Advanced Placement (AP)

Why AP?

Each year, students around the world who want to learn and achieve at the highest level become AP® students. Through AP’s college-level courses and exams, students can:

earn college credit and advanced placement

stand out in the college admissions process

better prepare themselves for the expectations of college time management, study skills, writing, reading, and thinking

Exploration

19 AP courses at Tahoma Senior High AP Human Geography is offered at TJH Students explore their interests with other

students who share their desire to learn. Courses developed by leading professors to

reflect the level of learning in 100-level courses in colleges throughout the country.

Students study topics and ideas that may become the foundation of their future college major or career.

High Course Standards

All schools wishing to label a course “AP” must submit an approved subject-specific AP Course Audit form and course syllabus for each teacher of that AP course.

The AP® Course Audit was created at the request of secondary school and college faculty to: Provide AP teachers and administrators

with clear curricular and resource guidelines and requirements

Give colleges and universities confidence that AP courses are designed to meet the same clearly articulated college-level criteria across high schools.

Learning Communities

AP is more than just a class--it’s a community of students and educators who are passionate, curious, and committed to academic excellence.

Students engage in intense discussions, solve problems collaboratively, and learn to write clearly and persuasively.

The Skill Rewards

AP courses are hard work. But, it’s work that pays off.

AP courses help improve writing skills sharpen problem-solving abilities

develop better study habits

The Exam

Each AP course concludes with a standardized exam in May

Exam is written and scored by college professors and AP teachers

Score shows how well students have mastered college-level course work and how they compare with other college-bound AP students around the world.

Exam costs $89, and some financial aid is available.

The Credit

More than 90 percent of four-year colleges in the United States and colleges in more than 60 other countries give students credit, advanced placement or both on the basis of AP Exam grades.

By entering college with AP credits, students will have the time to move into upper-level courses in their field of interest, pursue a double major or study abroad. Go to www.collegeboard.com/ap/creditpolicy to find out more about the AP college policies.

The Financial Rewards

An AP exam score of 3-5 can translate into 5-15 college credits, worth $625-$5000 in saved tuition (based on GRCC & private college). Books are also included, which is a HUGE savings.

Research shows that AP students are more likely to graduate from college in four years, which only 27 percent of students at U.S. public colleges achieve.

The average price of college at a public university such as UW costs about $24,000 for each additional year.

Courses at Tahoma Senior High AP BIOLOGY AP CALCULUS AB AP CALCULUS BC AP COMPUTER SCIENCE A AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION AP EUROPEAN HISTORY AP GOVERNMENT AP GOVERNMENT WE THE PEOPLE AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (TJH ONLY) AP PHYSICS C: MECHANICS AP PSYCHOLOGY AP STATISTICS AP STUDIO ART: 2-D AP STUDIO ART: 2-DIGITAL GRAPHIC ART AP STUDIO ART: 3-D AP STUDIO ART: DRAWING AP UNITED STATES HISTORY

AP Biology

AP Biology course is organized around the following major themes: science as a process, evolution, energy transfer, continuity and change, relation of structure to function, regulation, interdependence in nature, science, technology, and society. To succeed in AP Biology students must be highly motivated to learn, as required reading, curriculum, and laboratory activities are concurrent with a 100-level university biology course.

AP Calculus AB

AP Calculus AB is a one-year/one credit class that introduces the three main concepts of calculus: limits, differentiation, and integration and their applications. This course is highly recommended for those students who plan science or mathematics-related careers. Evaluation in this class is based on student success on assignments, unit evaluations and use of technology. * Graphing calculator needed. Optional summer review packet will be available.

AP Calculus BC

AP Calculus BC is a one-year/one-credit course. It is an extension of the A.P. Calculus AB course. It will cover all of the topics taught in a 2nd & 3rd quarter college calculus course. This includes but is not limited to: surface area, curve length, work, techniques of integration, parametric and polar forms, logistic differential equations, polynomial approximations, convergence and divergence of a series and Taylor Series. There will also be a review of the Calculus AB course. This course is highly recommended for those students who plan to be in science or mathematical related careers. Evaluation in this class is based on student success on assignments, unit evaluations and use of technology. *Graphing calculator needed.

AP Computer Science A

AP Computer Science A explores the computer programming language Java and how programs actually work. Students will create their own programs ranging from basic calculators to eventually simple text-based games. (More advanced students will be able to create Java Applet games by the end of the course). Motivated students will be prepared to take the Advanced Placement A exam at the end of the year, and may continue on to a second year course where they will learn more complicated programming techniques, as well as learn to create more complicated programs and games.

AP English Literature and Composition

AP English Literature and Composition is an in-depth approach to studying a variety of literary genres. College-level literature serves as the foundation for reading and writing analytically; critical thinking is emphasized. Junior students will also complete the Oral History Project and required components for STEP, and will participate in the junior art field trip. Senior students will do additional college preparatory projects in lieu of junior requirements. Required: 800 pages of summer reading and reading log.

 

AP Environmental Science

AP Environmental Science is a survey course that combines the disciplines of geology, biology, environmental science, & chemistry. The learning in the course is also connected to history, economics, politics, and cultural anthropology.

The major topics in the course are: Earth Systems & Resources, The Living World, Population, Land & Water Use, Energy Resources & Consumption, Pollution, & Global Change

Emphasis is put on understanding the interrelationships of the natural world and the role of science in identifying, analyzing, and evaluating solutions to environmental problems.

AP Environmental Science (Outdoor Academy)

AP Environmental Science (Outdoor Academy) The Outdoor Academy combines AP Environmental Science, language arts, and health & fitness in an integrated model for sophomore students. The AP Environmental Science component is identical to the description above in the stand-alone classroom model.

AP European History

AP European History will develop Advanced Placement writing skills and provide a background in both European and American History from 1450 to present. The curriculum is designed to cover European History beginning with the Renaissance and ending with the Cold War. The course requires some extensive reading and study beyond other elective Social Studies classes.

AP Government & Politics: U.S.

AP Government focuses upon the constitutional underpinnings of U.S. government; political beliefs and behaviors; political parties, interest groups and mass media; institutions of national government; public policy; civil rights and civil liberties. We the People, a competitive scholastic program, is not a part of this class.

AP Government & Politics: U.S. AP Government provides a collegiate

atmosphere where students can experience: interactive discussions a mock congress simulation interactive lectures various projects citizenship experiences unit exams formatted to fit the AP Exam—timed

multiple choice and free response questions—as well as test taking and FRQ strategies which will be used throughout one’s college career.

AP Government & Politics: USWe the People

AP Government We the People focuses upon the constitutional underpinnings of U.S. government; political beliefs and behaviors; political parties, interest groups and mass media; institutions of national government; public policy; civil rights and civil liberties. We the People, a competitive scholastic program, is a part of this class; students will be responsible for completing a comprehensive summer homework assignments that covers all of the basic concepts discussed in We The People

AP Government & Politics: U.S. AP Government is a good way to experience

an AP course for students who love history or politics. The course provides students with practice in analyzing and interpreting data and other information relevant to U.S. government and politics.

Prior experience in AP European History or AP U.S. History is NOT necessary. The AP Government exam is based on free-response questions, not on DBQs, which makes it less challenging for some students.

AP Human Geography

AP Human Geography provides a collegiate atmosphere where students can experience Study of how and where humans live on the

earth Spatial and geographic tools; field studies Interactive lectures Various projects Emphasis on population, migration, culture,

ethnicity, political geography, industry/development, agriculture, and urban development.

Unit exams formatted to fit the AP Exam—timed multiple choice and free response questions—as well as test taking and FRQ strategies which will be used throughout students’ college careers.

AP Psychology

AP Psychology  is a one-year course of study equivalent to the first year of psychology in college. This course includes: biological bases of behavior, sensation, perception, cognition, states of consciousness, learning, intelligence, motivation, emotion, developmental psychology, personality study, social psychology, abnormal psychology, and its treatment. As a result of taking this class students should be able to: identify major personalities and areas of study in the psychology field; be better prepared to study physical therapy, medicine, nursing, education, law, mental health, police science, and psychology in college; AND have acquired college-level knowledge relating to basic developmental and physiological psychology.

 

AP Physics C: Mechanics

AP Physics C - Mechanics is a one-year Advanced Placement science course that covers topics in Newtonian Mechanics. Methods of calculus are used wherever appropriate in formulating physical principles and applying them to real world situations. A variety of laboratory experiences provide the student with opportunities to experience the relationship between the derived equations and the physical world. The course also provides calculus students an opportunity to use their mathematics skills in a different setting. The course is designed to be equivalent to an introductory college course in mechanics for science, engineering or computer science majors. 

AP Statistics

AP Statistics A.P. Statistics is designed to introduce students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Students are exposed to four broad conceptual themes: Exploring Data, Sampling and Experimentation, Anticipating Patterns and Statistical Inference. The topics learned in this course are very helpful to students wishing to study Business or Social Sciences courses. *Graphing calculator needed. 

AP Studio Art

These four studio courses are recommended for students wanting a career in the fine arts or art education. Students choose one in order to develop an art portfolio representing different areas of media and strength. Art work will be evaluated through class participation, discussion, development and critiquing art work as well as meeting the college board syllabus requirements and rubric. The portfolio is evaluated at the end of the year by the College Board.

AP Studio Art-2D AP Studio Art-2D Graphic Design AP Studio Art-3D AP Studio Art-Drawing

AP U.S. History

  AP United States History incorporates both

a factual and interpretive approach to United States history, as it follows the chronological development of the United States from settlement to present. Students will develop cognitive retention and further analytical thinking skills in the study of American history. They will develop the ability to write comprehensive historical essays using primary source materials while incorporating knowledge acquired in class.

A Student’s Perspective

Questions?

For further questions, contact Brooke Dillon, AP/College Credit Coordinator; your son’s or daughter’s counselor; or the teacher of the AP course.