Teacher Guide
I hope you find this list helpful!
Sometimes AP Biology teachers do not start using the released Free Response questions until
the end of the year.
I would encourage you to use them now! They are an amazing resource for study and review.
The added bonus is that each one will help your students be more comfortable with the Free
Response format on exam day.
Free Response questions make up fifty percent of the AP exam. So I make it my goal to help
students squeeze as many points out of those essays as they can. And the only way to do
that – is to practice, all year.
I don’t know about your students…but one of the biggest struggles I find my students face is
being able to read the question. That might sound silly. I don’t mean that they cannot read the
words in the question – only that when they read those words…somehow between reading
and writing…they miss the point of the question! Or completely skip over part of a
question.
Is the question asking for one example being asked for? Or Two?
Are we defining? Describing? Explaining? Justifying?
My students can write on and on and on….but all for naught because they missed one detail –
what the question is actually asking for! The grading rubrics used by AP Free Response
readers are super cut-and-dry. There is very little wiggle room – if you don’t answer exactly
what is being asked – zero points for you!
So when we start class at the begging of the year, we do not begin actually answering the
questions right away. Instead, we just practice reading the question – and paying attention to
what it said – piecing out every part of the question. We do this once a week, every single
week. We call it Free Response Friday!
They pull out their highlighters or markers or crayons, and color each part of the question with
a different color. If the question asked for two examples, they draw a big box around the word
TWO. They underline the key words like “Justify” or “Define” or “Explain”.
And I time them. They need to get used to being under a time constraint. They get about five
minutes the first two weeks, then three minutes, then we aim for two.
When they are done highlighting, they swap papers with a partner, who points out anything
that might have been missed.
After a few weeks of just looking at the question, they are ready to begin answering
questions!
As for grading the free responses, I have tried this a few ways. Some teachers find it useful for
students to grade each others work, using the rubric provided by the College Board.
By grade I do not me assign a grade that will appear in the grade book – as none of us want to
get into any FERPA trouble! So maybe ‘score’ would be a better word to use than ‘grade’.
I find that when students know their peers will be ‘grading’ their work, they tend to kick
it up a notch! And hearing “I can’t read your handwriting!” carries a lot more weight coming
from a fellow student, than from a teacher!
Plus, it is really important for students to be aware of how their essays will be graded
for the Exam. Like I mentioned, the rubrics leave no room for ‘maybe she meant this” or “he
almost got it” – there are no points for almost!
So students score each other’s work for about half the course. Then, we turn up the heat! I
score them the second half of the course, and the grades count – quiz grade!
My goal is to give students questions that center on topics we are currently studying, or ones
we have done in the recent past. This gives them a great chance to practice using all the
content they have learned.
To make things easier for you next year, I recommend printing this off and marking the date
and/or the unit you used each free response in. This way you will not have to figure it all out
again!
Looking for more AP Biology Resources?
Aligned to the NEW AP Biology 2019 Curriculum!
● Unit 1 Review and Study Guide:
Chemistry of Life
For the old AP Biology 2013 Curriculum:
BUNDLE and save for all of Big Idea 1!
BUNDLE and save for all of Big Idea 2!
Topic Descriptions of
AP Biology Free Response Questions
Free Response Questions for 2013 - 2017
● Questions 1 and 2 are long free-response questions that should require about 22
minutes each to answer and are worth 10 points each.
● Questions 3 through 8 are short free-response questions that should require about 6
minutes each to answer.
● Questions 3 through 5 are worth 4 points each, and questions 6 through 8 are worth 3
points each.
2017 1. Construct a graph, analyze data, design an experiment
2. Seed germination in response to environment
3. Plant proteins, mutation
4. Population dynamics, construct a food web
5. Effect of environmental changes on oxygen levels - read a graph
6. Types of mutations, understand models
7. Anaerobic respiration, effect of change in pH
8. Plasma membrane, cell signaling
2016 1. Make a bar graph, analyze data, understand osmolarity
2. Analyze a graph, gene expression
3. Analyze a graph, plant growth and adaptations
4. mRNA modification
5. Complete two graphs - mutualism and parasitism
6. Analyze a graph, eDNA (environmental DNA)
7. Make a model, meiosis, punnett squares
8. Purpose of an experimental control, error bars
2015 1. Nervous system, genetic link to circadian rhythm
2. Metabolism and production of ATP
3. Create phylogenetic tree
4. Meiosis vs. Mitosis
5. Phototropism, analyze experimental data
6. Snake population dynamics
7. Orderant signaling and expression
8. B cell immune system
2014 1. Interpret data, design an experiment, tricomb number
2, Immune response with cladogram
3. Ecological consequence of new playing fields
4. Natural Selection of number of spots on guppies
5. Risk of GMO crops
6. Reflex arc of nervous system
7. Methods of thermoregulation
8. Causes of genetic variation (other than error in replication)
2013 1. Design an experiment - fruit fly behavior, chi square calculation
2. Light wavelengths, interpret data, photosynthesis rates
3. Transitional fossils - lobed fin fishes to amphibians
4. Carbon Cycle
5. Types of mutation (point, frameshift)
6. Identify function of cells by organelles present
7. Experimental design
9. Label hormone signal pathway
Click here for review and study questions for each of the Essential Knowledge
standards from the AP Biology Curriculum Framework!
Free Response Questions for 2012 - 2000
***These questions reflect the old curriculum - some topics are no longer part of the AP
Biology Curriculum Framework
2012 Form A 1. Embryo development and systems
2. Oxygen consumption of seedlings, graph interpretation
3. Regulation of protein synthesis
4. Carbon Cycle
2011 Form A 1. Pro vs Euk, Endosymbiotic theory, how does prokaryote do metabolism
2. Obtaining nutrients, intra vs extracellular digestion, digestive system
3. Asexual reproduction, increase variation for sexual, prezygotic isolation
4. Transpiration and water potential
2011 Form B 1. Phases of cell cycle and cycle regulation
2. Ecological succession
3. Invasive species and population growth
4. Phylogenetic tree
2010 Form A: 1. Homeostasis of blood glucose levels
2. Enzymatic reaction
3. Genetic cross and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
4. Ecological succession
2010 Form B: 1. Chromatography and Photosynthesis
2. Point mutation and allele frequency
3. Ecological role of bacteria and GMO bacteria
4. Biotic and abiotic variables, designing a controlled experiment
2009 Form A: 1. Behavioral response and physiological effect in fish to temperature
2. ATP, GTP, chemiosmosis to produce ATP, energy pyramid
3. Phylogeny, genetic variations in cytochrome c
4. Protein synthesis and gene regulation, viral genetics
2009 Form B: 1. Transformation of bacteria using plasmids as a vector
2. Plant reproduction, alternation of generations
3. Properties of water, use in living things
4. Respiration, O2 uptake in various organisms
2008 Form A: 1. Protein structure and bonds, functions, & abnormal hemoglobin
2. Primary productivity in an aquatic ecosystem
3. Regulation of biological processes
4. Fertilization of flowering plants
2008 Form B: 1. Dissolved oxygen and primary productivity
2. Structure and function of complex structures
3. Conditions for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, calculation
4. Homologies identify evolutionary relationships
2007 Form A: 1. Plasma membranes and biological processes
2. Cephalization and brain development
3. Desert biome productivity and food chain
4. Bacterial plasmid digest and gel electrophoresis
2007 Form B: 1. Innate and learned behaviors, pheromones, controlled experiment
2. Non-specific and specific responses of the immune system
3. Modification of mRNA, translation, processing of protein
4. Energy flow of ecosystems, primary productivity, deforestation
2006 Form A: 1. Compare prokaryotes/eukaryotes, organelles, endosymbiosis
2. Population density, effects of introduced species
3. Movement of water through vascular plants, transpiration
4. Circulatory system, O2 and glucose transport, dig. and resp.
2006 Form B: 1. Reproduction, gametogenesis, compare sexual/asexual repro.
2. Structure and function in cellular processes
3. Movement of water through vascular plants, transpiration
4. Food web, energy flow, laws of thermodynamics
2005 Form A: 1. Respiration of yeast cells experiment, effect of temp on enzymes
2. Chromosome structure and function, compare prokaryotic/eukaryotic
3. Angiosperm reproductive structures/evolution, mosses
4. Immune system responses, memory
2005 Form B: 1. Adaptive behavior and species interactions, population densities
2. Evolutionary advantages of major adaptations in various organisms
3. Protein synthesis: transcription-translation, protein folding
4. Osmosis and water potential experiment
2004 Form A: 1. Meiosis, nondisjunction disorders, parthenogenesis
2. Darwin’s contributions to evolutionary biology
3. Interpret data from a photosynthesis experiment using DPIP and
a spectrophotometer
4. Types and examples of symbiotic relationships
2004 Form B: 1. How prokaryotes adapt to, and affect the environment
2. Design an experiment to test the effect if light on the primary
productivity of an aquatic environment
3. How is homeostasis maintained for body temp, blood pH, etc.
4. Distinguishing characteristics of the kingdoms of life
2003 Form A: 1. Fruit fly genetics and chi-square analysis
2. Regulatory mechanisms: water balance, temp control, flowering
3. Logistic growth curve, r-strategists and K-strategists
4. Evolutionary significance of death – organism and cell death
2003 Form B: 1. Compare and contrast prokaryotes and eukaryotes
2. Plant and animal hormones, hormone cause and effect
3. Properties of water in living processes, carbon cycle, human activity
4. Factors increasing or decreasing biodiversity
2002 Form A: 1. Cloning human genes, PCR, RFLP, DNA fingerprints
2. Environmental influence on biological rhythms, controlled experiment
3. Comparing structure and function in Cnidaria, Annelida, and Chordata
4. Interpret osmosis experiment, water potential
2002 Form B: 1. Bacteriophages, how retroviruses incorporate genome into host cell
2. Effect of exercise on circulatory and respiratory systems
3. Structure/functions are influenced by the polymers they are made of
4. Development of a triploblastic embryo, compare coelomate/acoelomate
2001 Form A: 1. Structure/function of specialized cells/cell parts, organ systems
2. Darwin, natural selection, convergent evolution, speciation, behavior,
heterozygote advantage
3. Interpret Dissolved O2 experiment, biological processes, eutrophication
4. Protein synthesis, levels of structure, function of membrane proteins
2000 1. Enzyme reactions
2. Homeostasis feedback
3. Information transfer
4. Immune response, defence against environment
