<p>This year, I'll be taking AP Bio and we use Campbell's 7th edition textbook. Around here, I've heard a lot of people saying that it has everything and really detailed, but that it's not worth it. Is it better to just use a prep book? We have to outline chapters and make flashcards. Should I stick to campbell's?</p>
<p>It is definitely way more in-depth than the AP exam. If your tests are based off of the book, then it will be extremely useful to read from it and not from a review book. We used Campbell in my AP Bio class, but I just read outlines and review books. I didn’t do too well in-class tests, but got an A since it was a pretty easy class due to labs and homework. Then got a 5 on the exam by mainly review books.</p>
<p>If your intention is just to get a 5 on the AP exam, then don’t read Campbell’s
If your intention is to really understand biology, read Campbell’s</p>
<p>Thank you :d</p>
<p>If you want a 5, you should read certain parts of the textbook as a base. I’ll need to post later what you don’t need to read about.</p>
<p>No need to read it.</p>
<p>Instead read the textbook notes.</p>
<p>[AP</a> Biology Textbook Outline](<a href=“http://www.apexamreview.com/apbiology/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=3]AP”>http://www.apexamreview.com/apbiology/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=3)</p>
<p>If you have to do outlines and such for your class, I suppose you might as well read it as you’re going. You definitely should read it if your tests throughout the year are based off of it. </p>
<p>If you at least read it briefly throughout the year, you should be able to get a 5 by just reading Cliff’s (not skimming; reading) from cover-to-cover the weekend before the exam.</p>
<p>You only need a review book and an at least decent teacher to get a 5 on AP.</p>
<p>My gripe with Campbell’s isn’t that it’s too detailed (not really possible for a college level book right?) or that it doesn’t help prepare you for the exam (it’ll seem like a walk in the park if you studied from campbell’s).
My gripe is it is VERY poorly constructed. It is neither clean and measured like a good physics book nor well-written and interesting like, well, a good biology book.
I don’t think a textbook should be written like a novel, but after seeing books like Cutnell’s and Meyer’s, I know Campbell’s just has the information but not the proper presentation.</p>
<p>Campbell’s is an awesome book which my class used last year. We had to read every single chapter, and the tests were all based on the book. That being said, the first few chapters of reading were rough, but after that you get used to it. From absolutely no review and sleeping during every lecture (the lectures were just simplified versions of the book), I scored a 5 halfway through the year on the 2002 released exam and got 94/99 on the MC on the 2008 exam at the end of the year (one question wasn’t graded that year). Got an easy 5 on the actual test this year.</p>
<p>PS If you decide to read it, you can completely skip over all the kinds of fungi and read just the first section of that chapter.</p>
<p>If you want a definite 5, read Campbell’s. If you want to take a risk and get either a 4 or a 5, then read a study guide.</p>
<p>What to read about in the Campbell’s textbook:</p>
<p>Chapter 2-everything (if uncertain about basic chemistry)
Chapter 3-properties of water and their significances
Chapter 4-functional groups (especially carboxyl, carbonyl, and amine)
Chapter 5-different carbohydrates, lipids, proteins (especially the different chemical bonds in them), and nucleic acids
Chapter 6-enzymes, their inhibitors, and especially the structure and function of the ATP molecule
Chapter 7-the two types of cells and all organelles
Chapter 8-structure of the plasma membrane and types of diffusion
Chapter 9-aerobic respiration, its steps, and forms of anaerobic respiration
Chapter 10-leaf structure, photosynthesis, its steps, and plant adaptations
Chapter 11-receptors and signals (hormones)
Chapter 12-mitosis and the cell cycle
Chapter 13-meiosis
Chapter 14-Mendel’s laws, Punnett Square, and all associated terminology
Chapter 15-chromosomes, their abnormalities, and genetic mapping
Chapter 16-DNA structure and replication (as well as enzymes involved)
Chapter 17-process of protein synthesis
Chapter 18-viruses, their replication, and bacterial genetics
Chapter 20-everything
Chapter 22-Darwin’s theory, evidence of evolution
Chapter 23-conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the causes of evolutions (basically the opposites of the first conditions)
Chapter 24-types of speciation and reproductive barriers
Chapter 25-phylogenic tree and taxonomic groups
Chapter 26-early life and taxonomic domains
Chapter 27-basic prokaryote properties
Chapter 28-basic protist properties
Chapter 29 and 30-phylogeny of plants, reproduction of all branches
Chapter 31-basic fungi properties
Chapter 32-phylogeny of animals
Chapter 33 and 34-animal phyla and their properties
Chapter 35-types of plant cells, monocots and dicots, other plant parts
Chapter 36-xylem transport and phloem transport
Chapter 37-nutrients I guess? not too sure about this one
Chapter 38-angiosperm reproduction and seeds
Chapter 39-tropisms and hormones
Chapter 40-animal tissue types and feedback
Chapter 41 and 42-types of digestive, circulatory, and respiratory systems found in animals (know the parts for human variants)
Chapter 43-lines of defense and different cells
Chapter 44-thermoregulation, osmoregulation, and excretory systems
Chapter 45-endocrine system, its parts, and the different hormones (know which ones do opposite things as negative feedback)
Chapter 46-reproduction
Chapter 47-literally how the egg is penetrated by the sperm, nothing else in this chapter is important to know
Chapter 48-nervous system, nerve impulse
Chapter 49-eye parts, ear parts, muscle parts and the process of muscle contraction
Chapter 50-terminology and biomes
Chapter 51-different animal behaviors
Chapter 52-models of population growth, reproductive strategies, and density-dependent/independent factors
Chapter 53-relationships and ecological succession
Chapter 54-food chain, food web, energy movement, and ecological cycles
Chapter 55-biodiversity, environmental dangers and causes</p>
<p>^^^ thank you</p>
<p>when you say read, do you mean memorize? And is it possible to cover the last chapters over the summer before AP Bio class starts, to ensure that the entire book is covered?</p>
<p>Im not reading it now. When school start in early August</p>
<p>Well, when I use the term read, I don’t simply mean memorize. I’m saying that one should read through the sections, learn them, and remember them. That listing I posted earlier is designed for folks who are taking the course during the school year (although it’s fine for the self-study group). More likely than not, a teacher will base a test off of stuff found in those “relevant” sections of the chapters. There will be ten months before the next series of AP exams; that is a lot of time to slowly go through the book and absorb everything. Progressive reading and a decent, quick review before the exam should suffice for proper understanding.</p>
<p>thanks ^.</p>
<p>what version do people use? Would the 2001 version suffice, since the other ones are fairly expensive?</p>
<p>Don’t read it. Never opened it. Just used review books got a 5</p>
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<p>My class used the outdated fifth edition for the school year. I was fine with that.</p>
<p>At the present I’m not really interested in learning Biology…just for a 5 on the exam. So the prep books are decent then?</p>