USABO

An accelerated college-level course for motivated students 8th-12th grade. Students with no biology or chemistry background are welcome. Occasionally, exceptional 6th and 7th grade students attend as well—please contact Mrs. Webster if you’d like to discuss whether your student is a good fit. (Students can always shift over to our AP Biology class if they get overwhelmed.)

This course prepares students for the AP Biology exam and for challenging Biology contests.

Course goals:

• Get students excited about this fascinating field!
• Deeply cover the materials required for the AP exam AND for biology contests like the USABO and the British Biology Olympiad. 
  • Biochemistry
  • Cell structures
  • Membranes and transport
  • Cell signalling
  • Cell energetics (enzymes, photosynthesis, and cell respiration)
  • Cell replication (mitosis and meiosis)
  • Genetics (inheritance, DNA structure + replication, transcription + translation, gene expression)
  • Biotechnology
  • Viruses, bacteria
  • Evolution, phylogeny, and history of life on earth
  • Ecology
  • Physiology
  • Botany
  • The tree of life (if time allows; otherwise, we provide reading and study guides)
• Practice the data analysis and critical thinking necessary for the AP exam, contests, and being a scientist
• We cover all of Campbell’s Biology (this is a college-level textbook and considered the biology bible).

For students who intend to take the USABO Open exam in February, we recommend the USABO Prep courses offered in December and January, in which we address student questions on practice exams. (The USABO exams are quite challenging, and students often have countless questions as they practice.)

For students who intend to take the AP exam in May, we offer the AP Biology PREP course in March-May, to review materials and take many practice exams. Some students who’ve studied for the USABO don’t need this course, but others find it useful. Students should discuss with Mrs. Webster if they aren’t sure.

The course is taught synchronously over Zoom, so students can easily attend. Mrs. Webster is a dynamic teacher who keeps students engaged and entertained during the class.

Students who miss a class can catch up via recording.
Homework and class materials are shared via Google Classroom.

Register here: https://forms.gle/zXHEMowbdV1PyT9y8

Round 1: USABO Open Exam

• Is a 50-minute, nationwide multiple-choice and multiple true/false choice exam available to any high school biology student (grades 9 to 12) who is registered by a school.
• Administered at a registered school (classroom or location designated by the teacher/test administrator) within the time period
• designated by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE).
• Structured like the multiple-choice portion of the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) Theoretical Exam.
• Has NO Penalty for guessing.

Round 2: USABO Semifinal Exam

• Is a 120-minute exam containing three parts:
  • Part A is primarily multiple choice questions with one answer.
  • Part B has more complex, sequenced multiple choice questions that may have several correct answers (see comment regarding penalty for guessing below) and may require calculations or extensive interpretation of graphs (see posted example) and multiple true/false choice questions.
  • Part C may be short answer or essay.
• Administered at a registered school (classroom or location designated by the teacher/test administrator) over a 120-minute period within the time period designated by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE).
• Taken by students who score in the top 10% of the Open Exam.
• Has NO Penalty for guessing. For multiple choice questions with more than one answer, the question value will be the number of wrong responses subtracted from the number of right responses with no question value below zero.

Top 10% or 500-600 students will be qualified to be semi-finalist!