Welcome to the AP Biology Program at Coral Springs High!

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What are the advantages in taking AP courses?

  1. You can earn college credits while still in high school and it is totally free! Our school even pays for your exam fees!! If you did the same courses in college, your parents or you would have to pay for those courses.
  2. Even if you do not sit the exam or if you should fail, colleges are still impressed by your attempt at such rigorous courses. They know that the level of achievement of an AP student is equivalent to that of their own college students. An AP student will always stand a better chance of being accepted into college.
  3. AP students who pass their subject area exams and exempt the corresponding college introductory courses, are as well prepared to continue in those fields as college students who took their first courses on campus.
  4. If you perform exceptionally well on the AP exams, the program gives out awards and makes an acknowledgement on the grade reports that are sent to colleges.

What are the goals of AP Biology?

  1. The first goal is to help students develop a conceptual framework for biology. The emphasis is on understanding the major concepts rather than just memorizing facts and details.
  2. The second goal is to help students gain an appreciation of science as a process. They will gain valuable experience in scientific inquiry by applying their knowledge of biology and critical thinking to environmental concerns.

                                                                                                       

What is required of me to be successful in AP Biology?

1.      To be successful in an AP course, you must be highly motivated and committed. One of the best indicators of success is enthusiasm for the subject and the ability and discipline to handle the rigors of a college-level course.

2.      You will be required to read extensively and to cover certain topics on your own. Many of the written assignments will be done at home and not in the classroom. Classroom time will be reserved mostly for lectures, discussion, labs and tests.

3.      You may be required to attend a few lab sessions either after school or on a Saturday morning. Some of the AP Bio labs cannot be accomplished in a 90-minute block. Naturally, you will get a chance to vote on the most convenient times.

4.      As the AP exam in May approaches, a comprehensive review will be conducted outside of school hours on a Saturday morning. A timed mock exam will also be given on another Saturday. If you cannot attend the mock exam, be sure to let your instructor know in advance so that alternate arrangements may be made.

                                                                                                 

  What do I need to know about the AP Biology Exam?

  1. The AP Biology Exam is the culmination of the one-year course. Your knowledge in biology will be compared with that of students both nationally and internationally.
  2.  There will be an 80-minute, 100 multiple-choice section on biology content and concepts. This section is weighted 60%. The number of multiple-choice questions taken from each area reflects the percentage of the course designated in the Topic Outline, that is, Molecules & Cells 25%; Heredity & Evolution 25%; and Organisms & Populations 50%. Following that is a free-response section consisting of a 10-minute reading period (this gives you the chance to read & re-read the question, & to make an outline), and 90 minutes for four essay questions. One question will be on Molecules & Cells; another will be on Heredity & Evolution; and two questions will be on Organisms & Populations. Quite frequently, any of these four essay questions may require that you analyze and interpret lab data, or that you design a controlled experiment and discuss the results. The free-response section is weighted 40%.
  3. There is no penalty for leaving a multiple choice question blank. However, if you get one question wrong, one-quarter of a point will be deducted from your raw score. Within the free-response section, each of the four essays is weighted equally. For example, each essay question is worth 10 points. To receive the full 10 points, you must answer all the different parts of that question. A student cannot receive full points for an essay question by answering only three parts of a 4-part question, no matter how well he or she answered those three parts.
  4. College professors serve on the committees that develop the examinations. These professors, along with experienced AP teachers, are responsible for the evaluation of the free-response essays. In mid-June of every year, these readers/graders meet for one week under the guidance of a Chief Reader in each subject. Grading Rubrics are handed out and discussed, after which each table of graders work together on a practice essay. In an effort to be unbiased, each grader only grades one essay belonging to a student. Different graders will grade the other essays of that same student.
  5. The scores for the multiple-choice section  and the free-response section are added together and the total raw scores are converted to a 5-point scale:-

                                                                                                                              

           AP GRADE               QUALIFICATION

5                                                      Extremely well qualified

4                               Well qualified

3                                                       Qualified

2                                                       Possibly qualified

1                                                       No recommendation

 

  1. The results of the AP exams are available about the third week in July through the mail but you can get them early (the beginning of July) by paying a fee. This small fee will enable to get all your AP grades at once.
  2. You will need to contact the individual colleges that you are interested in, to find out how many credits they will give for your particular subject. The amount of credit corresponds with the grade that you received on the exam and on the college. Some colleges have been known to give 8 credits for scoring a 3 on the AP exam. Usually though, they give 3 credits for a passing grade of 3. If you keep a lab book documenting all the labs you performed, they might give you 1 credit for a lab course. To access this information, go to www.collegeboard.com and click on College Search. Choose the name of your college and when that page loads, click on Tests. Scroll to the bottom section that deals with AP grades and the equivalent college credits. For example, University of Florida and University of Central Florida give 3 credits for a passing grade of 3 in AP Biology, while University of South Florida and Florida State University give 4 credits for a grade 3. Florida Atlantic University gives 8 credits for a grade 3 (WOW!). Contact them to find out how many they will give for a grade 5.


Mrs. Reynolds' AP Bio Resource Site
Coral Springs High School
email: sheila.reynolds@browardschools.com