AP Biology Summer Assignment and Text Book InformationMs. Brown 303-949-6228 or Victoria_Brown@dpsk12.org

Welcome to AP Biology!! This is a great class—and will require some work. You will definitely work hard, but you will be rewarded with an intricate knowledge of evolution, microbiology, chemistry, molecular genetics and ecology. This course is very comprehensive—but as the saying goes, “Baby Steps!” With that idea in mind you will have some summer assignments that you will need to do in order for us to have enough time during the year to cover all the topics. Below are the assignments, and a brief description of what each one entails. Assignments don’t have to be typed, unless specifically asked for. Be sure to be aware of the given deadlines. The following assignments are either due the first week of school, or will be assessed the first 2 weeks of school. Be prepared. At any time you have questions or need clarification about an assignment you may email me, or text me and I will get back to you within 24 hours. My cell number is for student inquires only, not for parent questions. No texting before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm. You will need to have an AP Biology Campbells 7th, 8th, or 9th edition text book. The ISBN number is 0-8053-6777-2. I am going to check into finding a digital copy of this book. Check my AP Biology website for updates on this before buying a book. I will know by the end of May. The best place to find a reasonably priced book is Amazon or half.com. Everyone will need to purchase a book. I do have some books that we can use in the classroom as reference if students don’t want to carry books to class. At the moment the prices online for these books ranges from $13-$60. You do not need a brand new book. If you can’t find a book at a good price just wait a week and see if more books are put up for sale. It is strongly suggested that you also get a good AP Biology review book such as Cliffs AP Biology, or Barrows or any others out there. They will come in very handy for review and for midterms and finals.

The entire course focuses on the four “Big Ideas” below:

Big idea 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.

Big idea 2: Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.

Big idea 3: Living systems store, retrieve, transmit and respond to information essential to life processes.

Big idea 4: Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.

Our AP Biology course has very high expectations and there is little time to waste. To ensure that you are successful in the class and on the AP Exam next May, we need to start before class begins. I hope that these assignments will be helpful in easing the transition back to school in August.

Assignment #1. This will be tested first week of school. Exact date will be posted on my website at the end of summer.

100 words to know before starting AP Biology:

Your summer assignment is to know the following definitions as given below. You will be given the actual definition given or a paraphrased version of the definition and you should be able to give the word being defined. If you are going to learn Biology, you need to use the Biologist’ language! You will be Bio-Lingual!! (science humor!)

Active site: The part of the enzyme where the substrate will bind.Active transport: The movement of molecules across the cell membrane with the use of ATP.Alternation of generations: The life cycle of a plant that includes both a multicellular haploid form and a multicellular diploid form.Alveoli: The functional unit of the lung.Amino Acids: The 20 molecules that are held together by peptide bonds to make up proteins.Amniotic egg: The hard shelled egg that allows reptiles and birds to have internal fertilization, but not have to have the organism created form inside the mother.Angiosperm: Flowing plantsAntibodies: Proteins made by the B cells that immobilize antigens.Anticodon: The three nucleotide combination on the transfer RNA that matches up with the three letter combination on the messenger RNA.Antigen: The foreign particles or substances that trigger an immune response.ATP: A high energy molecule that can be split apart to release energy for many different processes in living things.Autotroph: An organism that makes its own food.Auxins: Plant hormones that lead to phototropism by elongating the dark side of the plant.Binary fission: The asexual reproduction in bacteria.Buffer: A chemical that can release or absorb hydrogen ions depending on the conditions and therefore can maintain the pH of a solution at a constant level.Capillary: the smallest blood vessels that connect veins to the arteries and are the site of all exchange with the environment.Catalyst: A molecule that speeds up a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy.Cell Cycle: The continuous series of events that all somatic cells go through that includes mitosis, cytokinesis, and interphase.Cell Wall: Structural part of some cells that can be made of cellulose, peptidoglycan, or chitin depending on what kingdom the organism belongs to.Cellular respiration: The process of breaking down glucose to make ATP.Cholesterol: The steroid embedded in the cell membrane that keeps the membrane fluid and strong.Chlorophyll: The Chloroplast: The cell part responsible for photosynthesis in eukaryotic cells.Chromatin: The unwound form of DNA that is accessible for making RNA.Chromosomes: The DNA when it is wrapped up tightly around proteins during metaphase.Codon: The three nucleotide combination on the messenger RNA that matches up with the three letter combination on the transfer RNA and has the information to code for one amino acidCohesion: The attractive force between polar molecules of the same substance.Controlled variables: The many characteristics of the experimental group and control group which are held constant.Covalent bond: A intramolecular bond where atoms are sharing electrons equally.Cuticle: The waxy protective layer on plants that prevents dessication.Cytokinesis: After mitosis or meiosis it is the “splitting” of the cytoplasm to form two or four new cells each with its own nucleus.Dehydration synthesis: The type of reaction that links together monomers to make polymers and release water in the process.Diploid: Cells that have two copies of each kind of chromosome.DNA ligase: The enzyme that splices DNA together in genetic engineering and the okazaki fragments of replication.Duodenum: The primary site of chemical digestion in humans.

Endoplasmic reticulum: the series of membranes inside the cell that allow for passage of materials through the cytoplasm and the synthesis of lipids.Endosymbiosis: The theory that eukaryotic cells arose from prokaryotic cells that lived closely together to the point that we now call these former cells “mitochondria” and “chloroplasts”.Estuary: The biome created when freshwater mixes with salt water to form brackish water that is one of the most productive areas on Earth.Enzyme: An organic catalyst that lowers the activation energy of chemical reactions in organisms thus increasing the rate of reaction.Eukaryotic cell: A cell with a nucleus and membrane bound organelles.External fertilization: When an egg and sperm unite outside the body of the mother.Facilitated transport: The movement of molecules across the cell membrane without the use of ATP, but with the help of a protein.Fruit: The ripened ovary of a plant.Gametes: The haploid cells produced by meiosis.Gene: The section of DNA that is responsible for the production of one polypeptide.Genetic engineering: The process of combining the DNA of two different organisms.Genome: The entire complement of chromosomes in an individual.Global Warming: The increase in carbon dioxide and other gases causes heat to be trapped and thus raises the temperature of the Earth and possibly could lead to flooding and climate change.Glycerol: The three carbon backbone molecule of the triglycerides.Glycogen: The polysaccharide that is how animals store glucose in their liver.Gonads: The site of meiosis in humans that includes the ovaries and testes.Haploid: Cells that have one copy of each kind of chromosome.Homeostasis: The condition in animals where they keep their internal environment constant for a specific characteristic often as a result of negative feedback.Homozygous: The description of an individual who has the same allele for a trait on both homologous chromosomes.Hydrogen bond: The weak intermolecular bond that forms between water molecules that causes them to “stick” to each other.Hyphae: The “body” of the fungusHypothesis: A testable explanation for a question that is often written in if… then… form.Incomplete dominance: The type of inheritance where the heterozygous individual has a blend of the dominant and recessive trait.Independent variable: The one difference between the experimental group and the control group.Innate: Behavior that an organism is not learned and is genetically determined.Insulin: The hormone that lowers blood sugar by having it stored as glycogen in the liver and increasing cellular uptake.Logistic: The type of population growth where the population has reached the carrying capacity and stays at a relatively constant level as indicated by a J curve.Marker proteins: Proteins embedded in the cell membrane which allow organisms to differentiate between self and nonself cells.Meiosis: The type of nuclear division that leads to four nuclei with a haploid complement of chromosomes produced from one diploid nucleus.Messenger RNA: RNA made from DNA that carries the nucleotide template to the ribosome for protein synthesis.Mitochondria: In eukaryotic cells it is the site of the Krebs cycle and electron transport chain of aerobic cellular respirationMitosis: The type of nuclear division that leads to two nuclei with the entire diploid complement of chromosomes.Mutation: A change in the DNA either by changing a chromosome’s structure or the order of nucleotides.Natural selection: The theory that states explains how a population changes over time to reflect the individuals who are most successful.Nephron: The functional unit of the kidney.Nucleotides: The monomer subunit that links together along the sugar phosphate backbone to form nucleic acids (DNA/RNA).Oviduct: The tube that leads from the ovary to the uterus that is the site of fertilization in humans.Pancreas: The gland that releases glucagon and insulin to help control blood sugar.Passive transport: The transport of molecules across the cell membrane without the use of energy.

Photosynthesis: The chemical reaction that makes glucose and oxygen from water and carbon in the presence of sunlight.Pituitary gland: The gland that controls the release of hormones from many other glands.Plasma: The liquid noncellular component of blood.Plasma membrane: The outer selectively permeable membrane of ALL cells.Polar bond: A bond where the atoms are sharing electrons unequally creating small negative and positive charges on the atoms.Population: The members of a species within a specific area that has gene flow between its members.Primary productivity: The amount of photosynthesis in an ecosystem.Prokaryotic: Cells that have no nucleus or membrane bound organelles.Protista: The kingdom that has predominantly unicellular eukaryotic organisms including algae, protozoans, and slime molds.Replication: The duplication of the DNA during the middle “s phase” of interphase during the cell cycle.Restriction enzymes: Enzymes that are used to “cut” DNA into pieces that often have “sticky” ends.Ribosome: The part of the cell responsible for dehydration synthesis of proteins using the mRNA template.Root: The structure responsible for water absorption in plants.RNA: the single stranded nucleic acid with uracil instead of the thymine found in DNA.RNA polymerase: The enzyme that makes RNA from DNA.Sex chromosomes: The 23rd pair of chromosomes in humans that determine whether the offspring is male or female.Species: A group of similar looking organisms that can reproduce to make fertile offspring.Spindle fibers: The microtubules that are used to separate the chromosomes and drag them to separate sides during nuclear division.Stomata: The small openings on the underside of leaves that allow for carbon dioxide to come in and oxygen to escape.Symbiosis: A long term relationship between organisms of two different species where at least one of the organisms benefits.Transcription: The making of RNA from DNA.Transfer RNA: RNA made from DNA that attaches to amino acids and delivers them to the mRNA in the ribosome.Translation: The process of making proteins from the mRNA template.Transpiration: The evaporation of water from the stomata of a leaf that allows water to be pulled up a stem.Uterus: The place where the blastocyst implants and grows in a human female.Xylem: The vascular tissue in a plant that carries water up from the roots to the rest of the plant.Zygote: The fertilized egg.

Assignment #2 : Read “Your Inner Fish” This assignment is due in class the first day. It can also be emailed to me during the summer. You do not have to write the questions.

Evolution is one of the major themes in any general biology course. In Your Inner Fish, Neil Shubin writes about the evolutionary relationship between fish and tetrapods (you are a tetrapod) by discussing development of major body systems. This is not a dry biology textbook. Everything is presented through exciting new scientific research and discoveries. In addition to seeing many connections to biology, you will find great applications to anatomy and physiology. You can either check out the book from a local library or purchase it from Amazon for about $9.00.

DIRECTIONS:

Read Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin, and then answer the discussion questions listed below. You can hand write the answers to the questions below if you write legibly, or type them in 12 point font. This is not a group assignment, do not copy answers from other students. Answers should be comprehensive, thoughtful, and include detail; this doesn’t mean it has to be over-written.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Chapter 1 - Finding Your Inner Fish

1. Explain why the author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils. Be sure to include the types of rocks and their location during their paleontology work in 2004.

2. Describe the fossil Tiktaalik. Why does this fossil confirm a major prediction of paleontology? 3. Explain why Neil Shubin thinks Tiktaalik says something about our own bodies? (in other words –

why the Inner Fish title for the book?)

Chapter 2 - Getting a Grip

1. Describe the “pattern” to the skeleton of the human arm that was discovered by Sir Richard Owen in the mid-1800s. Relate this pattern to his idea of exceptional similarities.

2. How did Charles Darwin’s theory explain these similarities that were observed by Owen? 3. What did further examination of Tiktaalik’s fins reveal about the creature and its’ lifestyle?

Chapter 3 - Handy Genes1. Many experiments were conducted during the 1950s and 1960s with chick embryos and they showed that two patches of tissue essentially controlled the development of the pattern of bones inside limbs. Describe at least one of these experiments and explain the significance of the findings.

2. Describe the hedgehog gene using several animal examples. Be sure to explain its’ function and its’ region of activity in the body.

Chapter 4 - Teeth Everywhere

1. Teeth make great fossils - why are they “as hard as rocks?” What are conodonts? 2. Shubin writes that “we would never have scales, feathers, and breasts if we didn’t have teeth in

the first place.” (p. 79) Explain what he means by this statement.

Chapter 5 - Getting Ahead

1. Why are the trigeminal and facial cranial nerves both complicated and strange in the human body?

2. List the structures that are formed from the four embryonic arches (gill arches)

during human development.

3. What are Hox genes and why are they so important? 4. Amphioxus is a small invertebrate yet is an important specimen for study – why? Be sure to

include characteristics that you share with this critter!

Chapter 6 - The Best Laid (Body) Plans

1. Early embryonic experiments in the 1800s led to the discovery of three germ layers. List their names and the organs that form from each.

2. Describe the blastocyst stage in embryonic development. 3. What is meant by “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny?” 4. What type of gene is Noggin and what is its function in bodies? 5. Sea anemones have radial symmetry while humans have bilateral symmetry but they still have

“similar” body plans – explain...

Chapter 7 - Adventures in Bodybuilding

1. Refer to the timeline on p.121 in Your Inner Fish – what is most surprising to you about the timescale? Explain your choice.

2. What is the most common protein found in the human body? Name it and describe it. 3. Explain how cells “stick” to one another; give at least one example. 4. How do cells (generally) communicate with one another? 5. What are choanoflagellates and why have they been studied by biologists? 6. What are some of the reasons that “bodies” might have developed in the first place? Include any

environmental conditions that might have favored their evolution.

Chapter 8 - Making Scents

1. Briefly explain how we perceive a smell. 2. Jawless fish have a very few number of odor genes while mammals have a much larger number.

Why does this make sense and how is it possible?

Chapter 9 - Vision

1. Humans and Old World monkeys have similar vision – explain the similarity and reasons for it. 2. What do eyeless and Pax 6 genes do and where can they be found?

Chapter 10 - Ears

1. List the three parts of the ear; what part of the ear is unique to mammals? 2. An early anatomist proposed the hypothesis that parts of the ears of mammals are the same thing

as parts of the jaws of reptiles. Explain any fossil evidence that supports this idea. 3. What is the function of the Pax 2 gene?

Chapter 11 - The Meaning of It All

1. What is Shubin’s biological “law of everything” and why is it so important? 2. What is the author trying to show with his “Bozo” example? 3. This chapter includes many examples of disease that show how humans are products of a lengthy

and convoluted evolutionary history. Choose three (2) of the problems listed below and briefly explain how ancient ancestors’ traits still “haunt” us:

Obesity Heart disease Hemorrhoids Sleep apnea Hiccups Hernias Mitochondrial diseases

Afterword (new findings re: Tiktaalik)

1. Tiktaalik was a fish that lacked an operculum – what does this tell us about the animal? 2. Tiktaalik had a true neck – what did this allow the animal to do (advantages?) 3. How was Tiktaalik able to survive in the cold Artic environment?

Assignment #3: Read Chapters 51 Behavioral Ecology, 52 Population ecology, and 53 Community Ecology in the Campbells book.

I would like to see how you take notes. For these three chapters you may choose a method of note taking that you think works well for you. They must be your own words, they can’t be from an online site, or quizlet, etc. Be aware of the concepts, as well as the academic vocabulary. These can be done on paper, index cards, typed, etc.