Honors Biology II/APBiology

Jesse C. Carson High School

Allyson Hunter
The Honors Biology II/Advanced Placement (AP) Biology at Jesse C. Carson High School is an intensive
and rigorous course taen !y Juniors and Seniors. These students must !e "illing to "or hard in class and !e "illing
to devote si# hours o$ outside study and %re%aration time $or the class each "ee. Honors Biology II/AP Biology is a
college-level course and will be treated as such.
This course consists o$ &irst Semester Honors Biology II and Second Semester AP Biology. The class "ill
run the "hole year. This may seem to !e am%le time to com%lete the course re'uirements( !ut "e "ill !e challenged to
cover all o$ the re'uired material in the u%coming year. )any students "ill !e involved in e#tracurricular activities and
may !e taing other AP courses. I am going to try and !e mind$ul o$ this and remind mysel$ that Honors Biology II/AP
Biology is not the only course that they may !e taing.
This course "ill use the te#t Biology !y Cam%!ell * +eese( ,
th
edition. )any other "idely used te#ts are
e%t in my %ro$essional li!rary and are availa!le $or student use as "ell.
A variety o$ teaching methods are utili-ed( including lecture/discussion( student %resentations(
demonstrations( critical thining e#ercises( and la!oratory investigations.
Audio.visual aids "ill !e incor%orated "hen a%%lica!le. /#am%les include short videos( Po"erPoint %resentations(
laser dis segments( internet sites( and com%uter simulations. Some material is sel$.taught "ith a $ollo".u%
'uestion/ans"er %eriod and "ritten assignments such as tae.home essays.
Tests are ashioned ater the AP test. There is al"ays a multi%le choice section( several short ans"er
'uestions( and at least one essay( usually t"o. Tests are given over large sections o$ material (several cha%ters) and are
designed to test the students0 a!ility to integrate im%ortant conce%ts and relationshi%s. The test 'uestions "ill !e
gathered $rom test !ans( released AP e#ams( and teacher "ritten 'uestions. They are designed to !e thought
%rovoing( tough( and $air. )uch class time "ill !e s%ent %racticing ho" to ans"er the essay 'uestions and e#%laining
ho" they "ill !e graded. I "ill grade their essays as the AP +eaders "ill score them. A$ter the test "e "ill discuss the
grading ru!rics and ho" I scored the ans"ers. A co%y o$ this ru!ric "ill !e sent "ith every test $or $urther assistance.
A%%ro#imately 1,2 o$ our class time "ill !e allotted $or la!oratory e#%erimentation. 3e "ill %er$orm t"elve
mandatory la!s along "ith several others. 4a!oratory re%orts "ill !e one o$ t"o ty%es.
5. &ormal re%orts "ith !acground in$ormation( %ur%ose( hy%othesis (inde%endent/de%endent varia!les)(
materials( %rocedure( o!servations( data analysis( and conclusions/discussions.
1. Shorter la! re%orts "ill !e less intense( !ut "ill serve the same %ur%ose.
4a! re%orts receive letter grades !ased on thoroughness( accuracy o$ inter%retation( and understanding o$ the conce%ts
tested. These la! %racticals allo" me to test the develo%ment o$ student la! sills.
!aterials"
#oose lea noteboo$ %a%er
&&&Co'%osition boo$ or labs
Blue or blac$ %ens and %encils
(rading"
Tests ) *+, #abs ) *+,
Ho'ewor$ ) -., /ui00es ) 1.,
Students "ill !e held accounta!le $or their o"n learning and must !e "illing to devote the necessary time and
la!or to !e success$ul in the course. The course "ill !e rigorous( interesting( and "ill %re%are them $or the college
science courses they are going to encounter in the very near $uture.
I$ you agree to all o$ the $ollo"ing in$ormation %lease sign and date in the area !elo".
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