Course Description

AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course. Students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following topics: evolution, cellular processes & energy and communication, genetics, information transfer, ecology, and interactions. There is a great emphasis placed on critical thinking and data analysis as students engage in laboratory experiments. Students establish lines of evidence and use them to develop and refine testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena. The course is based on four Big Ideas, which encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of thinking about living organisms and biological systems. The following are Big Ideas:

1. The process of evolution explains the diversity and unity of life.
2. Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
3. Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes.
4. Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.

This course is demanding in both the time commitment and level of work required of the students. The course culminates in May with the College Board AP Biology exam.

Students can expect to spend 4-5 hours per week on homework outside of class.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of Biology and/or Chemistry.