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Fall of 2021 –
I will making contact with all students who are taking AP BIOLOGY with Mr. Grodski this Fall by the end of the last week of school.
To all students taking AP Biology For the Fall of 2021:
I hope you are enjoying your summer. I have a surprise for you below. Yes it is a summer assignment!! The reason for the assignment is not to enhance your summer filled activities with the aspects of biology that are just evolutionary (although it may be aside effect), it is to get you ready for the start of the year, keeping your thinking skills crispy fresh. You are embarking on a course that has become one of the most challenging AP courses that the College Board has to offer. Admission officers are well aware of the challenging nature of the course and thus success in this course may help in your college entrance as well as earn you college credits.
Only 5,000 students who are freshman take this exam globally, out of the 250,000 students who take the exam every spring. That means that success in this class gives you an unbelievable opportunity to build an impressive academic transcript in your Freshman year. College admission officers are looking for students who have challenged themselves in their coursework and this course which is designed for Freshman offers just that. In the four years teaching AP Biology for Freshman well over 80% of the students have earned a AP score of 3 or better. Now the course is not all about a AP Grade as it is designed to also give the you the student the opportunity to possible love this field of science or learn about yourselves as a student and a person.
AP Biology is taught globally and many of the students of this course start their course in mid to early August, where we start in September. The summer assignment is necessary to equal the playing field. I will be adding to that assignment HERE so please check this page so that you will have the assignment completed correctly. The instructions are included and you can email me with questions at grodskib@whbschools.org. This assignment will be due periodically during the summer so make sure you check the due dates.
Have an extra Anemophilous Summer!
Less than 1800 hours left!
Mr. Grodski
1: Please fill out contact form
2: Join New Remind Class (text message service)
3: Work on assignments (summer assignment posted below)
4: respond to poll (1st poll is not up yet.)
5: check to see if there are any updates (additional digital activities)
1: Please fill out this form with your email that you are currently using this summer. The summer assignment will utilize google docs that will require this email for sharing purposes.
It is imperative that you complete this Contact Form as I will linking a Google Doc for all Summer assignments. Student Email through the school will not work and thus I need a personal email that I can link documents and communicate through. It would be best that you use a gmail email address.
If you do not have one it might be best to get a free gmail account:
I will be sending out the first link by June 28th.
2: Please use this link to sign up to the Remind (class text service). Outside of email, this will be a quick way for me to contact the class as a group throughout the summer and the rest of the year. Parents, I encourage you to sign up as well so that you can view the communications.
Link for REMIND Setup for 2021 – 2022 year.
3: The Summer Assignment:
First let me reiterate that this assignment is designed to help you begin your study in College Biology. I am not assigning this to just give you an assignment. I am assigning it so that you can have the best opportunity for success. So lets begin:
Your assignment will ask you to learn an important skill in studying and demonstrate it using your text. I am asking that you write notes from your assigned readings in a Google Doc that I will Share with you (once you have filled out the contact form above and I have your email). These notes (NORT – Notes On Readings TEXT) are a learning or studying strategy. Your assigned reading will take effort to understand and reading the words alone will not help, unlike most of the reading you have done previously. The notes you will make will include definitions and basic concept maps. Your job is to figure out what the authors of the text are trying to say to you and what arguments they are making. How are the authors connecting one paragraph, page, or concept from one to another? You will have to read and internalize the information and then write in your own words what the main points of the passages are. This will take practice and I will review your work and give you feedback through Google Docs.
Please do not get frustrated as the reading material can get challenging and sometimes you will have more questions then answers. If this is the case then you are doing the assignment correctly! AP Biology is has very small details (micro) and it has larger ramifications (macro) that we have to learn together. This is what makes it a challenging course but the goal is to see the big picture constantly while you learn. This is why you must write notes on your readings (NORT – Notes On Readings TEXT). You may need to go to another chapter in the book to get your bearings on what you are currently reading so that you keep the details with the large picture connected.
I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO RECOPY THE TEXT. I am asking you to write the most important facts and concepts from each passage and internalize the information so that you write in your own words!
These NORT’s will be an important study guide for the remainder of the year and this is a good exercise in how to take notes.
We will begin our discussion with Evolution (chapter 22) but we need a few details before we sink our teeth into the first Big Idea of the Course:
Big Idea 1: The process of evolution
drives the diversity and unity of life.
YOU will need the class text that is available for sign out at the High School guidance office. The Class Textbook will be given out digitally to all AP BIOLOGY STUDENTS from Mr. Grodski.
To obtain digital access to the textbook please follow the directions below:
4. Please download the e- text of the AP Biology Textbook by using the link below:
Please save this on your computer and do not share it.
You will need this for the summer. I can also deliver a textbook (hardcopy) if you would like if you need to touch the pages! Please email me to set up a time.
ANY QUESTIONS?
EMAIL ME AT: grodskib@whbschools.org
Link to Summer Assignments:
