Docsity
Docsity

Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity


Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan


Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips

AP Biology Summer Reading Assignment: Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin, Exercises of Literature

A letter from an ap biology teacher to her students, outlining a summer reading assignment for the book 'your inner fish' by neil shubin. The book is required reading for the upcoming school year and students are asked to complete assignments related to each chapter. The importance of evolution in biology and the connections between human anatomy and fish evolution. Students are encouraged to think critically about the text and relate it to topics they will study during the school year.

What you will learn

  • What is the significance of the discovery of Tiktaalik and how does it confirm a major prediction of paleontology?
  • What is the function of the hedgehog gene and how does it relate to human development?
  • Why did the author and her colleagues focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils?

Typology: Exercises

2021/2022

Uploaded on 02/24/2022

princesspeach
princesspeach 🇺🇸

4.8

(5)

226 documents

1 / 3

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
Hello AP Biology Students,
AP Biology is a course that aims to provide students with the conceptual framework, factual knowledge, and
analytical skills necessary to deal critically with the rapidly changing science of biology. This course is designed to
prepare students for the Biology College Board Advanced Placement Exam.
You are taking a challenging and rewarding course for the 2016-17 school year. In order to make sure
that you are thinking about AP Biology once school is out, I want you to do a little preparation work
over the summer.
First, you will read, Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin and complete the assignment found in this packet.
This is a good read, and we will refer back to the book, as the year progresses. Be sure to think about
how you can relate the reading to biology topics we might study next year, as you enjoy the text. You
will have to buy a copy of the book or borrow it from the local library, as we do not have them for you.
See the next few pages for the complete assignment.
Your summer enrichment will be due the Friday we get back from summer break, August 26, 2016. If
you chose not to work on the assignment over the summer, you will be behind the rest of the class.
Part 1: Your Inner Fish
Evolution is one of the major themes in any general biology course. In
Your Inner Fish, Neil Shubin writes about the evolutionary relationship
between fish and tetrapods (You are a tetrapod.) by discussing
development of major body systems. This is not a dry biology textbook.
Everything is presented through exciting new scientific research and
discoveries. In addition to seeing many connections to biology, you will
find great applications to anatomy and physiology.
With this in mind, I am asking you to read Your Inner Fish over the
summer. As you read the book, please keep a reading journal. For each
chapter:
1. Take notes as you read the text that might be helpful to “jog”
your memory when we discuss the different chapters at different
points during the school year. You should also think about what
topics we might cover in class and information mentioned in the
text.
2. Answer the discussion questions below.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Chapter 1 - Finding Your Inner Fish
1. Explain why the author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search
for fossils. Be sure to include the types of rocks and their location during their paleontology work in
2004.
2. Describe the fossil Tiktaalik. Why does this fossil confirm a major prediction of paleontology?
3. Explain why Neil Shubin thinks Tiktaalik says something about our own bodies? (in other words
why the Inner Fish: title for the book?)
Chapter 2 - Getting a Grip
1. Describe the “pattern” to the skeleton of the human arm that was discovered by Sir Richard Owen in
the mid-1800s. Relate this pattern to his idea of exceptional similarities.
2. How did Charles Darwin’s theory explain these similarities that were observed by Owen?
3. What did further examination of Tiktaalik’s fins reveal about the creature and its’ lifestyle?
pf3

Partial preview of the text

Download AP Biology Summer Reading Assignment: Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin and more Exercises Literature in PDF only on Docsity!

Hello AP Biology Students, AP Biology is a course that aims to provide students with the conceptual framework, factual knowledge, and analytical skills necessary to deal critically with the rapidly changing science of biology. This course is designed to prepare students for the Biology College Board Advanced Placement Exam. You are taking a challenging and rewarding course for the 2016 - 17 school year. In order to make sure that you are thinking about AP Biology once school is out, I want you to do a little preparation work over the summer. First, you will read, Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin and complete the assignment found in this packet. This is a good read, and we will refer back to the book, as the year progresses. Be sure to think about how you can relate the reading to biology topics we might study next year, as you enjoy the text. You will have to buy a copy of the book or borrow it from the local library, as we do not have them for you. See the next few pages for the complete assignment. Your summer enrichment will be due the Friday we get back from summer break, August 26, 2016. If you chose not to work on the assignment over the summer, you will be behind the rest of the class.

Part 1: Your Inner Fish

Evolution is one of the major themes in any general biology course. In Your Inner Fish , Neil Shubin writes about the evolutionary relationship between fish and tetrapods (You are a tetrapod.) by discussing development of major body systems. This is not a dry biology textbook. Everything is presented through exciting new scientific research and discoveries. In addition to seeing many connections to biology, you will find great applications to anatomy and physiology. With this in mind, I am asking you to read Your Inner Fish over the summer. As you read the book, please keep a reading journal. For each chapter:

  1. Take notes as you read the text that might be helpful to “jog” your memory when we discuss the different chapters at different points during the school year. You should also think about what topics we might cover in class and information mentioned in the text.
  2. Answer the discussion questions below.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Chapter 1 - Finding Your Inner Fish

  1. Explain why the author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils. Be sure to include the types of rocks and their location during their paleontology work in
  2. Describe the fossil Tiktaalik. Why does this fossil confirm a major prediction of paleontology?
  3. Explain why Neil Shubin thinks Tiktaalik says something about our own bodies? (in other words – why the “Inner Fish: title for the book?) Chapter 2 - Getting a Grip
  4. Describe the “pattern” to the skeleton of the human arm that was discovered by Sir Richard Owen in the mid-1800s. Relate this pattern to his idea of exceptional similarities.
  5. How did Charles Darwin’s theory explain these similarities that were observed by Owen?
  6. What did further examination of Tiktaalik’s fins reveal about the creature and its’ lifestyle?

Chapter 3 - Handy Genes

  1. Many experiments were conducted during the 1950s and 1960s with chick embryos and they showed that two patches of tissue essentially controlled the development of the pattern of bones inside limbs. Describe at least one of these experiments and explain the significance of the findings.
  2. Describe the hedgehog gene using several animal examples. Be sure to explain its’ function and its’ region of activity in the body. Chapter 4 - Teeth Everywhere
  3. Teeth make great fossils - why are they “as hard as rocks?” What are conodonts?
  4. Shubin writes that “we would never have scales, feathers, and breasts if we didn’t have teeth in the first place.” (p. 79) Explain what he means by this statement. Chapter 5 - Getting Ahead
  5. Why are the trigeminal and facial cranial nerves both complicated and strange in the human body?
  6. List the structures that are formed from the four embryonic arches (gill arches) during human development.
  7. What are Hox genes and why are they so important?
  8. Amphioxus is a small invertebrate yet is an important specimen for study – why? Be sure to include characteristics that you share with this critter! Chapter 6 - The Best Laid (Body) Plans
  9. Early embryonic experiments in the 1800s led to the discovery of three germ layers. List their names and the organs that form from each.
  10. Describe the blastocyst stage in embryonic development.
  11. What is meant by “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny?”
  12. What type of gene is Noggin and what is its function in bodies?
  13. Sea anemones have radial symmetry while humans have bilateral symmetry but they still have “similar” body plans – explain… Chapter 7 - Adventures in Bodybuilding
  14. Refer to the timeline on p.121 in Your Inner Fish – what is most surprising to you about the timescale? Explain your choice.
  15. What is the most common protein found in the human body? Name it and describe it.
  16. Explain how cells “stick” to one another; give at least one example.
  17. How do cells (generally) communicate with one another?
  18. What are choanoflagellates and why have they been studied by biologists?
  19. What are some of the reasons that “bodies” might have developed in the first place? Include any environmental conditions that might have favored their evolution. Chapter 8 - Making Scents
  20. Briefly explain how we perceive a smell.
  21. Jawless fish have a very few number of odor genes while mammals have a much larger number. Why does this make sense and how is it possible? Chapter 9 - Vision
  22. Humans and Old World monkeys have similar vision – explain the similarity and reasons for it.
  23. What do eyeless and Pax 6 genes do and where can they be found? Chapter 10 - Ears
  24. List the three parts of the ear; what part of the ear is unique to mammals?
  25. An early anatomist proposed the hypothesis that parts of the ears of mammals are the same thing as parts of the jaws of reptiles. Explain any fossil evidence that supports this idea.
  26. What is the function of the Pax 2 gene? Chapter 11 - The Meaning of It All
  27. What is Shubin’s biological “law of everything” and why is it so important?
  28. What is the author trying to show with his “Bozo” example?
  29. This chapter includes many examples of disease that show how humans are products of a lengthy and convoluted evolutionary history. Choose three (3) of the problems listed below and briefly explain how ancient ancestors’ traits still “haunt” us: - Obesity