BIOLOGY


Day 1
Practicing the Practices:
Lab #1: Penny Lab and Statistical Analysis
Resources to Teach Statistical Analysis
Lab #2: Surface Area/Volume (discussion)
Lab #3: Unknown Solutions (Osmosis Lab)
Lab #4 Transpiration (setup)
Key Takeaway 1: Understanding the Course and Exam Description (CED)
•Applying content in new, relevant, and unfamiliar contexts using and Science Practices (Skills) and Essential Knowledge.
Activity: Teaching for Transfer by Applying the Science Practices
Activity: Teaching for Understanding of Content and Skills
Activity: Understanding the Course Framework and Big Ideas
To do before Day 2:
Lab #3b: Calculating Water Potential
Lab #5: Enzyme Activity
Lab #6: Photosynthesis and Respiration
Key Takeaway 2: Planning the Course
Activity: Scaffolding and Spiraling the Science Practices
Activity: AP Audit and Curricular Requirements
Activity: Planning Your Course (plan the first quarter of your course)
Activity: Reviewing Instructional Approaches
To do before Day 3:
Day 3
Lab #7: MiniOne /Gel Electrophoresis
Lab #8: Meiosis
Lab #9: Transformation (discussion)
Key Takeaway 3: Teaching the Course
• Using effective instructional strategies to help develop course skills and content knowledge
• Creating a community within a classroom
Activity: Science Practice 2 – Visual Representations
Activity Science Practice 3 – Questions & Methods
To do outside of class:
Day 4
Lab #10: Hardy-Weinberg and Mathematical Modeling
Lab #11: Bioinformatics
Lab #4b: Transpiration (data collection and analysis)
Key Takeaway 4: Assessing Student Progress and Understanding
• Challenging students to apply their knowledge and skills in different contexts for deeper understanding
• Time, practice and feedback
Activity: Analyzing Science Practices and Learning Objectives on Exam Questions
Activity: AP Biology Exam Structure
Activity: Using Personal Progress Checks as Formative Assessments
Activity: Scoring Free Response Questions
Day 5 (half day)
• AP Teacher Community and Additional Resources
• Evaluations of workshop
Activity: Science Practice 5 – Statistics and Data Analysis
Activity: Science Practice 6 – Argumentation
Kristi has developed district-level curriculum in both Biology and AP Biology. She focuses on bringing authentic applications of content into the classroom using problem-based learning. A grant from Department of Education allowed Kristi to work on a team that developed a problem-based curriculum for AP Biology with a global health focus. She has also helped to create online resources in epigenetics and evolution for the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah. In 2006 Kristi received her National Board Certification, which was renewed in 2015.
Kristi was an AP Biology Reader for 13 years and has held the role of Table Leader for seven. In addition, she has written and reviewed questions for the new AP Biology exam. She resides in Bellevue, Washington with her husband and two children.
During this workshop, AP Biology teachers will become familiar with the recently updated Course and Exam Description (CED) in AP Biology (2019). The updated CED organizes the course into eight commonly taught units:
1: Chemistry of Life
2: Cell Structure and Function
3: Cellular Energetics
4: Cell Cycle
5: Heredity
6: Gene Expression and Regulation
7: Natural Selection
8: Ecology
The major focus of this online Advanced Placement Summer Institute will be on the CED, lab investigations, and the new resources available to teachers. The updated course framework clearly connects each learning objective to specific essential knowledge and includes biology – specific science practices that build skills to help students learn to think and act like biologists. Particularly important will be the time and skill set necessary to support teachers in implementing more inquiry-based investigations and participants will be given tools and strategies for modifying traditional experiments into inquiry-based models. Participants will become familiar with both hands-on and virtual investigations, including many in the updated lab manual AP Biology Lab Investigations: An Inquiry-Based Approach (2019). We will also discuss tips, tricks, and alternatives to these lab investigations. Participants will delve into the new AP Biology exam design and essay grading. There will be time carved out for teachers to begin working on their AP Biology syllabus specific to their school’s daily schedule and calendar so the AP Course Audit process will be made easier.
Materials: Participants must bring a laptop or tablet with internet access
We will:
• Design and conduct labs, both hands-on and using virtual lab tools.
• Conduct data analysis and identify options for student reporting.
• Learn how to use existing resources most effectively in implementing the changes in the Curriculum Framework.
• Share alternative and supplemental lab activities and CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) activities.
• Work together on preparing a course audit (as needed).
• Review pacing guides, sample syllabi, textbooks, and how to navigate the AP Central website, APClassroom, and the course audit portal.
Key Takeaways for Participants include the following:
2. Planning to teach the Course
3. Teaching the Course
4. How to assess student progress and understanding
5. Becoming a member of the AP Biology Community