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Contemplanda

AP courses

AP Biology

From the chemistry of a single cell to the ecology of populations, with interactive genetics and data practice.

8 units · 54 lessons · 417 practice items

AP Biology moves from molecules to ecosystems across eight units. You start with the chemistry of life and cell structure, work through how cells capture and spend energy, then study cell communication and the cell cycle. The later units cover heredity, gene expression and its regulation, natural selection, and ecology, so the course connects the mechanics inside one cell to the way whole populations change over time.

The practice uses the working tools of the subject: you set up Punnett squares, read pedigrees, build cladograms, run chi-square tests, and reason through gel electrophoresis and enzyme kinetics problems, with rotatable molecular models sitting beside the text they illustrate. Most problems carry hints that reveal one step at a time, so a stuck moment turns into a nudge rather than a dead end.

This course follows the College Board's published AP Biology framework.

Syllabus

Every published lesson in this course, by unit.

Chemistry of life7 lessons
  1. 1The structure of water and hydrogen bonding
  2. 2Elements of life
  3. 3Introduction to macromolecules: carbohydrates and lipids
  4. 4Proteins: from sequence to shape
  5. 5One logic across the macromolecules
  6. 6Nucleic acids and the double helix
  7. 7Designing a biological experiment
Cell structure and function8 lessons
  1. 1Cell structure: the organelles of the eukaryotic cell
  2. 2Cell size and the surface-area-to-volume ratio
  3. 3The plasma membrane and the fluid mosaic model
  4. 4Membrane permeability: what can cross unaided
  5. 5Osmosis, tonicity, and water potential
  6. 6Membrane transport: passive and active
  7. 7Facilitated diffusion: channels and carriers
  8. 8Mechanisms of transport: pumps, cotransport, and bulk transport
Cellular energetics6 lessons
  1. 1Enzyme structure and catalysis
  2. 2Environmental effects on enzymes and their regulation
  3. 3Cellular energy and ATP
  4. 4Photosynthesis: the light reactions and the Calvin cycle
  5. 5Cellular respiration: harvesting energy from glucose
  6. 6Fermentation, molecular diversity, and fitness
Cell communication and cell cycle5 lessons
  1. 1Cell communication and reception
  2. 2Signal transduction and amplification
  3. 3Feedback mechanisms
  4. 4The cell cycle and mitosis
  5. 5Regulation of the cell cycle and cancer
Heredity6 lessons
  1. 1Meiosis and genetic diversity
  2. 2Mendelian genetics and Punnett squares
  3. 3Probability and dihybrid crosses
  4. 4Non-Mendelian inheritance
  5. 5Chromosomal inheritance, sex linkage, and recombination
  6. 6Pedigrees and environmental effects on phenotype
Gene expression and regulation8 lessons
  1. 1DNA replication
  2. 2Transcription and RNA processing
  3. 3Translation and the genetic code
  4. 4Regulation of gene expression
  5. 5Mutations
  6. 6Biotechnology: reading, copying, and editing DNA
  7. 7Eukaryotic gene regulation and cell specialization
  8. 8Viruses and horizontal gene transfer
Natural selection7 lessons
  1. 1Natural selection and fitness
  2. 2Population genetics and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
  3. 3Directional, stabilizing, and disruptive selection
  4. 4Evidence for evolution and common ancestry
  5. 5Phylogeny and cladograms
  6. 6Speciation and reproductive isolation
  7. 7Extinction and the origin of life
Ecology7 lessons
  1. 1Responses to the environment
  2. 2Energy flow and trophic levels
  3. 3Population growth: exponential and logistic models
  4. 4Limits to population growth
  5. 5Community ecology and species interactions
  6. 6Biodiversity
  7. 7Disruptions to ecosystems