This session is offered Event 1: June 17-20, 2025  and again in Event 2: June 23-26

Meet Tom Willis, the College Board endorsed Consultant for AP Biology APSI at the WaltonAPSI

Tom Willis has been teaching high school science for 32 years, in both public and private institutions. Tom has taught AP Biology for 28 of those years as well as teaching regular and honors Biology, Ecology, Anatomy, Marine Biology, Astronomy, and Psychology.

Tom has served as an AP reader and table leader for over 20 years and has been a College Board consultant for Biology for 13 years having led over 50 biology workshops around the world during that time. Tom is the founder of Biology Magnets LLC, developing teaching tools for biology educators.

Tom has a B.S. in Applied Biology from Georgia Tech and a M.Ed. in Science Education from Georgia Southern University. Tom is currently teaching at Frederica Academy on St. Simons Island and is the science department chair. Tom is also the golf coach at Frederica Academy.

APSI Session Schedule:

In this AP Biology APSI, you’ll explore the course framework, the exam, and the new AP resources that will help you plan and focus instruction—and give you feedback throughout the year on the areas where individual students need additional focus. You’ll also learn about completing the digital activation process at the start of the school year that will give you immediate access to the new resources and will help ensure that your students can register for AP Exams by the new fall deadlines.  You’ll gain deeper insight into the following key takeaways, among several others: Understand the Course; Plan the Course; Teach the Course; Assess Student Progress; and Engage as a Member of the AP Community. In addition, specific attention will be paid to the following AP Classroom resources: unit guides, personal progress checks, AP teacher community, & AP question bank.

Preworkshop
Review CED (Course and Exam Description)

Day 1 – CED, Textbooks, Syllabus

  • Opening Statistics Lab
  • CED Review and Discussion
  • Review shared files from the google drive
  • Textbooks, Syllabus, Labs
  • AP Classroom
  • Setup Lab 11
  • Online Resources

Day 2 – Units 1 and 2

  • Units 1-2 Content
  • Lab 4
  • Take Practice Exam
  • Grading Sample FRQs
  • Water potential problems
  • Lab 4 results
  • Grading practice exams

Day 3 – Units 3-6

  • Units 3, 4 Content
  • Enzyme Lab
  • Photosynthesis/Respiration Lab
  • Sharing Resources
  • Unit 5,6 Content
  • Lab Mitosis/Meiosis
  • Lab Transformation
  • Lab Restriction Enzymes
  • Syllabus work

Day 4- Units 7-8

  • Unit 7,8 Content
  • Finish Lab Transpiration
  • Hardy Weinberg math/Lab
  • Simpson’s Diversity Math
  • BLAST Lab
  • Chi Square problems
  • Behavior Lab
  • Evaluations/Extra Help