Biology Ladder · College

Advanced Biology (AP and College)

AP Biology and first-year college depth with real data: free energy and enzyme kinetics, the inner workings of photosynthesis and respiration, cell signaling, gene maps, gene regulation, population genetics, and quantitative ecology.

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50 topics in 9 units. Builds on High School Biology, plus Chemistry on the Chemistry Ladder. Not sure this is the right course? Find your rung.

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Unit 1 Data and Experiments

3 topics

The science practices of AP and college biology: error bars and standard error, null hypotheses, and chi-square tests.

  1. Standard Error and Error Bars
  2. Null and Alternative Hypotheses
  3. Chi-Square Goodness of Fit

Unit 2 Molecules of Life

3 topics

How structure sets function: protein folding levels, the direction of nucleic acid strands, and how emergent properties of water shape life.

  1. Levels of Protein Structure
  2. Amino Acid R Groups
  3. The Direction of DNA and RNA

Unit 3 Cells and Membranes

4 topics

Surface area to volume with real formulas, water potential, membrane potential, and compartmentalization.

  1. Surface Area to Volume
  2. Water Potential
  3. Membrane Potential
  4. Compartmentalization

Unit 4 Cellular Energetics

8 topics

Free energy and coupling, enzyme kinetics and inhibition, and the inner workings of the light reactions, the Calvin cycle, glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation.

  1. Free Energy and Coupled Reactions
  2. Enzyme Kinetics
  3. Competitive and Noncompetitive Inhibition
  4. The Light Reactions
  5. The Calvin Cycle
  6. C4 and CAM Plants
  7. Glycolysis and the Krebs Cycle
  8. Oxidative Phosphorylation

Unit 5 Cell Communication and Cell Cycle

5 topics

How cells signal: types of signaling, reception, transduction cascades and second messengers, responses, feedback, and the regulation of the cell cycle.

  1. How Cells Signal
  2. Reception, Transduction and Response
  3. Amplification and Changes in Pathways
  4. Feedback in Living Systems
  5. Regulating the Cell Cycle

Unit 6 Heredity

5 topics

Linked genes and gene maps, chromosome errors in meiosis, inheritance outside the nucleus, and how the environment shapes phenotype.

  1. Linked Genes
  2. Recombination Frequency and Gene Maps
  3. Nondisjunction
  4. Inheritance Outside the Nucleus
  5. Environment and Phenotype

Unit 7 Gene Expression and Regulation

9 topics

Replication in detail, transcription and RNA processing, translation, operons, eukaryotic regulation and epigenetics, differentiation, and the tools of biotechnology.

  1. Replication in Detail
  2. Transcription and RNA Processing
  3. Translation in Detail
  4. Operons: lac and trp
  5. Gene Regulation in Eukaryotes
  6. Gene Expression and Specialization
  7. Mutations and Their Effects
  8. Sizing DNA on a Gel
  9. Transformation and DNA Sequencing

Unit 8 Natural Selection

6 topics

Population genetics with numbers, genetic drift, molecular clocks, building trees from data, patterns of speciation and extinction, and the evidence and open questions about life's origin.

  1. Hardy-Weinberg Problems
  2. Genetic Drift
  3. Molecular Clocks
  4. Building Trees from Data
  5. Patterns of Speciation and Extinction
  6. Early Earth and the Origin of Life

Unit 9 Ecology

7 topics

Behavior and responses to the environment, energy budgets and productivity, population equations, diversity indices, and disruptions to ecosystems.

  1. Responses to the Environment
  2. Energy Budgets and Metabolism
  3. Primary Productivity
  4. Population Growth Equations
  5. Measuring Diversity
  6. Community Structure and Trophic Cascades
  7. Disruptions to Ecosystems
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