Advanced Placement Science Courses
at
Pompton Lakes High School
Pompton Lakes, NJ
Presented to the Pompton Lakes Board of
Education
January 12, 2016
Mrs. Renee Russo, Science Department
Chairperson
Pompton Lakes High School
AP Science Courses Board Report
Background:
The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers more than thirty courses across multiple subject
areas. Each course is developed by a committee composed of higher education faculty and expert
AP teachers who ensure that the course reflects college- and university-level expectations. These
committees define the scope and goals of the AP course, articulating what students should know
and be able to do upon completing it. The committee uses data collected from a range of colleges
and universities to ensure that AP courses and exams reflect current advances in the discipline.
The committee then works with ETS (Educational Testing Service) to develop multiple-choice
and free-response exam questions.
AP courses are taught by highly qualified high school teachers who use the AP course
descriptions to guide them. The course descriptions outline the course content, describe the
curricular goals of the subject, and provide sample exam questions. While the course
descriptions are a significant source of information about the course content on which the AP
exams will be based, AP teachers have the flexibility to determine how this content is presented.
Each AP course concludes with a college-level exam developed and scored by college and
university faculty members as well as experienced AP teachers. AP exams are an essential part
of the AP experience, enabling students to apply the new critical thinking skills they have
learned in a comprehensive exam.
AP exams are administered each year in May and development committees meet throughout the
year to create new exams. The multiple-choice questions are scored by computer, while the freeresponse portions are evaluated by a team of skilled college professors and high school teachers
who meet annually to score exams in their subject area. The involvement of college faculty at all
levels of exam development and scoring ensures that the AP exams truly reflect college-level
achievement. Students who perform well can receive course credit and/or advanced standing at
thousands of universities worldwide.
Scoring- National AP Exams:
5= Extremely well qualified with the equivalent of an A in college work
4= Well qualified with the equivalent of an A- through B in college work
3= Qualified with the equivalent of a B- through C in college work
2= Possibly qualified
1= No recommendation
1
Pompton Lakes High School
AP Science Courses Board Report
Advanced Placement Science Course Offerings:
1. AP Environmental Science (new course in the fall of 2013)
• Prerequisites: Biology, Chemistry, Approval by the Science Department
The AP Environmental Science course is designed to be the equivalent of a one-semester,
introductory college course in environmental science, through which students engage with the
scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of
the natural world. The course requires that students identify and analyze natural and humanmade environmental problems, evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and
examine alternative solutions for resolving or preventing them. Environmental Science is
interdisciplinary, embracing topics from Geology, Biology, Environmental Studies,
Environmental Science, Chemistry, and Geography. Environmental Science embraces a wide
variety of topics from different areas of study. There are several unifying themes that cut across
the various topics. They are as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Science is a process.
Energy conversions underlie all ecological processes.
The Earth itself is one interconnected system.
Humans alter natural systems.
Environmental problems have a cultural and social context.
Human survival depends on developing practices that will achieve sustainable
systems.
2. AP Biology
• Prerequisites: Biology, Chemistry, Approval by the Science Department
AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course. Students cultivate their
understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following
topics: evolution, cellular processes, energy and communication, genetics, information transfer,
ecology, and interaction. The course is based on four big ideas, which encompass core scientific
principles, theories, and processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way
of thinking about living organisms and biological systems. The following are the four big ideas:
•
•
•
•
The process of evolution explains the diversity and unity of life.
Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to
reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life
processes.
Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex
properties.
2
Pompton Lakes High School
AP Science Courses Board Report
3. AP Chemistry
• Prerequisites: Honors Chemistry, Algebra 2, Approval by the Science
Department
The AP Chemistry course provides students with a college-level foundation to support future
advanced course work in chemistry. Students cultivate their understanding of chemistry through
inquiry-based investigations, as they explore topics such as: atomic structure, intermolecular
forces and bonding, chemical reactions, kinetics, thermodynamics, and equilibrium. The key
concepts and related content that define the AP Chemistry course and exam are organized around
six big ideas. They encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes about the
physical world. The following are the six big ideas:
•
•
•
•
•
•
The chemical elements are the building blocks of matter, which can be understood in
terms of the arrangements of atoms.
Chemical and physical properties of materials can be explained by the structure and
the arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules and the forces between them.
Changes in matter involve the rearrangement and/or reorganization of atoms and/or
the transfer of electrons.
Rates of chemical reactions are determined by details of the molecular collisions.
The laws of thermodynamics describe the essential role of energy and explain and
predict the direction of changes in matter.
Bonds or attractions that can be formed can be broken. These two processes are in
constant competition, sensitive to initial conditions and external forces or change.
4. AP Physics I (new course in the fall of 2015)
• Prerequisites: Honors Chemistry, Algebra 2, Approval by the Science
Department
AP Physics 1: Algebra-based is the equivalent of the first semester of an introductory, algebrabased Physics college course. Because this course is intended to be yearlong, teachers have time
to foster deeper conceptual understanding through student-centered, inquiry-based instruction.
Students have time to master foundational physics principles while engaging in science practices
to earn credit or placement. Students explore principles of kinematics, Newton’s Laws of
Motion, energy and power, momentum, rotational kinematics and dynamics, simple harmonic
motion, and waves. The course is based on six big ideas, which also encompass core scientific
principles, theories, and processes about the physical world. The following are the six big ideas:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Objects and systems have properties such as mass and charge. Systems may have
internal structure.
Fields existing in space can be used to explain interactions.
The interactions of an object with other objects can be described by forces.
Interactions between systems can result in changes in those systems.
Changes that occur as a result of interactions are constrained by conservation laws.
Waves can transfer energy and momentum from one location to another without the
permanent transfer of mass and serve as a mathematical model for the description of
other phenomena.
3
Pompton Lakes High School
AP Science Courses Board Report
5. AP Physics II (formerly known as AP Physics B, changed in the fall of 2015)
• Prerequisites: AP Physics I, Algebra 2, Approval by the Science Department
AP Physics II: Algebra-based is the equivalent of the second semester of an introductory,
algebra-based Physics college course. Because this course is also intended to be yearlong,
teachers have time to foster deeper conceptual understanding through student-centered, inquirybased instruction. Students explore principles of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity
and magnetism, optics, and atomic and nuclear physics. The laboratories are demanding and
require the student to have an advanced level of thought and understanding. The course is based
on seven big ideas, which also encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes
about the physical world. The following are the seven big ideas:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Objects and systems have properties such as mass and charge. Systems may have
internal structure.
Fields existing in space can be used to explain interactions.
The interactions of an object with other objects can be described by forces.
Interactions between systems can result in changes in those systems.
Changes that occur as a result of interactions are constrained by conservation laws.
Waves can transfer energy and momentum from one location to another without the
permanent transfer of mass and serve as a mathematical model for the description of
other phenomena.
The mathematics of probability can be used to describe the behavior of complex systems
and to interpret the behavior of quantum mechanical systems.
4
Pompton Lakes High School
AP Science Courses Board Report
Summary:
Pompton Lakes High School is a relatively small high school averaging about 650 students per
year. A school of our size usually does not offer the number of AP Science courses that we do.
Each year, the demand for certain courses change and, therefore, we determine which courses
will run and which ones will not. Usually, we have three AP Science courses running per year,
which is considered a great number for a small school such as ours. Below is a summary, over
the past eight years, of which AP science courses ran, how many students took the AP exam, the
average score received, and the percent of students receiving a 3 or higher.
AP Biology
Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Total number of
students taking
exam
11
Average score on
exam
2.273
Percentage of
students receiving
3 or higher
45
9
7
10
10
18
8
2.889
2.286
2.200
2.900
2.556
3.000
67
43
30
70
39
63
AP Chemistry
Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Total number of
students taking
exam
12
16
11
Average score on
exam
3.083
2.688
2.364
Percentage of
students receiving
3 or higher
67
56
45
13
10
7
11
2.615
3.100
2.000
2.182
46
80
29
36
5
Pompton Lakes High School
AP Science Courses Board Report
AP Physics B
Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Total number of
students taking
exam
22
15
Average score on
exam
1.727
1.800
Percentage of
students receiving
3 or higher
14
20
21
2.095
29
10
2.800
70
AP Environmental Science
Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Sources:
Total number of
students taking
exam
Average score on
exam
Percentage of
students receiving
3 or higher
10
8
3.300
3.750
80
100
1. AP College Board website: www.collegeboard.org
2. Pompton Lakes High School Program of Studies
6