AP® BIOLOGY Course and Exam Description REVISED EDITION Effective Fall 2015 AP® BIOLOGY Course and Exam Description Revised Edition Effective Fall 2015 The College Board New York, NY About the College Board The College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board was created to expand access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of more than 5,900 of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education. Each year, the College Board helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success — including the SAT® and the Advanced Placement Program®. The organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy on behalf of students, educators, and schools. For further information, visit www.collegeboard.org. AP® Equity and Access Policy The College Board strongly encourages educators to make equitable access a guiding principle for their AP programs by giving all willing and academically prepared students the opportunity to participate in AP. We encourage the elimination of barriers that restrict access to AP for students from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally underserved. Schools should make every effort to ensure their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population. The College Board also believes that all students should have access to academically challenging course work before they enroll in AP classes, which can prepare them for AP success. It is only through a commitment to equitable preparation and access that true equity and excellence can be achieved. This edition includes changes to the Curriculum Framework. See “About This Edition” on page v for a comprehensive list of changes. Second Reprint © 2015 The College Board. College Board, Advanced Placement Program, AP, AP Central, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. All other products and services may be trademarks of their respective owners. Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org. ii Contents About This Edition v About AP® 1 Offering AP Courses and Enrolling Students 2 How AP Courses and Exams Are Developed 2 How AP Exams Are Scored 3 Using and Interpreting AP Scores 4 Additional Resources 4 AP Biology Curriculum Framework 5 Introduction 5 The Emphasis on Science Practices 5 Overview of the Concept Outline 6 The Concept Outline 8 Big Idea 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life. 8 Big Idea 2: Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce and to maintain dynamic homeostasis. 21 Big Idea 3: Living systems store, retrieve, transmit and respond to information essential to life processes. 46 Big Idea 4: Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties. 78 Science Practices for AP Biology 97 References 103 Appendix to the Curriculum Framework: AP Biology Concepts at a Glance 104 Index to the AP Biology Curriculum Framework 117 The Laboratory Investigations 121 Participating in the AP Course Audit 122 Curricular Requirements 122 Resource Requirements 123 Exam Information 124 How the Curriculum Framework Is Assessed 127 Demonstrating Understanding on the AP Biology Exam 127 Sample Multiple-Choice Questions 129 Answers to Multiple-Choice Questions 164 Sample Free-Response Questions 165 Scoring Guidelines 170 iii Appendix A: Preparing Students for Success in AP Biology 174 Appendix B: AP Biology Equations and Formulas 187 iv About This Edition This edition includes changes to the AP Biology Curriculum Framework, which are the result of review by the AP Biology community and the AP Biology Development Committee, in conjunction with ETS test developers. These changes, effective fall 2015, include corrections to errors, more precise language, and the addition of three new learning objectives, all of which serve to provide greater clarity to specific areas within the curriculum framework. The chart below outlines each change and identifies the relevant page number and the specific location in the framework — that is, the learning objective (LO) or essential knowledge statement (EK) — where it appears. Please note: There are three new learning objectives, numbered to follow the existing learning objectives supporting Big Idea 2. These new learning objectives have been placed at the locations in the curriculum framework where they belong conceptually, not according to numerical order. Changes Effective Fall 2015 Page (in Location Change to the Curriculum Framework current and (indicated by bold or a strikethrough) previous editions) To foster student understanding of this concept, instructors can choose an illustrative example such as: 10 EK 1.A.1.h • Graphical analysis of allele frequencies in a population • Application of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equation The student is able to evaluate evidence provided by data 11 LO 1.2 to qualitatively and/or quantitatively investigate the role of natural selection in evolution. [See SP 2.2, 5.3] The student is able to justify the selection of data from mathematical models based on the Hardy-Weinberg 12 LO 1.7 equilibrium to analyze genetic drift and the effects of selection in the evolution of specific populations. [See SP 2.1, 4.1] The student is able to justify a scientific claim that free energy is required for living systems to maintain 25 LO 2.2 organization, to grow, or to reproduce, but that multiple strategies for obtaining and using energy exist in different living systems. [See SP 6.1] The student is able to predict how changes in free 25 LO 2.3 energy availability affect organisms, populations, and/or ecosystems. [See SP 6.4] Continued Return to the Table of Contents v © 2015 The College Board. Page (in Location Change to the Curriculum Framework current and (indicated by bold or a strikethrough) previous editions) LO 2.41 The student is able to evaluate data to New LO show the relationship between photosynthesis 28 under EK and respiration in the flow of free energy through a 2.A.2 system. [See SP 5.3, 7.1] The student is able to use representations and models to 34 LO 2.14 describe differences in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. [See SP 1.2, 1.4] LO 2.42 The student is able to pose a scientific New LO question concerning the behavioral or physiological 36 under EK response of an organism to a change in its 2.C.2 environment. [See SP 3.1] Invertebrate immune systems have nonspecific response 40 EK 2.D.4.a mechanisms, but they lack and may possess pathogen- specific defense responses. Vertebrate immune systems have nonspecific and 40 EK 2.D.4.a nonheritable defense mechanisms against pathogens. ✘ Memorization of the structures of specific 41 EK 2.D.4.b antibodies is beyond the scope of the course and the AP Exam. New LO LO 2.43 The student is able to connect the concept of 41 under EK cell communication to the functioning of the immune 2.D.4 system. [See SP 7.2] The student is able to construct scientific explanations that use the structures and mechanisms of DNA and 54 LO 3.1 RNA to support the claim that DNA and, in some cases, RNA are the primary sources of heritable information. [See SP 6.2, 6.5] The student can justify the claim that humans can manipulate heritable information by identifying at 54 LO 3.5 least two commonly used technologies. explain how heritable information can be manipulated using common technologies. [See SP 6.2, 6.4] The student is able to explain deviations from Mendel’s 59 LO 3.15 model of the inheritance of traits. [See SP 6.2, 6.5] The student is able to explain the connection between 65 LO 3.26 genetic variations in organisms and phenotypic variations in populations. The horizontal acquisitions of genetic information primarily in prokaryotes via transformation (uptake of naked DNA), transduction (viral transmission of genetic 65 EK 3.C.2.b information), conjugation (cell-to-cell transfer) and transposition (movement of DNA segments within and between DNA molecules) increase variation. [See also 1.B.3] Viral replication differs from other reproductive strategies 66 EK 3.C.3.a and generates genetic variation via various mechanisms. [See also 1.B.3] Viruses transmit DNA or RNA when they infect a host 66 EK 3.C.3.b cell. [See also 1.B.3] Continued vi Return to the Table of Contents © 2015 The College Board. Page (in Location Change to the Curriculum Framework current and (indicated by bold or a strikethrough) previous editions) ✘ The role of this organelle in specific phospholipid synthesis and the packaging of enzymatic 83 EK 4.A.2.c contents of lysosomes, peroxisomes and secretory vesicles are beyond the scope of the course and the AP Exam. The student is able to use data analysis to refine observations and measurements regarding the effect of 92 LO 4.19 population interactions on patterns of species distribution and abundance. [See SP 2.2, 5.2] The student is able to explain how the distribution of ecosystems changes over time by identifying large-scale 93 LO 4.20 events that have resulted in these changes in the past. [See SP 6.2, 6.3] The student is able to predict the effects of a change in an environmental factor on the genotypic expression 95 LO 4.24 of the phenotype gene expression and the resulting phenotype of an organism. [See SP 6.4] Return to the Table of Contents vii © 2015 The College Board. THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. About AP About AP® AP® enables students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school.