AP Chemistry and AP Calculus: going it solo?

[Beebalm]

My daughter is interested in self-studying for the AP Chemistry and AP Calculus. Can anyone share their experience with either of these courses? What text did you use, were there plenty of study helps online, and how much time was required daily? Is it possible to go it alone without an online study group? She just completed the AP Biology successfully solo and is excited about continuing AP coursework. (I am the one experiencing heart palpatations.:001_unsure:) Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[Kareni]

MomsintheGarden had an interesting post a while back that was quite informative:

Dd made it to the state level of the National Chemistry Olympiad! (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94218)

Regards,
Kareni

[Kathy in Richmond]

Yep, we've been through AP chem and calculus self-study two times each, with excellent results.

For chemistry, we like and have had great success using Zumdahl's AP text (http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Student-Cd-rom-College-Titles/dp/0618035915). In the month or so preceding the test, they each worked through the Princeton Review guide (http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Student-Cd-rom-College-Titles/dp/0618035915) and a College Board released exam.

For calculus, I greatly prefer to use my old copy of Thomas & Finney calculus from the 1970's (it goes into more theory and covers harder problems than the modern books do; just my preference as a "retired" math professor, lol) to learn the material; I just align it with the College Board's course outline. We also used Barron's AP review guide (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764136798/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=304485901&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0764101862&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=08S72DN8B448VVWN47DD)for overall practice and this book (http://www.mathpropress.com/books/problemBooks/APCalculus/)for targeted free-response practice. You must learn how to use a graphing calculator for the exam; one multiple-choice section and one free-response section require it. The Barron's book I mentioned gives the specific details.

hth,
~Kathy

[Jane in NC]

For calculus, I greatly prefer to use my old copy of Thomas & Finney calculus from the 1970's (it goes into more theory and covers harder problems than the modern books do; just my preference as a "retired" math professor, lol) to learn the material; I just align it with the College Board's course outline.

hth,
~Kathy

Interesting...Instead of using my college text, the '70's Swokowski or any of the other "antique" books that I have on hand, I was thinking of using a newer Larson book specifically because of the graphing calculator applications. Your post has me wondering.

What exam(s) have your students taken, Kathy? Calc AB or BC?

Thanks for the help,
Jane

[Kathy in Richmond]

Interesting...Instead of using my college text, the '70's Swokowski or any of the other "antique" books that I have on hand, I was thinking of using a newer Larson book specifically because of the graphing calculator applications. Your post has me wondering.

What exam(s) have your students taken, Kathy? Calc AB or BC?

Thanks for the help,
Jane

Hi, Jane!

They both took the Calc BC exam. Using the older textbook didn't hurt them at all!

There are only four basic graphing calculator procedures needed on the exam:

1. produce the graph of a function, given the viewing window
2. solve an equation numerically
3. compute a derivative of a function at a particular point numerically
4. compute definite integrals numerically

The kids easily learned how to do these on their own, and they got all the practice problems they needed out of the two prep books I listed above. They thought the calculator part was "kind of dumb" - just some easy button-pushing. I strongly preferred that they spend their time on the calculus/theory instead:001_smile:.

~Kathy

[Jane in NC]

They thought the calculator part was "kind of dumb" - just some easy button-pushing. I strongly preferred that they spend their time on the calculus/theory instead:001_smile:.

~Kathy

This is my feeling about many of the so called "calculator applications". I have yet to look at AP prep books (have only examined the "essay" questions posted online) so I wasn't sure how calculator dependent the multiple choice questions are.

The Larson book looks pretty good, though, so I may stick with it.

Thanks again.

Jane

[Beebalm]

Thank you SO MUCH for your help! You ladies are amazing. I'm trying to not let my intimidation with these subjects influence my daughter. She's a super math/science student. Thanks for sharing your experience. One more thing...can you give me some idea of the amount of time she should allow for daily study for each of these? Her math background includes Saxon's Algebra I, II, Advanced Math, College Algebra (CC), and Trig (CC).
The last two she should have tested out of...I just didn't know what to push for at the time. Learning, you know.

[Kathy in Richmond]

This is my feeling about many of the so called "calculator applications". I have yet to look at AP prep books (have only examined the "essay" questions posted online) so I wasn't sure how calculator dependent the multiple choice questions are.

Jane

The multiple choice section of AP Calc is actually subdivided into two parts. Only one part of MC allows calculators (it has something like 17 questions in 50 minutes). A typical problem (I pulled this from our review book) from the calculator section is:

Find the volume of the solid generated by rotating the area bounded by x=0, y=2, y = exp(x) about the y-axis (followed by choice of five numerical answers).

So you have to set up a definite integral and then evaluate it on the calculator.

The other multiple choice section is calculator free (and much more fun, according to the kids:)). It has something like 28 questions in 55 minutes.

~Kathy

[Kathy in Richmond]

Thank you SO MUCH for your help! You ladies are amazing. I'm trying to not let my intimidation with these subjects influence my daughter. She's a super math/science student. Thanks for sharing your experience. One more thing...can you give me some idea of the amount of time she should allow for daily study for each of these? Her math background includes Saxon's Algebra I, II, Advanced Math, College Algebra (CC), and Trig (CC).
The last two she should have tested out of...I just didn't know what to push for at the time. Learning, you know.

With her background, she should be well-prepared for calculus. I'm always in favor of over-learning the preliminaries instead of racing through to calculus:).

As for the amount of time required, it varied even between my two kids (Mr. Focused and Ms. Distractible:D). On the average, though, they probably spent 6-8 hours a week on chem and calc.

~Kathy

[Caroline]

The multiple choice section of AP Calc is actually subdivided into two parts. Only one part of MC allows calculators (it has something like 17 questions in 50 minutes). A typical problem (I pulled this from our review book) from the calculator section is:

Find the volume of the solid generated by rotating the area bounded by x=0, y=2, y = exp(x) about the y-axis (followed by choice of five numerical answers).

So you have to set up a definite integral and then evaluate it on the calculator.

The other multiple choice section is calculator free (and much more fun, according to the kids:)). It has something like 28 questions in 55 minutes.

~Kathy

And one thing to keep in mind, not all of the calculator questions require a calculator. Many of the questions in the calculator sections of the released exams are not calculator based at all.

The multiple choice sections from the 2008 exam will be released in December of this year. You should be able to purchase it from the College Board website.

I went to an AP Summer Institue on Calculus BC a couple of weeks ago. There is a rumor that there will be major topic changes in the AB and BC courses to better align with college calculus taught on semester systems. Also there is talk of a third AP Calculus exam to cover multivariable calculus, which many high schools are now offering. These changes will be coming in 2012.