.apple.com/enroll/CAB-NYM-NJK
* Use your school Apple ID Only
https://itunesu.itunes.apple.com/enroll/CAB-NYM-NJK
TECHNIQUES OF ACTIVE LEARNING
Each student will be registered with a Student Response System iClicker to actively engage them in their own learning. This will make the sixth year that I have used iClickers in the AP Biology course and are used on a daily basis during lectures. Students are provided the opportunity to answer conceptually challenging questions during lecture and in turn pair share with their classmates to increase their learning potential through verbal communication. Students are also posed with questions which have social and ethical implications and concerns surrounding them to debate in the classroom setting. These questions include, but are not limited to, genetic engineering, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, stem cell research, human evolution, and environmental changes due to human activities.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI’s) Holiday Lectures on Science DVD’s are routinely used in this classroom to deepen student understanding and visualization through lectures, video clips, animations, interactive “click and learn” activities, classroom activities, and virtual labs. These resources will be used to connect the Enduring Understandings, and Essential Knowledge threads within specific Big Ideas of the new AP Biology Curriculum Framework to those of other Big Ideas. HHMI resources also help reinforce textbook material, and stimulate discussions and explorations of current biological topics. It also provides students the opportunity outside of the laboratory investigations to meet the learning objectives within the Big Ideas through cutting edge research.