1) AP Biology students are required to read "Your Inner Fish" by Neil Shubin over the summer and watch an Evolution DVD. 2) The course is designed to be equivalent to a two-semester college introductory biology course and cover evolution. 3) Students should contact their teacher via email over the summer if they have any questions.

1. Required Summer Reading and Work
AP Biology
Summer 2010
Required Summer Reading:
Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin
Additional Required Summer Materials:
Evolution DVD – be sure to get your set from Mrs. Rasmussen before you leave for the summer.
Dear AP Biology Students and Parents:
I am delighted that you will be a member of the Advanced Placement Biology class of 2010-2011.
I hope you will find joy, challenges and excitement in the study of biology.
Advanced Placement Biology is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester college
introductory biology course. This course is usually taken during their first year of college by those
students who major in biological sciences. High school students who pass the AP Exam in May are often
permitted to take upper-level courses in biology or to register for courses which have first-year college
biology as a prerequisite.
To get us started, I would like you to read a book that I hope will set the stage for our first topic -
evolution. It is a selection that I hope you will enjoy: Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-
Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin. In the book, the author deals with nearly all of the
major ideas of organic and biological evolution as he takes the reader on a “journey” from earlier forms of
life through the development of Homo sapiens.
The DVD on Evolution was produced by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Be sure you pick
up your copy before you leave for the summer. Accompanying the DVD will be a set of instructions
on what to view in the DVD.
Please advise me which e-mail address you would like me to use as a primary contact for the
summer.
.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at jrasmussen@sasaustin.org. I
will be happy to chat with you and answer any questions.
Yours truly,
Mrs. Rasmussen