University School AP^® Courses:

(click on Course Name below to access information)

AP^® Biology
 

      AP^® Calculus AB
 

   AP^® Chemistry
 

AP^® English
 

     AP^® US History

Students will need to complete the application/assessment before being admitted to advanced placement and honors classes. The procedure will be communicated to the students in a timely manner.  All students who take AP courses will be required to pay for and take the advanced placement exam.  Students earning the grade of 77% or higher will receive a weighted credit toward their GPA.
 

Students' grades in AP classes will be weighted differently from grades in regular classes when computing grade point averages.  Weighted grades are only given if the Advanced Placement (AP) exam is taken.  All AP students will register and take the AP exam.

Regular/Challenge Classes GPA               GPA for AP Classes will be averaged

will be averaged as:                               as follows:

A          4 points                                     A          5 points

B          3 points                                     B          4 points

C          2 points                                     C          3 points

D          1 point                                      D          1 points

F          0 point                                       F          0 points

The AP^® Program

       The Advanced Placement Program (AP^®) is a collaborative effort between motivated students; dedicated teachers; and committed high schools, colleges, and universities. Since its inception in 1955, the program has enabled millions of students to take college-level courses and exams, and to earn college credit or placement, while still in high school. 

More information about the AP^® program is available at  http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf (click on "Information for Parents and Students", scroll down and it is on right side)
 

Students can find more information at the AP^® student site (www.collegeboard.com/apstudents).

AP^® Biology

Prerequisites: Biology & Chemistry

Introduction

       The AP^® Biology course is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester college introductory biology course usually taken by biology majors during their first year. After showing themselves to be qualified on the AP^® Exam, some students, in their freshman year, are permitted to undertake upper level courses in biology or to register for courses for which biology is a prerequisite. Other students may have fulfilled a basic requirement for a laboratory-science course and will be able to undertake other courses to pursue their majors.  AP^® Biology includes those topics regularly covered in a college biology course for majors.  The AP^® Biology course is designed to be taken by students after the successful completion of a first course in high school biology and one in high school chemistry. It aims to provide students with conceptual framework, factual knowledge, and analytical skills necessary to deal critically with the rapidly changing science of biology.

Goals of the Course

       Goals have been set for percentage coverage of three general areas:

I.                    Molecules and Cells, 25%

II.                 Heredity and Evolution, 25%

III.               Organisms and Populations, 50%

       The two main goals of AP^® Biology are to help students develop a conceptual framework for modern biology and an appreciation of science as a process. The ongoing knowledge explosion in biology makes these goals even more challenging. Primary emphasis in an AP^® Biology course should be on developing an understanding of concepts rather than on memorizing terms and technical details. Essential to this conceptual understanding are a grasp of science as a process rather than as an accumulation of facts; personal experience in scientific inquiry; recognition of unifying themes that integrate the major topics of biology; and application of biological knowledge and critical thinking to environment and social concerns.

Major Themes

I.                    Science as Process

II.                 Evolution

III.               Energy Transfer

IV.              Continuity and Change

V.                 Relationship of Structure to Function

VI.              Regulation

VII.            Interdependence in Nature

VIII.         Science, Technology, and Society

Topics

Topic                                                                                       Percentage of Course

I.                    Molecules and Cells…………………………………………….25%

II.                 Heredity and Evolution…………………………………………25%

III.               Organisms and Populations…………………………………….50%

The Laboratory

       Laboratory experience must be included in all AP^® Biology courses. Laboratory work should encourage the development of important skills such as detailed observation, accurate recording, experimental design, manual manipulation, data interpretation, statistical analysis, and operation of technical equipment. Laboratory assignments offer the opportunity for students to learn about problem solving, the scientific method, the techniques of research, and the use of scientific literature. Laboratory investigations also encourage higher-order thinking, which may include evaluating and monitoring progress through an investigation, generating ideas, and formulating hypotheses.      

Biology Laboratories

Laboratory Topics

1. Diffusion and Osmosis                            7.  Genetics of Organisms
2. Enzymes Catalysis                                   8.  Population Genetics & Photosynthesis
3. Mitosis and Meiosis                                 9.  Transpiration
4. Plant Pigments & Photosynthesis           10.  Physical of the Circulatory System
5. Cell Respiration                                      11.  Animal Behavior
6. Molecular Biology                                  12.  Dissolved Oxygen & Aquatic

                                                                                   Primary Productivity

The Exam in Biology

       The AP^® Biology Exam is three hours in length and is designed to measure a student’s knowledge and understanding of modern biology. The exam consists of an 80-minute, 100-item multiple-choice section, which examines the student’s understanding of representative content and concepts drawn form across the entire course; a 10-minute reading period; and a 90-minute free-response section, consisting of four mandatory questions that encompass broader topics. The number of multiple-choice questions taken from each major subset of biology reflects the approximate percentage of the course as designated. In the free-response portion of the exam, usually one essay question is taken from Area I of the outline (Molecules and Cells), and another question focuses on Area II (Heredity and Evolution). Two questions generally focus on Area III of the outline (Organisms and Populations). The multiple-choice section counts for 60 percent of the student’s exam grade, and the free-response section counts for 40 percent. Within the free-response section, each of the four questions is weighted equally. The answers to the free-response questions must be in essay form.

      The free-response section asks the students to organize answers to broad questions, thereby demonstrating reasoning and analytical skills as well as an ability to synthesize material form several sources into a cogent and coherent essay. To prepare for such questions, students should practice writing free-response answers whenever appropriate during the course.

AP^® Calculus
 

Prerequisites

       Before studying calculus, all students should complete four years of secondary mathematics design for college-bound students: courses in which they study algebra, geometry, trigonometry, analytic geometry, and elementary functions. These functions include those that are linear, polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric, inverse trigonometric, and piecewise defined. In particular, before studying calculus, students must be familiar with the properties of functions, the algebra of functions, and graphs of functions. Students must also understand the language of functions (domain and range, odd and even, periodic, symmetry, zeros, intercepts, etc.)

       An AP^® course in calculus consists of a full high school academic year of work that is comparable to calculus courses in college and universities. It is possible to spend some time on elementary functions and still cover the Calculus AB curriculum within a year. However, if students are to be adequately prepared for the Calculus AB Exam, most of the year must be devoted to the topics in differential and integral calculus.

Goals

• Students should be able to work with functions represented in a variety of ways: graphical, numerical, analytical, or verbal. They should understand the connections among these representations.
• Students should understand the meaning of the derivative in terms of a rate of change and local linear approximation and should be able to use derivatives to solve a variety of problems.
• Students should understand the meaning of the definite integral both as a limit of Riemann sums and as the net accumulation of change and should be able to use integrals to solve a variety of problems.
• Students should understand the relationship between the derivative and the definite integral as expressed in both parts of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
• Students should be able to communicate mathematics both orally and in well-written sentences and should be able to explain solutions to problems.
• Students should be able to model a written description of a physical situation with a function, a differential equation, or an integral.
• Students should be able to use technology to help solve problems, experiment, interpret results, and verify conclusions.
• Students should be able to determine the reasonableness of solutions, including sign, size, relative accuracy, and units of measurement.
• Students should develop an appreciation of calculus as a coherent body of knowledge and as a human accomplishment.

Philosophy

       Calculus is primarily concerned with developing the students’ understanding of the concepts of calculus and providing experience with its methods and applications. The course emphasizes a multirepresentational approach to calculus, with concepts, results, and problems being expressed graphically, numerically, analytically, and verbally. The connections among these representations also are important.

Topic Outline for Calculus AP^®

• Functions, Graphs, and Limits
• Derivatives and Their Applications
• Integrals and Their Applications

Use of Graphing Calculators

       The use of a graphing calculator in AP^® Calculus in considered an integral part of the course. Students should be using this technology on a regular basis so that they become adept at using their graphing calculators. Students should also have experience with the basic paper-and-pencil techniques of calculus and be able to apply them when technological tools are unavailable or inappropriate.

The Exam in AB Calculus

       The Calculus AB Exam seeks to asses how well a student has mastered the concepts and techniques of the subject matter of the corresponding courses. Each exam consists of two sections, as described below.

               Section I: a multiple-choice section testing proficiency in a wide variety of    topics

               Section II: a free-response section requiring the student to demonstrate the ability to solve problems involving more extended chain of reasoning

       The time allotted for each AP^® Calculus Exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes. The multiple-choice section of each exam consists of 45 questions in 105 minutes. Part A of the multiple-choice section (28 questions in 55 minutes) does not allow the use of a calculator. Part B of the multiple-choice section (17 questions in 50 minutes) contains some questions for which a graphic calculator is required.

The free-response section of each exam has two parts: one part requiring graphic calculators and a second part not allowing graphic calculators. The AP^® Exams are designed to accurately assess student mastery of both the concepts and techniques of calculus. The two-part format for the free-response section provides greater flexibility in the types of problems that can be given while ensuring fairness to all students taking the exam, regardless of the graphic calculator used.

       The free-response section of each exam consists of 6 problems in 90 minutes. Part A of the free-response section (3 problems in 45 minutes) contains some problems or parts of problems for which a graphing calculator is required. Part B of the free-response section (3 problems in 45 minutes) does not allow the use of a calculator. During the second timed portion of the free-response section (Part B), students are permitted to continue work on problems in Part A, but they are not permitted to use a calculator during this time.  In determining the grade for each exam, the scores for Section I and Section II are given equal weight. Since the exams are designed for full coverage of the subject matter, it is not expected that all students will be able to answer all the questions.

AP^® Chemistry
 

Prerequisites

       The AP^® Chemistry course is designed to be taken only after the successful completion of a first course in high school chemistry. Thus it is strongly recommended that credit in a first-year high school chemistry course be a prerequisite in an AP^® Chemistry class. In addition, the recommended mathematics prerequisite for an AP^® Chemistry class is the successful completion of a second-year algebra course.

The Course

       The AP^® Chemistry course is designed to be the equivalent of the general chemistry course usually taken during the first college year. Students in such a course should attain a depth of understanding of fundamentals and a reasonable competence in dealing with chemical problems. The course should contribute to the development of the students’ abilities to think clearly and to express their ideas, orally and in writing, with clarity and logic. The college course in general chemistry differs qualitatively from the usual first secondary school course in chemistry with respect to the kind of textbook used, the topics covered, the emphasis on chemical calculations and the mathematical formulation of principals, and the kind of laboratory work done by students. Quantitative differences appear in the number of topics treated, the time spent on the course by students, and the nature and the variety of experiments done in the laboratory.

Topic Outline

       Topics such as the structure of matter, kinetic theory of gases, chemical equilibria, chemical kinetics, and the basic concepts of thermodynamics are presented in depth.

I.               Structure of Matter (20%)

           A.   Atomic Theory and Atomic Structure

           B.   Chemical Bonding

           C.   Nuclear Chemistry: Nuclear Equations, Half-lives, and Radioactivity; chemical Applications

II.      States of Matter (20%)

A.      Gases

B. Liquids and Solids

C. Solutions

II.             Reactions (35-40%)

                  A.   Reaction Types

           B.   Stoichiometry

C.   Equilibrium

D.   Kinetics

E.   Thermodynamics

III.           Descriptive Chemistry (10-15%)

IV.          Laboratory (5-10%)

    The AP^® Chemistry Exam includes some questions based on experiences and skills students acquire in the laboratory:

·         Making observations of chemical reactions and substances

·         Recording data

·         Calculation and interpreting results based on the quantitative data obtained

·         Communicating effectively the results of experimental work

The Exam in Chemistry

       The two main parts of the exam, Section I and Section II, will contribute equally (50 percent each) toward the final grade. Section I (90 minutes) will still consist of 75 multiple-choice questions with broad coverage of topics.  All students will answer the same six free-response questions. A second change relates to Question 4 of the exam, in which students are asked to write chemical equations for five reactions chosen from eight given sets of reactants. Part A (calculators permitted) and Part B (no calculators permitted). In Part A students will have 55 minutes to answer these problems—one problem involving chemical equilibrium and two other problems, one of which may involve quantitative analysis of data in a laboratory-based problem. In Part B students will have 40 minutes to answer a reactions question (question 4, described above) and two essay questions, one of which will be based on laboratory in the case that no laboratory-based problems appears in Part A.

Calculators

       For the section of the exam in which calculators are permitted, students should be allowed to use the calculators to which they are accustomed. Calculators are not permitted on the multiple-choice section of the AP^® Chemistry Exam.

AP^® English

Overview

       Students should read widely and reflect on their reading through extensive discussion, writing, and rewriting. Students should assume considerable responsibility for the amount of reading and writing they do.  Because the Bible and Greek and Roman mythology are central to much Western literature, students should have some familiarity with them. These religious concepts and stories have influenced and informed Western literary creation since the Middle Ages, and they continue to provide material for modern writers in their attempts to give literary form to human experience. Additionally, the growing body of works written in English reflecting non-Western cultures may require students to have some familiarity with other traditions.

The Course

       An AP^® English Literature and Composition course engages students in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of selected texts, students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes as well as such smaller scale elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone.

Goals

       The course includes intensive study of representative works from various genres and periods, concentrating on works of recognized literary merit. The pieces chosen invite and reward rereading and do not, like ephemeral works in such popular genres as detective or romance fiction, yield all of their pleasures of thought and feeling the first time through.  Reading in an AP^® course is both wide and deep. This reading necessarily builds upon the reading done in previous English courses. In their AP^® course, students read works from several genres and periods-from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century-but, more importantly, they get to know a few works well. Most of the works studied in the course were written originally in English, including pieces by African, Australian, Canadian, Indian, and West Indian authors. Some works in translation may also be included (e.g., Greek tragedies, Russian or Latin American fiction).  Writing is an integral part of the AP^® English Literature and Composition course and exam. Writing assignments focus on the critical analysis of literature and include expository, analytical, and argumentative essays. Although critical analysis makes up the bulk of student writing for the course, well-constructed creative writing assignments may help students see from the inside how literature is written. Such experiences sharpen their understanding of what writers have accomplished and deepen their appreciation of literary artistry. The goal of both types of writing assignments is to increase students’ ability to explain clearly, cogently, even elegantly, what they understand about literary works and why they interpret them as they do.  Emphasis is placed on helping students develop stylistic maturity, which, of AP^® English, is characterized by the following:

• A wide-ranging vocabulary used with denotative accuracy and connotative resourcefulness;
• A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordinate and coordinate constructions;
• A logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques of coherence such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis;
• A balance of generalization with specific illustrative detail; and
• An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, maintaining a consistent voice, and achieving emphasis through parallelism and antithesis.

Representative Authors

       There is no recommended or required reading list for the AP^® English Literature and Composition course. The following authors are provided simply to suggest the range and quality of reading in the course.

- Poetry

W.H. Auden; Robert Browning; Emily Dickinson; John Donne; Sylvia Plath; Edgar Allan Poe; Percy Bysshe Shelley

- Drama

Aeschylus; Anton Chekhov; Henrik Ibsen; Arthur Miller; William Shakespeare; George Bernard Shaw

- Fiction (Novel and Short Story)

Jane Austen; Willa Cather; Charles Dickens; Ernest Hemingway; D.H. Lawrence

- Expository Prose

Gloria Anzaldua; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Samuel Johnson; George Orwell; Henry David Thoreau

The Exam in AP^® English - Literature

       The exam also requires writing as a direct measure of the student’s ability to read and interpret literature and to use other forms of disclosure effectively.  The exam consists of 60 minutes for multiple-choice questions followed by 120 minutes for essay questions. Performance on the essay of the exam counts for 55 percent of the total grade; performance on the multiple-choice section, 45 percent.

AP^® United States History
 

Prerequisites: One year of college prep social studies.

Introduction

       The Advanced Placement Program (AP^®) offers a course and exam in AP^® United States History to qualified students who wish to complete studies in secondary school equivalent to an introductory college course in U.S. history. The AP^® U.S. History Exam presumes at least one year of college-level preparation.

The Course

Purpose

       The AP^® U.S. History course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in U.S. history. Students should learn to assess historical materials-their relevance to a given interpretive problem, reliability, and importance-and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. An AP^® U.S. History course should thus develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format

Themes in AP^® U.S. History

              I.      American Diversity

           II.      American Identity

         III.      Culture

        IV.      Demographic Changes

           V.      Economic Transformations

        VI.      Environment

      VII.      Globalization

   VIII.      Politics and Citizenship

        IX.      Reform

           X.      Religion

        XI.      Slavery and Its Legacies in North America

      XII.      War and Diplomacy

Topics

Pre-Columbian Societies; Transatlantic Encounters and Colonial Beginnings (1492-1690);

Colonial North America (1690-1789); The American Revolutionary Era (1754-1789);

The Early Republic (1789-1815); Transformation of the Economy and Society in Antebellum America; The Transformation of Politics in Antebellum American;  Religion, Reform, and Renaissance in Antebellum America; Territorial Expansion and Manifest Destiny; The Crisis of the Union; Civil War; Reconstruction; The Origins of the New South; Development of the West in the Late Nineteenth Century; Industrial America in the Late Nineteenth Century; Urban Society in the Late Nineteenth Century; Populism and Progressivism; The Emergence of America as a World Power; The New Era: 1920s; The Great Depression and the New Deal; The Second World War

The Home Front During the War; The United States and the Early Cold War; The 1950s;

The Turbulent 1960s; Politics and Economics at the End of the Twentieth Century; Society and Culture at the End of the Twentieth Century; The Untied States in the Post-Cold War World

The Exam in AP^® U.S. History

       The exam is 3 hours and 5 minutes in length and consists of two sections: a 55-minute multiple-choice section and a 130-minute free-response section. The free-response section begins with a mandatory 15-minute reading period. Students are advised to spend most of the 15 minutes analyzing the documents and planning their answer to the document-based essay question (DBQ) in Part A. Suggested writing time for the DBQ is 45 minutes.  Parts B and C each include two standard essay questions that, with the DBQ, cover the period form the first European explorations of the Americas to the present. Students are required answer one essay question in each part in a total of 70 minutes. For each of the essay questions students choose to answer in Part B and C, it is suggested they spend 5 minutes planning and 30 minutes writing.  Both the multiple-choice and the free-response sections cover the period form the first European explorations of the Americas to the present, although a majority of questions are on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Period Covered                                 Approx. % of Test (Multiple-Choice Section only)

Pre-Columbian to 1789                                             20%

1790 to 1914                                                            45%

1915 to the present                                                 35%

Material Covered                             Approx. % of Test (Multiple-Choice Section only)

Political institutions, behavior,

     And public policy                                                                          35%

Social change, and cultural and

          intellectual development                                                                          40%

Diplomacy and international relations                                                                 15%

Economic developments                                                                    10%

       The questions in the multiple-choice section are designed to test students’ factual knowledge, breadth of preparation, and knowledge-based analytical skills. Essay questions are designed, additionally, to make it possible for students form widely differing courses to demonstrate their mastery of historical interpretation and their ability to express their mastery of historical interpretation and their to express their views and knowledge in writing.  Answers to standard essay questions will be judged on the strength of the thesis developed, the quality of the historical argument, and the evidence offered in support of the argument, rather that on the factual information per se.

       The required DBQ differs form the standard essays in its emphasis on the ability to analyze historical data and assess verbal, quantitative, or pictorial materials as historical evidence. Like the standard essay, however, the DBQ will also be judged on its thesis, argument, and supporting evidence. The DBQ will typically require students to relate the documents to a historical period or theme and, thus, to focus on major periods and issues.

Scores earned on the multiple-choice and free-response sections each account for one-half of the student’s exam grade. Within the free-response section, the DBQ counts for 45%; the two standard essays count for 55 percent.