AP Biology Summer Assignment 2014
Dear AP Biologist,
Welcome to the wonderful world of AP Biology! In order to experience the best course possible it is very important that each student enter the class armed with the knowledge that Advanced Placement Biology is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory course usually taken by biology majors during their first year of study. Therefore, this course requires that the student possess a level of maturity and sophistication found in the typical university undergraduate. We will use a college textbook, conduct college level labs, and our tests and exams will be analogous to those administered by undergraduate professors. Please keep in mind that AP Biology differs significantly from a typical honors biology course in the depth and breadth of content that is presented and particularly, in the time and effort required of students. We will delve more deeply into the topics that were first introduced to you in your sophomore or freshman biology course with a focus on student – directed inquiry laboratory investigations.
This summer assignment has been designed for one main purpose: To introduce you to major concepts from AP Biology through non-classroom methods of learning. With that in mind, it is imperative that you complete the following 3 assignments by their individual due dates:
Assignment #1: Meet Your Teacher – Send an email to [email protected] and type “AP Bio: Introduction to (your name)” in the subject. Include the following: • Your full name and the name you prefer to be called • Interests & Family (music, art, sports, job, family, pets, etc.) • Why you are taking AP Biology, what you are most anxious about in AP Biology and what you are most looking forward to. • Use clearly written, full sentences. Do not abbreviate words like you are texting with a friend. This is a professional communication like you would have with a college professor, and it’s important to practice for the near future! DUE: August 27, 2014 (first day back to school for faculty)
Assignment #2: Complete EITHER option A OR B:
Option A) Scavenger Hunt For this summer assignment, you will be familiarizing yourself with commonly used science terms by “collecting” assigned items by taking a photograph (with your phone or digital camera). You should collect your photographs on an app/software of your choice (ppt, blog, iMovie, etc.), using appropriate explanations / descriptions. Your completed photo journal will be graded as your first lab activity. • ORIGINAL PHOTOS ONLY! No internet images allowed! The best way to prove that you are the photographer is to place a personal item (pen, coin, key, cell phone, etc.) in all of your photographs that only you could have added each time. • NATURAL ITEMS ONLY! All items must be from something that you have found in nature (your neighborhood, yard, vacation spot). Research what each term means and in what organisms it can be found, then go out and snap a picture! • TEAM WORK - You may work with another student in the class to complete this project, but each student must complete his or her own project with a unique set of terms chosen. So working with other students means brainstorming, discussing, going on collecting trips together. It doesn’t mean using the same items and taking the same pictures.
Scavenger Hunt List Chose 25 of the following 50 items to “collect”. You must use a different organism for each item. Each item is worth 4 points for a total of 100 possible points. 1. 1 of the 10 world biomes 26. enzyme 2. plant carbohydrate 27. eukaryote 3. type of protein 28. exoskeleton 4. evidence of different alleles for the 29. genetic variation within a population same trait 30. genetically modified organism 5. organism in kingdom fungi 31. hermaphrodite 6. organisms in kingdom protista 32. heterotroph 7. angiosperm 33. homologous structures 8. gymnosperm 34. hydrophilic 9. food web 35. hydrophobic 10. adaptation of an animal 36. introduced species 11. adaptation of a plant 37. keystone species 12. altruistic behavior 38. K-strategist 13. analagous structures 39. r-strategist 14. anther & filament of stamen 40. phloem 15. flower ovary 41. pollen 16. autotroph 42. pollinator 17. Batesian mimicry 43. predation 18. Mullerian mimicry 44. prokaryote 19. biological magnification 45. radial symmetry (animal) 20. coevolution 46. redox reaction 21. commensalism 47. succession 22. parasitism 48. taxis 23. dominant vs. recessive phenotype 49. kinesis 24. ectotherm 50. vestigial structures 25. endotherm
Option B) Read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Purchase The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot ISBN 978-1-4000-5217-2 and a blank writing journal that you will use for the reading assignment
Instead of writing a traditional “book report”, students will produce a journal with a collection of “free writes”. After reading a few chapters, several pages, etc., set a timer for anywhere from 5- 15 minutes and write continuously about your thoughts related to that particular part of the story. Include the relevant chapter titles in each of your journal entries. Your completed journal will be graded as your first lab activity.
Story Synopsis: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave. Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family—past and present—is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of. Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences. Excerpt from: http://www.amazon.com/The-Immortal-Life-Henrietta-Lacks/dp/1400052173
Complete the following two activities before you begin reading the book:
1) PBS Video - Different cultures hold different beliefs about health, religion, and death. To gain some perspective on this, watch the short (7 minute) PBS video Informed Consent and Medical Research: http://video.pbs.org/video/1530382889
2) Radiolab - Listen to the Radiolab segment, Henrietta’s Tumor, featuring Rebecca Skloot and Deborah Lacks discussing Henrietta and her cells, as well as exclusive audio clips of Rebecca’s interview tapes that contain recordings of actual scenes you will read about in the book. http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2010/05/07/segments/150681
The following prompts should help guide your thinking and writing as you read through Immortal Life. Be sure to respond to each prompt at some point in your journal.
• Skloot begins the book with the following quote from Elie Wiesel: “We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish, and with some measure of triumph.” Analyze the book in light of this quote. Think of the various ways in which both the scientific community and the media are guilty of having viewed Henrietta and her family as abstractions. What are the consequences of this perspective? What is Elie Wiesel’s connection to human rights?
• There is often a tension between religious faith and science. Think about the importance of both religious faith and scientific understanding in the lives of the Lacks family. How does religious faith help frame the Lackses’ response to, and interpretation of, the scientific information they receive about HeLa? How does Skloot’s attitude toward the relationship between religious faith and science evolve as a result of her relationship with the Lacks family?
• The process of scientific inquiry oftentimes involves contradictory forces of altruism and profit. How have HeLa cells affected advancement in science today?
• One of the arguments against giving people legal ownership of their tissues is summarized in the following quote from David Korn, vice provost for research at Harvard University: “I think people are morally obligated to allow their bits and pieces to be used to advance knowledge to help others. Since everybody benefits, everybody can accept the small risks of having their tissue scraps used in research.” However, in a profit-driven health care system, all citizens do not have equal access to the treatments and medications made possible by tissue and cell research. What are the intended and unintended consequences of a profit-driven health care system? Writing prompts adapted from: http://rebeccaskloot.com/
Assignment #3: Purchase the course textbook: • Campbell : BIOLOGY IN FOCUS plus MasteringBiology with eText --- Access Card Package • 1. Parents go to http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS1t3p 2. Enter school zip code: 19031 3. Choose school from drop-down: Mt St Joseph Academy 4. Enter ISBN 9780133102178 5. Click on title - Campbell Biology in Focus AP 1e + Student Media CD + MasteringBiology w/ eText 6. Enter quantity & continue through check-out process*
* Price includes everything (print text, CD, MasteringBiology access, eText & shipping cost) • Parents may also call Customer Service at 800-848-9500 to place an order.
Assignments 2 & 3 DUE FIRST DAY OF CLASS.
EXTRA – CREDIT Adopt something living – A big part of biology involves careful observation and detailed documentation of scientific phenomena; all scientists, from Issac Newton to Jane Goodall, gather knowledge in this way. You may adopt a plant or animal but be sure to get your parent’s permission prior to bringing home your adoptee! Your goals: • Nurture your plant/animal successfully throughout the summer. Get them to grow and develop into healthy adults. With instructor permission, you may leave your adopted animal in the classroom as an AP Bio pet mascot for the 2014 – 15 school year.
If you have any questions please feel free to email me: [email protected] Happy summertime!
Ms. Davis