Pre-AP Biology

Learning Goals: Evolution and Natural Selection

1. Explain, based on evidence, that individuals who are better fit to an environment can survive and reproduce at a higher rate.
2. Analyze data to support explanations that show patterns of similarities and differences in genetics.

Estimated Time for The Week: 150 min

Learn & Practice:

(Optional: Read the textbook: Chapters 15 and 17 are a helpful resource)

Part 1:

• Watch and interact with the website: Who Wants to Live a Million Years
  • In your notebook, take notes on Charles Darwin by going to the “Intro” of Who Wants to Live A Million Years and by clicking on “More About Darwin” at the bottom.
  • Using the glossary, find these words and define them in your notebook:
    1. Survival of the fittest
    2. Natural selection
    3. Evolution
    4. Trait
    5. Species
    6. Variation
  • Play the survival game and try to beat a friend. Email your teacher your result.
  • Take the quiz and record your grade - take a screenshot and send it to your teacher!

Part 2:

• Watch the following videos:
  1. Six Kingdoms of Classification
  2. Classification
• Complete this worksheet. Print it out and keep it in your notebook OR open the pdf using Google Docs and save in your drive OR copy it into your notebook.

Part 3:

• Create phylogenetic trees on the NOVA Evolution Lab
  1. Log in with your school Google account so it will save your progress.
  2. Complete the first 3 missions (all leaves on each mission). You may do more if you choose.
• Be curious: conduct a 2-minute search online to learn something new about an organism that has oddly evolved characteristics. (For real- set a timer!) What is the classification of your organism?
  1. Find & document it’s Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species.
  2. Write its scientific name correctly in the proper format.
• Connect with a classmate or your teacher about an organism you found with some oddly evolved characteristics. How do these characteristics benefit this organism?

Learning Goal: Energy in Ecosystems & Biogeochemical Cycles

I can:

• Describe how energy flows through food chains and through food web systems.
• Identify the amount of energy available at a given component of the biosphere, including abiotic components and trophic levels.
• Identify and describe the processes involved in the movement of matter between the living and the nonliving components of the biosphere.

Estimated Time for The Week: 150 min

Learn & Practice:

Part 1: Food Chains and Food Webs

1. Choose one of the following ecosystems to learn how energy is transferred within living things:
   • Savanna
   • Woodlands
   • Tundra
2. Now that you have learned about food chains, link multiple food chains together into a food web by completing the following activity:
   • HHMI Exploring Trophic Cascades
   • Use Kami or DocHub to draw on and answer the questions on this worksheet or you can print it!
   • Submit it to your instructor.
3. Challenge activity: Go out in your outdoor area and find at least 10 organisms (make sure you include producers) and create a food web from them. You can choose whatever media you would like to create it. Share with your instructor.

Part 2: Ecological Pyramids - There are three types of ecological pyramids (pyramid of numbers, pyramid of biomass, and energy pyramid) that demonstrate the relationships between organisms in an ecosystem.

1. Draw and label an example of each of the pyramids in your notebook. Use page 44 in your textbook or do a google search.
2. Complete two of the ecosystems in Glencoe Ecological Pyramids
   • When you first go to the virtual lab site, you may have to allow Flash Player to begin.
   • HINT: Write down or take a pic of ALL of your numbers as you go through this virtual activity. It may not save your progress and you will need the numbers twice during this activity.
3. Challenge Activity!
   • Interact with HHMI Biomass Pyramids - Do field study 1 only. Field study 2 is for next week.
   • Read the instructions carefully, this is a challenge for a reason, it’s not easy!
   • Use the hints to answer the calculations
   • When you finish Field Study 1, use the icon at the top of the screen to download a PDF of your responses and submit that to your instructor.

Part 3: Biogeochemical Cycles - Matter cycles within and between biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem. Specifically water, nitrogen, and carbon.

1. Read your textbook pages 45-49 about the different biogeochemical cycles.

2. Nitrogen Cycle BrainPop game - do the tutorial first or you’ll be lost!

• Find friends to play the game with, it’ll be more fun!
• Screenshot your scores at the end and send them to your instructor

3. Carbon Cycle BrainPop game - do the tutorial first

• Find friends to play the game with, it’ll be more fun!
• Screenshot your scores at the end and send them to your instructor

4. Choose one of the following activities to review the water cycle:

• Water Cycle Game - or this actual activity or diagram the water cycle artistically!
• When you finish, write a summary of the water cycle and submit it to your instructor.

Part 4: Review activities

1. Feeding relationships activity
2. Biogeochemical cycles

Learning Goals:

• Predict possible changes to population based on environmental factors, immigration, emigration and colonization.
• Calculate population density and make connections with population density and limiting factors.

Estimated Time for The Week: 150 min

Learn & Practice:

Part 1

1. Watch this Crash Course video and read to learn about population demographics.
2. Make sure you understand the following concepts:
   • R vs K Selection Theory
   • Carrying capacity
   • Demography
   • Species distribution
     1. Random
     2. Clumped
     3. Uniform
   • Survivorship Curves
• Age-Structure diagram

3. Complete this worksheet to practice the concepts in this video.

4. Watch this 5 minute Ted Talk on the importance of studying populations and how to use population pyramids to analyze data

5. Practice age structure diagrams with this activity.

6. Use this Population Density Worksheet to learn how to calculate population density.

Part 2: Challenge and Fun Activities

1. Complete this Free Response Question and turn it into your teacher.
2. Just for fun, figure out how many earths we would need if everyone lived like you! Use your school email to log in.