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Unit 1- Chemistry of Life
1.1 Structure ofWaterand Hydrogen Bonding
Learning Objective
- Explain how the properties of water that result from its polarity and hydrogen bonding affect its biological function.
1.2 Elements of Life
Learning Objective
- Describe the composition of macromolecules required by living organisms.
1.3 Introduction to Biological Macromolecules
Learning Objective
- Describe the properties of the monomers and the type of bonds that connect the monomers in biological macromolecules.
1.4 Properties of Biological Macromolecules
Learning Objective
- Describe the properties of the monomers and the type of bonds that connect the monomers in biological macromolecules.
1.5 Structure and Function of Biological Macromolecules
Learning Objective
- Explain how a change in the subunits of a polymer may lead to changes in the structure or function of the macromolecule.
1.6Nucleic Acids
Learning Objective
- Describe the structural similarities anddifferences between DNA and RNA.
Unit 2- Cell Structure and Function
2.1 Cell Structure: Subcellular Components
Learning Objective
- Describe the structure and/or function of subcellular components andorganelles.
2.2Cell Structure and Function
Learning Objective
- Explain how subcellular components and organelles contribute to the function of the cell.
- Describe the structural features of a cell that allow organisms to capture, store, and use energy.
2.3 Cell Size
Learning Objective
- Explain the effect of surface area to volume ratios on the exchange of materials between cells or organisms and the environment.
- Explain how specialized structures and strategies are used for the efficient exchange of molecules to the environment.
2.4 Plasma Membranes
Learning Objective
- Describe the roles of each of the components of the cell membrane in maintaining the internal environment of the cell.
- Describe theFluid Mosaic Modelofcell membranes.
2.5 Membrane Permeability
Learning Objective
- Explain how the structure of biological membranes influences selective permeability.
- Describe the role of the cell wall in maintaining cell structure and function.
2.6 Membrane Transport
Learning Objective
- Describe the mechanisms that organisms use to maintain solute and water balance.
- Describe the mechanisms that organisms use to transport large molecules across the plasma membrane.
2.7Facilitated Diffusion
Learning Objective
- Explain how the structure of a molecule affects its ability to pass through the plasma membrane.
2.8 Tonicity and Osmoregulation
Learning Objective
- Explain how concentration gradients affect the movement of molecules across membranes.
- Explain how osmoregulatory mechanisms contribute to the health and survival of organisms.
2.9 Mechanisms of Transport
Learning Objective
- Describe the processes that allow ions and other molecules to move across membranes.
2.10 Compartmentalization
Learning Objective
- Describe the membrane-bound structures of the eukaryotic cell.
- Explain how internal membranes and membrane-bound organelles contribute to the compartmentalization of eukaryotic cell functions.
2.11 Origins of Cell Compartmentalization
Learning Objective
- Describe similarities and/or differences in compartmentalization betweenprokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
- Describe the relationship between the functions of endosymbiotic organelles and their free-living ancestral counterparts.
Unit 3- Cellular Energetics
3.1 Enzyme Structure
Learning Objective
- Describe the properties ofenzymes.
3.2 Enzyme Catalysis
Learning Objective
- Explain how enzymes affect the rate of biological reactions.
3.3 Environmental Impacts on Enzyme Function
Learning Objective
- Explain how changes to the structure of an enzyme may affect its function.
- Explain how the cellular environment affects enzyme activity.
3.4厘米/秒lular Energy
Learning Objective
- Describe the role of energy in living organisms.
3.5Photosynthesis
Learning Objective
- Describe the photosynthetic processes that allow organisms to capture and store energy.
- Explain how cells capture energy from light and transfer it to biological molecules for storage and use.
3.6Cellular Respiration
Learning Objective
- Describe the processes that allow organisms to use energy stored in biological macromolecules.
- Explain how cells obtain energy from biological macromolecules in order to power cellular functions.
3.7 Fitness
Learning Objective
- Explain the connection between variation in the number and types of molecules within cells to the ability of the organism to survive and/or reproduce in different environments.
Unit 4- Cell Communication andCell Cycle
4.1 Cell Communication
Learning Objective
- Describe the ways that cells can communicate with one another.
- Explain how cells communicate with one another over short and long distances.
4.2 Introduction to Signal Transduction
Learning Objective
- Describe the components of a signal transduction pathway.
- Describe the role of components of a signal transduction pathway in producing a cellular response.
4.3 Signal Transduction
Learning Objective
- Describe the role of the environment in eliciting a cellular response.
- Describe the different types of cellular responses elicited by a signal transduction pathway.
4.4 Changes in Signal Transduction Pathways
Learning Objective
- Explain how a change in the structure of any signaling molecule affects the activity of the signaling pathway.
4.5 Feedback
Learning Objective
- Describe positive and/or negative feedback mechanisms.
- Explain how negative feedback helps to maintain homeostasis.
- Explain how positive feedback affects homeostasis.
4.6 Cell Cycle
Learning Objective
- Describe the events that occur in the cell cycle.
- Explain howmitosisresults in the transmission ofchromosomesfrom one generation to the next.
4.7 Regulation of Cell Cycle
Learning Objective
- Describe the role of checkpoints in regulating the cell cycle.
- Describe the effects of disruptions to the cell cycle on the cell or organism.
Unit 5- Heredity
5.1Meiosis
Learning Objective
- Explain how meiosis results in the transmission of chromosomes from one generation to the next.
- Describe similarities and/or differences between the phases and outcomes ofmitosis and meiosis.
5.2 Meiosis and Genetic Diversity
Learning Objective
- Explain how the process of meiosis generates genetic diversity.
5.3 Mendelian Genetics
Learning Objective
- Explain how shared, conserved, fundamental processes, and features support the concept of common ancestry for all organisms.
- Explain the inheritance of genes and traits as described by Mendel’s laws.
5.4Non-MendelianGenetics
Learning Objective
- Explain deviations from Mendel’s model of the inheritance of traits.
5.5 Environmental Effects on Phenotype
Learning Objective
- Explain how the same genotype can result in multiple phenotypes under different environmental conditions.
5.6 Chromosomal Inheritance
Learning Objective
- Explain how chromosomal inheritance generates genetic variation in sexual reproduction.
Unit 6- Gene Expression and Regulation
6.1DNAandRNA Structure
Learning Objective
- Describe the structures involved in passing hereditary information from one generation to the next.
- Describe the characteristics of DNA that allow it to be used as the hereditary material.
6.2Replication
Learning Objective
- Describe the mechanisms by which genetic information is copied for transmission between generations.
6.3Transcriptionand RNA Processing
Learning Objective
- Describe the mechanisms by which genetic information flows from DNA to RNA to protein.
6.4Translation
Learning Objective
- Explain how the phenotype of an organism is determined by its genotype.
6.5 Regulation ofGene Expression
Learning Objective
- Describe the types of interactions that regulate gene expression.
- Explain how the location of regulatory sequences relates to their function.
6.6 Gene Expression and Cell Specialization
Learning Objective
- Explain how the binding of transcription factors to promoter regions affects gene expression and/or the phenotype of the organism.
- Explain the connection between the regulation of gene expression and phenotypic differences in cells and organisms.
6.7Mutations
Learning Objective
- Describe the varioustypes of mutations.
- Explain how changes in genotype may result in changes in phenotype.
- Explain how alterations in DNA sequences contribute to the variation that can be subject to natural selection.
6.8 Biotechnology
Learning Objective
- Explain the use of genetic engineering techniques in analyzing or manipulating DNA.
Unit 7- Natural Selection
7.1 Introduction to Natural Selection
Learning Objective
- Describe the causes of natural selection.
- Explain how natural selection affects populations.
7.2 Natural Selection
Learning Objective
- Describe the importance of phenotypic variation in a population.
7.3 Artificial Selection
Learning Objective
- Explain how humans can affect diversity within a population.
- Explain the relationship between changes in the environment and evolutionary changes in the population.
7.4 Population Genetics
Learning Objective
- Explain how random occurrences affect the genetic makeup of a population.
- Describe the role of random processes in the evolution of specific populations.
- Describe the change in the genetic makeup of a population over time.
7.5Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Learning Objective
- Describe the conditions under which allele and genotype frequencies will change in populations.
- 解释了影响人口如果the conditions of Hardy-Weinberg are not met.
7.6 Evidence of Evolution
Learning Objective
- Describe the types of data that provide evidence for evolution.
- Explain how morphological, biochemical, and geological data provide evidence that organisms have changed over time.
- Describe the fundamental molecular and cellular features shared across all domains of life, which provide evidence of common ancestry.
7.7 Common Ancestry
Learning Objective
- Describe structural and functional evidence on cellular and molecular levels that provide evidence for the common ancestry of all eukaryotes.
7.8 Continuing Evolution
Learning Objective
- Explain how evolution is an ongoing process in all living organisms.
7.9 Phylogeny
Learning Objective
- Describe the types of evidence that can be used to infer an evolutionary relationship.
- Explain how aphylogenetic treeand/orcladogramcan be used to infer evolutionary relatedness.
7.10Speciation
Learning Objective
- Describe the conditions under which new species may arise.
- Describe the rate of evolution and speciation under different ecological conditions.
- Explain the processes and mechanisms that drive speciation.
7.11 Extinction
Learning Objective
- Describe factors that lead to the extinction of a population.
- Explain how the risk of extinction is affected by changes in the environment.
- Explain species diversity in an ecosystem as a function of speciation and extinction rates.
- Explain how extinction can make new environments available for adaptive radiation.
7.12 Variations in Populations
Learning Objective
- Explain how the genetic diversity of a species or population affects its ability to withstand environmental pressures.
7.13 Origins of Life on Earth
Learning Objective
- Describe the scientific evidence that provides support for models of the origin of life on Earth.
Unit 8- Ecology
8.1 Responses to the Environment
Learning Objective
- Explain how the behavioral and/or physiological response of an organism is related to changes in the internal or external environment.
- Explain how the behavioral responses of organisms affect their overall fitness and may contribute to the success of the population.
8.2 Energy Flow Through Ecosystems
Learning Objective
- Describe the strategies organisms use to acquire and use energy.
- Explain how changes in energy availability affect populations and ecosystems.
- Explain how the activities of autotrophs and heterotrophs enable the flow of energy within an ecosystem.
8.3 Population Ecology
Learning Objective
- Describe factors that influence the growth dynamics of populations.
8.4 Effect of Density of Populations
Learning Objective
- Explain how the density of a population affects and is determined by resource availability in the environment.
8.5 Community Ecology
Learning Objective
- Describe the structure of a community according to its species composition and diversity.
- Explain how interactions within and among populations influence community structure.
- Explain how community structure is related to energy availability in the environment.
8.6 Biodiversity
Learning Objective
- Describe the relationship between ecosystem diversity and its resilience to changes in the environment.
- Explain how the addition or removal of any component of an ecosystem will affect its overall short-term and long-term structure.
8.7 Disruptions to Ecosystems
Learning Objective
- 一个解释之间的交互环境d random or preexisting variations in populations.
- Explain how invasive species affect ecosystem dynamics.
- Describe human activities that lead to changes in ecosystem structure and/or dynamics.
- Explain how geological and meteorological activity leads to changes in ecosystem structure and/or dynamics.
Exam Weighting
| Unit | Exam Weighting (Multiple-Choice Section) |
| Unit 1: Chemistry of Life | 8%–11% |
| Unit 2: Cell Structure and Function | 10%–13% |
| Unit 3: Cellular Energetics | 12%–16% |
| Unit 4: Cell Communication and Cell Cycle | 10%–15% |
| Unit 5: Heredity | 8%–11% |
| Unit 6: Gene Expression and Regulation | 12%–16% |
| Unit 7: Natural Selection | 13%–20% |
| Unit 8: Ecology | 10%–15% |
12 Recommended Books for AP Biology (Alphabetical order of books title)
- Mikulecky, Gilman, and Peterson. 2008.AP Biology For Dummies.Wiley Publishing, Inc.
- Deborah T. Goldberg. 2010.Barron’s AP Biology.3rd Edition. Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.
- Campbell, Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, and Reece. 2018.Biology: A Global Approach. 11th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
- Reece, Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, and Jackson. 2014.Campbell Biology. 10th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
- Taylor, Simon, Dickey, Hogan, and Reece. 2018.Campbell Biology: Concepts & Connections.9th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
- Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, and Reece. 2016.Campbell Biology in Focus.2nd Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
- Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, and Reece. 2017.Campbell Biology: Test Bank.11th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
- Simon, Dickey, and Reece. 2019.Campbell Essential Biology. 7th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
- Phillip E. Pack. 2017.CliffsNotes AP Biology. 5th Edition.
- Sylvia S. Mader. 2011.Concepts of Biology. 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill.
- Sylvia S. Mader and Michael Windelspecht. 2018.Essentials of Biology. 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill.
- Sadava, Hillis, Heller, and Hacker. 2017.Life: The Science of Biology. 11th Edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc.
References and Source
AP® Biology. Course and Exam Description. Effective Fall 2020. CollegeBoard.
