AP Biology will be offered again in the 2024-25 school year, as a spring semester course.
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.
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:
• The process of evolution explains the diversity and unity of life.
• Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
• Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes.
• Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.
What are the prerequisites for the course?
Students must have competed both Biology and Chemistry AND
How is the class scheduled?
AP Biology will be offered again spring semester of 2025, and is usually first block.
What is the class like?
This course is student driven with students expected to take responsibility for their learning of the material- this means for most topics students will be taking notes independently. Open discussions among the class and instructor are encouraged and students work in groups frequently. The class is fast paced with multiple chapters being covered each week. Students complete writing assignments, lab reports, read scholarly journal articles, and construct graphs often during the grading period. The tests mimic AP exams in their setup, including multiple choice questions, along with both short and long free response questions. Laboratory work is an integral part of the course. Students should expect to spend a minimum of one hour per night on the course material in order to be successful.