Thursday, September 11, 2008

The AP Biology Essay

The AP Biology Essay
Introduction to the free-response essay questions

  • There are four essay questions and each one is given equal consideration when your final score is tallied 
  • Each question has about 2, 3, 0r even 4 parts to it.
  • There may be a question that ask you to assess a lab situation.
  • Each question is graded equally but specific parts can be worth more points than other so watch out for that!
Top 10 Terrific Tip for the AP Biology Essay Questions

  1. Read each question three times over.
  2. Pay attention to the boldfaced or italicized words in the question
  3. Make sure you answer what the question is asking and don't write anything that doesn't have to do with the topic at hand because you don't get bonus points.
  4. Plunge into answering the questions, NO flowery introduction paragraphs and NO conclusions because NO one cares about that.
  5. Follow the three steps of DEP
Define
Explain (structure, function, or relation, etc.)
Provide an example
     6. Follow DEP then MOVE ON to the next question. You have to give the goods (as Mrs.         Lyon puts it) and get to the point fast!
    7. If you have pictures, diagrams, graphs, or tables, always label them and explain them.
    8. Remember to organize you time, you only get about 22 minutes per question (90 minutes for all 4 questions)
    9. Use complete sentences, they can be simple. It's modeled more like short answer questions so you can number your answer paragraphs.
   10. Breathe, it's easier to think, and be confident you can do it!

Remember, "Just Give the Goods!" 




2 comments:

Meghan said...

Thanks Marina this is really helpful! :)

Michelle Lyon said...

Great Job

This will be useful for everyone as we progress to more conceptual essays and we need to refresh our memory of what is important.

Remember to Identify, Explain, and Provide an Example