And We're Off....

Chapter 1: Themes in the Study of Life 

and

 Chapter 2: The Chemical Context of Life

Hello Everybody! I hope you're all having a great week. AP Bio is off to a great start! I've read chapters 1 and 2 so far, and I love my textbook (Campbell 8th Edition). It's conversational, has a TON of art (diagrams, charts, pictures, etc.) and is really "current" (it has a lot of modern day application). 

So, that being said, today's post is mostly going to consist of this: 

• My own thoughts about the material
• Useful Videos I found
• A Comic or Two :) 

(Keep in mind, this blog is mostly going to be a resource blog, if you're a student actually taking this class- I encourage you to have a textbook to go through, in addition to exploring the cool extras here.) 

So, here goes. 

My Thoughts: 

These two chapters were mainly review for me. It was basically an overview of the background knowledge needed to progress in the class. I'm pretty anxious to get to the "real" stuff (the new material). For now though, it's good to get my mind back into the biology mode. 

Here are some of the important concepts that have to be understood before we can get to the "meat" of AP Bio: 

• Hypothesis vs. Theory
• Form = Function 
• DNA
• Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Cells
• Feedback systems (positive and negative)
• Evolution and Natural Selection
• Basics of the Atom
• Bonding (Hydrogen, Ionic, Covalent, etc.) 

In case this list is a bit daunting... here are some helpful videos to refresh your memory.... 

For DNA: 

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/evolution-and-natural-selection/v/dna

For Evolution: 

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/evolution-and-natural-selection/v/introduction-to-evolution-and-natural-selection

Parts of a Cell (basics) 

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/cell-division/v/parts-of-a-cell

Chemistry Refresher: 

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/introduction-to-the-atom/v/elements-and-atoms

Keep in mind, all of these videos are just to get the brain flowing. These concepts should be pretty well under your belt before you dive into AP Biology. And, if you watch 5 minutes of a 30 minute video, and get it- then you don't need to keep watching (at least that's how I approached them). 

And, to finish the post off,  Here's a cool comic I found.... 

And, that's all for today. Stay tuned for a post on Cells (functions, parts, processes, etc.) and Water (properties as related to bio).  

Intro to AP Biology

Hello Everybody! If you're reading this, you're probably interested in Biology. Maybe you're a student, maybe a teacher, maybe just someone I know checking out my blog. :) Either way, I want to take a second to explain what this blog is going to be about...

Purpose:  

The real purpose of this blog is to set up a "skeleton" for other future IHS students interested in taking AP Biology. I want to create a miss-mash dump pile of cool Biology stuff, BUT- it will have structure. Let me elaborate...

Form: 

The plan here is to read my AP Bio textbook (Campbell Biology 8th Edition), and create a blog post for each chapter (with random posts as necessary). In essence, I'll have a post for each category, so that students (or just readers in general) can read posts specific to different topics. 

Posts: 

My posts, like I said, will be kind of a miss-mash of awesome bio stuff. I'm talking college lectures, khan videos, diagrams, animations, articles, application, books, news stories, pictures, etc. I might describe the material a bit, but for the most part I want this to be like a tool box for future AP Bio students. 

The Class: 

(This paragraph is mostly explaining what I'll be doing other than the blog).  I'm going to be reading at least two books relevant to my topic... The Emperor of all Maladies (oncology study) and Flu (history of influenza). Both should be pretty interesting. 

Since I'm planning on being a doctor one day I want this blog to absolutely drip with medical application. 

I'm also rolling the idea of Lab work around in my head, and possibly an end of semester presentation to an Advanced Bio class on something interesting. We'll see. 

A bit about me: 

I like to laugh. And have fun. So this blog is not going to be boring by any means. I'll probably going to post daily/weekly comics and/or jokes pertaining to bio. 

i.e. 

Cheesy... I know. But a bit of cheese is ok sometimes. :) 

So, to sum things up.... 

1. I REALLY love biology, and this class is a way for me to dive into this subject wholeheartedly :)

2. I want to leave a "legacy" for students who come after me. I want this to be a place where people can come for not only a Bio lesson, but a good read. 

3. This is going to have LOTS of medical application (hopefully), so prepare yourself ^.^

4. I have a sense of humor, so hopefully it's a lot of fun as well. 

5. I will try and post every week (with random cool stuff thrown in as needed). 

There ya go. Indie Bio in a nutshell. 

Stay tuned!