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AP for ALL

Franklin D. Roosevelt H.S. offers a variety of Advanced Placement (AP) courses in many academic subjects. Our philosophy is to encourage and enable students to achieve success by challenging themselves. Many colleges and universities use the score on the AP examination for college-level placement and award college credit to students receiving a score of 3, 4, or 5. Some AP courses have a summer assignments. 

 

 

You will explore college-level literature and work to produce college-level writing. Through this process, you will be challenged to examine the relationship between literature and our thoughts, perceptions, and understandings of the world. Through intellectual ‘play’ we will breathe new life into these works, and maybe discover that their vibrancy hasn’t yet faded. In our investigations, we will critically expose the implicit and explicit cultural assumptions embedded in literature and learn to express our insights and analytical understandings of literature. We will “compose” our thoughts in various means: Socratic seminars, presentations, creative expression, small group discussion, and of course writing in different genres with different audiences and voices. We will emphasize the writing workshop and the use of feedback in revision.

 

Advanced Placement English Language and Composition is designed with college-level English courses in mind, leading to a dual focus on critical, engaged reading of difficult texts and skillful writing for a variety of audiences and purposes. Students in this course will read both fiction and nonfiction in a wide range of styles and rhetorical contexts. They will respond to these texts orally and in writing in debates, online forums, presentations, classroom writing exercises, essays and creative projects, learning to synthesize multiple sources in their own works. In studying language, students will learn about writing technique specific to a writer’s purpose, audience expectations, genre and subject; students will also study grammar, conventions and the writing process to gain better control of their writing. More importantly, though, this course is dedicated to student writers. Students will write frequently, focusing on rhetoric and style as they analyze, imitate or argue with model texts. Many of their assignments will be low-stakes or ungraded to encourage creativity and growth, and they will learn to rely on peer editors and self-reflection for daily feedback. Through assignments ranging from synthesis papers to definition essays to rhetorical analyses to fictional narratives students will not only become well-prepared for the spring AP exam but will become better analysts of and communicators about their world.

 

Calculus AB is a full-year course and consists of the content of a typical one-semester college calculus course. It is the culmination of the high school mathematics experience. Students will use skills and knowledge they developed in earlier courses to learn how to interpret mathematical content and they will do so using algebraic, graphical, tabular, and verbal methods throughout the course.
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This a full-year course. The AP Computer Science Principles course is designed to be equivalent to a first-semester introductory college computing course. In this course, students will develop computational thinking skills vital for success across all disciplines, such as using computational tools to analyze and study data and working with large data sets to analyze, visualize, and draw conclusions from trends. The course is unique in its focus on fostering student creativity. Students are encouraged to apply creative processes when developing computational artifacts and to think creatively while using computer software and other technology to explore questions that interest them. They will also develop effective communication and collaboration skills, working individually and collaboratively to solve problems, and discussing and writing about the importance of these problems and the impacts to their community, society, and the world.
Click on Video:
AP Computer Science Principles Video 1
AP Computer Science Principles Video 2

AP Statistics is a yearlong course in which students study topics generally covered in an introductory statistics course at the university level. The four major topics covered are:

1. Analyzing Data

2. Experimental Design

3. Probability

4. Statistical Inference

The course is a mixture of lecture, group activities, paired problem solving, and class discussion.

 

 

The Advanced Placement biology course is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory biology course usually taken by biology majors during their first year. After showing themselves to be qualified on the Advanced Placement Examination, some students, as college freshmen, are permitted to undertake upper-level courses in biology or register for other courses for which biology is a prerequisite. Other students may have fulfilled the laboratory science requirement or a pre-professional requirement and will be able to undertake other courses.

 

 

AP Chemistry is designed to be the equivalent of a college-level General Chemistry course. It is a very rigorous class with a strong laboratory component. As such, students in this course must exhibit high levels of commitment, motivation, and academic maturity. Students are expected to work independently of the teacher, take initiative and responsibility for their learning, and meet high standards throughout the year in the classroom, laboratory, and in completion of written assignments. The College Board makes the following statement regarding student commitment: “It is assumed that the student will spend at least five hours a week in unsupervised individual study.”
 
 
This Advanced Placement Environmental Science course helps to create informed citizens by discussing the fragility and resilience of our planet. The curriculum covers a wide array of disciplines from pure sciences like biology, ecology, chemistry, physics, and geology to social sciences like geography, anthropology, economics and political science. AP Environmental Science will challenge your academic ability and critical thinking. This course will explore the furthest reaches of the Earth to your own backyard. You will understand the interconnectedness of life on the planet and the important role humans play on Earth. Topics in this course will include Earth systems and resources, the living world, population, land and water use, energy resources and consumption, pollution, and global change. There will also be labs and projects. Students will hear from a diverse selection of guest speakers covering many areas of environmental science and will be encouraged to attend lectures outside of school. Students will also attend an extended day environmental guided trip where they will participate in activities that supplement topics covered in the classroom.
 
 
Advanced Placement Psychology is a college level course intended for highly motivated students. The topics covered will include history; research and statistics; the biological basis of behavior; psychological development through the life span; states of consciousness; sensation and perception; learning; cognition; intelligence; motivation and emotion; stress and health; personality; abnormal psychology; the treatment of psychological disorders; and social psychology.
 
AP United States Government and Politics introduces students to key political ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the political culture of the United States. The course examines politically significant concepts and themes, through which students learn to apply disciplinary reasoning assess causes and consequences of political events, and interpret data to develop evidence-based arguments. There will be a focus in Economics towards the end of the school year to cover all economics core requirements.
 
This college level course is offered to Advanced Juniors. This course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and issues in United States history. The course will develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in an essay format. Students must commit to completing the entire year and taking the AP exam as well as the US History and Government Regents Exam. Both the volume and level of work dictates that students’ attendance be as perfect as possible.
 
This is a college level course that is offered to sophomores with a demonstrated interest in World History. Students should be able to read a college level textbook and write grammatically correct, complete sentences. AP World History will develop your greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts in different types of human societies. Areas of study include Global Interactions (c. 1450 to c. 1750); Industrialization and Global Integration (c. 1750 to c. 1900); Accelerating Global Change and Realignments (c. 1900 to the Present). You must commit to completing the entire year and taking the AP exam as well as the Global Regents exam.
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AP World History Video
 
This course prepares students for the AP Language and Culture Exams. All instruction will be project-based. Students will be able to have discussions and debates with clear statements backed by opinions and reasons. Frequent writing assignments will be paired with oral presentations.
In this course students will be immersed into the Spanish culture and language. Students will be expected to speak in the target language, and instruction will take place in the target language. Following the College Board syllabus with a rigorous, college-level course, you will be prepared for the SAT II examination in Spanish.
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AP Spanish Language Video
This course follows the College Board’s syllabus and is a rigorous, college-level course. Students in this class should be prepared for a challenging work load and a great amount of outside study time. This course is also excellent preparation for the SAT II examinations in Spanish.
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AP Spanish Literature Video

This is a double period full year Art course. The AP Studio Art portfolios are designed for students who are seriously interested in the practical experience of art. AP Studio Art is evaluated on the submission of a portfolio at the end of the year.