• Advanced Placement Biology
    #4508
    1 Credit
    Grades 11, 12
    The AP Biology course focuses on enduring conceptual understandings and the content that supports them. Students will spend less time on factual recall and more time on inquiry-based learning of essential concepts. Concepts are focused around the following four big ideas: (1) The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life; (2) Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce, and maintain dynamic homeostasis; (3) Living things store, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes; and (4) Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties. Much of the class time is spent in laboratory and inquiry settings. The course design incorporates an emphasis on seven science practices that are addressed in both the laboratory and activity portions of the class.
    Students are expected to recall content learned in Honors Biology. Although not required, it is recommended that students have taken Anatomy and Physiology and AP Chemistry prior to AP Biology. This course will prepare students for the AP Biology Exam in May. The course is equivalent to a two-semester college introductory biology course.
    Prerequisites: Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, Score of Proficient or Advanced on Biology Keystone Exam.