Advanced Placement Chemistry
The Course
The AP Chemistry course is designed to be the
equivalent of the general chemistry course usually taken during the first
college year. For some
students, this course enables them to undertake, in their
freshman year,
second-year work in the chemistry sequence at their
institution or to register in courses in other fields where general chemistry is
a prerequisite. For other students, the AP Chemistry course fulfills the
laboratory
science requirement and frees time for other courses.
AP Chemistry should meet the objectives of a good general
chemistry
course. 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 principles, 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.
Prerequisites
The AP Chemistry
course is designed to be taken only after the successful completion of a first
course in high school chemistry.
Surveys of students who take the AP Chemistry
Exam indicate that the probability of achieving a grade of 3 or higher is
significantly greater for students who
successfully complete a first course in high
school chemistry prior to undertaking the AP course.
Thus it is strongly recommended that credit in a first-year high
school chemistry course be a prerequisite for enrollment 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
advanced work in
chemistry should not displace any other part of
the student’s
science curriculum. It is highly desirable that a student have
a course in secondary school physics and a four-year college-preparatory
program in mathematics.
Time Allocations
Developing the requisite intellectual and laboratory skills required of an
AP Chemistry student demands that adequate classroom and laboratory time be
scheduled. Surveys of students taking the AP Chemistry Exam indicate that
performance improved as both total instructional time and time
devoted to laboratory work increased.
Thus it is expected that a
minimum of 290 minutes per week should be allotted for an AP Chemistry
course. Of the total allocated time, a minimum of 90 minutes per
week, preferably in one session, should be spent engaged in laboratory work.
Time devoted to class and laboratory demonstrations should not be counted as
part of the laboratory period.
It is assumed that the
student will spend at least five hours a week in
unsupervised individual study.
Textbooks
Current
textbook:
Brown, T. L., H. E. LeMay, Jr., and B. E. Bursten. 2003.
Chemistry: The
Central Science. 10 th ed.Prentice Hall. (and web
based e-book)
Supplemental textbooks available as
resources:
Chang, R.
2003. Chemistry.
7th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Zumdahl, S. S. 2003.
Chemistry. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
