A Remote or In-person AP Biology Final

Since my AP Biology class is also a dual enrollment class, I have to give a final exam. Usually, the exam they take is a set of multiple choice questions and free response questions...similar to the AP Bio exam format. Of course, this year, we were remote for final exams. Our administration encouraged us to give exams that could be open notes and even open internet. Initially, I was not excited about having to come up with a new final exam. Although most of my students were doing fine with the honor system with online tests, I had a couple of students who were cheating. I felt like I needed to give an option that made it fair for all of the students and decided to go with a task exam. 

I have known about Jon Darkow's website filled with simulation models that correlate to AP Bio content, but I do so many hands-on labs/activities in class that I've not seen it as a necessity. Then we went all remote and all of a sudden, these simulations became a life-saver! We did a couple together in class for labs. They really get the students thinking about what is going on in biological systems. 

As I thought about the final, I began thinking about what I want students to be able to DO once they were finished with the class. I wanted them to be able to design an experiment and to be able to analyze data. I'm hoping that some of the content will stick with them as well, but that is really secondary to being able to practice science. In the end, I decided that for their final, I would ask them to perform two experiments. They would be able to showcase their ability to form a hypothesis, test it, organize the data in a meaningful way, analyze the data and draw some conclusions. 

The final is one google doc and a google sheet. The document itself has links to five simulations that they could choose from for Experiment #1 that included topics from the first semester, and then links to five other simulations that they could choose from for Experiment #2 that included topics from the second semester.  I shared copies of them in Google Classroom so I would be able to see not only their written answers, but the data in the table and their graphs. I like that better than tables and graphs pasted into the google doc itself. By the time I made the final, I had discovered the beauty of adding a one-celled table as an answer blank. It makes it so much easier to find students' answers, especially if they type answers in the same font and color as my original document. 

I decided that I'd grade their final using the same method I grade their formal lab reports. I made a google form that I enter comments into for each part of their exam lab. Then I use the add-on "Autocrat" to make an organized document for each student with my comments and the grade. I actually liked this final so much that I'm planning to use it every year, even if we are face-to-face.

AP Bio Final Exam (I removed the links to the simulations since I'm not sure which ones I'll use next year, and don't want them out there for my students to find.)

Google Sheet for data and graphs (I made a tab for each experiment)

Google Form Grading Rubric (In the name question, I usually copy and paste my class list, so I just have to chose the name when I'm grading the exam.)

The Google Form will populate a spreadsheet with all of your comments to students, but I insert this formula at the end of the row to calculate the final score (to match the point values on the final to my rubric scores):  

=D2+F2+H2+J2*1.5+L2*3.5+N2*4.5+P2+R2+T2+V2*1.5+X2*3.5+Z2*4.5 

Template for Final Score using Autocrat Once I have Sheets calculate the final scores for everyone, I run Autocrat, which uses this template to put all of my comments into an easy to read document.

Collaborative Group Work with Add-Em Up

In my research for methods to get students working on the concepts we were learning, I found this blog post by Sara Van Der Werf where she described the review activity she called "Add-Em up." In Precalculus we were working on solving exponential equations. These have numerical answers, which works for add-em up. I made two sets of cards with 8 questions each using questions from our curriculum's notes and homework. One set was printed on red paper and the other set was on green paper. 

Since my classroom is a lab room, I have black lab tables for desks which we often write on with chalk markers. I went to each group and wrote the number they were hoping to add up to in the color that matched the set of cards they were working on. Students worked on the problems with chalk markers on the tables. Even upper class men enjoy writing on desks! 

One of our administrators came in during the class and took some pictures, so I have some to share. One direction that I didn't think to give out was not to erase their work before they were finished adding all of the answers. One group had done some erasing for more room, but then had a harder time finding their mistake when the numbers didn't add up. I also wanted to make sure to see their work and thinking before they did any erasing.  

I used this add-em up activity in other units as well, but with even less prep. I just told students what questions from notes or homework I wanted them to work on and gave them the total they were supposed to add up to. 

Power, Polynomial, and Rational Functions Activities

 

In my folder for unit 3, I only had one question stack that I made using homework questions.  I used a template from Math = Love. I also converted that template into a Google Doc, since I do all things Google, which is here.

The rest of the time, we either did jigsaws with chosen homework questions or Desmos activites. I love Desmos. My students were particularly fond of the polygraphs in Desmos. 

With polygraphs, once students input the class code for the activity, Desmos begins to pair students up. One student picks a graph out of 16 choices, and the other student asks questions trying to narrow down the choices until they think they have figured out the chosen graph.  Once they have either guessed correctly, or run out of guesses, Desmos will pair them with another student. Even with an odd number of students, the guesses go pretty quickly, so no one is waiting for a partner for very long.

I do give students particular vocabulary that I want to see them using. In the teacher dashboard, I'm able to see all of the interactions from each guessing session. This gives me a picture of how students are really understanding the concepts we are working with. It also keeps them accountable, since I can see all the questions they are asking.

Here are the links to the activities in the picture at the top:

Polynomial Equation Challenges

Constructing Polynomials

Polygraph: Polynomials

Polygraph: Rational Functions

By the way, some of the activities that are put out by Desmos also have a teacher guide that may really help you step up your game if you print it out and work through it before the students start it in class. When I first started using Desmos, it was tough to keep up with what students were doing and answering questions. I didn't have time to take shots of student work to showcase solid or creative thinking. Sometimes, I would do that after class and show them the next day. I have to guess that the more I use Desmos, the better I will get at using all the tools available to teachers. I did also grow to love the pacing feature that only lets students have access to certain slides. This helped encourage some students to take their time instead of just rushing through the activity without thinking about what they were doing. I love hearing student exclaim, "she's released more slides!" when I'd allow them to go on to more frames of the activity.