Course Content: AP Calculus (AB)

The College Board’s website has a complete list of everything we will be covering in this course. Notice that they combine the AB and BC syllabuses, so you should just ignore anything with an asterisk beside it:


Instructions: AP Calculus (AB)


1. For the first three quarters, I will give you a test every two weeks or so. Your grades will largely be an average of your scores in these tests, although from time to time I might give you a short quiz or written assignment. In the fourth quarter your grade will consist largely of your scores in AP questions that I assign for homework.

2. In at least half of the tests you will not be allowed to use a calculator.

3. Make sure that you show all your work in the tests so that if your answer is wrong you can gain partial credit. Enough work must be shown for me to know that a valid method has been used. In particular, a correct answer with no work will very often get zero.

4. In each test, I shall award some points for the way you write your mathematics. During the first few days of the course, I shall make it very clear what I expect in this regard. In particular, use math language not calculator language, include “dx” where necessary, use “” when approximating, and don’t use ambiguous words like “it”, “the function”, “the derivative”, or “the slope”.

5. Numerical, non-exact, answers should be given correct to 3 decimal places. Be careful not to use rounded versions of previous answers – an answer that is not correct to three decimal places, for whatever reason, will lose you points.

6. Doing your homework properly is a key to success in this course. This means clearly writing out your solutions, and devoting thought and time to your work. Homework will generally not be graded (until the fourth quarter), but I shall check the first few assignments to make sure that everyone is writing his mathematics correctly.

7. If at any time I feel that there is slackness taking place over homework from any student, I shall impose a system for all students in the class whereby a point is taken off your quarter average for every lapsed homework beyond the first two lapses in that quarter.

8. Going through homework in class is of limited use and wastes time for the majority who don’t need it. See me well before class if there is a question you can’t do, or after class if you get an answer wrong.

9. It is important that the graded fourth-quarter homework assignments are your own unaided work. With this in mind, you may not use any resource (student, teacher, web-page, etc.) other than a Brunswick math teacher to sort out any difficulties you have with these problems.