AP Biology: Big Ideas

The AP Biology curriculum focuses on four Big Ideas:

• Big Idea 1: Evolution—The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life. 
• Big Idea 2: Energetics—Biological systems use energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce, and maintain dynamic homeostasis. 
• Big Idea 3: Information Storage and Transmission—Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes. 
• Big Idea 4: Systems Interactions—Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions exhibit complex properties.

AP Biology: Units

The following table lists each of the eight units and the approximate percentage of questions that will be devoted to each unit on the AP Biology exam.