COURSE DESCRIPTION: AP Biology is a college level full year biology course. The pace of the course is very rigorous and requires extensive time outside of class. Students are required to prepare five chapters over the summer and to create an independent project that covers seven chapters during third quarter. This course requires students to begin class early on lab days and on other days depending on the unit. The course is designed to prepare students for the AP Biology Exam given during part of May.
GRADES: Students should keep track of their grade. Grades will be total points based on assignments, labs, quizzes and tests. Unit tests have two portions consisting of multiple choice questions and one essay question. The grading scale will be as follows:
|
A |
= |
100-96 |
B+ |
= |
90-88 |
C+ |
= |
81-79 |
D+ |
= |
72-70 |
|
A- |
= |
95-91 |
B |
= |
87-85 |
C |
= |
78-76 |
D |
= |
68-66 |
|
|
|
|
B- |
= |
84-82 |
C- |
= |
75-73 |
D- |
= |
65-63 |
AP BIO EXAM INFORMATION
Exam description: The AP Bio exam is given in early May, and it is a three hour exam with multiple choice and free response sections. 80 minutes are given to complete 100 multiple choice questions. After a 10 minute reading period, 90 minutes are given to answer four essay questions. The multiple choice portion constitutes 60% of your final score and the free response counts for 40% of your score. Approximately 25% of the multiple choice questions are related to Molecules and Cells, 25% are related to Heredity and Evolution, and 50% related to organisms and populations. Usually one free response question is focused on Molecules and Cells, one question from Heredity and Evolution, and two are focused on Organisms and Populations. In addition, it is very common for one of these free response questions to be related to one of the twelve required labs. More details on scoring will be discussed in class.
Exam Preparation: It is recommended that you use an AP Study guide to assist you with the course and to help you prepare for the AP Exam. All tests given in the course will reflect the AP exam. One day of the exam will consist of a multiple portion and another day will consist of one free response question. Each free response question will be graded to give you feedback on how to write quality answers. Starting in May, additional practice exams will be available. Your exams from throughout the year will be made available to you use in your preparation.
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