AP Calculus BC
Course philosophy
AP Calculus BC is course modeled after a 2nd semester Calculus course in college. Students explore and investigate limits, derivatives, and integration techniques as well as differential equations and mathematical modeling, sequences and series, parametric, vector, and polar functions. We will also apply these techniques to application problems. Preparation for the AP Exam takes place throughout the school year. A detailed syllabus and course description is available at: http://collegeboard.com/ap/students/calculus/index.html Students are expected to take the AP test on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. A score of 4 or 5 will guarantee students college credit.
Assessment
• Problem(s) of the Day.
Each class begins with Problem(s) of the Day. These problems may be old AP problems or other AP-type problems, and are used for ongoing, spiraled review. Students volunteer their solutions to the class, and often put their solutions on the board.
• Homework
Homework is assigned daily from the text, old AP problems, or other sources. Students check their answers together in their cooperative groups by comparing to the solutions manuals, and discuss with each other the assignment problems whose solutions they are unable to understand. The problems that individual groups are unable to resolve through their discussions are then worked on the board, by other students or the instructor, and discussed with the entire class.
• Quizzes
Short quizzes are given weekly (possibly multiple times in a week). Students get feedback on their quizzes within 2 class days from the instructor, and can monitor, along with the instructor, concepts that need to be revisited.
• Tests
Tests are given at the end of each chapter, and are divided into two parts: calculator active and calculator inactive. Tests consist of previously released AP problems, and students must clearly show all supporting work, even for multiple-choice problems, to receive full credit. Once each marking period, students take a test with a partner; partners are selected at random, or chosen by the teacher. Partners work the same test together, discussing their work, and submit one test for both partners.
• Projects and labs
With a partner or their cooperative group, students complete at least one major lab or project every marking period. These projects are taken from a variety of resources, such as the Mathematical Association of America's five volume calculus set. Students are required to show all work, clearly and concisely, and to communicate their conclusions in complete, coherent sentences.
• Writing in the Calculus class
Students are often required to summarize, in written sentences, the conclusions they make from their algebraic, graphical and numerical support work for problems from homework assignments, quizzes, tests, labs, and other projects.
The 9-weeks grade will be calculated as follows:
- Homework - 10%
- Quizzes/Labs - 35%
- Tests/Projects - 55%
The semester grade will be determined as follows:
- 1st Nine weeks – 37.5%
- 2nd Nine weeks – 37.5%
- Mid-term exam – 25%
Course materials
Required:
- 3-ring notebook (At least 2 inches)
- Notebook paper
- Pencil
These materials should be brought to class each day.
Recommended:
- Colored pencils (or pens)
- TI – 83 or 84 Calculator (please read below on use of Technology)
TEACHER WISH LIST
· Facial tissue
· Band-aids
· Glue sticks
· Play-Doh
Tutoring
Mrs. Moorefield will be available for tutoring 3:15 – 3:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students are also encouraged to form study groups and tutor themselves outside of class sessions. Mr. Jones, one of WAHS’s Pre-Calculus teachers, has also generously offered to tutor Calculus students.
Please visit my web page, http://www.abss.k12.nc.us//Domain/2342, to find numerous links to tutorials and other resources on-line. I especially love the video lessons I have found posted by other Calculus teachers on You Tube.
Technology
Technology will be used extensively during this course. The calculator that will be used in class is the TI-84. Students are encouraged to purchase personal calculators or download the FREE TI83 Plus program from my website for use on the PC. However, calculators are available for classroom use.
When choosing a calculator, please understand that the higher the number does not mean the “better” the calculator. A few of the higher number calculators (TI-92) are not allowed on AP test or the SAT. Some calculators (TI-89) will do “more” than the TI-83, but can be difficult to use due to the location of certain functions.
Graphing calculators are used often in the classroom for exploration, and assessment, and on homework assignments. Because use of the graphing calculator is restricted to half of the AP Exam, some homework problems, and about half of the quiz and test problems are done without use of the graphing calculator. Class discussion of the types of problems which should be worked with graphers takes place frequently throughout the course, and the limitations of technology, and the misconceptions that may arise from its use are discussed (e.g., using the numerical approximation to the derivative at a cusp). Throughout the year, students receive calculator programs that are used to plot slope fields, approximate the definite integral via Riemann sums or the trapezoidal rule, and approximate solutions to differential equations via Euler's method.
Preparation for the AP Examination
Previously released AP problems are used for problems of the day, as class examples, in
homework assignments, and on quizzes and tests. Practice exams from commercial sources such as Barron's and D&S Marketing (listed in supplementary materials below) are worked as homework assignments closer to the administration of the AP examination. Finally, students are given released full-length AP Calculus exams, and multiple class periods are used to review each exam thoroughly.
Major Text
Larson, Ron, Bruce H. Edwards, and Robert P. Hostetler. Calculus of a Single Variable. Seventh Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Supplementary Materials
• Hockett, Shirley O., and David Bock. AP Calculus: Advanced Placement Examination: Review of Calculus AB and Calculus BC. Hauppauge, New York: Barron's, 2005.
• McMullin, Lin. Multiple-Choice & Free-Response Questions in Preparation for the AP Calculus (AB) Examination. Brooklyn, New York: D&S Marketing Systems, Inc., 2005.
Contact information
Audrey Moorefield
1731 N. NC 87
Elon, NC 27244
336.538.6020 (W)