Study of Life
Intro to AP Biology
AP Biology
2007-2008
AP Biology Big Ideas
Big Idea 1: The process of
evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.
Big Idea 2: Biological systems utilize free energy and
molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to
maintain dynamic homeostasis.
Big Idea 3: Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and
respond to information essential to life processes.
Big Idea 4: Biological systems interact, and these
systems and their interactions possess complex
properties
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Science Practices for AP Biology
 Science Practice 1: The student can use representations
and models to communicate scientific phenomena and
solve scientific problems.
 Science Practice 2: The student can use mathematics
appropriately.
 Science Practice 3: The student can engage in scientific
questioning to extend thinking or to guide investigations
within the context of the AP course.
 Science Practice 4: The student can plan and implement
data collection strategies appropriate to a particular
scientific question.
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Science Practices for AP Biology, cont.
 Science Practice 5: The student can perform data
analysis and evaluation of evidence.
 Science Practice 6: The student can work with scientific
explanations and theories.
 Science Practice 7: The student is able to connect and
relate knowledge across various scales, concepts, and
representations in and across domains.
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Themes
 Science as a process of
inquiry

questioning & investigation
 Evolution
 Energy transfer
 Continuity & Change
 Relationship of structure to function
 Regulation
 Interdependence in nature
 Science, technology & society
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Theme: Each level of biological organization
has emergent properties
 Biological organization is based on a hierarchy of
structural levels, each building on the levels below.
• At the lowest level are atoms that are ordered into
complex biological molecules.
• Many molecules are arranged into minute structure
called organelles, which are the components of cells.
•
“The whole is greater than the sum of the
parts”.
Fig. 1.2(1)
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Fig. 1.2(2)
Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
 Life can be
organized into a
hierarchy of
structural levels.
 At each successive
level additional
emergent
properties appear.
Fig. 2.1
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Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Science is a process of inquiry
 Built on repeatable observations &
testable, falsifiable hypotheses
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Evolution
 THE core theme of biology and
geology, astronomy, etc….
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Jean Baptiste LaMarck
 Organisms adapted to
their environments by
acquiring traits

change in their life time
 Disuse
organisms lost parts because they did not use them
— like the missing eyes & digestive system of the
tapeworm
 Perfection with Use & Need
the constant use of an organ leads that organ to
increase in size — like the muscles of a blacksmith
or the large ears of a night-flying bat

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transmit acquired characteristics to next
generation
Evolution by means of Natural Selection
 This is the CORE theme of biology
Change occurs due to
the interaction of gene
changes along with
and differential
reproduction of
survivors.
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Charles Darwin
 These are the unifying threads of
biology:
Descent with modification
Natural selection
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Natural selection
 Evolutionary change is a
product of the process of
natural selection
Organisms
don’t adapt;
Organisms have
adaptations.
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"Nothing in biology
makes sense except in
the light of evolution."
-- Theodosius Dobzhansky
March 1973
Geneticist, Columbia University
(1900-1975)
AP Biology
2007-2008
Evolution explains unity & diversity
 Unity

what do organisms have in common &
why do similarities exist?
 common biochemistry & physiology
 evolutionary relationships
 connected through common ancestor
 Diversity

but why are there
differences?
 natural selection
 adaptations allow different
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individuals to survive
in different environments
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Artificial selection
This is not just a
process of the
past…
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It is all
around
us today
Selective
breeding
the raw genetic
material (variation)
is hidden there
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Selective breeding
Hidden variation
can be exposed
through selection!
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Organizing systems
 Making sense out of the diversity
 Hierarchical
scheme
Eastern gray squirrel
Sciurus
AP
Biology
carolinensis
3 Domains of Life
Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya
Bacteria
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Archaea
Eukarya
Energy transfer
 Life is an open system

need input of energy
 energy flows through
 energy comes in,
energy goes out
 need a constant input

need input of materials
 nutrients are recycled
around & around
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DECOMPOSERS
ENTROPY RULES!
RULE, too!
nutrients
Energy utilization
You think
they’re eating…
They’re harvesting
energy!
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Continuity & change
 Continuity of life is based on heritable
information in the form of DNA

DNA – the genetic
material – carries
biological information
from one generation
to the next
You
can make more,
a lot like you!
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T
R
A
I
T
Form follows function
 The alignment of structure & function is
seen at all levels of biology
organism
cell
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organ
organelle
Regulation
 Organisms need to maintain a “steady state”
in the face of changing conditions


maintain homeostasis
achieve this through feedback
 monitor the body like a thermostat
 turn on when it’s needed, off when its not
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Interdependence
 No organism is an island standing alone

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communities, ecosystems
Science, technology & society
 Science & technology must function within
the rules of society

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ethics
Themes
 Emergent properties
 Science as a process of
inquiry

questioning & investigation
 Evolution
 Energy transfer
 Continuity & Change
 Relationship of structure to function
 Regulation
 Interdependence in nature

Science,
technology
&
society
AP Biology
Why study themes of Biology?
 Biology is an ever expanding body of
knowledge
too much to memorize it all
 need to generalize
 create a framework upon which to
organize new knowledge
 themes are the key to understanding
the nature of living organisms

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ANY
QUESTIONS?
AP Biology
2007-2008