AP Biology Summer/Preparatory Assignments (2018)

Prospective AP Biology students are responsible for note taking and study of Chapters 1-3. Specifically, Chapter 1 is introductory. It should feel fairly simple. Chapter 2 is a review of atomic structure and properties of water. It should feel like a review of chemistry, so it may or may not feel simple, depending on your comfort with chemistry. (Remember that chemistry is a prerequisite for this class; you should have taken it and passed with a C or better). Chapter 3 is a little more intense, so I will be reviewing it in class prior to the unit test, but you should at least study it and get your notes done. Know what areas you may need a little more assistance with, and highlight questions in your notes.

So, how to take notes? That's totally up to you. I want you to start exploring your options and learn what works best for you and your learning style. You'll know if it's successful by how well you do with pretest questions (provided online and in the chapter review). Your notes are just that--YOUR notes. I will judge their merit through chapter tests, discussions, and performance tasks. I do want to see your notes, and we will discuss different note-taking styles during the course.

Use the chapter pages I have established here in this class website. The chapter pages have links to diagrams if you would like to print those off for your notes. Get familiar with this website (Ilex Canis) and that should help with resources in your study. You can certainly click through any of the items on the page to get the idea of activities relevant to the chapter. 

To get you started, the mouse image at the top of this page has a "1" in the corner. Click that button and you'll be off to the Chapter 1 page. If you have questions, please feel free to email me. I generally check email over the summer at least twice per week, so you may need to be patient for a reply, but I will get back to you within one week. And don't forget to get out there and explore summer... Right now I'm occupied in the gardens and fish ponds. Biology is indeed a life-long pursuit! I'm anxious to know what you'll learn from the opening chapters. Enjoy!