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?
