Course Catalog

Advanced Biology is an accelerated course. The Advanced Biology curriculum is organized to mirror a two-semester introductory college biology course for biology majors. The course is designed to cover topics required in a college biology course and will utilize a textbook used by students in a biology major. This course includes 12 required lab activities that supplement the class materials and required topics. Together with the required reading and classroom interactions, such as discussion board collaboration, the laboratory activities support the overall goal of the program. This goal is to provide students with the factual understanding and critical thinking ability to thrive in the ever-changing environment of modern biology. This course will begin with the study of the chemistry of life, molecular diversity, and cellular biology. Students will also examine phylogeny, taxonomy, and the diversity of life through various forms of reproduction and cell division. Finally, students will analyze the physiological diversity of animals related to their adaptations to the changing ecological surroundings.

Course Objectives

Unit 1: Essential Content and Skills

• Explore the hierarchy of biological organization.
• Study the emergent properties of biological systems.
• Discover how evolution accounts for life’s unity and diversity.
• Observe ways in which the scientific method is applied to understand more about living systems.
• Review the topics of chemical matter and bonding, as well as the importance of water as a molecule that supports life.
• Investigate study the organic biochemical in detail.

Unit 2: Essential Content and Skills

• Examine the general structure of the cellular components and the function of each.
• Describe the design of the cell membrane.
• Discuss how the structure of the cell membrane leads to the complex role it performs.
• Summarize the detailed reactions of cell respiration and photosynthesis.
• Investigate the process of asexual cell division and the stages of the cell cycle.

Unit 3: Essential Content and Skills

• Investigate the process of sexual reproduction and its advantages over asexual reproduction.
• Examine the overall history of the development of life on Earth.
• Analyze the phylogeny of life, including prokaryotes, protists, fungi, and animals.
• Contrast the major differences between vertebrates and invertebrates.
• Explore the relationship between form and function in animal species.

Unit 4: Essential Content and Skills

• Examine the basic anatomy and physiology of each of the main animal organ systems.
• Analyze the results of a disruption in the state of homeostasis to different organ systems.
• Relate form and function at the organ system level.
• Distinguish among herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.
• Explore the workings of the immunological system.
• Review the endocrine system and the role of hormones.

Course Materials

• Biology AP (textbook, CD, and  AP Test Prep Workbook)

*Available as an iText course (includes CD)

**NCAA approved