Required Class Materials for AP Biology Students
- 2 or 3 inch binder with looseleaf paper
- composition book for use in lab
- graph paper
- pens (blue or black) for lab notebook
- one box of disposable gloves in your size (you may share a box with another student)
- Post-it notes in various sizes (for use on mini-posters)
- simple 4-function calculator with square root function (scientific and graphing calculators are not allowed on the AP exam) The College Board describes acceptable calculators: "Four-function calculators have a one-line display and a simple layout of numeric keys (e.g., 0–9), arithmetic operation keys (e.g., +, -, ×, and ÷), and a limited number of special-use keys (e.g., %, +/-, C, and AC). They may also contain simple memory buttons such as MC, M+, M-, and MR. Four-function calculators are readily available and very inexpensive."
Optional Class Materials
- Vis-a-vis (or similar brand) transparency markers (for use on mini-posters)
- AP Biology Exam Review Guide (there are several publishing companies that offer these books, just make sure you get a current edition that is correlated to the new exam)
- markers and/or colored pencils for lab illustrations
- Instead of a composition book, you may want to purchase a carbonless lab notebook. Doing so will allow you to turn in one copy of your lab data and turn in the other. Carbonless lab notebooks are commonly used at the college level (particularly in chemistry) and can be purchased online here (either the "Life Sciences" 70 set notebook or the spiral-bound 50 set notebook would work) or here. You may also try one of the local college bookstores; look in the chemistry section for any brand of carbonless copy lab notebook.