Advanced Placement Course Description
2009-2010
AP Art
AP Art is composed of interested junior or senior art students. Most students have a minimum of two years art instruction. Students are focused on their own artistic themes while also exploring artistic mediums. The classes tend to be smaller with one on one instruction and centered on individual needs.
AP Calculus AB
The AP Calculus AB course is designed to give students the opportunity to receive credit for one semester of college calculus by taking and passing the AP test at the end of the year. This class is for students who have been successful in previous mathematics classes and have an interest in higher level mathematics and/or science and engineering. It is a very challenging mathematics course, but the rewards are great. Students who take this course are more than prepared for any mathematics course they will take beyond high school.
AP Calculus BC
The AP Calculus BC course is designed to give students the opportunity to receive credit for two semesters of college calculus by taking and passing the AP test at the end of the year. A bonus incentive is that the AP College Board has designed a “Calculus AB sub-score” that can give a student credit for one semester if you do not score high enough to get two. They take a sample of questions and if a student does well on those particular questions, they will get college credit for one semester. This class is for students who have been successful in previous honors mathematics classes and have an interest in higher level mathematics and/or science and engineering. It is a very challenging mathematics course, but the rewards are great. Students who take this course are more than prepared for any mathematics course they will take beyond high school.
AP English Language and Composition
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. Sail away from your safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore…Dream…Discover” - Mark Twain
AP English Language and Composition will offer you a challenging opportunity to explore your ability to become an effective writer, skilled critical thinker and confident communicator. In this introductory college level course, you will read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of fiction and nonfiction prose selections deepening your awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent informal and formal writing experience, you will develop your ability to work with language with a greater awareness of the author’s strategy and purpose while strengthening your own writing ability. Course readings feature expository, analytical, personal and argumentative texts from a variety of American authors and historical contexts. You will prepare for the AP English Language and Composition exam and may receive college credit as a result of satisfactory performance. Taking AP Language and Composition will offer you an opportunity to Explore…Dream…Discover your true academic potential.
AP English Literature and Composition
AP English Literature and Composition is a course for college bound seniors who enjoy the rich experience offered through studying the world's great authors. Students will be challenged intellectually while developing their reading, writing, and critical analysis skills. The course will prepare students to achieve success on the AP exam and beyond.
AP European History
The objective of this course is to increase student understanding of cultural, economic, political and social developments that play a fundamental role in European history.
In addition to providing a basic narrative of events and movements, the goals of AP
European History are to develop:
All coursework is specifically designed towards preparing students for the AP European Exam.
AP Macroeconomics
The purpose of an AP course in macroeconomics is to give students a thorough understanding of the principles of economics that apply to an economic system as a whole. Such a course places particular emphasis on the study of national income and price-level determination, and also develops students’ familiarity with economic performance measures, the financial sector, stabilization policies, economic growth and international economics. This course takes into account certain topics generally covered in college courses.
AP Psychology
We study psychology to find the answers to basic questions about the nature of human beings. Why do we dream? Do dreams have meaning? How do we develop fears and are fears normal? Why are children better at learning and speaking foreign languages than adults who try to learn a foreign language? What effect do hormones and drugs have on memory and the human mind? What happens to the human body as it ages?
Each field of study has its own vocabulary, a language one person in the field uses to speak to another person in the field. Understanding the vocabulary of psychology is vital to unlocking the keys to understanding human nature. A heavy emphasis is placed on the vocabulary terms throughout the school year. This emphasis allows the student to gain an understanding of psychology and helps them to more quickly grasp the terms in the other social sciences.
The study of psychology also enhances the building of critical thinking skills necessary for the student to be successful in their pursuit of a college education. A majority of topics tackled in the psychology class have no single answer or cause. The student needs to develop the skill of pulling together a variety of information and applying it to understand how the human brain and mind process and perceive the world around us. This course can be a fascinating beginning for a lifelong learner.
AP Statistics
The AP Statistics course is designed to give students a course of study equivalent to an introductory, non-calculus based college course in statistics. The course reflects the content of an introductory statistics course and the AP Exam for this course is considered appropriate for the measurement of skills and knowledge for an introductory statistics course. A statistics course such as AP statistics is generally required for majors in social sciences, health sciences and business. In colleges and universities today, there are nearly as many students taking statistics courses as there are calculus courses. This class is for student who have passed Algebra ¾ or higher and have an interest in one of the major courses of study above or in mathematics applications in general.
AP United States Government and Politics
Can the police search my trunk if I am stopped for speeding? Why didn’t Al Gore
win the presidency when he had more votes than Bush? Why is there so much waste in government? Why do we have term limits in states, but not in the Federal Government? How can the President send troops around the world when the Congress hasn’t declared war? Does the media decide elections and influence the voters?
The answers to these questions can be found in the AP United States Government, as a one-semester class equivalent to a college introductory government course. The course emphasizes independent learning and study, extensive reading, writing, discussion, critical thinking, and analysis. If you have an interest in how the government operates, then this is the course for you!
AP Government covers the following areas of study: The Constitutional Basis of US Government; Political Beliefs and Behaviors; Political Parties, Interest Groups and Media; The Institutions of Government (Congress, the Presidency, Bureaucracy and Judiciary), Civil Liberties and Civil Rights; and Public Policy. Students engage in a variety of activities including note-taking and discussion; Socratic Seminars; presentations, research and writing.
AP United States History
Explore American History like you never have before! Dive into interesting facts, answer compelling questions, think like the History Channel. Join this exciting course to analyze what makes an American an American. Do you really know why we fought Britain for our independence? Did we win in Vietnam? Have we always been a world power? Answers to these questions and hundreds more will be revealed by taking this challenging but extremely interesting course.