Advanced Placement Courses

Table of Contents

Art History

Biology

Calculus AB

Calculus BC

Chemistry

English Language

English Literature and Composition

European History

French Language

Human Geography

Microeconomics

Physics B

Physics C

Psychology

Spanish

Statistics

Studio Art

US Government and Politics

United States History

World History

Art History

Instructor: Mr. KeilerRoom T-4

AP Art History is a challenging course that chronologically surveys art and architecture from pre-historic to modern times. We cover both the Western tradition in art and also non-Western cultures, including Africa, Asia, the Islamic world and pre-Columbian America.

In May, students will take the AP exam for college credit. Class grades are not connected to the actual AP exam. However the course curriculum is oriented toward the exam objectives. Class assessments will be based on Extended Response Essays, Brief Response Essays, and Selected Response Questions used on the AP exam. Many of these questions will be based on viewing slides showing various works of art or architecture. We will view many slides and other media in class. This is not a time to relax or daydream. Identifying slides correctly is a vital part of the course.

A detailed syllabus will be provided in a separate document and is available to students at my Teachweb website. A summary syllabus is also there. Specific assignments and announcements will be made in class and posted on the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. Assignments will also usually be posted on my website. The URL is: You should check this website regularly for assignments and information. All students are required to buy the book“The Annotated Mona Lisa” for use in the course. This is available at bookstores or on Amazon.com (between $10-20 depending on whether new or used.) Grades will be posted on Mygradebook.com.

Grades are based on class-work (including class participation), homework, and tests and quizzes. Those assignments designated as assessments (usually tests and quizzes) will be worth 60% of your grade. Non-assessment work is worth 40%. An extra credit project is optional every quarter. I will explain the topics and potential media for the project in class an on my website as they come up on the Announcements page.

It is very important to keep up on reading assignments. Students should expect to spend about 30-60 minutes each day reading or completing homework. You will also be provided with a CDROM for use on assignments and for study. You are responsible for the CDROM and will be charged $10.00 if it is lost or damaged. It is important that you safeguard this CD and make use of it throughout the year to practice tests and quizzes and to review slides.

Biology

Instructor: Ms. StarkeRoom 130

Introduction: AP Biology is the equivalent of an introductory college course for biology majors and will therefore use a college text, conduct college labs, and include college exams. In comparison to most college introductory biology courses, which can have several hundred students per class, students will have the advantage of being in a small class which will provide the student with considerably more opportunity for closer supervision and individual help.

Course Description: As you know, science and technology have evolved and grown so quickly in the past fifty years that the volume to be included in an introductory course has grown substantially. The integration of this material into a logical, learnable format is an extraordinary challenge to both students and their teachers. To articulate in biology students need grounding in the facts and vocabulary of the subject. However, the study of biology should no be limited to the memorization of disjointed facts. There are eight major themes that helps structure the course as well as integrate each topic. The themes include Evolution, Regulation, Energy Transfer, Continuity & Change, Structure & Function, Science as a Process, Interdependence in Nature, and Science, Technology, & Society.

Expectations: In order to be successful in this class, students must be prepared to spend two hours per week night completing biology assignments, reviewing concepts that have been taught that day, and preparing for the next class session. Additionally, some of the laboratory experiments require formal written lab reports that must be done on a computer; these require an additional hour per report. Success in AP Biology is closely related to the successful completion of chemistry and biology.

Course Objectives: The goal of this course is to provide students with a solid understanding of the principal concepts in biology and an appreciation of science as a process. This course will stress the basic facts and the synthesis of those facts into major concepts and themes. The students’ goal is to understand those ideas that unite the various content areas while developing their ability to solve problems in a scientific manner in order to apply biological knowledge and think critically about environmental and social issues.

CALCULUS AB

Instructor: Mrs. SwanRoom 25

PREREQUISITES: A final grade of an A or B in Pre-Calculus and Teacher’s Permission

SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS: Review packet containing questions from all prerequisite courses.

HOMEWORK: The students will be expected to devote one hour a night to homework assignments.

GRADING POLICY: Grades will be assessed as follows:

1) 70% Tests and Quizzes

2) 30% Class work and Homework.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: AP Calculus AB is a college level mathematics course covering topics such as Limits and Continuity, Differentiation, Integration, Differential Equations, and Mathematical Modeling as well as real – world applications of those topics. At the completion of the course, students will take the AP CalculusAB exam for undergraduate college credit.

The Advanced Placement Calculus course is challenging and will require dedication and commitment on the part of the students. Students will be required to master a selection of mathematical topics, facts and concepts as well as apply knowledge learned in previous mathematics courses. The students will master the concepts by using various tools where relevant (examples: technology, tables of numeric data…) and learn how to apply the concepts by solving well chosen and designed exercises. They will later on develop an expertise in problem solving and communication using the appropriate mathematics language and technology.

CALCULUS BC

INSTRUCTOR: Mr. StanleyRoom T-1

PREREQUISITES: Final Grade of an A or B in Pre-Calculus AB and Teacher’s permission

SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS: Review packet containing questions from all prerequisite courses.

HOMEWORK: The students will be expected to devote one hour a night to homework assignments.

GRADING POLICY: Grades will be assessed as follows:

1) 70% Tests and Quizzes

2) 30% Class work and Homework.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: AP Calculus BC is a college level mathematics course that builds on the topics from the previous year in Calculus AB and in addition covering topics such as Differential Equations, Mathematical Modeling, Infinite Series, and Parametric Vector and Polar functions as well as real – world applications of those topics. At the completion of the course, students will take the AP CalculusBC exam for undergraduate college credit.

Chemistry

Instructor: Mrs. FudoldRoom 143

Introduction:

Advanced Placement Chemistry is a rigorous and rewarding course that prepares students for the AP Chemistry exam, which is held in May at the end of the academic year. The AP program provides an opportunity for students to pursue and receive credit for college level course work completed at the secondary school level. The AP Program, sponsored by the College Board, is based on the premise that college level material can be taught to able and academically advanced secondary school students.

The AP Program is a cooperative endeavor that helps high school students complete college level courses and permits colleges to evaluate, acknowledge and encourage that accomplishment through the granting of appropriate credit and placement.

Course Description: This chemistry course will consist of lecture, demonstrations, laboratory experiments group and independent assignments, and problem solving. The laboratory component of this course is extremely important since many colleges require students to present lab books in order to be exempted from the laboratory sections of freshman chemistry. Problem solving is a critical part of the course that prepares students for taking the advanced placement examination. Students are encouraged to form study groups in order to prepare for tests and work through some of the more difficult problems.

Mastery of Mathematics concepts contributes significantly to success in Chemistry. However, it is the amount of effort and hard work by dedicated students that ensures success in AP Chemistry...

Expectations: In order to be successful in this class, students must be prepared to spend one hour per week night completing chemistry problems and reviewing concepts that have been taught that day. Additionally, many of the laboratory experiments require formal written lab reports that must be done on a computer; these require an additional hour per report.

Relevant Text: The text for this course is “Chemistry” Zumdahl and Zumdahl, Seventh Edition, Houghton Mifflin, 2007, including the laboratory manual, study guide, and partial solutions manual which support the text.

Supplementary materials include: Fast Track to a Five, Preparing for the AP Chemistry Examination, Houghton Mifflin 2006; Multiple Choice and Free Response Questions in Preparation for the AP Chemistry Examination, 4th Edition, Peter E. Demmin, D& S Marketing Inc. 2000; Laboratory Experiments for Advanced Placement Chemistry, 2nd Edition, Flinn Scientific Inc. 2006.

English Language

Instructors: Kelly Price Teri Hendricks Jodi Fetterolf

Room 250 Room 215 Room 210

Course Description

AP English Language 11 is a rigorous, college-level program similar in content and expectations to a university freshman rhetoric and composition course. The purpose of this course is to provide high school students who are interested in closely reading, analyzing, and writing about visual and traditional texts the opportunity to study the kinds of challenging, stimulating kinds of literary texts enjoyed by college students. This course will enable motivated students to read with understanding complex texts, to analyze rhetoric in text and in other media, and to write expository, narrative, analytical, and persuasive prose of sufficient richness and complexity which communicates effectively with mature readers.

Course Activities

Deep, wide, varied, and active reading and rereading of essays, letters, advertisements, speeches, editorials, diary entries, film excerpts, and narratives (novels and short stories). Reading includes works we study as a class and limited independent choices.
Formal writing (both timed in-class essays and take-home) on selected passages (referred to as “close reads” or “analytical essays,” on open questions usually based on quotations, and synthesis essays– I always grade using the College Board’s AP English rubric.
Informal writing such as journaling, quickwrites, and reader responses (no-fault; graded solely on content)
Revision and editing – students are expected to share their writing with the class on a regular basis.
Vocabulary development – for every work we read, students are expected to note new words (context and meaning) which we will discuss in class.
Constant and consistent attention to process and improvement in writing – students keep ungraded and graded essays in their portfolios and periodically self-assess their progress before, during, and after writing.
Close reading, annotation, analysis, evaluation, and revision of sample and model essays.
Regularly scheduled combination objective (including AP and sample) and short essay exams as well as announced and unannounced quizzes on rhetorical devices
Creative writing – style imitations, poetry, drama, short stories and/or film

Sample Writing Assignment:

Analyze Holden’s attitudes toward his experiences at RadioCityMusic Hall and what those attitudes reveal about his character.

Summer Assignment: Read The Catcher in the Rye and The Art of Styling Sentences. Complete a dialectical journal for the former; complete all exercises in the latter.

Students should depend on spending at least four hours a week on homework for this course.

English Literature and Composition

Instructor: Kelly PriceJanell Johnson

Room 250Room 224

Course Description

AP English Lit 12 is a rigorous, college-level program similar in content and expectations to a university freshman or sophomore literature course. The purpose of this course is to provide high school students who are interested in closely reading, analyzing, and writing about imaginative literature the opportunity to study the kinds of challenging, stimulating kinds of literary texts enjoyed by college students. This course will enable motivated students to read with understanding complex texts spanning the sixteenth to twenty-first centuries and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity which communicates effectively with mature readers of literature.

Some of Our Course Activities

Deep, wide, varied, and active reading and rereading of plays, short stories, novels, poetry and literary criticism. Reading includes works we study as a class and “Price’s Outside Independent Reading Program” (see below).

Reflection on reading through extensive group and class discussion, writing, and revision
Formal writing (both timed in-class essays and take-home) on selected passages (referred to as “close reads” or “analytical essays”) and on open questions based on theme – I always grade using the College Board’s AP English rubric. Essays are typically explications, analyses, or arguments—you will write at least one essay every other week.
Informal writing such as journaling, quickwrites, and reader responses (daily)
Peer revision and editing – students are expected to share their writing with the class on a regular basis
Constant and consistent attention to process and improvement in writing – students keep their ungraded and graded essays in their portfolios and periodically self-assess their progress. Students also have the opportunity, once a quarter, to evaluate and choose from three of their ungraded essays – one for the teacher to grade as is, one to revise at home then submit, and one to file.
Close reading, annotation, analysis, and evaluation of sample essays.
Regularly scheduled combination objective (including AP and sample) and short essay exams as well as announced and unannounced quizzes on plot, structure, style, theme, and vocabulary

In general, students should depend on spending at least four hours a week on homework for this course.

Summer Assignment:

Read and outline How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster
Actively read Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson and, in four short essays, apply Foster’s ideas to the novel

Write one college application essay.

EUROPEAN HISTORY

Instructor: Mr. LintonRoom 024

This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the history of the European continent since about 1450 to the present day – from the Renaissance to the adoption of the euro. Though students are expected to learn about the events, peoples and places from this period, students are also expected to develop skills such as analyzing historical evidence, analyze and express historical understanding in writing and synthesize concepts based on historical information. Students must be prepared to read an average of forty pages a week and be able to analyze it. This will enable students to pass an Advanced Placement exam which includes multiple choice, essays and document-based essay.

French Language

Instructor: Mr. Etah AyukRoom 243

French Language:

builds on the student’s French skills
reinforces the ability to speak, write and listen to French from varied sources
prepares students for success in the AP French Lang. exam

Requirements:

course texts include but are not limited to: a good French/English dictionary, Triangle, Reprise, L’Ecole des Femmes, The Best Test Prep for AP French Lang
a good computer
students are expected to speak French as it will be the language of instruction

Expectations:

AP course experiences are supposed to be commensurate to that of a third year college course in French language. As such, the student is expected to assimilate a certain amount of grammar that will facilitate comprehension of target language texts. Students are expected to attend ALL classes, complete ALL assignments, and spend at least two hours at home on French assignments that could vary from research to HW. By the end of the course, students are expected to have read a novel; L'Enfant Noir by Camara Laye and a play: L'Ecole des Femmes by Moliere. Other literary excerpts will introduce learners to French literature from around the Francophone world.

Summer Project:

L'Enfant Noir by Camara Laye

L'Ecole des Femmes by Moliere

Pierre et Jean by Guy de Maupassant

See teacher for details.

Human Geography

Instructor: Mr. McIntyreRoom 027

Recommended as a 12th grade course

The purpose of the AP course in Human Geography is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth's surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice. On successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:

Use and think about maps and spatial data
Understand and interpret the implications of associations among phenomena in places
Recognize and interpret at different scales the relationships among patterns and processes
Define regions and evaluate the regionalization process
Characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places

*Summer work will be given out in May. It will be due on a date in early to mid-July. No late work will be accepted.