<p>Why are you guys already stressed out about specific concepts? the schoolyear hasnt even started yet…</p>
<p>and i have to agree with SeekingUni- your teacher should be one of the first resources that you use. Thats part of their job, plus it shows to them that you are making an effort to learn and understand the material.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore and taking Bio this year, along with Psych and Calc (ab I think)…</p>
<p>I’m planning on, after homework, of course, doing a 20-minute study time for each per day, maybe more on the weekend. I’m super-nervous about these classes already since I know how strenuous an AP class can be. (I took Human Geography this year.)</p>
<p>Good study plan? yay? nay? anyone else out there gonna do something similar?</p>
<p>^I’ll probably do about the same as you. And Human Geography was a cake walk. Did you get your score yet?</p>
<p>I too would like to know how much studying/reading campbells per day would be good.</p>
<p>I haven’t read any of it but I say that the textbook may be a bit too detailed I bought a condensed textbook in addition to campbell’s.</p>
<p>
Even though you can still get a 5 without even covering the entire textbook or all of the concepts in the curriculum, I’d say you should budget yourself enough reading each week to cover all of the chapters by May. </p>
<p>
It’s not a bad plan, and it can’t hurt you, but I think you’ll find throughout the year that 1) it’s going to be hard to stick to (maybe not, depending on your dedication, social life, etc.), and 2) it’s a bit much. You really don’t need to revolve your life around biology to get a 5. :p</p>
<p>Started by AP Bio summer project yesterday. Ecology ftw! </p>
<p>I think this is the class I’m most worried about for next year. I’m not really a sciency person and my freshman bio teacher (while it was honors) sucked.</p>
<p>Same here^ At my high school the same girl teaches honors and AP Bio. And she sucks.</p>
<p>dylandlima</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I got mine on the 14th or 15th…my class was pretty hard but the exam was ridiculously easy and I got a 5. Only person in my class to get it, I think.</p>
<p>How good is the PR AP Bio book? Has anyone used it? (if so, what did you score?)</p>
<p>^Why use those when you can use Cliff’s instead?</p>
<p>^ Exactly.</p>
<p>@whodareswins</p>
<p>It’s good. I liked Barron’s layout better, but I don’t think I could really critique PR in terms of content. I got a 5, but I mostly used Barron’s to review.</p>
<p>So on my school supply list it says to get Kaplans? But from what I’m getting out of this thread I should just not waste my money and get Cliffs instead…</p>
<p>Cliff’s is better from what I’ve heard, and @Mojomolly: I got my APHG score on the 11th with a 5 I think that I was also the only one in my class to make a 5.</p>
<p>I took the AP Biology exam this year, and I received a 5. It was my first AP I’d ever taken. While I did have a great teacher, the concepts of biology aren’t hard to comprehend and learn- even through self-study. It’s mostly memorization.</p>
<p>First off, this is what I recommend for the class.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>[Campbell/Reece</a> Biology, 7th Edition](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Book-CD-ROM-Neil-Campbell/dp/080537146X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279780477&sr=1-2"]Campbell/Reece”>http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Book-CD-ROM-Neil-Campbell/dp/080537146X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279780477&sr=1-2)<br>
Hailed as the “bible” of biology, this is the most widely used textbook for teaching AP biology. Neil Campbell died during production for this seventh edition, so I recommend getting this one over the newer 8th edition.</p></li>
<li><p>[Cliffs</a> AP Biology, 3rd Edition](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/CliffsAP-Biology-Cliffs-Ap/dp/0470097647/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279781061&sr=1-1"]Cliffs”>http://www.amazon.com/CliffsAP-Biology-Cliffs-Ap/dp/0470097647/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279781061&sr=1-1)
Best review book for the class by far. Reading this starting a week or two before the test, is a guaranteed 5 if you’re focused on reviewing the material. Easy to read, concepts explained clearly, and I found the questions from the two practice tests accurately similar to the actual test. Don’t waste your money on any other review books, I guarantee this is the only one you’ll need.</p></li>
<li><p>[AP</a> Biology Lab Manual 2001](<a href=“Store App”>Store App)
Collegeboard recommends the purchase of this book, and for good reason. Some of the MC and free response questions on the exams are based on these labs. Note that the lab FRQ’s won’t be the exact lab printed from this book, but an experiment that’s similar to one of them. Even if your school doesn’t do all 12 labs, or even any at all, i’m sure you can find explanations online or in books.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Other than that, read and memorize. As stated before, start reading some pages of the cliffsbook each night one or two weeks before the test, and a 5 is within reach. This was my first AP(also took APWH), but I’m sure this is also one of the easiest.</p>
<p>You’ll be fine.</p>
<p>@Blackpaint: I have the sixth edition. Do you believe it will be adequate? Then I bought this study guide intended to go with the sixth edition, then without asking me my dad went out and bought the AP Bio PR, I will probably also purchase the Cliff’s. Do you find that the lab manual was really beneficial?</p>
<p>@Dylandlima Yes, the sixth edition is adequate. As a matter of fact, our teacher used the 5th edition with us. And a word of advice, the post-chapter tests can be very helpful… I.e. don’t just copy the back of the book like I do because you procrastinate on work :p</p>
<p>[2010</a> AP Biology Exam Free Response Questions](<a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap10_frq_biology.pdf) </p>
<p>I’ll use the questions from this year’s exams as an example of the lab book’s effectiveness. For example, one of the labs concerns genetic crosses with fruit flies(Lab 7 Genetics of organisms), and sure enough… it was on the free-response for this year. The common misconception about this fruit fly question (FRQ#3 on the 2010 exam, see link), is to immediately perform a dihybrid cross with the data given. However, the results of a dihybrid cross with the traits doesn’t correlate with the given information. In fact, the question’s an instance of linked genes with crossing over occurring… but i’ll stop there(Could go into an in depth explanation, but you’ll learn this during the year). You would know this if either the lab was demonstrated/explained to you, or if you completed it yourself. In addition, there was a free-response about the enzyme α-amylase, which corresponds to lab 2(Enzyme Catalysis) . The post-lab questions allow you to better understand the concepts of the lab.The labs in the manual are almost guaranteed to have a few questions on the MC, as well as the FRQ.</p>
<p>As for review books, I went off of teacher and college confidential recommendation.
Here’s the thread I use to primarily influence my purchasing of review books…</p>
<p>[CC</a> Consolidated Book Suggestions](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/201793-consolidated-book-suggestions-ap.html]CC”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/201793-consolidated-book-suggestions-ap.html) </p>
<p>On this list, the first few posts are pretty accurate. I used the books they’ve recommended, and I haven’t been disappointed.</p>
<p>Also, my teacher recommended cliffs for biology, and said that PR tended to have questions that aren’t as accurately similar to the actual exam. (however, PR is excellent for some topics that cliff’s aren’t as good for). Anyways, I’d use the consolidated list in that thread to pick review books.</p>
<p>Another thing that might be useful…
[Past</a> Biology Exam Essay Questions and Standards](<a href=“http://apbio.biosci.uga.edu/exam/essays/html/index.html]Past”>http://apbio.biosci.uga.edu/exam/essays/html/index.html)
This is pretty much a database of past essay questions dating back from 1968-2000. What’s helpful about this link, is that it gives the rubrics by which the essays were graded. This is definitely helpful if you need some practice with writing essays.
I happened to cross some past actual released exams with answer keys… I think I found 2002 along with the 2008 exam that our teacher gave to us. I’d be happy to find them and send the files to you, if you need em.</p>
<p>definetely use barrons, cause everyone else that I knew could not get the first question and they used PR. That’s cause Barrons had a hormones chart, but Im not sure the others did. Anyways other ppl couldnt remember that insulin and glycogen were the two pancreatic hormones. Don’t worry if you review for the last 2 weeks, effectively, I read Barron’s 3 times over like a month, then you will definetely get a 5 or at worst a 4</p>
<p>Barrons or Cliffs? Which is more preferable?</p>