Welcome to AP World History
What is the AP
(Advanced Placement)?
•
The AP, or Advanced Placement,
indicates a college-level course. Through
college-level coursework and exams,
students can earn college credit by taking
the AP Exam.
•
The AP Exam is given at the end of the
year and depending on your grade and the
university you attend, your test score can
count for college credit.
Why take the AP?
• You can get a head-start on
college!
• If you pass the AP Exam, you
won’t have to take or pay (and
college is expensive) for the
courses you’ve taken.
• It looks great on college
applications.
• You will gain skills that will
help you be successful in
college.
What should I expect this year in
AP World History?
• Expect to work incredibly hard.
• Expect to improve your writing skills and
sharpen your problem-solving techniques.
• Expect to engage in intense discussions, solve
problems collaboratively, and learn to write
clearly and persuasively.
• Expect to learn test-taking strategies that will
help you be successful on the AP Exam.
• Expect to learn… A LOT.
What does the AP Test look like?
• Three hours and five minutes
• 70 multiple choice questions
– Worth 50% of the AP Exam grade
– 55 minutes long
• 3 essay questions
– Worth 50% of the AP Exam grade
1. DBQ- Document Based Essay Question
– 50 minutes long
2. Continuity and Change Over Time Essay
– 40 minutes long
3. Comparative Essay
– 40 minutes long
• The AP World History Exam will take place on Thursday, May 15th
2014
Where can I find good resources to
prepare for this course?
• collegeboard.com website
– Find World History under Courses and Exams
– Here you can find outlines, sample questions,
past essay questions and scoring guidelines
• The website to our textbook
– http://wps.ablongman.com/long_stearns_wcap_
4/ (also on syllabus)
– Here you can find sample questions, glossaries,
flashcards, suggested readings.
What are good study guides I can find?
• Buy one as soon as possible!
• Cracking the AP World
History Exam by Princeton
Review
• 5 Steps to a 5 AP World
History by Peggy Martin
• Kaplan AP World History by
Jen Laden and Patrick
Whelan
Also…
• This course will be your primary resource to
passing the AP Exam. However, I cannot cover
it all, so you must read your book.
• There are many good resources outside of this
class. Many of them you can get for free by
simply going on the internet.
• You can also purchase many test guides at
Barnes and Noble or amazon.com.
AP World History
1) Course was created in an effort to look at the world
as an interrelated system, rather than looking at how
Europe imposes itself upon the rest of the world (Eurocentric)
2) Follows current historical scholarship
3) Examines 5 different geographical regions, 6
different time periods, and 5 different themes (SPICE)
4) Focuses more on comparisons, connections, trends,
themes rather than details and rote memorization
1) Americas
2) Africa
Five Regions
3) Europe 4) Asia 5) Oceania
Each region will be 20% of the course
10
Time Periods
1) 8,000 BCE – 600 BCE
Unit 1
2) 600 BCE – 600 CE
3) 600 CE – 1450 CE
Unit 2
4) 1450 CE – 1750 CEUnit 3
5) 1750 CE – 1900
Unit 4
6) 1900 - present
Unit 5
11
SPICE Themes
1) Social
Gender, family, race, ethnicity, classes
2) Political
Governance, empires, nations, revolts and revolutions
3) Interactions with the environment
Disease, migration, settlements, technology
4) Cultural
Religion, philosophies, science, arts, architecture
5) Economic
Agriculture, production, trade, commerce, labor, industry
12
In conclusion…
• - Please remember that we will be working
hard this year.
• - You will need to devote a lot of your time
to your homework and to studying outside
of this class.
• - The AP Exam is 287 days away! We
have a lot of work to do until then.
• - Any questions?