The Night‑Before Moment ☕️
You’ve got a mug of (probably cold) coffee, flashcards scattered like confetti, and exactly one evening to cram. Breathe—this guide is your shortcut through every AP Bio unit, minus the stiff textbook prose. Ready? Let’s sprint.
1️⃣ Chemistry of Life – “Water Is Weird and Wonderful”
Hydrogen bonds = party tricks. Cohesion keeps droplets hugging, adhesion lets them climb walls, and surface tension means pond‑skaters do parkour on puddles.
Break it / Make it: Hydrolysis slices polymers; dehydration synthesis glues ’em back.
Macromolecule roll‑call:
Nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) = genetic Dropbox.
Proteins need precise amino‑acid order—change it, wreck it.
Carbs stockpile energy (hello, glycogen).
Lipids are the chill, non‑polar crowd hanging in the membrane.
Why care? Mess with any of these and cells throw a tantrum—think denatured enzymes or leaky membranes.
2️⃣ Cell Structure & Function – Microscopic City Planning 🏙️
Organelle MVPs: Ribosomes craft proteins; ER detoxes and lipid‑shops; Golgi gift‑wraps packages; mitochondria print ATP money; lysosomes haul trash.
Folds = efficiency. More inner‑membrane surface → more ATP.
Size matters: High surface‑area‑to‑volume ratios keep traffic flowing.
Membrane gatekeeping:
VIPs (small, non‑polar gases) stroll in.
Big polar brutes need protein bouncers (channels, carriers).
Transport modes:
Passive (diffusion, osmosis, facilitated) = downhill, no ATP.
Active = uphill cycling class, ATP required.
Endosymbiosis theory: Your mitochondria are basically adopted bacteria. Wild.
3️⃣ Cellular Energetics – Powering the Beast ⚡️
Enzymes lower activation energy—the metabolic cheat code. Temperature, pH, and concentration tweak their mood; push too far and they melt.
Inhibitors: Competitive = musical chairs; non‑competitive = someone steals the whole chair.
Photosynthesis (chloroplast edition):
Light reactions zap electrons in Photosystems II & I.
Calvin cycle in the stroma forges carbs.
Cellular respiration: Electron shuffle → proton gradient → ATP jackpot.
Fermentation is the backup generator when oxygen ghosts.
4️⃣ Cell Communication & Cycle – Gossip and Growth 📞
Signal zip codes: Paracrine (neighbors), endocrine (long‑distance DM), autocrine (self‑talk).
STP mantra: Reception → Transduction → Response.
Feedback loops:
Negative = thermostat (insulin).
Positive = snowball (oxytocin in labor).
Cell cycle checkpoints (G₁, S, G₂ → Mitosis): Quality control before division.
Mitosis clones; Meiosis halves and shuffles chromosomes for diversity.
5️⃣ Heredity – Why You Have Dad’s Dimples
Crossing over + independent assortment = chromosomal roulette.
Punnett squares still rule exam math.
Genotype vs. phenotype: Blueprints vs. finished house.
Environment tweaks expression: Siamese cats’ fur darkens in cooler spots—science cosplay.
Genetic disorders often trace back to wonky alleles or nondisjunction fiascos.
6️⃣ Gene Expression & Regulation – From DNA to Drama 🎭
DNA replication: Helicase unzips, polymerase builds, ligase stitches. Always 5’ → 3’, semi‑conservative handshake.
Transcription/Translation: DNA ➜ mRNA ➜ protein. Caps, tails, and intron‑splicing keep mRNA safe and sleek.
Regulation: Eukaryotes use transcription factors; prokaryotes run operons (lac, trp).
Mutations: Sometimes silent, sometimes blockbuster.
Biotech toolkit: Gel electrophoresis sorts, PCR amplifies, bacterial transformation borrows new genes.
7️⃣ Natural Selection – Evolution’s Reality Show 🦍
Fitness = baby tally.
Selective pressures + competition prune gene pools.
Genetic drift and random mutations stir the pot.
Hardy–Weinberg is your equilibrium detective—when its assumptions break, evolution’s at work.
Cladograms & trees sketch family drama across millennia.
8️⃣ Ecology – Life, the Universe, and Everything 🌲
Homeostasis keeps organisms zen.
Energy pyramid: Only ~10 % passes upward; heat steals the rest.
Population curves: Logistic “S” when resources cap growth.
Simpson’s Diversity Index quantifies ecosystem richness—higher = sturdier.
Symbiosis menu: Mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, plus the classic predator‑prey chase.
FRQ Ninja Hacks ✍️
Read the verbs—describe vs. explain changes your answer length.
Start with graphs/labels to snag quick points.
Bullet, label (a, b, c) → no fluff.
Drop hedge words (“might,” “maybe”) and own your answer.
Whenever possible, name an example organism or pathway. Easy credibility.
Rapid‑Fire Key Terms 💡
Unit 1: proteins, nucleic acids, carbs, lipids
Unit 2: diffusion, osmoregulation
Unit 3: photosynthesis, respiration
Unit 4: signal transduction, checkpoints
Unit 5: meiosis, phenotype
Unit 6: operons, central dogma
Unit 7: fitness, variation
Unit 8: logistic growth, homeostasis
Final Pep Talk 🎤
Look, AP Bio is a marathon of vocab and diagrams—but remember: it’s fundamentally a story about how living things solve problems. Keep that narrative in mind on test day, sprinkle in these buzzwords, sketch a quick cladogram when in doubt, and you’ll do more than survive—you’ll thrive.
Now shut this tab, quiz yourself once, get some sleep, and rock that exam. You’ve got this! 🧬🚀