Appoquinimink High School
AP Calculus AB Syllabus
Instructors: Mr. Brian Hoffses
Ms. Kaitlin Tomecek
Email: Brian.Hoffses@appo.k12.de.us
Kaitlin.Tomecek@appo.k12.de.us
Resource Textbooks: Calculus 10e Ed. by Ron Larson and Bruce Edwards
AHS VISION STATEMENT: Appoquinimink High School is a school committed to fostering
personal growth through positive character development and the use of state of the art tools and
practices to enable students to make a positive impact on today’s global society.
Course Description:
AP Calculus AB is a course that ties together many mathematical topics learned by
students throughout their high school careers. It requires students to have a high level
understanding of the math skills that they have previously learned throughout high school.
These skills and topics will be used to investigate and understand the 2 branches of Calculus that
will be studied in this course: Differential Calculus and Integral Calculus. Differential Calculus
enables us to calculate rates of change, to find the slope of a curve, and to calculate velocities
and accelerations of moving bodies. Integral Calculus is used to find the area of an irregular
region in a plane, to measure lengths of curves, to find the volume of irregular solid, and to
calculate accumulation.
Course Objectives:
Upon the successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
 Find the limit of a function.
 Differentiate any function.
 Apply differentiation to real-world problems to find maximum and minimum values and
rates of change.
 Integrate a function
 Estimate the area under a curve using several methods.
 Find the area and/or volume of an irregular shaped object using definite integrals.
 Use integrals to calculate accumulation.
 Solve a differential equation.
Course Outline and Timelines:
Pre-Calculus (1 – 1 ½ weeks)
 Simplifying expressions
 Review of solving equations algebraically and graphically.
 Review of functions and their graphs (exponential, trigonometric, etc.)
Limits and Continuity (2 weeks)
 Intro to Limits
 Limit Laws
 Limits involving infinity
 Continuity
Differentiation (5 - 6 weeks)
 Tangent lines and rates of change
 Definition of a Derivative
 Differentiability
 Rules of Differentiation
 Derivatives of Trig functions and Inverse Trig functions
 Derivatives of Exponential and Logarithmic functions
 Implicit differentiation
 Higher order derivatives
Applications of Differentiation (4 – 5 weeks)
 Related Rates
 Mean Value Theorem
 Connecting the graphs of functions and their derivatives
 Extreme Values of functions
 Modeling and Optimization
 Particle motion
 Linearization and Differentials
 Newton’s Method
Integration (3 – 4 weeks)
 Intro to Area Under a Curve
 Estimating with finite sums
 Trapezoidal Rule
 Indefinite Integrals and Antiderivatives
 Definite Integrals
 Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
 Integration by Substitution
Applications of Integration (4 - 5 weeks)
 Area under a curve or between curves
 Volumes of solids
o Disk method
o Washer method
o Shell method
o Known cross-sections
 Accumulation and Rates
 Area under a curve or between curves
 Particle motion
Differential Equations and Slope Fields (2 weeks)
 Slope fields
 Solving Differential Equations
 Exponential Growth and Decay
 Euler’s method
AP Exam Review/Test Prep (remaining weeks until AP Exam)
 Key topics – analyzing graphs and tables, accumulation, differential equations, particle
motion, area/volume, misc. problems
Course Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be prepared for college level
mathematics courses and also for successful completion of the AP Calculus AB exam in May.
Scoring a 3 (out of 5) or higher may earn college credit at most colleges, while all colleges will
give credit for a score of 4 or 5. It is the goal of this course to best prepare students to perform
well enough on the AP Exam to earn college credit for Calculus 1.
Class Materials:
 Textbook: Calculus 10th Ed. by Ron Larson and Bruce Edwards
 Pencils (NO PENS!!!)
 Notebook or 3-ring binder (preferred)
 Graphing calculator (preferably TI-83 or higher)
 Graph paper
 Ruler
 Color pencils
 Dry erase markers
Student Expectations:
Students are expected to:
 Abide by the Appoquinimink School District Student Code of Conduct at all times.
 Treat everyone in the classroom with respect at all times.
 Not talk while others are talking.
 Arrive to class before the late bell rings.
 Be seated and working when the bell rings.
 Bring all required supplies and work to class every day.
 Be positive and not use negative phrases like “I can’t …”
Grading/Assignments:
Product (90%):
 Tests/Quizzes
o There may be a test or quiz almost every week (Days will vary).
o Tests will assess an entire unit, while quizzes will assess part of a unit or a
specific topic within the unit.
 AP Practice Assignments
o There will be AP practice assignments in every topic covered except for Unit P.
Process (10%):
 Classwork:
o The final 10% of the grade will be based on classwork activities; some of which
may be graded from time to time on effort and completion. This could include,
but is not limited to, completion of openers, in class investigations, group
activities, and practice AP Exam problems.
 Homework:
o May be given every night.
o It will be graded on effort and completeness.
o There may be homework assignments collected and graded on accuracy from time
to time.
APPOQUINIMINK HIGH SCHOOL
AP Calculus AB
Terms of Agreement
As a teacher of this course, I am committed to abiding by this syllabus. The dates and
timelines are subject to change based on students’ assimilation of the material. Any
changes will be communicated to the class by the teacher. By signing this “Terms of
Agreement,” you are affirming that you have read and agree to abide by the guidelines,
policies, and agreements stated in this syllabus.
As a student of this course, I have read and agree to abide by the guidelines, policies
and agreements stated in this syllabus.
_____________________________________ _____________________
Student Name
Date
_____________________________________ _____________________
Student Signature
Date
As the parent/guardian, I have read and agree to support this student in an effort to
follow the guidelines, policies and agreements stated in this syllabus.
_____________________________________ _____________________
Parent/Guardian Name
Date
___________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature
This document should be signed by the student and parent/guardian
and returned to the teacher by Tuesday September 8th, 2015.