3 hours. The AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course. Students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following topics: evolution, cellular processes - energy and communication, genetics, information transfer, ecology, and interactions.This course requires that 25 percent of the instructional time will be spent in hands-on laboratory work, with an emphasis on inquiry-based investigations that provide students with opportunities to apply the science practices.The course is based on Four Big Ideas, which encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of thinking about living organisms and biological systems. These ideas include the how process of evolution explains the diversity and unity of life; how biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis; how living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes; and how biological systems interact and how these interactions possess complex properties.
The skills measured include 50 percent: multiple-choice discrete questions and questions in sets, grid-in discrete questions and questions that integrate biology and mathematical skills; and 50 percent: long and short free-response.