Week 1 – The Revised AP Curriculum & Exam
A good place to begin this online course is to get an overview of the changes taking place with the
revised AP chemistry curriculum and exam. I have thought long and hard about this and have boiled it
down to four main areas of change:
 The Course and Exam Description/AP Chemistry Curriculum Framework
 The New Exam Format
 Guided Inquiry Labs
 The New AP Audit
We will delve into each of these in more detail over the next few weeks, but here is a relatively brief
description of each component.
The Course and Exam Description/AP Chemistry Curriculum Framework
This is the main document that describes the new course.
The course is organized around six “Big Ideas”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Structure of Matter
Properties of Matter
Chemical Reactions
Rates of Reactions
Thermodynamics
Equilibrium
Each of these Big Ideas is broken down to Enduring Understandings and Essential Knowledge.
Parallel to all of this are the Science Practices. Finally, a Science Practice is linked with Essential
Knowledge to form a Learning Objective. Whew. The Learning Objective is very important because
each question on the new AP exam will be linked to a Learning Objective.
This will begin to make more sense as you read through the Course and Exam Description.
Note: As you delve into this document, I have found Appendix: AP Chemistry Concepts at a
Glance (on page 90) to be very helpful. This condenses the ideas into a few pages and helps the reader
get a sense of the topics that make up each of the Big Ideas.
Embedded in the framework are Exclusion Statements. These are ideas that are “beyond the scope of
this course and the AP exam.” For each statement, a rationale is listed. Some of these ideas are
considered prior knowledge. Some ideas are too algorithmic. Some ideas are theoretically
controversial (such as sp3d and sp3d2 hybridization). The bottom line is that these are ideas that will
not be the basis of any AP questions. If you feel that some of them are important to your course, go
ahead and teach them. I certainly have some ideas I plan to keep in my course.
Much of this information is simply an attempt to communicate clearly the knowledge and skills that
make up AP chemistry. The philosophical shift is away from memorized facts and toward
understanding and analytical skills. Since I have always tried to help my students understand
chemistry rather than memorize a lot of random information, I don’t see my course really changing too
significantly. I plan to use more guided inquiry techniques to help my students build up their skills of
analysis and explaining ideas.
The New Exam Format
Probably the most obvious change is the shift in the AP chemistry exam format.
What is the same?
 There will still be two parts to the exam, multiple choice and free response.
 Each part will still count as 50% of the score.
 No calculator is allowed on the multiple choice portion of the exam.
 No penalty for guessing on the multiple choice portion of the exam.
What is different in the Multiple Choice portion of the exam?
 The multiple choice portion will only have 60 questions (instead of 75).
 Each question only has four answer choices.
 There will be “question sets” consisting of a “stimulus” such as a diagram, lab setup, graph,
etc., and several questions about the stimulus.
 A periodic table AND an equation and constants sheet will be available.
 The questions will be more analytical rather than recall of information.
What is different in the Free Response portion of the exam?
 The calculator may be used on the entire FRQ portion of the exam.
 The first question will not necessarily be about equilibrium.
 There will be no “Predicting Reactions” question on the exam, however, the ability to write a
balanced net ionic equation given the reactants will still be assessed in the exam.
 There will be three “long questions” and four “short questions”. The long questions will be
similar to multi-part questions that have appeared since 2007. These will be scored out of 10
points. The short questions will be scored out of 4 points.
 One question will involve the development of a lab procedure.
 A periodic table and an equations and constants sheet will be available (the same as the one
used on the multiple choice portion of the exam).
 A table of Standard Reduction Potentials will not be included on the exam. If such information
is needed, it will be included in the question.
As you try the new AP chemistry practice exam, you will get a better feel for the structure of the exam.
We have been told not to expect any released exams for a couple of years since the data will need to be
collected to norm these exams.
Guided Inquiry Labs
Some people are very concerned about the requirement for guided-inquiry labs. Others have been
doing this type of lab for a long time. Different people have very different definitions for inquiry,
however. Here is one set of definitions about four types of labs.



Confirmation: (example: Making an Ester) This is a lab where the outcome is known. The
teacher states the problem and gives the procedure. This is not bad, it is simply not inquiry.
This sort of lab is necessary to build up skills such as how to collect a gas, measure quantities,
neutralize an acid, etc.
Structured Inquiry: (example: Acid-Base Titration) This is a case where the outcome is not
known. The problem is again defined by the instructor and a procedure is given. An unknown
may be analyzed in this type of lab. This is another place to build up laboratory skills.
Guided Inquiry: (example: Designing a hand warmer) In this case, the task is set by the
instructor or chosen by the class. The procedure is left up to the student. Limits are set on the
possible procedures. Students may be given a limited set of chemicals or equipment to use.

Open Inquiry: (example: Research) This is a very open-ended situation in which the student
decides on the problem to explore and comes up with his/her own procedure.
Guided inquiry labs follow a “learning cycle”. A simple learning cycle might include:
Students explore an idea by doing a simple lab activity, watching a demonstration, or exploring a
simulation. Students discover ideas (invent concepts) by stating a scientific problem to solve
(independent variable, dependent variable, controlled variables) and sharing results with classmates.
The teacher and students draw conclusions and learn the concepts. Finally, students apply what they
have learned in a new situation.
Flinn scientific has posted some useful videos about the new curriculum. One idea is the “target lab”.
Instead of having students perform a structured lab, they are given a target. An example might be to
calculate the amount of baking soda and vinegar needed to produce 35 mL of CO2 gas. The closer the
student come to 35 mL, the better their grade on that portion of the lab. This sort of lab would be a
good application section of the learning cycle.
The College Board has published a lab manual with 16 guided inquiry labs. There are 16 learning
objectives that involve lab ideas, so each learning objective was matched up with a lab. You can
download the password-protected teacher lab manual from AP Central.
The password is: CBCHEM_LM2013#
Several companies have developed lab kits that match each of these 16 labs. During your AP course,
you are supposed to perform at least 16 labs, six of which need to be guided inquiry. You can choose
six from the College Board lab manual or six from any other source. We will explore the lab manual
during the summer as well as work at making a traditional lab more guided inquiry.
The philosophical difference is that the student is more involved in the development of the procedure
of the lab. Hopefully this will lead to greater engagement and a deeper understanding of what occurred
during the lab. Guided inquiry means that the student thinks more like a scientist.
The New AP Audit
Since everyone is now teaching a new course, everyone will be required to submit a new syllabus as
part of the AP Audit. This sounds daunting, but the process is actually quite easy. The College Board
has provided some very useful tools to help with the writing of the Syllabus. There is a Syllabus
Development Tutorial to watch and the Syllabus Development Guide is very clearly written with
examples to clarify each step.
You are presented with four annotated sample syllabi. If you choose, you can select one of those to
use as your syllabus. Some of the assignments for this summer workshop parallel the pieces of the
syllabus. At the end of the summer, you can put these together and have about 90% of your syllabus
completed.
I have written my new syllabus, submitted it, and had it approved. Writing the syllabus helped me
understand the new curriculum.
Assignment B:
Now is the time for you to do your assignment. Use the information from reading the AP Chemistry
Course Description and these lecture notes to create a handout that you can give your students
describing the new AP Chemistry Exam.
Make your handout complete, concise, and creative. Save the handout on your own computer and send
me a copy in either Microsoft Word format or Rich Text Format. Visit the Assignment Link just
below these Lecture Notes to submit your assignment. (5 points)