AP Biology

For students interested in a future career in the sciences, the medical field, and most importantly Biology, AP Biology may offer an important look into what one should expect when taking college-level biology courses. Students will be exposed to 4 big ideas: Evolution, Information storage/transmission, energy and matter flow, and system interactions. Many students take some form of biology class in their freshman year, either normal or honors. AP Biology builds on basic topics that most learn early on in their education, and goes more in-depth about those topics. Students who have also taken chemistry and statistics classes will also apply previous knowledge to the course. For example, students will learn exactly how a genetic mutation affects a population of small organisms by the end of the year. The course is very hands-on, and material taught through guided notes is directly applied to labs and exams. Labs drive the course and are typically group-oriented. Get used to working with other people, as it is one of the benefits of the course. Typical of an AP course, students will have to answer free response question’s later on in the year, typically related to the unit being taught. The course is heavy with testing to prepare students for the end-of-year AP exam. Successful completion of the course and an above average test score will give students an advantage when attending university.