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|  | Excerpts from the AP Biology Teachers' Discussion Group
Question: "What do you do with your kids after the AP Exam in the spring? I would be real interested in hearing about any projects using video and other technologies."
Answer 1: "This question touches a bit of a sore point for me -- I am in a different school district this year, and the powers that be in this district have decided that any student who takes the AP Exam for an AP course they have taken at the high school does not have to return to that class for the rest of the year. This is not so bad if you have seniors, as they only have about 1.5 weeks left. But for juniors and sophomores (yes, we have sophomores taking AP classes!) it gets them out of class for the last five weeks or so. Needless to say, EVERY kid who takes an AP class takes the test, so they don't have to come back to class. I do not advocate this approach, but I am stuck with it.
At the district I was at before, however, I got to keep my students. As I had almost exclusive access to 13 new computers with Internet access, my students did a 'Web essay' project. They were given a choice of about 20 'essential questions' (such as, 'Could the planet Mars support terrestrial life forms?'). These questions were open-ended, with no 'correct' answer, and were designed to be interesting to students. Each student picked one essential question. The student then had to develop a Web research strategy: They designed inquiry questions that needed to be answered in order to research the essential question. We then worked together as a class to investigate the various Boolean operators that worked in the different search engines (my students were used to just typing in the key words, getting five billion hits, and giving up). They developed their search strategies at this point. So far, they haven't used the computers. I reviewed all of the above before letting them on line. Then the online research began. They learned how to judge the appropriateness of a URL. As they completed their projects, they developed a Web page using Netscape Composer (part of the Netscape suite, free to download), then produced and published their pages on the school server. This was a great activity, as it taught all of them how to do an online search (they all think they know how to do this, but they don't), how to evaluate online sources, how to create a Web page, and how to publish a Web page. Oh, and I think there was some writing across the curriculum in there somewhere, too. A couple of years ago, I published a curriculum page regarding this; perhaps it will help."
-- Linda Wichers, Seaholm High School, Birmingham, Michigan. 2/17/99
Answer 2: "I have had the students conduct labs that complement the curriculum, or one or two of the AP labs that I did not have time to run throughout the course of the year. I also have divided the class into groups and had them work on the Web looking for appropriate, valuable links to sites for each of the units throughout the year. They had to evaluate the site using a rubric that I designed and then make comments. I also had them make outlines of the unit (objectives) and sample m/c questions. All of this was incorporated or is in the process of being incorporated into my AP Biology class Web page."
-- David Knight, University High School, Irvine, California. 2/17/00
Answer 3: "I have done hyperstudio projects with several classes. The assignment was for them to develop a tutorial or module to help basic biology students in the school. They loved it. This year I am considering having them develop presentations for elementary students."
-- Heda O'Brien, The Bullis School, Potomac, Maryland. 2/17/00
Answer 4: "The AP Chemistry teacher and I have devised a short course called 'Seminars in Science.' Since we will be on a 4 x 4 block next year, we have persuaded the administration and the Board of Education to give the AP sciences 1.5 credits and the seminars, .5 credit. We plan to take field trips to the state forensic lab and the agricultural experiment station, have some fun science activities the kids request, invite speakers to address the students, and finish with behavioral sciences that the students seem to find interesting (learning style stuff, etc). The students will also do a short project with a Power Point presentation."
-- Eloise Farmer, Torrington High School., Torrington, Connecticut. 2/17/00
Answer 5: "The AP Chemistry teacher and the AP Biology teacher (me) host a family science fun night for students in the district within grades K-5. Our AP students research some type of science activity (making ice cream, balloon cars, fun with ant lions, finger painting, paper airplanes, soap bubbles, etc.), generally using the Internet. They write up the activity (so parents can bring it home) and present their activity as a station at the fun night. The turnout has been pretty good, the kids have fun, and the AP students practice research and presentation skills for a particular audience."
-- Mark Stephansky, Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, Whitman, Massachusetts. 2/17/00
Answer 6: "After the AP Exam, we keep right on going in class, working on those topics that didn't make it into the get-ready-for-the-test squeeze. We do change pace somewhat immediately after the test, moving our focus to the ecology of the intertidal zone, sand dunes, salt marshes, and maritime forest/ornithology in preparation for our trip to the Marine Science Consortium in Wallops Island, Virginia. After the trip, we go back to topics of interest to the students, but we continue to have tests and quizzes right up until the final exam. I don't want my students to feel like the AP is the culminating moment of their year, and that once that's over they are no longer in 'learning mode'."
-- Cindy Anne Lutz, Friends' Central School, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. 2/18/00
Answer 7: "After the exam, I may have my juniors for one and one-half weeks to almost three weeks. (Seniors graduate on Memorial Day weekend so by the time they take the exams, I only have them for a couple of days.) I have done a variety of things with them over the years, but one of the most fun was a writing project.
When I did it the first time, I sent a letter to the elementary school my children attend, explaining about the project. My AP students were willing to write science story books for the elementary classes. Teachers indicated the topics they needed, the reading level of their students (I asked for an example of a book that I could purchase or check out from a library for my students to use as an example), about how many pages a typical book for the age group should contain, the concepts that needed to be covered, etc. I got a really good response from the teachers.
I had intended for the letters to be targeted at preschool through second grade because I wanted the students to write storybooks. However, the letter was distributed to all classes through the fifth grade, but it turned out okay -- my students did a book of terms for the older weather book and a couple of kids cooperated on a 60-page 'You choose the ending' story (such as, 'go to page 6 or page 35 now') about human anatomy and physiology. The topics were not limited to biology.
Students worked on writing and illustrating the books, sometimes working in pairs if someone was not particularly artistic -- one did the writing, the other did the artwork. What my AP students produced was phenomenal. Obviously some were better than others but I was impressed with the quality. We produced about 25 books the first year. Last year, I worked with one kindergarten teacher in the public school. We did about 30 books for her science units -- she really does a lot of science with those little kids. Some were very general (for example, pond life); some more specific (for example, spiders). After my students finish the books, I laminate and comb-bind the books for the teachers. It is so rewarding to enter a classroom and see some of my students' books on a teacher's shelf or out for the students to use.
As a person who is artistically challenged, I am sure I don't give my students (especially my AP students) enough opportunities to use their gifts. This project really gave the artistic students an opportunity to 'strut their stuff.' The project also served as a service project in a way.
One of the complaints that we hear is that many AP classes are finished and the students are watching movies or having study halls in many classes. (They are required to be in class.) Several students expressed their pleasure at having something to do that they saw as constructive."
-- Tricia Glidewell, Marist School, Atlanta, Georgia. 2/23/00
Answer 8: "My end of the year exam for AP students is a lab practicum. I do this for my tenth graders as well so it is not too much of an extra burden for me. In fact, the two classes share the first two-thirds of the test. It stresses lab stuff (identification of microscope stuff, plant structures, some anatomy, many visuals, etc.). Personally, I think getting a test that focuses on the visual (instead of the traditional conceptual) is nice for those students that do better in lab than unit exams."
-- Jerry Burke, St. Mary's School, Medford, OR. 4/15/00
Answer 9: "This year the AP Exam is on our last day of classes. Some years we have left a few days and I offer to those who are interested a dissection demonstration on a cat and then let them carve away or take them to a local hospital for a tour.¿ This year they will get none of that. I would love to have some time after the exam to do all the fun biology we miss. Bob, I wrote the College Board several years ago suggesting we look at the volume of biology to be covered and divide it the way English, physics, calculus, etc. are divided. We could have some core topics for both divisions, such as evolution, cells, biochemistry, photosynthesis, and cell respiration -- or whatever a group would suggest and then diverge there, letting one course emphasize genetics, biotechnology, vertebrate anatomy, etc. and letting the other emphasize ecology, plants, etc. Both courses could emphasize the same themes, but by concentrating only more in-depth treatments of fewer topics rather than such a broad shallow treatment, the sheer volume of material would be reduced. Basically, English does not cover literature and language in one exam...but divides them. Physics A and B diverge. I thought through the suggested biology divisions at the time and had some very logical topics in each. I believe the response was something to the effect that the colleges would not give credit for less than a full course. My argument was that we have the whole thing in front of us now but few people really feel like they can cover it all. Depending on the school they attend, students have very divergent backgrounds. By specializing a bit, at least a college would know if the student was taking 'AP Biology A' what topics had been covered and would have a greater chance to have actually been covered. Or if 'AP Biology B' better matched their freshman semesters, they could award credit for only one semester instead of two. Schools could offer the one that best matched the expertise of their personnel. Those of you with shorter school years would be on a more equal footing then because if we actually have time to cover it all, students will have a more homogenous background. In a nutshell, we could teach what we advertise instead of students having a hit-or-miss content based on the length of the year, scheduling, etc. Shortening the syllabus is about the only way I can see to compensate for having a month less teaching time. But remember, even in my case where it appears that I have the whole year, I meet the girls only four days per week and there is at least one day off in many weeks, so in reality many are three-day weeks. I could easily use another two months and still have no review time. I will be teaching new material the day before the exam."
-- Charlotte Freeman, Girls Preparatory School, Chattanooga, Tennessee. 5/10/99
Answer 10: "After the AP Biology Exam in May, we still had four weeks of school left. My classes went to one of the local elementary schools (one that needed help with its science program) and my AP students did science lessons with the third graders. We assigned each AP student a 'little buddy' from the third grade class, and after a couple of visits, we took them on an all-day field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a WONDERFUL experience for all, the third graders learned a lot, their teacher appreciated the help, and my students felt they were doing something good for the community and experienced the adoration of 8 year olds (the thank-you notes the little kids wrote to us after the trip were really touching.) I encourage everyone to try it. Its a win-a win for everyone involved."
-- Mary Wuerth, Tamalpais High School, Mill Valley, California. 2/18/00
Answer 11: "How about a Web quest? You furnish the essential question. The students do the research and then create a Web page with the appropriate links. This could even be something fun, such as 'Is it possible for terrestrial-like life forms to exist on Mars?' In the past when my AP students had to continue coming to class, and half were juniors (which amounted to 35), this is what I did. It was fun and instructional for them, and the disks they left with me made great resources for the next year. There is a lot of information on how to do a Web quest on the Internet. Just put 'Web quest' in a search engine. You should get lots of ideas!"
-- Linda Wichers, Birmingham Seaholm High School, Birmingham, Michigan. 5/2/01
Answer 12: "I have each lab pair research (one week in the library) a topic within genetic engineering, breakthrough cures to diseases, or endangered species. They are to present a 40-minute PowerPoint presentation, which counts as 35 percent of their fourth AP grade. I also did not get to do the animal behavior lab, so I will do that as well. I also am planning an outdoor contest. I will 'flag' 10 different plants. Each team will have one class period to determine three evolutionary adaptations that each flagged plant exhibits (anatomical, physiological, or behavioral). Once that adaptation is used, it cannot be used again by that team. From their list, any adaptations that appear on another team's list are removed from consideration. The team with the most remaining on their list earns a 100, the next earns a 97, etc. Many variations on this theme can be devised -- there is no limit on the number of organisms and taxonomic categories that could be required."
-- Harry Padden, Washington Twp High School, Sewell, New Jersey. 5/8/01
Answer 13: "How about some good movies? Inherit the Wind is one that comes to mind. Jurassic Park is another. Not super academic, but fun and perhaps interesting. However, you may have an entire month to fill up, and not a week or so as I do."
-- Anne Soos, Stuart Country Day School, Princeton, New Jersey. 5/2/01
Answer 14: "Suggestions for after the exam include videos, as someone mentioned.... I love Lorenzo's Oil, Outbreak (even though it is old), and GATTACA. I have also used dissection, which many of you may be opposed to at this point, but I have some specimens left over that we sometimes get into. The students really enjoy it and since many of them are focused on science careers, I feel justified in providing that activity for them, if they request it. We only have a week though -- which is not much time really with all the senior activities that are also occurring."
-- Michelle Harman, Northern High School, Accident, Maryland. 5/3/01
Answer 15: "I like to show And the Band Played On. It's a movie regarding the emergence of AIDS during the 1980s. I use it as a lead into ethics."
-- Carl Koch, Riverside Brookfield High School, Riverside, Illinois. 5/3/01
Answer 16: "Last year I developed an activity based on the film, Ms. Evers' Boys, which required the students to do some Web research on the Tuskegee Project and syphilis before they viewed the film. I have thought about using it this year. Most of my students have no idea about what happened with the Tuskegee Project. It is a part of history that is lost on most of them, but I think there are really important lessons to be learned from revisiting the subject. It is another one of those things that should never have happened and hopefully won't ever happen again. In addition, we have had our students write storybooks for elementary and preschool classes after the AP Exam. Many teachers of younger kids would love to have age-appropriate books in their classrooms to supplement their science units. Each classroom has different needs and topics. It is an easy lesson to do -- provide your students with paper, markers, examples of age-appropriate books as examples, and topics from a teacher who has science units that could benefit from student-tailored supplementary materials. This project really touches a group of my students that don't get touched by my classroom style very often -- the artistically creative. Some kids do the writing, while others do all the illustrating. It turns out to be a nice project with someone else as a beneficiary. One of the things I hear from my students is that they look forward to my class because they have something to do other than watch movies or have a study hall.. Some other movies we have used after the AP Exam include Awakenings, Philadelphia, The Medicine Man, Lorenzo's Oil, GATTACCA -- they all have biological content."
-- Tricia Glidewell, Marist School, Atlanta, Georgia. 5/4/01
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