Download ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY BIG IDEA 1: The process of

ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY
The AP Biology course is designed to enable you to develop advanced
inquiry and reasoning skills, such as designing a plan for collecting data,
analyzing data, applying mathematical routines, and connecting concepts in
and across domains. The result will be readiness for the study of advanced
topics in subsequent college courses.
BIG IDEA 1: The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of
life.
Enduring understanding 1.A: Change in the genetic makeup of a population over
time is evolution.
Essential knowledge 1.A.1: Natural selection is a major mechanism of evolution.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.1 The student is able to convert a data set from a table of numbers that
reflect a change in the genetic makeup of a population over time and to apply
mathematical methods and conceptual understandings to investigate the cause(s)
and effect(s) of this change.
LO 1.2 The student is able to evaluate evidence provided by data to qualitatively and
quantitatively investigate the role of natural selection in evolution.
LO 1.3 The student is able to apply mathematical methods to data from a real or
simulated population to predict what will happen to the population in the future.
Essential knowledge 1.A.2: Natural selection acts on phenotypic variations in
populations.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.4 The student is able to evaluate data-based evidence that describes
evolutionary changes in the genetic makeup of a population over time.
LO 1.5 The student is able to connect evolutionary changes in a population over
time to a change in the environment.
Essential knowledge 1.A.3: Evolutionary change is also driven by random
processes.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.6 The student is able to use data from mathematical models based on the
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to analyze genetic drift and effects of selection in the
evolution of specific populations.
LO 1.7 The student is able to justify data from mathematical models based on the
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to analyze genetic drift and the effects of selection in the
evolution of specific populations.
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LO 1.8 The student is able to make predictions about the effects of genetic drift,
migration and artificial selection on the genetic makeup of a population.
Essential knowledge 1.A.4: Biological evolution is supported by scientific
evidence from many disciplines, including mathematics.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.9 The student is able to evaluate evidence provided by data from many
scientific disciplines that support biological evolution.
LO 1.10 The student is able to refine evidence based on data from many scientific
disciplines that support biological evolution.
LO 1.11 The student is able to design a plan to answer scientific questions
regarding how organisms have changed over time using information from morphology,
biochemistry and geology.
LO 1.12 The student is able to connect scientific evidence from many scientific
disciplines to support the modern concept of evolution.
LO 1.13 The student is able to construct and/or justify mathematical models,
diagrams or simulations that represent processes of biological evolution.
Enduring understanding 1.B: Organisms are linked by lines of descent from
common ancestry.
Essential knowledge 1.B.1: Organisms share many conserved core processes and
features that evolved and are widely distributed among organisms today.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.14 The student is able to pose scientific questions that correctly identify
essential properties of shared, core life processes that provide insights into the
history of life on Earth.
LO 1.15 The student is able to describe specific examples of conserved core
biological processes and features shared by all domains or within one domain
of life, and how these shared, conserved core processes and features support the
concept of common ancestry for all organisms.
LO 1.16 The student is able to justify the scientific claim that organisms share
many conserved core processes and features that evolved and are widely
distributed among organisms today.
Essential knowledge 1.B.2: Phylogenetic trees and cladograms are graphical
representations (models) of evolutionary history that can be tested.
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Learning Objectives:
LO 1.17 The student is able to pose scientific questions about a group of
organisms whose relatedness is described by a phylogenetic tree or cladogram in order
to (1) identify shared characteristics, (2) make inferences about the evolutionary history
of the group, and (3) identify character data that could extend or improve the
phylogenetic tree.
LO 1.18 The student is able to evaluate evidence provided by a data set in conjunction
with a phylogenetic tree or a simple cladogram to determine evolutionary history and
speciation.
LO 1.19 The student is able create a phylogenetic tree or simple cladogram that
correctly represents evolutionary history and speciation from a provided data set.
Enduring understanding 1.C: Life continues to evolve within a changing
environment.
Essential knowledge 1.C.1: Speciation and extinction have occurred throughout
the Earth’s history.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.20 The student is able to analyze data related to questions of speciation and
extinction throughout the Earth’s history.
LO 1.21 The student is able to design a plan for collecting data to investigate
the scientific claim that speciation and extinction have occurred throughout the
Earth’s history.
Essential knowledge 1.C.2: Speciation may occur when two populations
become reproductively isolated from each other.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.22 The student is able to use data from a real or simulated population(s), based on
graphs or models of types of selection, to predict what will happen to the population in
the future.
LO 1.23 The student is able to justify the selection of data that address questions related
to reproductive isolation and speciation.
LO 1.24 The student is able to describe speciation in an isolated population and connect
it to change in gene frequency, change in environment, natural selection and/or genetic
drift.
Essential knowledge 1.C.3: Populations of organisms continue to evolve.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.25 The student is able to describe a model that represents evolution within a
population.
LO 1.26 The student is able to evaluate given data sets that illustrate evolution as an
ongoing process.
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Enduring understanding 1.D: The origin of living systems is explained by
natural processes.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.27 The student is able to describe a scientific hypothesis about the origin of life on
Earth.
LO 1.28 The student is able to evaluate scientific questions based on hypotheses about
the origin of life on Earth.
LO 1.29 The student is able to describe the reasons for revisions of scientific
hypotheses of the origin of life on Earth.
LO 1.30 The student is able to evaluate scientific hypotheses about the origin of life on
Earth.
LO 1.31 The student is able to evaluate the accuracy and legitimacy of data to answer
scientific questions about the origin of life on Earth.
Essential knowledge 1.D.2: Scientific evidence from many different disciplines
supports models of the origin of life.
Learning Objective:
LO 1.32 The student is able to justify the selection of geological, physical, and chemical
data that reveal early Earth conditions.
BIG IDEA 2: Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular
building blocks to grow, to reproduce and to maintain dynamic
homeostasis.
Enduring understanding 2.A: Growth, reproduction and maintenance of the
organization of living systems require free energy and matter.
Essential knowledge 2.A.1: All living systems require constant input of free
energy.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.1 The student is able to explain how biological systems use free energy based on
empirical data that all organisms require constant energy input to maintain organization, to
grow and to reproduce.
LO 2.2 The student is able to justify a scientific claim that free energy is required for living
systems to maintain organization, to grow or to reproduce, but that multiple strategies
exist in different living systems.
LO 2.3 The student is able to predict how changes in free energy availability affect
organisms, populations and ecosystems.
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Essential knowledge 2.A.2: Organisms capture and store free energy for use in
biological processes.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.4 The student is able to use representations to pose scientific questions about
what mechanisms and structural features allow organisms to capture, store and use
free energy.
LO 2.5 The student is able to construct explanations of the mechanisms and structural
features of cells that allow organisms to capture, store or use free energy.
Essential knowledge 2.A.3: Organisms must exchange matter with the
environment to grow, reproduce and maintain organization.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.6 The student is able to use calculated surface area-to-volume ratios to predict
which cell(s) might eliminate wastes or procure nutrients faster by diffusion.
LO 2.7 Students will be able to explain how cell size and shape affect the overall rate of
nutrient intake and the rate of waste elimination.
LO 2.8 The student is able to justify the selection of data regarding the types of
molecules that an animal, plant or bacterium will take up as necessary building blocks
and excrete as waste products.
LO 2.9 The student is able to represent graphically or model quantitatively the
exchange of molecules between an organism and its environment, and the subsequent
use of these molecules to build new molecules that facilitate dynamic homeostasis,
growth and reproduction.
Enduring understanding 2.B: Growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis
require that cells create and maintain internal environments that are different from
their external environments.
Essential knowledge 2.B.1: Cell membranes are selectively permeable due to their
structure.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.10 The student is able to use representations and models to pose scientific
questions about the properties of cell membranes and selective permeability based on
molecular structure.
LO 2.11 The student is able to construct models that connect the movement of
molecules across membranes with membrane structure and function.
Essential knowledge 2.B.2: Growth and dynamic homeostasis are maintained by
the constant movement of molecules across membranes.
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Learning Objective:
LO 2.12 The student is able to use representations and models to analyze situations or
solve problems qualitatively and quantitatively to investigate whether dynamic
homeostasis is maintained by the active movement of molecules across membranes.
Essential knowledge 2.B.3: Eukaryotic cells maintain internal membranes that
partition the cell into specialized regions.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.13 The student is able to explain how internal membranes and organelles
contribute to cell functions.
LO 2.14 The student is able to use representations and models to describe differences
in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Enduring understanding 2.C: Organisms use feedback mechanisms to regulate
growth and reproduction, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis.
Essential knowledge 2.C.1: Organisms use feedback mechanisms to maintain
their internal environments and respond to external environmental changes.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.15 The student can justify a claim made about the effect(s) on a biological system
at the molecular, physiological or organismal level when given a scenario in which one
or more components within a negative regulatory system is altered.
LO 2.16 The student is able to connect how organisms use negative feedback to
maintain their internal environments.
LO 2.17 The student is able to evaluate data that show the effect(s) of changes in
concentrations of key molecules on negative feedback mechanisms.
LO 2.18 The student can make predictions about how organisms use negative feedback
mechanisms to maintain their internal environments.
LO 2.19 The student is able to make predictions about how positive feedback
mechanisms amplify activities and processes in organisms based on scientific theories
and models.
LO 2.20 The student is able to justify that positive feedback mechanisms amplify
responses in organisms.
Essential knowledge 2.C.2: Organisms respond to changes in their external
environments.
Learning Objective:
LO 2.21 The student is able to justify the selection of the kind of data needed to answer
scientific questions about the relevant mechanism that organisms use to respond to
changes in their external environment.
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Enduring understanding 2.D: Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological
system are influenced by changes in the system’s environment.
Essential knowledge 2.D.1: All biological systems from cells and organisms to
populations, communities and ecosystems are affected by complex biotic and
abiotic interactions involving exchange of matter and free energy.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.22 The student is able to refine scientific models and questions about the effect of
complex biotic and abiotic interactions on all biological systems, from cells and
organisms to populations, communities and ecosystems.
LO 2.23 The student is able to design a plan for collecting data to show that all biological
systems (cells, organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems) are affected by
complex biotic and abiotic interactions.
LO 2.24 The student is able to analyze data to identify possible patterns and
relationships between a biotic or abiotic factor and a biological system (cells, organisms,
populations, communities or ecosystems).
Essential knowledge 2.D.2: Homeostatic mechanisms reflect both common
ancestry and divergence due to adaptation in different environments.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.25 The student can construct explanations based on scientific evidence that
homeostatic mechanisms reflect continuity due to common ancestry and/or divergence
due to adaptation in different environments.
LO 2.26 The student is able to analyze data to identify phylogenetic patterns or
relationships, showing that homeostatic mechanisms reflect both continuity due to
common ancestry and change due to evolution in different environments.
LO 2.27 The student is able to connect differences in the environment with the
evolution of homeostatic mechanisms.
Essential knowledge 2.D.3: Biological systems are affected by disruptions to their
dynamic homeostasis.
Learning Objective:
LO 2.28 The student is able to use representations or models to analyze quantitatively
and qualitatively the effects of disruptions to dynamic homeostasis in biological
systems.
Essential knowledge 2.D.4: Plants and animals have a variety of chemical
defenses against infections that affect dynamic homeostasis.
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Learning Objectives:
LO 2.29 The student can create representations and models to describe immune
responses.
LO 2.30 The student can create representations or models to describe nonspecific
immune defenses in plants and animals.
Enduring understanding 2.E: Many biological processes involved in growth,
reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and
coordination.
Essential knowledge 2.E.1: Timing and coordination of specific events are
necessary for the normal development of an organism, and these events are
regulated by a variety of mechanisms.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.31 The student can connect concepts in and across domains to show that timing
and coordination of specific events are necessary for normal development in an
organism and that these events are regulated by multiple mechanisms.
LO 2.32 The student is able to use a graph or diagram to analyze situations or solve
problems (quantitatively or qualitatively) that involve timing and coordination of events
necessary for normal development in an organism.
LO 2.33 The student is able to justify scientific claims with scientific evidence to show
that timing and coordination of several events are necessary for normal development in
an organism and that these events are regulated by multiple mechanisms.
LO 2.34 The student is able to describe the role of programmed cell death in
development and differentiation, the reuse of molecules, and the maintenance of
dynamic homeostasis.
Essential knowledge 2.E.2: Timing and coordination of physiological events are
regulated by multiple mechanisms.
Learning Objectives:
LO 2.35 The student is able to design a plan for collecting data to support the scientific
claim that the timing and coordination of physiological events involve regulation.
LO 2.36 The student is able to justify scientific claims with evidence to show how timing
and coordination of physiological events involve regulation.
LO 2.37 The student is able to connect concepts that describe mechanisms that regulate
the timing and coordination of physiological events.
Essential knowledge 2.E.3: Timing and coordination of behavior are regulated by
various mechanisms and are important in natural selection.
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Learning Objectives:
LO 2.38 The student is able to analyze data to support the claim that responses to
information and communication of information affect natural selection.
LO 2.39 The student is able to justify scientific claims, using evidence, to describe how
timing and coordination of behavioral events in organisms are regulated by several
mechanisms.
LO 2.40 The student is able to connect concepts in and across domain(s) to predict how
environmental factors affect responses to information and change behavior.
BIG IDEA 3: Living systems store, retrieve, transmit and respond to
information essential to life processes.
Enduring understanding 3.A: Heritable information provides for continuity of
life.
Essential knowledge 3.A.1: DNA, and in some cases RNA, is the primary source
of heritable information.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.1 The student is able to construct scientific explanations that use the structures
and mechanisms of DNA and RNA to support the claim that DNA and, in some cases,
that RNA are the primary sources of heritable information.
LO 3.2 The student is able to justify the selection of data from historical investigations
that support the claim that DNA is the source of heritable information.
LO 3.3 The student is able to describe representations and models that illustrate how
genetic information is copied for transmission between generations.
LO 3.4 The student is able to describe representations and models illustrating how
genetic information is translated into polypeptides.
LO 3.5 The student can justify the claim that humans can manipulate heritable
information by identifying at least two commonly used technologies.
LO 3.6 The student can predict how a change in a specific DNA or RNA sequence can
result in changes in gene expression.
Essential knowledge 3.A.2: In eukaryotes, heritable information is passed to the
next generation via processes that include the cell cycle and mitosis or meiosis plus
fertilization.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.7 The student can make predictions about natural phenomena occurring during the
cell cycle.
LO 3.8 The student can describe the events that occur in the cell cycle.
LO 3.9 The student is able to construct an explanation, using visual representations or
narratives, as to how DNA in chromosomes is transmitted to the next generation via
mitosis, or meiosis followed by fertilization.
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LO 3.10 The student is able to represent the connection between meiosis and increased
genetic diversity necessary for evolution.
LO 3.11 The student is able to evaluate evidence provided by data sets to support the
claim that heritable information is passed from one generation to another generation
through mitosis, or meiosis followed by fertilization.
Essential knowledge 3.A.3: The chromosomal basis of inheritance provides an
understanding of the pattern of passage (transmission) of genes from parent to
offspring.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.12 The student is able to construct a representation that connects the process of
meiosis to the passage of traits from parent to offspring.
LO 3.13 The student is able to pose questions about ethical, social or medical issues
surrounding human genetic disorders.
LO 3.14 The student is able to apply mathematical routines to determine
Mendelian patterns of inheritance provided by data sets.
Essential knowledge 3.A.4: The inheritance pattern of many traits cannot be
explained by simple Mendelian genetics.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.15 The student is able to explain deviations from Mendel’s model of the inheritance
of traits.
LO 3.16 The student is able to explain how the inheritance patterns of many traits cannot
be accounted for by Mendelian genetics.
LO 3.17 The student is able to describe representations of an appropriate example of
inheritance patterns that cannot be explained by Mendel’s model of the inheritance of
traits.
Enduring understanding 3.B: Expression of genetic information involves cellular
and molecular mechanisms.
Essential knowledge 3.B.1: Gene regulation results in differential gene
expression, leading to cell specialization.
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Learning Objectives:
LO 3.18 The student is able to describe the connection between the regulation of gene
expression and observed differences between different kinds of organisms.
LO 3.19 The student is able to describe the connection between the regulation of gene
expression and observed differences between individuals in a population.
LO 3.20 The student is able to explain how the regulation of gene expression is essential
for the processes and structures that support efficient cell function.
LO 3.21 The student can use representations to describe how gene regulation influences
cell products and function.
Essential knowledge 3.B.2: A variety of intercellular and intracellular signal
transmissions mediate gene expression.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.22 The student is able to explain how signal pathways mediate gene expression,
including how this process can affect protein production.
LO 3.23 The student can use representations to describe mechanisms of the regulation of
gene expression.
Enduring understanding 3.C: The processing of genetic information is imperfect
and is a source of genetic variation.
Essential knowledge 3.C.1: Changes in genotype can result in changes in
phenotype.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.24 The student is able to predict how a change in genotype, when expressed as a
phenotype, provides a variation that can be subject to natural selection.
LO 3.25 The student can create a visual representation to illustrate how changes in a DNA
nucleotide sequence can result in a change in the polypeptide produced.
LO 3.26 The student is able to explain the connection between genetic variations in
organisms and phenotypic variations in populations.
Essential knowledge 3.C.2: Biological systems have multiple processes that
increase genetic variation.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.27 The student is able to compare and contrast processes by which genetic variation
is produced and maintained in organisms from multiple domains.
LO 3.28 The student is able to construct an explanation of the multiple processes that
increase variation within a population.
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Essential knowledge 3.C.3: Viral replication results in genetic variation, and viral
infection can introduce genetic variation into the hosts.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.29 The student is able to construct an explanation of how viruses introduce genetic
variation in host organisms.
LO 3.30 The student is able to use representations and appropriate models to describe
how viral replication introduces genetic variation in the viral population.
Enduring understanding 3.D: Cells communicate by generating, transmitting and
receiving chemical signals.
Essential knowledge 3.D.1: Cell communication processes share common features
that reflect a shared evolutionary history.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.31 The student is able to describe basic chemical processes for cell communication
shared across evolutionary lines of descent.
LO 3.32 The student is able to generate scientific questions involving cell communication
as it relates to the process of evolution.
LO 3.33 The student is able to use representation(s) and appropriate models to describe
features of a cell signaling pathway.
Essential knowledge 3.D.2: Cells communicate with each other through direct
contact with other cells or from a distance via chemical signaling.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.34 The student is able to construct explanations of cell communication through cellto-cell direct contact or through chemical signaling.
LO 3.35 The student is able to create representation(s) that depict how cell-to-cell
communication occurs by direct contact or from a distance through chemical signaling.
Essential knowledge 3.D.3: Signal transduction pathways link signal reception
with cellular response.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.36 The student is able to describe a model that expresses the key elements of signal
transduction pathways by which a signal is converted to a cellular response.
Essential knowledge 3.D.4: Changes in signal transduction pathways can alter
cellular response.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.37 The student is able to justify claims based on scientific evidence that changes in
signal transduction pathways can alter cellular response.
LO 3.38 The student is able to describe a model that expresses key elements to show
how change in signal transduction can alter cellular response.
LO 3.39 The student is able to construct an explanation of how certain drugs affect signal
reception and, consequently, signal transduction pathways.
Enduring understanding 3.E: Transmission of information results in changes
within and between biological systems.
Essential knowledge 3.E.1: Individuals can act on information and communicate
it to others.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.40 The student is able to analyze data that indicate how organisms exchange
information in response to internal changes and external cues, and which can change
behavior.
LO 3.41 The student is able to create a representation that describes how organisms
exchange information in response to internal changes and external cues, and which can
result in changes in behavior.
LO 3.42 The student is able to describe how organisms exchange information in response
to internal changes or environmental cues.
Essential knowledge 3.E.2: Animals have nervous systems that detect external
and internal signals, transmit and integrate information, and produce responses.
Learning Objectives:
LO 3.43 The student is able to construct an explanation, based on scientific theories and
models, about how nervous systems detect external and internal signals, transmit and
integrate information, and produce responses.
LO 3.44 The student is able to describe how nervous systems detect external and internal
signals.
LO 3.45 The student is able to describe how nervous systems transmit information.
LO 3.46 The student is able to describe how the vertebrate brain integrates information
to produce a response.
LO 3.47 The student is able to create a visual representation of complex nervous systems
to describe/explain how these systems detect external and internal signals, transmit and
integrate information, and produce responses.
LO 3.48 The student is able to create a visual representation to describe how nervous
systems detect external and internal signals.
LO 3.49 The student is able to create a visual representation to describe how nervous
systems transmit information.
LO 3.50 The student is able to create a visual representation to describe how the
vertebrate brain integrates information to produce a response.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY
BIG IDEA 4: Biological systems interact, and these systems and their
interactions possess complex properties.
Enduring understanding 4.A: Interactions within biological systems lead to
complex properties.
Essential knowledge 4.A.1: The subcomponents of biological molecules and their
sequence determine the properties of that molecule.
Learning Objectives:
LO 4.1 The student is able to explain the connection between the sequence and the
subcomponents of a biological polymer and its properties.
LO 4.2 The student is able to refine representations and models to explain how the
subcomponents of a biological polymer and their sequence determine the properties of
that polymer.
LO 4.3 The student is able to use models to predict and justify that changes in the
subcomponents of a biological polymer affect the functionality of the molecule.
Essential knowledge 4.A.2: The structure and function of subcellular components,
and their interactions, provide essential cellular processes.
Learning Objectives:
LO 4.4 The student is able to make a prediction about the interactions of subcellular
organelles.
LO 4.5 The student is able to construct explanations based on scientific evidence as to
how interactions of subcellular structures provide essential functions.
LO 4.6 The student is able to use representations and models to analyze situations
qualitatively to describe how interactions of subcellular structures, which possess
specialized functions, provide essential functions.
Essential knowledge 4.A.3: Interactions between external stimuli and regulated
gene expression result in specialization of cells, tissues and organs.
Learning Objective:
LO 4.7 The student is able to refine representations to illustrate how interactions
between external stimuli and gene expression result in specialization of cells, tissues and
organs.
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Essential knowledge 4.A.4: Organisms exhibit complex properties due to
interactions between their constituent parts.
Learning Objective:
LO 4.9 The student is able to predict the effects of a change in a component(s) of a
biological system on the functionality of an organism(s).
LO 4.10 The student is able to refine representations and models to illustrate
biocomplexity due to interactions of the constituent parts.
Essential knowledge 4.A.5: Communities are composed of populations of
organisms that interact in complex ways.
Learning Objectives:
LO 4.11 The student is able to justify the selection of the kind of data needed to
answer scientific questions about the interaction of populations within communities.
LO 4.12 The student is able to apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe
communities composed of populations of organisms that interact in complex ways.
LO 4.13 The student is able to predict the effects of a change in the community’s
populations on the community.
Essential knowledge 4.A.6: Interactions among living systems and with their
environment result in the movement of matter and energy.
Learning Objectives:
LO 4.14 The student is able to apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe
interactions among living systems and their environment, which result in the
movement of matter and energy.
LO 4.15 The student is able to use visual representations to analyze situations or solve
problems qualitatively to illustrate how interactions among living systems and with
their environment result in the movement of matter and energy.
LO 4.16 The student is able to predict the effects of a change of matter or energy
availability on communities.
Enduring understanding 4.B: Competition and cooperation are important aspects
of biological systems.
Essential knowledge 4.B.1: Interactions between molecules affect their structure
and function.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY
Learning Objective:
LO 4.17 The student is able to analyze data to identify how molecular interactions
affect structure and function.
Essential knowledge 4.B.2: Cooperative interactions within organisms promote
efficiency in the use of energy and matter.
Learning Objective:
LO 4.18 The student is able to use representations and models to analyze how
cooperative interactions within organisms promote efficiency in the use of energy
and matter.
Essential knowledge 4.B.3: Interactions between and within populations influence
patterns of species distribution and abundance.
Learning Objective:
LO 4.19 The student is able to use data analysis to refine observations and
measurements regarding the effect of population interactions on patterns of
species distribution and abundance.
Essential knowledge 4.B.4: Distribution of local and global ecosystems changes
over time.
Learning Objectives:
LO 4.20 The student is able to explain how the distribution of ecosystems changes
over time by identifying large-scale events that have resulted in these changes in
the past.
LO 4.21 The student is able to predict consequences of human actions on both
local and global ecosystems.
Enduring understanding 4.C: Naturally occurring diversity among and between
components within biological systems affects interactions with the environment.
Essential knowledge 4.C.1: Variation in molecular units provides cells with a
wider range of functions.
Learning Objective:
LO 4.22 The student is able to construct explanations based on evidence of how
variation in molecular units provides cells with a wider range of functions.
Essential knowledge 4.C.2: Environmental factors influence the expression of the
genotype in an organism.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY
Learning Objectives:
LO 4.23 The student is able to construct explanations of the influence of
environmental factors on the phenotype of an organism.
LO 4.24 The student is able to predict the effects of a change in an environmental
factor on the genotypic expression of the phenotype.
Essential knowledge 4.C.3: The level of variation in a population affects
population dynamics.
Learning Objectives:
LO 4.25 The student is able to use evidence to justify a claim that a variety of
phenotypic responses to a single environmental factor can result from different
genotypes within the population.
LO 4.26 The student is able to use theories and models to make scientific claims
and/or predictions about the effects of variation within populations on survival and
fitness.
Essential knowledge 4.C.4: The diversity of species within an ecosystem may
influence the stability of the ecosystem.
Learning Objective:
LO 4.27 The student is able to make scientific claims and predictions about how
species diversity within an ecosystem influences ecosystem stability.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY
Science Practices for AP Biology
Science Practice 1: The student can use representations and models to
communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
1.1 The student can create representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena
and systems in the domain.
1.2 The student can describe representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena
and systems in the domain.
1.3 The student can refine representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena and
systems in the domain.
1.4 The student can use representations and models to analyze situations or solve problems
qualitatively and quantitatively.
1.5 The student can reexpress key elements of natural phenomena across multiple
representations in the domain.
Science Practice 2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
2.1 The student can justify the selection of a mathematical routine to solve problems.
2.2 The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural
phenomena.
2.3 The student can estimate numerically quantities that describe natural phenomena.
Science Practice 3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to
extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP
course.
3.1 The student can pose scientific questions.
3.2 The student can refine scientific questions.
3.3 The student can evaluate scientific questions.
Science Practice 4: The student can plan and implement data collection
strategies appropriate to a particular scientific question.
4.1 The student can justify the selection of the kind of data needed to answer a particular
scientific question.
4.2 The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific question.
4.3 The student can collect data to answer a particular scientific question.
4.4 The student can evaluate sources of data to answer a particular scientific question.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY
Science Practice 5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation
of evidence.
5.1 The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
5.2 The student can refine observations and measurements based on data analysis.
5.3 The student can evaluate the evidence provided by data sets in relation to a particular
scientific question.
Science Practice 6: The student can work with scientific explanations and
theories.
6.1 The student can justify claims with evidence.
6.2 The student can construct explanations of phenomena based on evidence produced through
scientific practices.
6.3 The student can articulate the reasons that scientific explanations and theories are refined
or replaced.
6.4 The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on scientific
theories and models.
6.5 The student can evaluate alternative scientific explanations.
Science Practice 7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge
across various scales, concepts and representations in and across domains.
7.1 The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
7.2 The student can connect concepts in and across domain(s) to generalize or extrapolate in
and/or across enduring understandings and/or big ideas.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
AP Chemistry is a second year chemistry for students planning to pursue a
science or technology-related college curriculum or for those desiring college
chemistry credit.
BIG IDEA 1: The chemical elements are fundamental building materials of
matter, and all matter can be understood in terms of arrangements of
atoms. These atoms retain their identity in chemical reactions.
Essential knowledge 1.A.1: Molecules are composed of specific combinations of
atoms; different molecules are composed of combinations of different elements
and of combinations of the same elements in differing amounts and proportions.
Learning Objective for EK 1.A.1:
LO 1.1 The student can justify the observation that the ratio of the masses of the
constituent elements in any pure sample of that compound is always identical on the
basis of the atomic molecular theory. [SP 6.1]
Essential knowledge 1.A.2: Chemical analysis provides a method for determining
the relative number of atoms in a substance, which can be used to identify the
substance or determine its purity.
Learning Objectives for EK 1.A.2:
LO 1.2 The student is able to select and apply mathematical routines to mass data to
identify or infer the composition of pure substances and/or mixtures. [SP 2.2]
LO 1.3 The student is able to select and apply mathematical relationships to mass data in
order to justify a claim regarding the identity and/or estimated purity of a substance. [SP
2.2, 6.1]
Essential knowledge 1.A.3: The mole is the fundamental unit for counting
numbers of particles on the macroscopic level and allows quantitative connections
to be drawn between laboratory experiments, which occur at the macroscopic level
and chemical processes, which occur at the atomic level.
Learning Objective for EK 1.A.3:
LO 1.4 The student is able to connect the number of particles, moles, mass, and volume
of substances to one another, both qualitatively and quantitatively. [SP 7.1]
Enduring understanding 1.B: The atoms of each element have unique structures
arising from interactions between electrons and nuclei.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Essential knowledge 1.B.1: The atom is composed of negatively charged
electrons, which can leave the atom, and a positively charged nucleus that is made
of protons and neutrons. The attraction of the electrons to the nucleus is the basis
of the structure of the atom. Coulomb’s law is qualitatively useful for
understanding the structure of the atom.
Learning Objectives for EK 1.B.1:
LO 1.5 The student is able to explain the distribution of electrons in an atom or ion based
upon data. [SP 1.5, 6.2]
LO 1.6 The student is able to analyze data relating to electron energies for patterns and
relationships. [SP 5.1]
Essential knowledge 1.B.2: The electronic structure of the atom can be
described using an electron configuration that reflects the concept of electrons in
quantized energy levels or shells; the energetics of the electrons in the atom can
be understood by consideration of Coulomb’s law.
Learning Objectives for EK 1.B.2:
LO 1.7 The student is able to describe the electronic structure of the atom, using PES
data, ionization energy data, and/or Coulomb’s law to construct explanations of how the
energies of electrons within shells in atoms vary. [SP 5.1, 6.2]
LO 1.8 The student is able to explain the distribution of electrons using Coulomb’s law to
analyze measured energies. [SP 6.2]
Enduring understanding 1.C: Elements display periodicity in their properties
when the elements are organized according to increasing atomic number. This
periodicity can be explained by the regular variations that occur in the electronic
structures of atoms. Periodicity is a useful principle for understanding properties
and predicting trends in properties. Its modern-day uses range from examining
the composition of materials to generating ideas for designing new materials.
Essential knowledge 1.C.1: Many properties of atoms exhibit periodic trends that
are reflective of the periodicity of electronic structure.
Learning Objectives for EK 1.C.1:
LO 1.9 The student is able to predict and/or justify trends in atomic properties based on
location on the periodic table and/or the shell model. [SP 6.4]
LO 1.10 The student can justify with evidence the arrangement of the periodic table and
can apply periodic properties to chemical reactivity. [SP 6.1]
LO 1.11 The student can analyze data, based on periodicity and the properties of binary
compounds, to identify patterns and generate hypotheses related to the molecular
design of compounds for which data are not supplied. [SP 3.1, 5.1]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Essential knowledge 1.C.2: The currently accepted best model of the atom is
based on the quantum mechanical model.
Learning Objective for EK 1.C.2:
LO 1.12 The student is able to explain why a given set of data suggests, or does not
suggest, the need to refine the atomic model from a classical shell model with the
quantum mechanical model. [SP 6.3]
Enduring understanding 1.D: Atoms are so small that they are difficult to study
directly; atomic models are constructed to explain experimental data on collections
of atoms.
Essential knowledge 1.D.1: As is the case with all scientific models, any model of
the atom is subject to refinement and change in response to new experimental
results. In that sense, an atomic model is not regarded as an exact description of the
atom, but rather a theoretical construct that fits a set of experimental data.
Learning Objective for EK 1.D.1:
LO 1.13 Given information about a particular model of the atom, the student is able to
determine if the model is consistent with specified evidence. [SP 5.3]
Essential knowledge 1.D.2: An early model of the atom stated that all atoms of an
element are identical. Mass spectrometry data demonstrate evidence that
contradicts this early model.
Learning Objective for EK 1.D.2:
LO 1.14 The student is able to use data from mass spectrometry to identify the elements
and the masses of individual atoms of a specific element. [SP 1.4, 1.5]
Essential knowledge 1.D.3: The interaction of electromagnetic waves or light with
matter is a powerful means to probe the structure of atoms and molecules, and to
measure their concentration.
Learning Objectives for EK 1.D.3:
LO 1.15 The student can justify the selection of a particular type of spectroscopy to
measure properties associated with vibrational or electronic motions of molecules. [SP
4.1, 6.4]
LO 1.16 The student can design and/or interpret the results of an experiment regarding
the absorption of light to determine the concentration of an absorbing species in a
solution. [SP 4.2, 5.1]
Enduring understanding 1.E: Atoms are conserved in physical and chemical
processes.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Essential knowledge 1.E.1: Physical and chemical processes can be depicted
symbolically; when this is done, the illustration must conserve all atoms of all
types.
Learning Objective for EK 1.E.1:
LO 1.17 The student is able to express the law of conservation of mass quantitatively and
qualitatively using symbolic representations and particulate drawings. [SP 1.5]
Essential knowledge 1.E.2: Conservation of atoms makes it possible to compute
the masses of substances involved in physical and chemical processes. Chemical
processes result in the formation of new substances, and the amount of these
depends on the number and the types and masses of elements in the reactants, as
well as the efficiency of the transformation.
Learning Objectives for EK 1.E.2:
LO 1.18 The student is able to apply conservation of atoms to the rearrangement of
atoms in various processes. [SP 1.4]
LO 1.19 The student can design, and/or interpret data from, an experiment that uses
gravimetric analysis to determine the concentration of an analyte in a solution. [SP 4.2,
5.1, 6.4]
LO 1.20 The student can design, and/or interpret data from, an experiment that uses
titration to determine the concentration of an analyte in a solution. [SP 4.2, 5.1, 6.4]
BIG IDEA 2: 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.
Learning Objectives for Big Idea 2:
LO 2.1 Students can predict properties of substances based on their chemical formulas,
and provide explanations of their properties based on particle views. [SP 6.4, 7.1]
LO 2.2 The student is able to explain the relative strengths of acids and bases based on
molecular structure, interparticle forces, and solution equilibrium. [SP 7.2, connects to
Big Idea 5, Big Idea 6]
Note: These learning objectives apply to essential knowledge components of 2A–2D.
Enduring understanding 2.A: Matter can be described by its physical properties.
The physical properties of a substance generally depend on the spacing between
the particles (atoms, molecules, ions) that make up the substance and the forces of
attraction among them.
Essential knowledge 2.A.1: The different properties of solids and liquids can be
explained by differences in their structures, both at the particulate level and in
their supramolecular structures.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 2.A.1:
LO 2.3 The student is able to use aspects of particulate models (i.e., particle spacing,
motion, and forces of attraction) to reason about observed differences between solid and
liquid phases and among solid and liquid materials. [SP 6.4, 7.1]
Essential knowledge 2.A.2: The gaseous state can be effectively modeled with a
mathematical equation relating various macroscopic properties. A gas has neither a
definite volume nor a definite shape; because the effects of attractive forces are
minimal, we usually assume that the particles move independently.
Learning Objectives for EK 2.A.2:
LO 2.4 The student is able to use KMT and concepts of intermolecular forces to make
predictions about the macroscopic properties of gases, including both ideal and nonideal
behaviors. [SP 1.4, 6.4]
LO 2.5 The student is able to refine multiple representations of a sample of matter in the
gas phase to accurately represent the effect of changes in macroscopic properties on the
sample. [SP 1.3, 6.4, 7.2]
LO 2.6 The student can apply mathematical relationships or estimation to determine
macroscopic variables for ideal gases. [SP 2.2,
2.3]
Essential knowledge 2.A.3: Solutions are homogenous mixtures in which the
physical properties are dependent on the concentration of the solute and the
strengths of all interactions among the particles of the solutes and solvent.
Learning Objectives for EK 2.A.3:
LO 2.7 The student is able to explain how solutes can be separated by chromatography
based on intermolecular interactions. [SP 6.2]
LO 2.8 The student can draw and/or interpret representations of solutions that show the
interactions between the solute and solvent. [SP 1.1, 1.2, 6.4]
LO 2.9 The student is able to create or interpret representations that link the concept of
molarity with particle views of solutions. [SP 1.1, 1.4]
LO 2.10 The student can design and/or interpret the results of a separation experiment
(filtration, paper chromatography, column chromatography, or distillation) in terms of
the relative strength of interactions among and between the components. [SP 4.2, 5.1,
6.4]
Enduring understanding 2.B: Forces of attraction between particles
(including the noble gases and also different parts of some large molecules)
are important in determining many macroscopic properties of a substance,
including how the observable physical state changes with temperature.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 2.B.1:
LO 2.11 The student is able to explain the trends in properties and/or predict properties
of samples consisting of particles with no permanent dipole on the basis of London
dispersion forces. [SP 6.2, 6.4]
Essential knowledge 2.B.2: Dipole forces result from the attraction among the
positive ends and negative ends of polar molecules. Hydrogen bonding is a strong
type of dipole-dipole force that exists when very electronegative atoms (N, O, and
F) are involved.
Essential knowledge 2.B.3: Intermolecular forces play a key role in determining
the properties of substances, including biological structures and interactions.
Learning Objectives for EK 2.B.3:
LO 2.15 The student is able to explain observations regarding the solubility of ionic solids
and molecules in water and other solvents on the basis of particle views that include
intermolecular interactions and entropic effects. [SP 1.4, 6.2, connects to 5.E.1]
LO 2.16 The student is able to explain the properties (phase, vapor pressure, viscosity,
etc.) of small and large molecular compounds in terms of the strengths and types of
intermolecular forces. [SP 6.2]
Enduring understanding 2.C: The strong electrostatic forces of attraction holding
atoms together in a unit are called chemical bonds.
Learning Objective for EU 2.C:
LO 2.17 The student can predict the type of bonding present between two atoms in a
binary compound based on position in the periodic table and the electronegativity of the
elements. [SP 6.4]
Essential knowledge 2.C.1: In covalent bonding, electrons are shared between the
nuclei of two atoms to form a molecule or polyatomic ion. Electronegativity
differences between the two atoms account for the distribution of the shared
electrons and the polarity of the bond.
Learning Objective for EK 2.C.1:
LO 2.18 The student is able to rank and justify the ranking of bond polarity on the basis of
the locations of the bonded atoms in the periodic table. [SP 6.1]
Essential knowledge 2.C.2: Ionic bonding results from the net attraction between
oppositely charged ions, closely packed together in a crystal lattice.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 2.C.2:
LO 2.19 The student can create visual representations of ionic substances that connect
the microscopic structure to macroscopic properties, and/or use representations to
connect the microscopic structure to macroscopic properties (e.g., boiling point,
solubility, hardness, brittleness, low volatility, lack of malleability, ductility, or
conductivity). [SP 1.1, 1.4, 7.1, connects to 2.D.1, 2.D.2]
Essential knowledge 2.C.3: Metallic bonding describes an array of positively
charged metal cores surrounded by a sea of mobile valence electrons.
Learning Objective for EK 2.C.3:
LO 2.20 The student is able to explain how a bonding model involving delocalized
electrons is consistent with macroscopic properties of metals (e.g., conductivity,
malleability, ductility, and low volatility) and the shell model of the atom. [SP 6.2, 7.1,
connects to 2.D.2]
Essential knowledge 2.C.4: The localized electron bonding model describes and
predicts molecular geometry using Lewis diagrams and the VSEPR model.
Learning Objective for EK 2.C.4:
LO 2.21 The student is able to use Lewis diagrams and VSEPR to predict the geometry of
molecules, identify hybridization, and make predictions about polarity. [SP 1.4]
Enduring understanding 2.D: The type of bonding in the solid state can be
deduced from the properties of the solid state.
Learning Objective for EU 2.D:
LO 2.22 The student is able to design or evaluate a plan to collect and/or interpret data
needed to deduce the type of bonding in a sample of a solid. [See SP 4.2, 6.4]
Essential knowledge 2.D.1: Ionic solids have high melting points, are brittle, and
conduct electricity only when molten or in solution.
Learning Objectives for EK 2.D.1:
LO 2.23 The student can create a representation of an ionic solid that shows essential
characteristics of the structure and interactions present in the substance. [SP 1.1]
LO 2.24 The student is able to explain a representation that connects properties of an
ionic solid to its structural attributes and to the interactions present at the atomic level.
[SP 1.1, 6.2, 7.1]
Essential knowledge 2.D.2: Metallic solids are good conductors of heat and
electricity, have a wide range of melting points, and are shiny, malleable, ductile,
and readily alloyed.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objectives for EK 2.D.2:
LO 2.25 The student is able to compare the properties of metal alloys with their
constituent elements to determine if an alloy has formed, identify the type of alloy
formed, and explain the differences in properties using particulate level reasoning. [SP
1.4, 7.2]
LO 2.26 Students can use the electron sea model of metallic bonding to predict or make
claims about the macroscopic properties of metals or alloys. [SP 6.4, 7.1]
LO 2.27 The student can create a representation of a metallic solid that shows essential
characteristics of the structure and interactions present in the substance. [SP 1.1]
LO 2.28 The student is able to explain a representation that connects properties of a
metallic solid to its structural attributes and to the interactions present at the atomic
level. [SP 1.1, 6.2, 7.1]
Essential knowledge 2.D.3: Covalent network solids generally have extremely
high melting points, are hard, and are thermal insulators. Some conduct electricity.
Learning Objectives for EK 2.D.3:
LO 2.29 The student can create a representation of a covalent solid that shows essential
characteristics of the structure and interactions present in the substance. [SP 1.1]
LO 2.30 The student is able to explain a representation that connects properties of a
covalent solid to its structural attributes and to the interactions present at the atomic
level. [SP 1.1, 6.2, 7.1]
Essential knowledge 2.D.4: Molecular solids with low molecular weight usually
have low melting points and are not expected to conduct electricity as solids, in
solution, or when molten.
Learning Objectives for EK 2.D.4:
LO 2.31 The student can create a representation of a molecular solid that shows essential
characteristics of the structure and interactions present in the substance. [SP 1.1]
LO 2.32 The student is able to explain a representation that connects properties of a
molecular solid to its structural attributes and to the interactions present at the atomic
level. [SP 1.1, 6.2, 7.1]
BIG IDEA 3: Changes in matter involve the rearrangement and/or
reorganization of atoms and/or the transfer of electrons.
Learning Objective for Big Idea 3:
LO 3.1 Students can translate among macroscopic observations of change, chemical
equations, and particle views. [SP 1.5, 7.1]
Note: This learning objective applies to essential knowledge components of 3A–3C.
Enduring understanding 3.A: Chemical changes are represented by a balanced
chemical equation that identifies the ratios with which reactants react and products
form.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Essential knowledge 3.A.1: A chemical change may be represented by a
molecular, ionic, or net ionic equation.
Learning Objective for EK 3.A.1:
LO 3.2 The student can translate an observed chemical change into a balanced chemical
equation and justify the choice of equation type (molecular, ionic, or net ionic) in terms of
utility for the given circumstances. [SP 1.5, 7.1]
Essential knowledge 3.A.2: Quantitative information can be derived from
stoichiometric calculations that utilize the mole ratios from the balanced chemical
equations. The role of stoichiometry in real-world applications is important to note,
so that it does not seem to be simply an exercise done only by chemists.
Learning Objectives for EK 3.A.2:
LO 3.3 The student is able to use stoichiometric calculations to predict the results of
performing a reaction in the laboratory and/or to analyze deviations from the expected
results. [SP 2.2, 5.1]
LO 3.4 The student is able to relate quantities (measured mass of substances, volumes of
solutions, or volumes and pressures of gases) to identify stoichiometric relationships for a
reaction, including situations involving limiting reactants and situations in which the
reaction has not gone to completion. [SP 2.2, 5.1, 6.4]
Enduring understanding 3.B: Chemical reactions can be classified by
considering what the reactants are, what the products are, or how they change from
one into the other. Classes of chemical reactions include synthesis, decomposition,
acid-base, and oxidation-reduction reactions.
Learning Objectives for EK 3.B.1:
LO 3.5 The student is able to design a plan in order to collect data on the synthesis or
decomposition of a compound to confirm the conservation of matter and the law of
definite proportions. [SP 2.1, 4.2, 6.4]
LO 3.6 The student is able to use data from synthesis or decomposition of a compound to
confirm the conservation of matter and the law of definite proportions. [SP 2.2, 6.1]
Essential knowledge 3.B.2: In a neutralization reaction, protons are transferred
from an acid to a base.
Learning Objective for EK 3.B.2:
LO 3.7 The student is able to identify compounds as Brønsted-Lowry acids, bases, and/or
conjugate acid-base pairs, using proton-transfer reactions to justify the identification. [SP
6.1]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Essential knowledge 3.B.3: In oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions, there is a net
transfer of electrons. The species that loses electrons is oxidized, and the species
that gains electrons is reduced.
Learning Objectives for EK 3.B.3:
LO 3.8 The student is able to identify redox reactions and justify the identification in
terms of electron transfer. [SP 6.1]
LO 3.9 The student is able to design and/or interpret the results of an experiment
involving a redox titration. [SP 4.2, 5.1]
Enduring understanding 3.C: Chemical and physical transformations may be
observed in several ways and typically involve a change in energy.
Essential knowledge 3.C.1: Production of heat or light, formation of a gas, and
formation of a precipitate and/or a color change are possible evidences that a
chemical change has occurred.
Learning Objective for EK 3.C.1:
LO 3.10 The student is able to evaluate the classification of a process as a physical
change, chemical change, or ambiguous change based on both macroscopic observations
and the distinction between rearrangement of covalent interactions and noncovalent
interactions. [SP 1.4, 6.1, connects to 5.D.2]
Essential knowledge 3.C.2: Net changes in energy for a chemical reaction can be
endothermic or exothermic.
Learning Objective for EK 3.C.2:
LO 3.11 The student is able to interpret observations regarding macroscopic energy
changes associated with a reaction or process to generate a relevant symbolic and/or
graphical representation of the energy changes. [SP 1.5, 4.4]
Essential knowledge 3.C.3: Electrochemistry shows the interconversion between
chemical and electrical energy in galvanic and electrolytic cells.
Learning Objectives for EK 3.C.3:
LO 3.12 The student can make qualitative or quantitative predictions about galvanic or
electrolytic reactions based on half-cell reactions and potentials and/ or Faraday’s laws.
[SP 2.2, 2.3, 6.4]
LO 3.13 The student can analyze data regarding galvanic or electrolytic cells to identify
properties of the underlying redox reactions. [SP 5.1]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
BIG IDEA 4: Rates of chemical reactions are determined by details of
the molecular collisions.
Enduring understanding 4.A: Reaction rates that depend on temperature and
other environmental factors are determined by measuring changes in
concentrations of reactants or products over time.
Essential knowledge 4.A.1: The rate of a reaction is influenced by the
concentration or pressure of reactants, the phase of the reactants and products, and
environmental factors such as temperature and solvent.
Learning Objective for EK 4.A.1:
LO 4.1 The student is able to design and/or interpret the results of an experiment
regarding the factors (i.e., temperature, concentration, surface area) that may influence
the rate of a reaction. [SP4.2, 5.1]
Essential knowledge 4.A.2: The rate law shows how the rate depends on reactant
concentrations.
Learning Objective for EK 4.A.2:
LO 4.2 The student is able to analyze concentration vs. time data to determine the rate
law for a zeroth-, first-, or second-order reaction. [SP 5.1, 6.4, connects to 4.A.3]
Essential knowledge 4.A.3: The magnitude and temperature dependence of the
rate of reaction is contained quantitatively in the rate constant.
Learning Objective for EK 4.A.3:
LO 4.3 The student is able to connect the half-life of a reaction to the rate constant of a
first-order reaction and justify the use of this relation in terms of the reaction being a
first-order reaction. [SP 2.1, 2.2]
Enduring understanding 4.B: Elementary reactions are mediated by collisions
between molecules. Only collisions having sufficient energy and proper relative
orientation of reactants lead to products.
Essential knowledge 4.B.1: Elementary reactions can be unimolecular or involve
collisions between two or more molecules.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 4.B.1:
LO 4.4 The student is able to connect the rate law for an elementary reaction to the
frequency and success of molecular collisions, including connecting the frequency and
success to the order and rate constant, respectively. [SP 7.1, connects to 4.A.3, 4.B.2]
Essential knowledge 4.B.2: Not all collisions are successful. To get over the
activation energy barrier, the colliding species need sufficient energy. Also, the
orientations of the reactant molecules during the collision must allow for the
rearrangement of reactant bonds to form product bonds.
Learning Objective EK 4.B.2:
LO 4.5 The student is able to explain the difference between collisions that convert
reactants to products and those that do not in terms of energy distributions and
molecular orientation. [SP 6.2]
Essential knowledge 4.B.3: A successful collision can be viewed as following a
reaction path with an associated energy profile.
Learning Objective for EK 4.B.3:
LO 4.6 The student is able to use representations of the energy profile for an elementary
reaction (from the reactants, through the transition state, to the products) to make
qualitative predictions regarding the relative temperature dependence of the reaction
rate. [SP 1.4, 6.4]
Enduring understanding 4.C: Many reactions proceed via a series of elementary
reactions.
Learning Objective for EU 4C:
LO 4.7 The student is able to evaluate alternative explanations, as expressed by reaction
mechanisms, to determine which are consistent with data regarding the overall rate of a
reaction, and data that can be used to infer the presence of a reaction intermediate. [SP
6.5, connects to 4.C.1, 4.C.2, 4.C.3]
Essential knowledge 4.C.1: The mechanism of a multistep reaction consists of a
series of elementary reactions that add up to the overall reaction.
Essential knowledge 4.C.2: In many reactions, the rate is set by the slowest
elementary reaction, or rate-limiting step.
Essential knowledge 4.C.3: Reaction intermediates, which are formed during the
reaction but not present in the overall reaction, play an important role in multistep
reactions.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Enduring understanding 4.D: Reaction rates may be increased by the presence of
a catalyst.
Essential knowledge 4.D.1: Catalysts function by lowering the activation energy
of an elementary step in a reaction mechanism, and by providing a new and faster
reaction mechanism.
Learning Objective for EK 4.D.1:
LO 4.8 The student can translate among reaction energy profile representations,
particulate representations, and symbolic representations (chemical equations) of a
chemical reaction occurring in the presence and absence of a catalyst. [SP 1.5]
Essential knowledge 4.D.2: Important classes in catalysis include acid base
catalysis, surface catalysis, and enzyme catalysis.
Learning Objective for EK 4.D.2:
LO 4.9 The student is able to explain changes in reaction rates arising from the use of
acid-base catalysts, surface catalysts, or enzyme catalysts, including selecting appropriate
mechanisms with or without the catalyst present. [SP 6.2, 7.2]
BIG IDEA 5: The laws of thermodynamics describe the essential role of
energy and explain and predict the direction of changes in matter.
Learning Objective for Big Idea 5:
LO 5.1 The student is able to create or use graphical representations in order to connect
the dependence of potential energy to the distance between atoms and factors, such as
bond order (for covalent interactions) and polarity (for intermolecular interactions),
which influence the interaction strength. [SP 1.1, 1.4, 7.2, connects to Big Idea 2]
Note: This learning objective applies to essential knowledge components of 5A–5E.
Enduring understanding 5.A: Two systems with different temperatures that are in
thermal contact will exchange energy. The quantity of thermal energy transferred
from one system to another is called heat.
Essential knowledge 5.A.1: Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic
energy of atoms and molecules.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 5.A.1:
LO 5.2 The student is able to relate temperature to the motions of particles, either via
particulate representations, such as drawings of particles with arrows indicating
velocities, and/or via representations of average kinetic energy and distribution of kinetic
energies of the particles, such as plots of the MaxwellBoltzmann distribution. [SP 1.1, 1.4,
7.1]
Essential knowledge 5.A.2: The process of kinetic energy transfer at the
particulate scale is referred to in this course as heat transfer, and the spontaneous
direction of the transfer is always from a hot to a cold body.
Learning Objective for EK 5.A.2:
LO 5.3 The student can generate explanations or make predictions about the transfer of
thermal energy between systems based on this transfer being due to a kinetic energy
transfer between systems arising from molecular collisions. [SP 7.1]
Enduring understanding 5.B: Energy is neither created nor destroyed, but only
transformed from one form to another.
Essential knowledge 5.B.1: Energy is transferred between systems either through
heat transfer or through one system doing work on the other system.
Essential knowledge 5.B.2: When two systems are in contact with each other and
are otherwise isolated, the energy that comes out of one system is equal to the
energy that goes into the other system. The combined energy of the two systems
remains fixed. Energy transfer can occur through either heat exchange or work.
Learning Objectives for EK 5.B.1 and 5.B.2:
LO 5.4 The student is able to use conservation of energy to relate the magnitudes of the
energy changes occurring in two or more interacting systems, including identification of
the systems, the type (heat versus work), or the direction of energy flow. [SP 1.4, 2.2,
connects to 5.B.1, 5.B.2]
LO 5.5 The student is able to use conservation of energy to relate the magnitudes of the
energy changes when two nonreacting substances are mixed or brought into contact with
one another. [SP 2.2, connects to 5.B.1, 5.B.2]
Essential knowledge 5.B.3: Chemical systems undergo three main processes that
change their energy: heating/cooling, phase transitions, and chemical reactions.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 5.B.3:
LO 5.6 The student is able to use calculations or estimations to relate energy changes
associated with heating/cooling a substance to the heat capacity, relate energy changes
associated with a phase transition to the enthalpy of fusion/ vaporization, relate energy
changes associated with a chemical reaction to the enthalpy of the reaction, and relate
energy changes to P∆V work. [SP 2.2, 2.3]
Essential knowledge 5.B.4: Calorimetry is an experimental technique that is used
to determine the heat exchanged/transferred in a chemical system.
Learning Objective for EK 5.B.4:
LO 5.7 The student is able to design and/or interpret the results of an experiment in
which calorimetry is used to determine the change in enthalpy of a chemical process
(heating/cooling, phase transition, or chemical reaction) at constant pressure. [SP 4.2,
5.1, 6.4]
Enduring understanding 5.C: Breaking bonds requires energy, and making bonds
releases energy.
Essential knowledge 5.C.1: Potential energy is associated with a particular
geometric arrangement of atoms or ions and the electrostatic interactions between
them.
Essential knowledge 5.C.2: The net energy change during a reaction is the sum
of the energy required to break the bonds in the reactant molecules and the energy
released in forming the bonds of the product molecules. The net change in energy
may be positive for endothermic reactions where energy is required, or negative
for exothermic reactions where energy is released.
Learning Objective for 5.C.2:
LO 5.8 The student is able to draw qualitative and quantitative connections between the
reaction enthalpy and the energies involved in the breaking and formation of chemical
bonds. [SP 2.3, 7.1, 7.2]
Enduring understanding 5.D: Electrostatic forces exist between molecules as
well as between atoms or ions, and breaking the resultant intermolecular
interactions requires energy.
Learning Objective for 5.D.1:
LO 5.9 The student is able to make claims and/or predictions regarding relative
magnitudes of the forces acting within collections of interacting molecules based on the
distribution of electrons within the molecules and the types of intermolecular forces
through which the molecules interact. [SP 6.4]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Essential knowledge 5.D.2: At the particulate scale, chemical processes can be
distinguished from physical processes because chemical bonds can be
distinguished from intermolecular interactions.
Learning Objective for EK 5.D.2:
LO 5.10 The student can support the claim about whether a process is a chemical or
physical change (or may be classified as both) based on whether the process involves
changes in intramolecular versus intermolecular interactions. [SP 5.1]
Essential knowledge 5.D.3: Noncovalent and intermolecular interactions play
important roles in many biological and polymer systems.
Learning Objective for EK 5.D.3:
LO 5.11 The student is able to identify the noncovalent interactions within and between
large molecules, and/or connect the shape and function of the large molecule to the
presence and magnitude of these interactions. [SP 7.2]
Enduring understanding 5.E: Chemical or physical processes are driven by a
decrease in enthalpy or an increase in entropy, or both.
Essential knowledge 5.E.1: Entropy is a measure of the dispersal of matter and
energy.
Learning Objective for EK 5.E.1:
LO 5.12 The student is able to use representations and models to predict the sign and
relative magnitude of the entropy change associated with chemical or physical processes.
[SP 1.4]
Essential knowledge 5.E.2: Some physical or chemical processes involve both a
decrease in the internal energy of the components (ΔH° < 0) under consideration
and an increase in the entropy of those components (ΔS° > 0). These processes are
necessarily “thermodynamically favored” (ΔG° < 0).
Learning Objective for EK 5.E.2:
LO 5.13 The student is able to predict whether or not a physical or chemical process is
thermodynamically favored by determination of (either quantitatively or qualitatively)
the signs of both ΔH° and ΔS°, and calculation or estimation of ΔG° when needed. [SP 2.2,
2.3, 6.4, connects to 5.E.3]
Essential knowledge 5.E.3: If a chemical or physical process is not driven by both
entropy and enthalpy changes, then the Gibbs free energy change can be used to
determine whether the process is thermodynamically favored.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 5.E.3:
LO 5.14 The student is able to determine whether a chemical or physical process is
thermodynamically favorable by calculating the change in standard Gibbs free energy. [SP
2.2, connects to 5.E.2]
Essential knowledge 5.E.4: External sources of energy can be used to drive
change in cases where the Gibbs free energy change is positive.
Learning Objectives for EK 5.E.4:
LO 5.15 The student is able to explain how the application of external energy sources or
the coupling of favorable with unfavorable reactions can be used to cause processes that
are not thermodynamically favorable to become favorable. [SP 6.2]
LO 5.16 The student can use Le Chatelier’s principle to make qualitative predictions for
systems in which coupled reactions that share a common intermediate drive formation
of a product. [SP 6.4, connects to 6.B.1]
LO 5.17 The student can make quantitative predictions for systems involving coupled
reactions that share a common intermediate, based on the equilibrium constant for the
combined reaction. [SP 6.4, connects to 6.A.2]
Essential knowledge 5.E.5: A thermodynamically favored process may not occur
due to kinetic constraints (kinetic vs. thermodynamic control).
Learning Objective for EK 5.E.5:
LO 5.18 The student can explain why a thermodynamically favored chemical reaction
may not produce large amounts of product (based on consideration of both initial
conditions and kinetic effects), or why a thermodynamically unfavored chemical reaction
can produce large amounts of product for certain sets of initial conditions. [SP 1.3, 7.2,
connects to 6.D.1]
BIG IDEA 6: Any bond or intermolecular attraction that can be formed
can be broken. These two processes are in a dynamic competition,
sensitive to initial conditions and external perturbations.
Enduring understanding 6.A: Chemical equilibrium is a dynamic, reversible state
in which rates of opposing processes are equal.
Essential knowledge 6.A.1: In many classes of reactions, it is important to
consider both the forward and reverse reaction.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 6.A.1:
LO 6.1 The student is able to, given a set of experimental observations regarding physical,
chemical, biological, or environmental processes that are reversible, construct an
explanation that connects the observations to the reversibility of the underlying chemical
reactions or processes. [SP 6.2]
Essential knowledge 6.A.2: The current state of a system undergoing a reversible
reaction can be characterized by the extent to which reactants have been converted
to products. The relative quantities of reaction components are quantitatively
described by the reaction quotient, Q.
Learning Objective for EK 6.A.2:
LO 6.2 The student can, given a manipulation of a chemical reaction or set of reactions
(e.g., reversal of reaction or addition of two reactions), determine the effects of that
manipulation on Q or K. [SP 2.2]
Essential knowledge 6.A.3: When a system is at equilibrium, all macroscopic
variables, such as concentrations, partial pressures, and temperature, do not change
over time. Equilibrium results from an equality between the rates of the forward
and reverse reactions, at which point Q = K.
Learning Objectives for EK 6.A.3:
LO 6.3 The student can connect kinetics to equilibrium by using reasoning about
equilibrium, such as Le Chatelier’s principle, to infer the relative rates of the forward and
reverse reactions. [SP 7.2]
LO 6.4 The student can, given a set of initial conditions (concentrations or partial
pressures) and the equilibrium constant, K, use the tendency of Q to approach K to
predict and justify the prediction as to whether the reaction will proceed toward products
or reactants as equilibrium is approached. [SP 2.2, 6.4]
LO 6.5 The student can, given data (tabular, graphical, etc.) from which the state of a
system at equilibrium can be obtained, calculate the equilibrium constant, K. [SP 2.2]
LO 6.6 The student can, given a set of initial conditions (concentrations or partial
pressures) and the equilibrium constant, K, use stoichiometric relationships and the law
of mass action (Q equals K at equilibrium) to determine qualitatively and/or
quantitatively the conditions at equilibrium for a system involving a single reversible
reaction. [SP 2.2, 6.4]
Essential knowledge 6.A.4: The magnitude of the equilibrium constant, K, can be
used to determine whether the equilibrium lies toward the reactant side or product
side.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Learning Objective for EK 6.A.4:
LO 6.7 The student is able, for a reversible reaction that has a large or small K, to
determine which chemical species will have very large versus very small concentrations at
equilibrium. [SP 2.2, 2.3]
Enduring understanding 6.B: Systems at equilibrium are responsive to external
perturbations, with the response leading to a change in the composition of the
system.
Essential knowledge 6.B.1: Systems at equilibrium respond to disturbances by
partially countering the effect of the disturbance (Le Chatelier’s principle).
Learning Objectives for EK 6.B.1:
LO 6.8 The student is able to use Le Chatelier’s principle to predict the direction of the
shift resulting from various possible stresses on a system at chemical equilibrium. [SP 1.4,
6.4]
LO 6.9 The student is able to use Le Chatelier’s principle to design a set of conditions that
will optimize a desired outcome, such as product yield. [SP 4.2]
Essential knowledge 6.B.2: A disturbance to a system at equilibrium causes Q to
differ from K, thereby taking the system out of the original equilibrium state. The
system responds by bringing Q back into agreement with K, thereby establishing a
new equilibrium state.
Learning Objective for EK 6.B.2:
LO 6.10 The student is able to connect Le Chatelier’s principle to the comparison of Q to K
by explaining the effects of the stress on Q and K. [SP 1.4, 7.2]
Enduring understanding 6.C: Chemical equilibrium plays an important role in
acid-base chemistry and in solubility.
Essential knowledge 6.C.1: Chemical equilibrium reasoning can be used to
describe the proton-transfer reactions of acid-base chemistry.
Learning Objectives for EK 6.C.1:
LO 6.11 The student can generate or use a particulate representation of an acid (strong or
weak or polyprotic) and a strong base to explain the species that will have large versus
small concentrations at equilibrium. [SP 1.1, 1.4, 2.3]
LO 6.12 The student can reason about the distinction between strong and weak acid
solutions with similar values of pH, including the percent ionization of the acids, the
concentrations needed to achieve the same pH, and the amount of base needed to reach
the equivalence point in a titration. [SP 1.4, 6.4, connects to 1.E.2]
LO 6.13 The student can interpret titration data for monoprotic or polyprotic acids
involving titration of a weak or strong acid by a strong base (or a weak or strong base by a
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
strong acid) to determine the concentration of the titrant and the pK a for a weak acid, or
the pK b for a weak base. [SP 5.1, 6.4, connects to 1.E.2]
LO 6.14 The student can, based on the dependence of K w on temperature, reason that
neutrality requires [H+] = [OH–] as opposed to requiring pH = 7, including especially the
applications to biological systems. [SP 2.2, 6.2]
LO 6.15 The student can identify a given solution as containing a mixture of strong acids
and/or bases and calculate or estimate the pH (and concentrations of all chemical
species) in the resulting solution. [SP 2.2, 2.3, 6.4]
LO 6.16 The student can identify a given solution as being the solution of a monoprotic
weak acid or base (including salts in which one ion is a weak acid or base), calculate the
pH and concentration of all species in the solution, and/ or infer the relative strengths of
the weak acids or bases from given equilibrium concentrations. [SP 2.2, 6.4]
LO 6.17 The student can, given an arbitrary mixture of weak and strong acids and bases
(including polyprotic systems), determine which species will react strongly with one
another (i.e., with K >1) and what species will be present in large concentrations at
equilibrium. [SP 6.4]
Essential knowledge 6.C.2: The pH is an important characteristic of aqueous
solutions that can be controlled with buffers. Comparing pH to pK a allows one to
determine the protonation state of a molecule with a labile proton.
Learning Objectives for EK 6.C.2:
LO 6.18 The student can design a buffer solution with a target pH and buffer capacity by
selecting an appropriate conjugate acid-base pair and estimating the concentrations
needed to achieve the desired capacity. [SP 2.3, 4.2, 6.4]
LO 6.19 The student can relate the predominant form of a chemical species involving a
labile proton (i.e., protonated/deprotonated form of a weak acid) to the pH of a solution
and the pK a associated with the labile proton. [SP 2.3, 5.1, 6.4]
LO 6.20 The student can identify a solution as being a buffer solution and explain the
buffer mechanism in terms of the reactions that would occur on addition of acid or base.
[SP 6.4]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Essential knowledge 6.C.3: The solubility of a substance can be understood in
terms of chemical equilibrium.
Learning Objectives for EK 6.C.3:
LO 6.21 The student can predict the solubility of a salt, or rank the solubility of salts, given
the relevant K sp values. [SP 2.2, 2.3, 6.4]
LO 6.22 The student can interpret data regarding solubility of salts to determine, or rank,
the relevant K sp values. [See SP 2.2, 2.3, 6.4]
LO 6.23 The student can interpret data regarding the relative solubility of salts in terms of
factors (common ions, pH) that influence the solubility. [SP 5.1, 6.4]
LO 6.24 The student can analyze the enthalpic and entropic changes associated with the
dissolution of a salt, using particulate level interactions and representations. [SP 1.4, 7.1,
connects to 5.E]
Enduring understanding 6.D: The equilibrium constant is related to temperature
and the difference in Gibbs free energy between reactants and products.
Essential knowledge 6.D.1: When the difference in Gibbs free energy between
reactants and products (ΔG°) is much larger than the thermal energy (RT), the
equilibrium constant is either very small (for ΔG° > 0) or very large (for ΔG° < 0).
When ΔG° is comparable to the thermal energy (RT), the equilibrium constant is
near 1.
Science Practices for AP Chemistry
Science Practice 1: The student can use representations and models to
communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
The student can create representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena and
systems in the domain.
The student can describe representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena and
systems in the domain.
The student can refine representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena and
systems in the domain.
The student can use representations and models to analyze situations or solve problems
qualitatively and quantitatively.
The student can re-express key elements of natural phenomena across multiple representations in
the domain.
Science Practice 2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
2.1
The student can justify the selection of a mathematical routine to solve problems.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
2.2
2.3
The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural phenomena.
The student can estimate numerically quantities that describe natural phenomena.
Science Practice 3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to
extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP
course.
3.1
3.2
3.3
The student can pose scientific questions.
The student can refine scientific questions.
The student can evaluate scientific questions.
Science Practice 4: The student can plan and implement data collection
strategies in relation to a particular scientific question. [Note: Data can be
collected from many different sources, e.g., investigations, scientific
observations, the findings of others, historic reconstruction, and/or
archived data.]
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
The student can justify the selection of the kind of data needed to answer a particular scientific
question.
The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific question.
The student can collect data to answer a particular scientific question.
The student can evaluate sources of data to answer a particular scientific question.
Science Practice 5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation
of evidence.
5.1
5.2
5.3
The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
The student can refine observations and measurements based on data analysis.
The student can evaluate the evidence provided by data sets in relation to a particular scientific
question.
Science Practice 6: The student can work with scientific explanations and
theories.
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
The student can justify claims with evidence.
The student can construct explanations of phenomena based on evidence produced through
scientific practices.
The student can articulate the reasons that scientific explanations and theories are refined or
replaced.
The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on scientific
theories and models.
The student can evaluate alternative scientific explanations.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT CHEMISTRY
Science Practice 7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge
across various scales, concepts, and representations in and across
domains.
7.1
7.2
The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
The student can connect concepts in and across domain(s) to generalize or extrapolate in and/or
across enduring understandings and/or big ideas.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
AP Environmental Science provides students with the scientific principles,
concepts and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of
the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both
natural and human-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these
problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/or
preventing them.
To ensure a complete and well-grounded experience, in addition to lab and
classroom activities, the course includes an outdoor research component.
Students will be expected to participate in scientific research of a nearby
ecosystem. Every effort will be given to provide students with prior notice as
to when a field trip will occur, however it is ultimately the student's
responsibility to be prepared, dressing appropriately for various or
unpredictable weather conditions.
I. Earth Systems and Resources
A. Earth Science Concepts (geologic time scale; plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism;
seasons; solar intensity and latitude)
B. The Atmosphere (composition; structure; weather and climate; atmospheric circulation
and the Coriolis Effect; atmosphere–ocean interactions; ENSO)
C. Global Water Resources and Use (freshwater/saltwater; ocean circulation; agricultural,
industrial, and domestic use; surface and groundwater issues; global problems;
conservation)
D. Soil and Soil Dynamics (rock cycle; formation; composition; physical and chemical
properties; main soil types; erosion and other soil problems; soil conservation)
II. The Living World
A. Ecosystem Structure (biological populations and communities; ecological niches;
interactions among species; keystone species; species diversity and edge effects; major
terrestrial and aquatic biomes)
B. Energy Flow (photosynthesis and cellular respiration; food webs and trophic levels;
ecological pyramids)
C. Ecosystem Diversity (biodiversity; natural selection; evolution; ecosystem services)
D. Natural Ecosystem Change (climate shifts; species movement; ecological succession)
E. Natural Biogeochemical Cycles (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, water, conservation
of matter)
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
III. Population
A. Population Biology Concepts (population ecology; carrying capacity; reproductive
strategies; survivorship)
B. Human Population
1. Human population dynamics (historical population sizes; distribution; fertility rates;
growth rates and doubling times; demographic transition; age-structure diagrams)
2. Population size (strategies for sustainability; case studies; national policies)
3. Impacts of population growth (hunger; disease; economic effects; resource use; habitat
destruction)
IV. Land and Water Use
A. Agriculture
1. Feeding a growing population (human nutritional requirements; types of agriculture;
Green Revolution; genetic engineering and crop production; deforestation; irrigation;
sustainable agriculture)
2. Controlling pests (types of pesticides; costs and benefits of pesticide use; integrated
pest management; relevant laws)
B. Forestry (tree plantations; old growth forests; forest fires; forest management; national
forests)
C. Rangelands (overgrazing; deforestation; desertification; rangeland management; federal
rangelands)
D. Other Land Use
1. Urban land development (planned development; suburban sprawl; urbanization)
2. Transportation infrastructure (federal highway system; canals and channels; roadless
areas; ecosystem impacts)
3. Public and federal lands (management; wilderness areas; national parks; wildlife
refuges; forests; wetlands)
4. Land conservation options (preservation; remediation; mitigation; restoration)
5. Sustainable land-use strategies
E. Mining (Mineral formation; extraction; global reserves; relevant laws and treaties)
F. Fishing (Fishing techniques; overfishing; aquaculture; relevant laws and treaties)
G. Global Economics (Globalization; World Bank; Tragedy of the Commons; relevant laws
and treaties)
V. Energy Resources and Consumption
A. Energy Concepts (energy forms; power; units; conversions; Laws of Thermodynamics)
B. Energy Consumption
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
1. History (Industrial Revolution; exponential growth; energy crisis)
2. Present global energy use
3. Future energy needs
C. Fossil Fuel Resources and Use (formation of coal, oil, and natural gas;
extraction/purification methods; world reserves and global demand; synfuels;
environmental advantages/ disadvantages of sources)
D. Nuclear Energy (nuclear fission process; nuclear fuel; electricity production; nuclear
reactor types; environmental advantages/disadvantages; safety issues; radiation and
human health; radioactive wastes; nuclear fusion)
E. Hydroelectric Power (dams; flood control; salmon; silting; other impacts)
F. Energy Conservation (energy efficiency; CAFE standards; hybrid electric vehicles; mass
transit)
G. Renewable Energy (solar energy; solar electricity; hydrogen fuel cells; biomass; wind
energy; small-scale hydroelectric; ocean waves and tidal energy; geothermal;
environmental advantages/disadvantages)
VI. Pollution
A. Pollution Types
1. Air Pollution (sources — primary and secondary; major air pollutants; measurement
units; smog; acid deposition — causes and effects; heat islands and temperature
inversions; indoor air pollution; remediation and reduction strategies; Clean Air Act
and other relevant laws)
2. Noise Pollution (sources; effects; control measures)
3. Water Pollution (types; sources, causes, and effects; cultural eutrophication;
groundwater pollution; maintaining water quality; water purification; sewage
treatment/septic systems; Clean Water Act and other relevant laws)
4. Solid Waste (types; disposal; reduction)
B. Impacts on the Environment and Human Health
1. Hazards to Human Health (environmental risk analysis; acute and chronic effects;
dose-response relationships; air pollutants; smoking and other risks)
2. Hazardous chemicals in the environment (types of hazardous waste;
treatment/disposal of hazardous waste; cleanup of contaminated sites;
biomagnification; relevant laws)
C. Economic Impacts (cost-benefit analysis; externalities; marginal costs; sustainability)
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
VII. Global Change
A. Stratospheric Ozone (formation of stratospheric ozone; ultraviolet radiation; causes of
ozone depletion; effects of ozone depletion; strategies for reducing ozone depletion;
relevant laws and treaties)
B. Global Warming (greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect; impacts and
consequences of global warming; reducing climate change; relevant laws and treaties)
C. Loss of Biodiversity
1. Habitat loss; overuse; pollution; introduced species; endangered and extinct species
2. Maintenance through conservation
3. Relevant laws and treaties
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
HS-ETS1-1
Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints
for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
HS-ETS1-2
Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more
manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
HS-ETS1-3
Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and tradeoffs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as
well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
HS-ETS1-4
Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world
problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems
relevant to the problem.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The performance expectations were developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
Science and Engineering
Practices
Asking Questions and Defining
Problems
Asking questions and defining problems
in 9–12 builds on K–8 experiences and
progresses to formulating, refining, and
evaluating empirically testable questions
and design problems using models and
simulations.
● Analyze complex real-world
problems by specifying criteria and
constraints for successful solutions.
(HS-ETS1-1)
Using Mathematics and Computational
Thinking
Mathematical and computational
thinking in 9-12 builds on K-8
experiences and progresses to using
algebraic thinking and analysis, a range
of linear and nonlinear functions
including trigonometric functions,
exponentials and logarithms, and
computational tools for statistical
analysis to analyze, represent, and model
data. Simple computational simulations
are created and used based on
mathematical models of basic
assumptions.
● Use mathematical models and/or
computer simulations to predict the
effects of a design solution on
systems and/or the interactions
between systems. (HS-ETS1-4)
Constructing Explanations and
Designing Solutions
Constructing explanations and designing
solutions in 9–12 builds on K–8
experiences and progresses to
explanations and designs that are
supported by multiple and independent
student-generated sources of evidence
consistent with scientific ideas,
principles and theories.
● Design a solution to a complex realworld problem, based on scientific
knowledge, student-generated
sources of evidence, prioritized
criteria, and tradeoff considerations.
(HS-ETS1-2)
● Evaluate a solution to a complex
real-world problem, based on
scientific knowledge, studentgenerated sources of evidence,
prioritized criteria, and tradeoff
considerations. (HS-ETS1-3)
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting
Engineering Problems
● Criteria and constraints also include
satisfying any requirements set by
society, such as taking issues of risk
mitigation into account, and they
should be quantified to the extent
possible and stated in such a way
that one can tell if a given design
meets them. (HS-ETS1-1)
● Humanity faces major global
challenges today, such as the need
for supplies of clean water and food
or for energy sources that minimize
pollution, which can be addressed
through engineering. These global
challenges also may have
manifestations in local communities.
(HS-ETS1-1)
ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
● When evaluating solutions, it is
important to take into account a
range of constraints, including cost,
safety, reliability, and aesthetics,
and to consider social, cultural, and
environmental impacts. (HS-ETS13)
● Both physical models and computers
can be used in various ways to aid in
the engineering design process.
Computers are useful for a variety of
purposes, such as running
simulations to test different ways of
solving a problem or to see which
one is most efficient or economical;
and in making a persuasive
presentation to a client about how a
given design will meet his or her
needs. (HS-ETS1-4)
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution
Criteria may need to be broken
down into simpler ones that can be
approached systematically, and
decisions about the priority of
certain criteria over others (tradeoffs) may be needed. (HS-ETS1-2)
●
Crosscutting Concepts
Systems and System Models
Models (e.g., physical,
mathematical, computer models) can
be used to simulate systems and
interactions—including energy,
matter, and information flows—
within and between systems at
different scales. (HS-ETS1-4)
---------------------------
●
Connections to Engineering,
Technology, and Applications of Science
Influence of Science, Engineering, and
Technology on Society and the Natural
World
●
New technologies can have deep
impacts on society and the
environment, including some that
were not anticipated. Analysis of
costs and benefits is a critical aspect
of decisions about technology. (HSETS1-1) (HS-ETS1-3)
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Connections to HS-ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems include:
Physical Science: HS-PS2-3, HS-PS3-3
Connections to HS-ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions Problems include:
Earth and Space Science: HS-ESS3-2, HS-ESS3-4 Life Science: HS-LS2-7, HS-LS4-6
Connections to MS-ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution include:
Physical Science: HS-PS1-6, HS-PS2-3
Articulation of DCIs across grade-levels:
MS.ETS1.A (HS-ETS1-1),(HS-ETS1-2),(HS-ETS1-3),(HS-ETS1-4); MS.ETS1.B (HS-ETS1-2),(HS-ETS1-3),(HS-ETS14); MS.ETS1.C (HS-ETS1-2),(HS-ETS1-4)
Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy RST.11Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data,
12.7
video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem. (HS-ETS1-1),(HS-ETS1-3)
RST.11Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when
12.8
possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information. (HS-ETS1-1),(HS-ETS1-3)
RST.11Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of
12.9
a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible. (HS-ETS1-1),(HS-ETS1-3)
Mathematics MP.2
Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (HS-ETS1-1),(HS-ETS1-3),(HS-ETS1-4)
MP.4
Model with mathematics. (HS-ETS1-1),(HS-ETS1-2),(HS-ETS1-3),(HS-ETS1-4)
* The performance expectations marked with an asterisk integrate traditional science content with engineering through a Practice or Disciplinary Core Idea.
The section entitled “Disciplinary Core Ideas” is reproduced verbatim from A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Cross-Cutting Concepts,
and Core Ideas. Integrated and reprinted with permission from the National Academy of Sciences.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
Students explore principles of Newtonian mechanics (including rotational
motion); work, energy, and power; mechanical waves and sound; and
introductory, simple circuits. The course is based on six Big Ideas, which
encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes that cut across
traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of thinking about the physical
world.
BIG IDEA 1: Objects and systems have properties such as mass and
charge. Systems may have internal structure.
The student is able to model verbally or visually the properties of a system based on its
substructure and to relate this to changes in the system properties over time as external variables
are changed. These properties include mass and charge (resistivity). [SP 1.1, 4.1, 7.1]
The student is able to make claims, discuss, explain, and make predictions about natural
phenomena (such as charging process and simple circuits) based on conservation of electric
charge. [SP 1.5, 6.1, 6.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to design an experiment for collecting data to determine the relationship
between the net force exerted on an object, its inertial mass, and its acceleration and to
distinguish between inertial and gravitational mass. [SP 4.2]
BIG IDEA 2: Fields existing in space can be used to explain interactions.
The student is able to apply 𝐹𝐹=𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔 to calculate the gravitational force on an object with mass m in
a gravitational field of strength g in the context of the effects of a net force on objects and
systems. [SP 2.2, 7.2]
𝑀𝑀
The student is able to apply 𝑔𝑔 = 𝐺𝐺 2 to calculate the gravitational field due to an object with
𝑟𝑟
mass M, where the field is a vector directed toward the center of the object of mass M. [SP 2.2]
BIG IDEA 3: The interactions of an object with other objects can be
described by forces.
The student is able to design an experimental investigation and analyze experimental data
describing the motion of an object and is able to express the results of the analysis using narrative,
mathematical, and graphical representations. [SP 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 4.2, 5.1]
The student is able to analyze a scenario and make claims (develop arguments, justify assertions)
about the forces exerted on an object and the object’s resulting motion. [SP 1.1, 6.4, 7.2]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
The student is able to analyze, discuss, and predict the motion of an object subject to forces
exerted by one or several objects using an application of Newton’s three laws in a variety of
physical situations including translational motion and oscillating systems. [SP 1.1, 1.4, 1.5, 2.2, 6.4,
7.2]
The student is able to design a plan to collect and analyze data for motion (static, constant, or
accelerating) and carry out an analysis to determine the relationship between the net force and
the vector sum of the individual forces in a variety of physical situations including translational
motion and oscillating systems. [SP 4.2, 5.1]
The student is able to use Newton’s law of gravitation to calculate the gravitational force the two
objects exert on each other and use that force in a variety of contexts including orbital motion. [SP
2.2]
The student is able to use Coulomb’s law qualitatively and quantitatively to make predictions
about the interaction between two electric point charges. [SP 2.2, 6.4]
The student is able to connect the concepts of gravitational force and electric force to compare
similarities and differences between the forces. [SP 7.2]
The student is able to make claims and explain contact forces (tension, friction, normal, buoyant,
spring) as arising from interatomic electric forces and that they therefore have certain directions.
[SP 6.1, 6.2]
The student is able to justify the selection of routines for the calculation of the relationships
between changes in momentum of an object, average force, impulse, and time of interaction. [SP
2.1]
The student is able to design a plan for collecting data to investigate the relationship between
changes in momentum and the average force exerted on an object over time. [SP 4.2]
The student is able to justify the selection of data, analyze data, and predict the change in
momentum of an object from the average force exerted on the object and the interval of time
during which the force is exerted. [SP 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 6.4]
The student is able to make predictions about the changes in kinetic energy of an object based on
the net force on the object and the displacement vector of the object. [SP 1.4, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to use representations, compare, and calculate the torques on an object
caused by various forces. [SP 1.4, 2.2, 2.3]
The student is able to design an experiment and analyze data about torques and motion in a rigid
system (balanced or unbalanced). [SP 4.1, 4.2, 5.1]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
The student is able to analyze, discuss, and make predictions about the change in the angular
velocity about an axis for an object when forces exerted on the object cause a torque about that
axis. [SP 6.4]
The student is able to predict the behavior of rotational collision situations by the same
processes that are used to analyze linear collision situations using an analogy between impulse
and change of linear momentum and angular impulse and change of angular momentum. [SP 2.1,
6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to plan data collection and analysis strategies designed to test the
relationship between torques exerted on an object and the change in angular momentum of that
object. [SP 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.3]
The student is able to articulate situations when the gravitational force is the dominant force and
when the electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces can be ignored. [SP 7.1]
BIG IDEA 4: Interactions between systems can result in changes in
those systems.
The student is able to use representations of the center of mass of an isolated two‐object system
to analyze the motion of the system qualitatively and quantitatively using Newton’s second law.
[SP 1.2, 1.4, 2.2, 2.3, 6.4]
The student is able to create mathematical models and analyze graphical relationships for force,
acceleration, velocity, and position of the center of mass of a system and use them to calculate
properties of the motion of the center of mass of a system. [SP 1.4, 2.2, 5.3]
The student is able to calculate the change in linear momentum of a two-object system with
constant mass in linear motion from a representation of the system (data, graphs, etc.) or from
data. [SP 1.4, 2.2, 5.1]
The student is able to apply mathematical routines to calculate the change in momentum of a
system by analyzing a force-time graph, a mathematical expression of force with respect to time,
or given the average force exerted over a certain time on the system. [SP 2.2, 5.1]
The student is able to calculate and predict changes in the total energy of a system due to
changes in position and speed of objects or frictional interactions within the system. [SP 1.4, 2.1,
2.2, 6.4]
The student is able to calculate and make predictions about the changes in the mechanical
energy of a system when a component of an external force acts parallel or antiparallel to the
direction of the displacement of the center of mass. [SP 6.4]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
The student is able to apply the concepts of Conservation of Energy and the Work-Energy theorem
to determine qualitatively and/or quantitatively that work done on a two-object system in linear
motion will change the kinetic energy of the center of mass of the system, the potential energy of
the systems, and/or the internal energy of the system. [SP 1.4, 2.2, 7.2]
The student is able to describe a representation and use it to analyze a situation in which several
forces exerted on a rotating system of rigidly connected objects change the angular velocity and
angular momentum of the system. [SP 1.2, 1.4]
The student is able to plan data collection strategies designed to investigate torque, angular
velocity, angular acceleration, and angular momentum. [SP 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.3]
The student is able to use appropriate models and mathematical routines to calculate values for
initial or final angular momentum, or change in angular momentum of a system, or average
torque or time during which the torque is exerted in analyzing a situation involving torque and
angular momentum. [SP 1.2, 1.4, 2.2]
The student is able to plan a data collection strategy designed to measure the change in angular
momentum of a system and relate it to interactions with other objects or the average torque
applied to the system and the time interval during which the torque is exerted. [SP 4.1, 4.2]
BIG IDEA 5: Changes that occur as a result of interactions are
constrained by conservation laws.
The student is able to define open and closed systems for everyday situations and apply
conservation concepts for energy, charge, and linear momentum to those situations. [SP 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to translate between a representation of a single object, which can only have
kinetic energy, and a system that includes objects, which may have both kinetic and potential
energies. [SP 1.4, 1.5, 2.2]
The student is able to calculate the expected behavior of a system using the object model (i.e., by
ignoring changes in internal structure) to analyze a situation. Then, when the model fails, the
student can justify the use of conservation of energy principles to calculate the change in internal
energy due to changes in internal structure because the object is actually a system. [SP 1.4, 2.1]
The student is able to describe and make qualitative and/or quantitative calculations and/or
predictions about narrative or diagrams of systems with kinetic, potential, and internal energy. [SP
1.4, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to predict and calculate from graphical data the energy transfer to or work
done on an object or system from information about a force exerted on the object or system
through a distance. [SP 1.4, 2.2, 6.4]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
The student is able to design an experiment and analyze data (numerically and graphically) to
examine how a force exerted on an object or system does work on the object or system as it
moves through a distance. [SP 4.2, 5.1]
The student is able to make claims, analyze, discuss, and predict and calculate the energy transfer
to (i.e., the work done on) an object or system from information about a force exerted on the
object or system through a distance. [SP 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to apply conservation of energy concepts to the design of an experiment that
will demonstrate the validity of Kirchhoff’s loop rule (∑ΔV=0) in a circuit with only a battery and
resistors either in series or in, at most, one pair of parallel branches. [SP 4.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to apply conservation of energy (Kirchhoff’s loop rule) using graphs or
calculations involving simple circuits with resistors only. [SP 1.1, 1.4, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to design an investigation of an electrical circuit with one or more resistors in
which evidence of conservation of electric charge can be collected and analyzed. [SP 4.1, 4.2, 5.1]
The student is able to use a description or schematic diagram of an electrical circuit to calculate
unknown values of current in various segments or branches of the circuit. [SP 1.4, 2.2]
The student is able to make predictions and reconcile a situation based on conservation of linear
momentum and restoration of kinetic energy in elastic collisions. [SP 2.2, 3.2, 5.1, 5.3, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to predict, justify, and apply mathematical routines appropriately to problems
involving elastic and inelastic collisions in one dimension and justify the selection of those
mathematical routines based on conservation of momentum and restoration of kinetic energy. [SP
2.1, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to design an experiment to test the principle of the conservation of linear
momentum, predict an outcome of the experiment using the principle, analyze data numerically
or graphically, and evaluate any discrepancy between the prediction and the outcome. [SP 4.1,
4.2, 5.1, 5.3, 6.4]
The student is able to predict the velocity of the center of mass of a system when there is no
interaction outside of the system but there is an interaction within the system (i.e., the student
simply recognizes that interactions within a system do not affect the center of mass motion of the
system and is able to determine that there is no external force).
[SP 6.4]
The student is able to make predictions and calculations related to the angular momentum and
rotational inertia of a system whether the external net torque is zero or nonzero. [SP 2.1, 2.2, 6.4,
7.2]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
BIG IDEA 6: 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 student is able to describe and interpret representations of transverse and longitudinal
waves. [SP 1.2, 1.4, 2.2, 6.2]
The student is able to describe sound in terms of transfer of energy and momentum in a medium
and relate the concepts to everyday examples. [SP 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to explain and/or predict qualitatively how the energy carried by a sound wave
relates to the amplitude of the wave, and/or apply this concept to a real-world example. [SP 6.4]
The student is able to design an experiment to determine the relationship between periodic wave
speed, wavelength, and frequency and relate these concepts to everyday examples. [SP 4.2, 5.1,
7.2]
The student is able to create or use a wave front diagram to demonstrate or interpret qualitatively
the observed frequency of a wave, dependent upon relative motions of source and observer. [SP
1.4]
The student is able to use representations of individual pulses and construct representations to
model the interaction of two wave pulses to analyze the superposition of two pulses. [SP 1.1, 1.4]
The student is able to design a suitable experiment and analyze data illustrating the superposition
of waves (only for wave pulses or standing waves). [SP 4.2, 5.1]
The student is able to refine a scientific question related to standing waves and design a detailed
plan for the experiment that can be conducted to examine the phenomenon qualitatively or
quantitatively. [SP 2.1, 3.2, 4.2]
The student is able to predict properties of standing waves that result from the addition of
incident and reflected waves that are confined to a region and have nodes and antinodes. [SP 6.4]
The student is able to plan data collection strategies, predict the outcome based on the
relationship under test, perform data analysis, evaluate evidence compared to the prediction,
explain any discrepancy and, if necessary, revise the relationship among variables responsible for
establishing standing waves on a string or in a column of air. [SP 3.2, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3]
The student is able to describe representations and models of situations in which standing waves
result from the addition of incident and reflected waves confined to a region. [SP 1.2]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
The student is able to calculate wavelengths and frequencies (if given wave speed) of standing
waves based on boundary conditions and length of region within which the wave is confined, and
calculate numerical values of wavelengths and frequencies. Examples should include musical
instruments. [SP 2.2]
The student is able to use a visual representation to explain how waves of slightly different
frequency give rise to the phenomenon of beats. [SP 1.2]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
Science Practices for AP Physics I
Science Practice 1: The student can use representations and models to
communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
1.1. The student can create representations and models of natural or man-made
phenomena and systems in the domain.
1.2. The student can describe representations and models of natural or man-made
phenomena and systems in the domain.
1.3. The student can refine representations and models of natural or man-made
phenomena and systems in the domain.
1.4. The student can use representations and models to analyze situations or solve
problems qualitatively and quantitatively.
1.5. The student can re-express key elements of natural phenomena across multiple
representations in the domain.
Science Practice 2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
2.1 The student can justify the selection of a mathematical routine to solve problems.
2.2 The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural
phenomena.
2.3 The student can estimate numerically quantities that describe natural phenomena.
Science Practice 3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to
extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP
course.
3.1 The student can pose scientific questions.
3.2 The student can refine scientific questions.
3.3 The student can evaluate scientific questions.
Science Practice 4: The student can plan and implement data collection
strategies in relation to a particular scientific question. [Note: Data can be collected
from many different sources, e.g., investigations, scientific observations, the findings of others, historic
reconstruction, and/or archived data.]
4.1 The student can justify the selection of the kind of data needed to answer a particular
scientific question.
4.2 The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific
question.
4.3 The student can collect data to answer a particular scientific question.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS I
4.4 The student can evaluate sources of data to answer a particular scientific question.
Science Practice 5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation
of evidence.
5.1 The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
5.2 The student can refine observations and measurements based on data analysis.
5.3 The student can evaluate the evidence provided by data sets in relation to a particular
scientific question.
Science Practice 6: The student can work with scientific explanations and
theories.
6.1 The student can justify claims with evidence.
6.2 The student can construct explanations of phenomena based on evidence produced
through scientific practices.
6.3 The student can articulate the reasons that scientific explanations and theories are
refined or replaced.
6.4 The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on
scientific theories and models.
6.5 The student can evaluate alternative scientific explanations.
Science Practice 7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge
across various scales, concepts, and representations in and across
domains.
7.1 The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
7.2 The student can connect concepts in and across domain(s) to generalize or extrapolate
in and/or across enduring understandings and/or big ideas.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
Students explore principles of fluids, thermodynamics, electricity,
magnetism, optics, and topics in modern physics. The course is based on
seven Big Ideas, which encompass core scientific principles, theories, and
processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of
thinking about the physical world.
BIG IDEA 1: Objects and systems have properties such as mass and
charge. Systems may have internal structure.
The student is able to model verbally or visually the properties of a system based on its
substructure (electron configuration) and to relate this to changes in the system properties over
time as external variables are changed. These properties include mass and charge (resistivity).
[SP 1.1, 4.1, 7.1]
The student is able to make claims, discuss, explain, and make predictions about natural
phenomena (such as charging process and simple circuits) based on conservation of electric
charge. [SP 1.5, 6.1, 6.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to design an experiment for collecting data to determine the relationship
between the net force exerted on an object, its inertial mass, and its acceleration and to
distinguish between inertial and gravitational mass. [SP 4.2]
The student is able to explain why classical mechanics cannot describe all properties of objects
and articulate the reasons that the theory of conservation of mass was replaced by the theory of
conservation of mass-energy. [SP 1.5, 6.1, 6.3, 7.1, 7.2]
The student is able to predict the densities for natural phenomena, design an investigation to
verify the prediction, and evaluate the experimental data necessary to determine an object’s
density. [SP 4.1, 4.2, 6.4]
BIG IDEA 2: Fields existing in space can be used to explain interactions.
The student is able to qualitatively and semi-quantitatively apply the vector relationship between
the electric field and the net electric charge creating that field. [SP 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to explain the inverse square dependence of the electric field surrounding a
spherically symmetric electrically charged object. [SP 6.2]
The student is able to distinguish the characteristics that differ between monopole fields and
dipole fields and make claims about the spatial behavior of the fields using qualitative or semiquantitative arguments. [SP 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
The student is able to apply mathematical routines to determine the magnitude and direction
of the electric field created by different configurations of point charges and/or charged plates.
[SP 1.4, 2.2, 6.2]
The student is able to represent the motion of an electrically charged particle in the uniform
field between two oppositely charged plates and express the connection of this motion to
projectile motion of an object with mass in the Earth’s gravitational field. [SP 1.1, 2.2, 7.1]
The student is able to predict, construct or interpret visual representations of the isolines of
equal gravitational potential energy per unit mass and refer to each line as a gravitational
equipotential. [SP 1.4, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to apply mathematical routines to express the force exerted on a moving
charged object by a magnetic field. [SP 2.2]
The student is able to qualitatively and quantitatively describe, or create a visual
representation of a magnetic field around a bar magnet, a long straight wire, or a pair of
parallel wires. [SP 1.1, 1.2]
The student is able to use the representation of magnetic domains to qualitatively analyze the
magnetic behavior of a bar magnet composed of ferromagnetic material. [SP 1.4]
The student is able to qualitatively use the concept of isolines to construct isolines of electric
potential in an electric field and quantitatively determine the electric field at a location and the
effect of that field on electrically charged objects. [SP 1.4, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to apply mathematical routines to relate isolines to electric field strength.
[SP 2.2]
BIG IDEA 3: The interactions of an object with other objects
can be described by forces.
The student is able to analyze, discuss, and predict (both qualitatively and quantitatively) the
motion of an object subject to forces exerted by one or several objects using an application of
Newton’s three laws in a variety of physical situations including translational motion and
oscillating systems. [SP 1.1, 1.4, 1.5, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to connect the concepts of gravitational force and electric force to
compare similarities and differences between the forces. [SP 7.2]
The student is able to qualitatively and quantitatively use mathematics to describe the electric
force that results from the interaction of two or more point charges. [SP 2.2, 6.4]
The student is able to determine the direction of the magnetic force exerted on the charged
object due to the magnetic field. [SP 1.4]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
The student is able to design an experiment to investigate the direction of the force on a
moving electrically charged object in a magnetic field near a current-carrying wire. [SP 4.2,
5.1]
The student is able to make claims and explain contact forces (tension, friction, normal,
buoyant, spring) as arising from interatomic electric forces and that they therefore have
certain directions. [SP 6.1, 6.2]
The student is able to identify and discuss the strength of each of the four forces in a given
situation (gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear) and predict the
motion of the objects they act upon. [SP 7.1]
The student is able to identify the strong force as the force that is responsible for holding the
nucleus together. [SP 7.2]
BIG IDEA 4: Interactions between systems can result in
changes in those systems.
The student is able to predict and explain heat flow between due to temperature differences
based on interactions at the microscopic level. [SP 6.4]
The student is able to quantitatively describe the relationship between mass and energy and
apply this concept. [SP 2.2, 2.3, 7.2]
The student is able to use representations and models to qualitatively describe the magnetic
properties of some materials that can be affected by magnetic properties of other objects in
the system. [SP 1.1, 1.4, 2.2]
The student is able to explain devices using Faraday’s law in different scenarios. [SP 6.4]
The student is able to discuss and predict the redistribution of charge (qualitatively and with a
diagram) in insulators and conductors caused by friction, conduction, induction, and exposure
to an electric field. [SP 1.1, 1.4, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to plan and/or analyze the results of experiments in which electric charge
rearrangement occurs by electrostatic induction, or is able to refine a scientific question
relating to such an experiment by identifying anomalies in a data set or procedure. [SP 3.2, 4.1,
4.2, 5.1, 5.3]
The student is able to analyze, discuss and predict the properties of resistors and/or capacitors
in a simple circuit. [SP 2.2, 6.4]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
The student is able to make and justify predictions (qualitatively and quantitatively) of the
effect of a change in values or arrangements of one or two circuit elements on the currents and
potential differences in a circuit containing a small number of sources of emf, resistors,
capacitors, and switches in series and/or parallel. [SP 2.2, 6.1, 6.4]
The student is able to design an experiment and perform data analysis to examine the values of
currents and potential differences in an electric circuit that is modified by changing or
rearranging circuit elements, including sources of emf, resistors, and capacitors. [SP 2.2, 4.2,
5.1]
BIG IDEA 5: Changes that occur as a result of interactions are
constrained by conservation laws.
The student is able to calculate the expected behavior of a system using the object model (i.e.,
by ignoring changes in internal structure) to analyze a situation. Then, when the model fails,
the student can justify the use of conservation of energy principles to calculate the change in
internal energy due to changes in internal structure because the object is actually a system. [SP
1.4, 2.1]
The student is able to describe, predict and calculate the internal energy of a system and
changes in the system’s kinetic and potential energies due to interactions between the system
and its environment with either forces or temperature gradients. [SP 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to create and use a plot of pressure versus volume for a thermodynamic
process to make calculations of internal energy changes, heat, or work, based upon
conservation of energy principles (i.e., the first law of thermodynamics). [SP 1.1, 1.4, 2.2]
The student is able to describe and calculate emission or absorption spectra associated with
electronic or nuclear. [SP 1.2, 7.2]
The student is able to analyze experimental data including analysis of experimental uncertainty
that will demonstrate the validity of Kirchhoff’s loop rule. [SP 5.1]
The student is able to use graphical and symbolic representations to describe and make
predictions regarding electrical potential difference, charge, power, and current in steady‐state
circuits composed of various combinations of resistors and capacitors. [SP 1.5, 6.4]
The student is able to mathematically evaluate electric potential energy and current in a multiloop electrical circuit. [SP 2.1, 2.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.3]
The student is able to refine and analyze an experiment for circuits that include batteries with
internal resistance and a non-ohmic resistor. [SP 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.3]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
The student is able to use Bernoulli’s equation to make calculations related to a moving fluid.
[SP 2.2]
The student is able to use Bernoulli’s equation, the relationship between force and pressure,
conservation of energy, and/or the continuity equation to make calculations related to a moving
fluid. [SP 2.2, 6.2]
The student is able to apply conservation of mass and conservation of energy concepts to a
natural phenomenon and use the equation E = mc2 to make a related calculation. [SP 2.2, 7.2]
The student is able to analyze electric charge conservation for nuclear and elementary particle
reactions and make predictions related to such reactions based upon conservation of charge.
[SP 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to design an experiment, analyze the data, and justify the selection of data
relevant to an investigation on the electrical charging of objects and electric charge induction on
neutral objects. [SP 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.4]
The student is able to predict or explain current values in circuits using Kirchhoff’s junction rule
and relate the rule to the law of charge conservation. [SP 1.4, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to determine missing values and direction of electric current in branches of a
circuit with resistors and capacitors from values and directions of current in other branches of
the circuit through appropriate selection of nodes and application of the junction rule. [SP 1.4,
2.2]
The student is able to determine missing values, direction of electric current, charge of
capacitors at steady state, and potential differences within a circuit with resistors and capacitors
from values and directions of current in other branches of the circuit. [SP 1.4, 2.2]
The student is able to predict the properties of a colliding system and classify collisions as elastic
or inelastic. [SP 2.1, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to make predictions about the velocity of the center of mass for interactions
within a defined one‐dimensional or two-dimensional system. [SP 6.4]
The student is able to make calculations of quantities related to flow of a fluid, using mass
conservation principles (the continuity equation). [SP 2.1, 2.2, 7.2]
The student is able to apply conservation of nucleon number and conservation of electric charge
to make predictions about nuclear reactions and decays such as fission, fusion, alpha decay,
beta decay, or gamma decay. [SP 6.4]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
BIG IDEA 6: 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 student is able to describe the types of waves and analyze data (or a visual representation)
to identify patterns that indicate that a particular mechanical wave is polarized and construct an
explanation of the fact that the wave must have a vibration perpendicular to the direction of
energy propagation. [SP 5.1, 6.2]
The student is able to contrast mechanical and electromagnetic waves in terms of the need for a
medium in wave propagation. [SP 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to construct an equation relating the wavelength and amplitude of a wave
from a graphical representation, or construct an equation relating the frequency or period and
amplitude of a wave from a graphical representation. [SP 1.5]
The student is able to make claims and predictions and construct representations of waves to
graphically analyze situations in which two waves overlap over time using the principle of
superposition. [SP 1.4, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to evaluate and predict a diffraction pattern produced when a wave passes
through a small opening. [SP 1.4, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to qualitatively apply the wave model to quantities that describe the
generation of interference patterns to make predictions about interference patterns that form
when waves pass through a set of openings whose spacing and widths are small compared to
the wavelength of the waves. [SP 1.4, 6.4]
The student is able to predict and explain, using representations and models, the ability or
inability of waves to transfer energy around corners and behind obstacles in terms of the
diffraction property of waves in situations involving various kinds of wave phenomena, including
sound and light. [SP 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to make claims about the behavior of light as the wave travels from one
medium into another, as some is transmitted, some is reflected, and some is absorbed. [SP 6.4,
7.2]
The student is able to make predictions about the locations of object and image relative to the
location of a reflecting surface. [SP 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to plan data collection strategies as well as perform data analysis and
evaluation of the evidence for finding the relationship between the angle of incidence and the
angle of refraction for light crossing boundaries from one transparent material to another
(Snell’s law). [SP 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
The student is able to describe models and make claims and predictions about path changes for
light traveling across a boundary from one transparent material to another at non‐normal angles
resulting from changes in the speed of propagation. (Snell’s Law) [SP 1.1, 1.4, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to design an experiment and perform data analysis and evaluation of
evidence about the formation of images due to reflection of light from flat and curved spherical
mirrors. [SP 3.2, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3]
The student is able to use quantitative and qualitative representations and models to analyze
situations and solve problems about image formation occurring due to the reflection of light
from surfaces and due to refraction of light through lenses. [SP 1.4, 2.2]
The student is able to design an experiment an, perform data analysis and evaluation of
evidence, and refine scientific questions about the formation of images due to refraction for
thin lenses. [SP 3.2, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3]
The student is able to describe representations and models of electromagnetic waves and
explain the transmission of energy when no medium is present. [SP 1.1, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to make predictions about using the scale of the problem to determine at
what regimes a particle or wave model is more appropriate. [SP 6.4, 7.1]
The student is able to articulate the evidence supporting the claim that a wave model of matter
is appropriate to explain the diffraction of matter interacting with a crystal, given conditions
where a particle of matter has momentum corresponding to a de Broglie wavelength smaller
than the separation between adjacent atoms in the crystal. [SP 6.1]
The student is able to predict the dependence of major features of a diffraction pattern (e.g.,
spacing between interference maxima), based upon the particle speed and de Broglie
wavelength of electrons in an electron beam interacting with a crystal. (de Broglie wavelength
need not be given, so students may need to obtain it.) [SP 6.4]
BIG IDEA 7: The mathematics of probability can be used to
describe the behavior of complex systems and to interpret the
behavior of quantum mechanical systems.
Treating a gas molecule as an object, the student is able to analyze qualitatively the collisions
with a container wall and determine the cause of pressure, and at thermal equilibrium, to
quantitatively calculate the pressure, force, or area for a thermodynamic problem given two of
the variables. [SP 1.4, 2.2, 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to connect the statistical distribution of microscopic kinetic energies of
molecules to the macroscopic temperature of the system and to relate this to thermodynamic
processes. [SP 7.1]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
The student is able to extrapolate from pressure and temperature or volume and temperature
data to make the prediction that there is a temperature at which the pressure or volume
extrapolates to zero. [SP 6.4, 7.2]
The student is able to design a plan for collecting data to determine the relationships between
pressure, volume, and temperature, and amount of an ideal gas, and to refine a scientific
question concerning a proposed incorrect relationship between the variables. [SP 3.2, 4.2]
The student is able to analyze graphical representations of macroscopic variables for an ideal
gas to determine the relationships between these variables and to ultimately determine the
ideal gas law PV = nRT. [SP 5.1]
The student is able to connect qualitatively the second law of thermodynamics in terms of the
state function called entropy and how it (entropy) behaves in reversible and irreversible
processes. [SP 7.1]
The student is able to use a graphical wave function representation of a particle to predict
qualitatively the probability of finding a particle in a specific spatial region. [SP 1.4]
The student is able to use a standing wave model in which an electron orbit circumference is an
integer multiple of the de Broglie wavelength to give a qualitative explanation that accounts for
the existence of specific allowed energy states of an electron in an atom. [SP 1.4]
The student is able to predict the number of radioactive nuclei remaining in a sample after a
certain period of time, and also predict the missing species (alpha, beta, gamma) in a radioactive
decay. [SP 6.4]
The student is able to construct or interpret representations of transitions between atomic
energy states involving the emission and absorption of photons. [SP 1.1, 1.2]
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
Science Practice for AP Physics II
Science Practice 1: The student can use representations and models to
communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
1.1. The student can create representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena and
systems in the domain.
1.2. The student can describe representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena and
systems in the domain.
1.3. The student can refine representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena and
systems in the domain.
1.4. The student can use representations and models to analyze situations or solve problems
qualitatively and quantitatively.
1.5. The student can re-express key elements of natural phenomena across multiple
representations in the domain.
Science Practice 2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
2.1 The student can justify the selection of a mathematical routine to solve problems.
2.2 The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural phenomena.
2.3 The student can estimate numerically quantities that describe natural phenomena.
Science Practice 3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to
extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP
course.
3.1 The student can pose scientific questions.
3.2 The student can refine scientific questions.
3.3 The student can evaluate scientific questions.
Science Practice 4: The student can plan and implement data collection
strategies in relation to a particular scientific question. [Note: Data can be
collected from many different sources, e.g., investigations, scientific observations, the findings
of others, historic reconstruction, and/or archived data.]
4.1 The student can justify the selection of the kind of data needed to answer a particular scientific
question.
4.2 The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific question.
4.3 The student can collect data to answer a particular scientific question.
4.4 The student can evaluate sources of data to answer a particular scientific question.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS II
Science Practice 5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation
of evidence.
5.1 The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
5.2 The student can refine observations and measurements based on data analysis.
5.3 The student can evaluate the evidence provided by data sets in relation to a particular scientific
question.
Science Practice 6: The student can work with scientific explanations and
theories.
6.1 The student can justify claims with evidence.
6.2 The student can construct explanations of phenomena based on evidence produced through
scientific practices.
6.3 The student can articulate the reasons that scientific explanations and theories are refined or
replaced.
6.4 The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on scientific
theories and models.
6.5 The student can evaluate alternative scientific explanations.
Science Practice 7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge
across various scales, concepts, and representations in and across
domains.
7.1 The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
7.2 The student can connect concepts in and across domain(s) to generalize or extrapolate in and/or
across enduring understandings and/or big ideas.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
AP Physics C: Mechanics is equivalent to a one-semester, calculus-based, college-level
physics course, especially appropriate for students planning to specialize or major in
physical science or engineering. The course explores topics such as kinematics;
Newton’s laws of motion; work, energy and power; systems of particles and linear
momentum; circular motion and rotation; and oscillations and gravitation. Introductory
differential and integral calculus is used throughout the course.
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism is equivalent to a one-semester, calculusbased, college-level physics course, designed to follow AP Physics C: Mechanics. The
course explores topics such as electrostatics; conductors, capacitors, and dielectrics;
electric circuits; magnetic fields; and electromagnetism. Introductory differential and
integral calculus is used throughout the course.
Learning Objectives for Laboratory and Experimental Situations
Students establish lines of evidence and use them to develop and refine testable
explanations and predictions of natural phenomena. Focusing on these disciplinary
practices and experimental skills enables teachers to use the principles of scientific
inquiry to promote a more engaging and rigorous experience for AP Physics C:
Mechanics students.
Such practices or skills require students to
• Design experiments
• Observe and measure real phenomena
• Organize, display, and critically analyze data
• Analyze sources of error and determine uncertainties in measurement
• Draw inferences from observations and data
• Communicate results, including suggested ways to improve experiments and proposed
questions for further study
Students will be able to:
Kinematics
1. Understand the general relationships among position, velocity, and acceleration for
the motion of a particle along a straight line.
2. Understand the special case of motion with constant acceleration.
3. Deal with situations in which acceleration is a specified function of velocity and
time so they can write an appropriate differential equation dv/dt=f(v)g(t) and solve
it for v(t), incorporating correctly a given initial value of v.
4. Know how to deal with displacement and velocity vectors.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
5. Understand the general motion of a particle in two dimensions so that, given
functions x(t) and and y(t) which describe this motion, they can determine the
components, magnitude, and direction of the particle’s velocity and acceleration as
functions of time.
6. Understand the motion of projectiles in a uniform gravitational field.
7. Understand the uniform circular motion of a particle.
Newton’s Laws of Motion
8. Students should be able to analyze situations in which a particle remains at rest, or
moves with constant velocity, under the influence of several forces.
9. Understand the relation between the force that acts on a body and the resulting
change in the body’s velocity.
10. Understand how Newton’s Second Law, F=ma, applies to a body subject to forces
such as gravity, the pull of strings, or contact forces.
11. Analyze situations in which a body moves with specified acceleration under the
influence of one or more forces so they can determine the magnitude and direction
of the net force, or of one of the forces that makes up the net force.
12. Understand the significance of the coefficient of friction.
13. Understand the effect of fluid friction on the motion of a body.
14. Understand Newton’s Third Law so that, for a given force, they can identify the
body on which the reaction force acts and state the magnitude and direction of this
reaction.
15. Apply Newton’s Third Law in analyzing the forces of contact between two bodies
that accelerate together along a horizontal or vertical line, or between two
surfaces that slide across one another.
16. Know that the tension is constant in a light string that passes over a massless
pulley and should be able to use this fact in analyzing the motion of a system of
two bodies joined by a string.
17. Solve problems in which application of Newton’s Laws leads to two or three
simultaneous linear equations involving unknown forces or accelerations.
Work, Energy, and Power
18. Understand the definition of work.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
19. Understand the work-energy theorem.
20. Understand the concept of a conservative force.
21. Understand the concept of potential energy.
22. Understand the concepts of mechanical energy and of total energy.
23. Understand conservation of energy.
24. Recognize and solve problems that call for application both of conservation of
energy and Newton’s Laws.
25. Understand the definition of power.
Systems of Particles, Linear Momentum
26. Understand the technique for finding center of mass.
27. State, prove, and apply the relation between center-of-mass velocity and linear
momentum, and between center-of-mass acceleration and net external force for a
system of particles.
28. Define center of gravity and to use this concept to express the gravitational
potential energy of a rigid body in terms of the position of its center of mass.
29. Understand impulse and linear momentum.
30. Understand linear momentum conservation.
31. Understand frames of reference.
Rotation
32. Understand the concept of torque.
33. Analyze problems in statics.
34. Understand the analogy between translational and rotational kinematics so they
can write and apply relations among the angular acceleration, angular velocity, and
angular displacement of a body that rotates about a fixed axis with constant
angular acceleration.
35. Use the right-hand rule to associate and angular velocity vector with a rotating
body.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
36. Develop a qualitative understanding of rotational inertia.
37. Develop skill in computing rotational inertia.
38. State and apply the parallel-axis theorem.
39. Understand the dynamics of fixed-axis rotation.
40. Understand the motion of a rigid body along a surface.
41. Use the vector product and the right-hand rule.
42. Understand angular momentum conservation.
Oscillations
43. Understand the kinematics of simple harmonic motion.
44. Apply their knowledge of simple harmonic motion to the case of a mass on a
spring.
45. Apply their knowledge of simple harmonic motion to the case of a pendulum.
Gravitation and Planetary Motion
46. Know Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation.
47. Understand the motion of a body in orbit under the influence of gravitational
forces so they can:
• Recognize that the motion does not depend on the body’s mass, describe
qualitatively how the velocity, period of revolution, and centripetal
acceleration depend upon the radium of the orbit, and derive expressions for
the velocity and period of revolution in such an orbit
• Prove that Kepler’s Third Law must hold for this special case
• Derive and apply the relations among kinetic energy, potential energy, and
total energy for such an orbit
• State Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion and use them to describe in
qualitative terms the motion of a body in an elliptic orbit
• Apply conservation of angular momentum to determine the velocity and radial
distance at any point in the orbit
• Apply angular momentum conservation and energy conservation to relate the
speeds of a body at the two extremes of an elliptic orbit
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
• Apply energy conservation in analyzing the motion of a body that is projected
straight up from a planet’s surface or that is projected directly toward the
planet from far above the surface
Electrostatics
48. Understand the concept of electric field.
49. Understand the concept of electric potential.
50. Understand Coulomb’s Law and the principle of superposition.
51. Know the potential function for a point charge.
52. Use the principle of superposition to calculate by integration.
53. Know the fields of highly symmetric charge distributions.
Conductors, Capacitors, and Dielectrics
54. Understand the relationship between field and flux.
55. Understand Gauss’s Law.
56. Understand the nature of electric fields in and around conductors.
57. Describe and sketch a graph of the electric field and potential inside and outside a
charged conducting sphere.
58. Understand induced charge and electrostatic shielding.
59. Know the definition of capacitance so they can relate stored charge and voltage for
a capacitor.
60. Understand energy storage in capacitors.
61. Understand the physics of the parallel-plate capacitor.
62. Understand cylindrical and spherical capacitors.
Electric Circuits
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
63. Understand the definition of electric current so they can relate the magnitude and
direction of the current in a wire or ionized medium to the rate of flow of positive
and negative charge.
64. Understand conductivity, resistivity, and resistance.
65. Understand the behavior of series and parallel combinations of resistors.
66. Understand the properties of ideal and real batteries.
67. Apply Ohm’s Law and Kirchoff’s rules.
68. Understand the properties of voltmeters and ammeters.
69. Understand the behavior of capacitors connected in series or in parallel.
70. Understand energy storage in capacitors.
71. Calculate the voltage or stored charge, under steady-state conditions, for a
capacitor connected to a circuit consisting of a battery and resistors.
72. Understand the discharging or charging of a capacitor through a resistor.
73. Develop skill in analyzing the behavior of circuits containing several capacitors
and resistors.
Magnetostatics
74. Understand the force experienced by a charge particle in a magnetic field.
75. Understand the force experienced by a current in a magnetic field.
76. Understand the magnetic field produced by a long straight current-carrying wire.
77. Understand the Biot-Savart Law.
78. Understand the statement and application of Ampere’s Law in integral form.
79. Develop skill in applying the superposition principle so they can determine the
magnetic field produced by combinations of the configurations listed above.
Electromagnetism
80. Understand the concept of magnetic flux.
81. Understand Faraday’s Law and Lenz’s Law.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
82. Develop skill in analyzing the forces that act on induced currents so they can solve
simple problems involving the mechanical consequences of electromagnetic
induction.
83. Understand the concept of inductance.
84. Develop skill in analyzing circuits containing inductors and resistors.
LABORATORY AND EXPERIMENTAL SITUATIONS
These objectives overlay the content objectives, and are assessed in the context of those
objectives.
1.
Design experiments
Students should understand the process of designing experiments, so they can:
a. Describe the purpose of an experiment or a problem to be investigated.
b. Identify equipment needed and describe how it is to be used.
c. Draw a diagram or provide a description of an experimental setup.
d. Describe procedures to be used, including controls and measurements to be
taken.
2. Observe and measure real phenomena
Students should be able to make relevant observations, and be able to take
measurements with a variety of instruments (cannot be assessed via paper-andpencil examinations).
3.
Analyze data
Students should understand how to analyze data, so they can:
a. Display data in graphical or tabular form.
b. Fit lines and curves to data points in graphs.
c. Perform calculations with data.
d. Make extrapolations and interpolations from data.
4.
Analyze errors
Students should understand measurement and experimental error, so they can:
a. Identify sources of error and how they propagate.
b. Estimate magnitude and direction of errors.
c. Determine significant digits.
d. Identify ways to reduce error.
5.
Communicate results
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
Students should understand how to summarize and communicate results, so they
can:
a. Draw inferences and conclusions from experimental data.
b. Suggest ways to improve experiment.
c. Propose questions for further study.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
Science Practice for AP Physics II
Science Practice 1: The student can use representations and models
to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems.
1.1. The student can create representations and models of natural or man-made
phenomena and systems in the domain.
1.2. The student can describe representations and models of natural or man-made
phenomena and systems in the domain.
1.3. The student can refine representations and models of natural or man-made phenomena
and systems in the domain.
1.4. The student can use representations and models to analyze situations or solve problems
qualitatively and quantitatively.
1.5. The student can re-express key elements of natural phenomena across multiple
representations in the domain.
Science Practice 2: The student can use mathematics appropriately.
2.1 The student can justify the selection of a mathematical routine to solve problems.
2.2 The student can apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe natural
phenomena.
2.3 The student can estimate numerically quantities that describe natural phenomena.
Science Practice 3: The student can engage in scientific questioning
to extend thinking or to guide investigations within the context of
the AP course.
3.1 The student can pose scientific questions.
3.2 The student can refine scientific questions.
3.3 The student can evaluate scientific questions.
Science Practice 4: The student can plan and implement data
collection strategies in relation to a particular scientific question.
[Note: Data can be collected from many different sources, e.g., investigations,
scientific observations, the findings of others, historic reconstruction, and/or archived
data.]
4.1 The student can justify the selection of the kind of data needed to answer a particular
scientific question.
4.2 The student can design a plan for collecting data to answer a particular scientific
question.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS C
4.3 The student can collect data to answer a particular scientific question.
4.4 The student can evaluate sources of data to answer a particular scientific question.
Science Practice 5: The student can perform data analysis and
evaluation of evidence.
5.1 The student can analyze data to identify patterns or relationships.
5.2 The student can refine observations and measurements based on data analysis.
5.3 The student can evaluate the evidence provided by data sets in relation to a particular
scientific question.
Science Practice 6: The student can work with scientific explanations
and theories.
6.1 The student can justify claims with evidence.
6.2 The student can construct explanations of phenomena based on evidence produced
through scientific practices.
6.3 The student can articulate the reasons that scientific explanations and theories are
refined or replaced.
6.4 The student can make claims and predictions about natural phenomena based on
scientific theories and models.
6.5 The student can evaluate alternative scientific explanations.
Science Practice 7: The student is able to connect and relate
knowledge across various scales, concepts, and representations in
and across domains.
7.1 The student can connect phenomena and models across spatial and temporal scales.
7.2 The student can connect concepts in and across domain(s) to generalize or extrapolate
in and/or across enduring understandings and/or big ideas.