Below you will find course overviews, student advice and reflection, and courseload descriptions for all of the STEM-focused AP courses offered at Nipmuc Regional High School.
Ap calculus ab
1. Course Overview Calculus AB can be used to help prepare students for a higher level education in calculus. You’ll be learning brand new math concepts, and the class will prepare you for the difficulty level of a college class and the AP exam. Students should be able to apply and explain concepts while also getting correct answers. 2. Courseload Description The homework in this class is not unmanageable. You are often asked to complete webassigns- usually there is one due once a week, however, it varies. Some weeks you won’t have homework and other weeks you could have 2 or 3 webassigns assigned. The tests in this class are very challenging but they are made to prepare you for the AP exam, to do well, depending on the person you should study for 2-4 hours. Time management is very important to being successful in this class, but the workload is certainly not beyond anyone's capability. 3. Advice from a Past Student I would recommend that students take their time when doing homework. Because homework is not assigned on a nightly basis, it is important to do it when it is assigned, as these assignments can impact your grade greatly. Start homework early and leave yourself enough time to ask questions, this is the best way to learn! Some material is challenging but the amount of time given makes it manageable, so use your time wisely! 4. Future Applications Calculus AB will be useful for those students who are interested in majoring engineering or mathematics. Students who intend to focus on math in the future will benefit the most from this class. It will help prepare students for the higher level education math courses they will have to take. This class can be useful for students with a wide range of interests, however, and is relevant for many majors! 5. Student Reflection Calculus AB has given me an idea for what to expect in college. I thought that the tests were very difficult, however, now that I’ve taken the class I wish I stayed after more often. Although I found the class challenging, the difficulty of the tests allowed for me to be challenged enough where I recognized that I needed to put in extra time and effort to do well on the AP exam.
ap calculus bc
1. Course Overview AP Calculus BC is a math course that goes into depth regarding many concepts that combines past knowledge from algebra and geometry. AP Calculus BC includes all concepts from AP Calculus AB, as well as additional topics to foster a further understanding of the mathematical concepts. 2. Courseload Description AP Calculus BC has a very manageable amount of work. The main homework is webassigns, with the occasional worksheet. The assessments include tests and graded FRQ practices, both of which are challenging but manageable and immensely helpful for studying for the AP Exam. 3. Advice from a Past Student I am very happy to have taken AP Calculus BC. Calculus is a difficult topic, but with practice, the concepts can become mastered and each lesson is very interactive. The instructor is always available after school for extra help, and it is definitely useful as you can tailor after school lessons to which topics you have confusion in. 4. Future Applications AP Calculus is relevant to math and engineering, as well as those interested in physics. This course fosters a deeper understanding of mathematics as a whole, and is useful for anyone who takes an interest in math! 5. Student Reflection I am very happy I took this class. I feel like I understand math a lot more, and know it will be helpful in future math classes. It has also taught me the importance of time management, and I feel like I am a better student having taken this course.
ap statistics
1. Course Overview The purpose of this class is to help students major concepts such as collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions. Students focus on exploring data, sampling, experimentation, recognizing and analyzing patterns, testing hypothesis, population parameters, and statistical inference. 2. Courseload Description There is homework in the class almost every night. Although that may sound daunting, with focus, homework can be completed within a half hour, and the homework makes tests and quizzes much less challenging. You can expect a quiz after every section and a test after chapter. Although AP Statistics has homework and tests and quizzes often, these assignments are very useful and effective for preparing students for the AP Exam come May. 3. Advice from a Past Student I advise that students taking statistics take time to study before the exam. There are lots of formulas you need to remember so take the time to look over any important notes. Also don’t be afraid to ask questions during class! 4. Future Applications Statistics can be useful for anyone who is interested in majoring in business, education, and mathematics. 5. Student Reflection Statistics is a fun class where you do lots of experiments, but it also comes with a lot of work. However, if you pay attention during class, take notes, and do your homework the class is a manageable, useful, and interesting course!
ap microeconomics/macroeconomics
1. Course Overview AP Macroeconomics is a class focused on how the global and US economy functions on a large scale, whereas Microeconomics focuses on how the choices of individuals impact the economy.. This class utilizes mathematics through formulas and graphing, and enforces the understanding of economic concepts. 2. Courseload Description There is homework for this class almost every night, typically reading a section of the textbook and answering questions at the end of the section. During some parts of the year students are assigned to read chapters of books other than the textbook. If you are efficient with doing homework the homework will not take long and the workload is extremely manageable. Quizzes are given frequently on the readings and homework, and tests are at the end of every chapter. Both the tests and quizzes are fair, and studying is not overbearing as long as you have actually done all homework and reading. 3. Advice from a Past Student Actually do the homework well and the readings because they have a direct impact on your grade and are not difficult to do anyways. There's quite a few formulas so take the time to memorize them and take the time to actually understand the differences between all the graphs, because they can get hard to keep track of since there's so many. 4. Future Applications Macroeconomics and Microeconomics can be directly applied to majors in business, marketing economics, or similar fields because the class is essentially focused on understanding how the economy works. 5. Student Reflection These classes are fun and interesting classes involving a lot of real life situations and interactive lessons! I highly recommend this class if you want to have an AP class on your transcript. If you keep up with homework and do all your work, maintaining a good grade and passing the AP exam is very attainable. It’s also very beneficial to understand how things like loans, stocks, and other economic facets work.
ap physics 1
Course Overview
AP Physics 1 is an advanced, year-long science class focusing around topics such as: forces, motion, conservation, waves, electricity, and more. It serves as an introduction to Physics, with algebraic based mathematics and standard concepts, often demonstrating ideas through labs. Not only does the class consist of memorizing important equations and graphing, it also stresses the significance of understanding each concept, plus knowing how everything relates together. 2. Courseload Description The amount of work may vary depending on the teacher’s teaching style, but from my experience, it was a moderate to more strenuous course load. For each chapter, there may be worksheets or packets that are assigned in order to practice the concepts learned in class, and students may even want to watch additional videos online or go over material individually whenever they feel unsure about a topic. Since labs are used extremely frequently in Physics, a lot of the work is completing lab write ups. The assessments are usually quizzes at certain points in a chapter and a test at the end, those of which contain practice AP FRQ’s or multiple choice to prepare students for the AP exam. 3. Advice from a Past Student Physics can be an extremely difficult science to understand, and especially in an AP course that will introduce new material at a fairly quick pace, it can be easy to get lost or confused. Approaching the teacher with any questions or if you don’t understand something is vital to doing well in the class. Independent work is also strongly recommended -- Youtube videos on Physic topics are very helpful and can give a possible different perspective on the problem. 4. Future Applications Physics is important for anyone looking to go into a science major, math major, or even art majors, like as an architect. Like biology and chemistry, physics is one of the core science classes that most students take, and colleges definitely like to see a student that has taken physics before. Anyone who has an interest in math and science will have a knack for AP Physics! 5. Student Reflection Personally, AP Physics was one of the hardest AP’s I have taken due to the mixture of math and conceptual ideas. I found myself able to do the math, but figuring out exactly what to do and coming up with the abstracts from a problem was difficult for me. With practice and a lot of independent work, I managed to do well in the class, however, I do stress that a large part of success in AP Physics is additional work outside of class. Even though it is hard material, I do recommend the class to anyone who is considering of involving science or math in their futures.
ap biology
1. Course Overview AP Biology is an advanced, year-long science course that covers topics such as: evolution, energy, macromolecules, genetics, metabolism, anatomy, and more. Most students have already taken a biology class before AP Biology -- the difference between these classes is that AP Biology goes deeper into the content at a much faster pace. 2. Courseload Description AP Biology is an extremely manageable class. The only homework there may be is an occasional packet/case study, reading over notes, a project, or a lab write up. Most work can be completed during class. Overall, there is very minimal homework. Assessments include 1-2 quizzes per “Big Idea”, or topic, and a test at the end of each topic. Test corrections are allowed. 3. Advice from a Past Student A major takeaway I got from this class is to always try and actually go over the provided notes at home when they are posted. The instructor doesn’t always go over all the material in class, and to understand what is going on in each chapter, reading the notes is important. As long as you do the work in the class, you can acquire a good grade, but make sure you study for the assessments. Test corrections definitely help a lot, so I recommend to take those opportunities. 4. Future Applications AP Biology is a very common science AP to take, due to the fact that it is what a lot of students looking to go into science choose as a major. The class can lead to a future in nursing, med school, athletic trainers, psychologists, chemists, and etc. It can also help prepare students for college biology classes and give them a head start. 5. Student Reflection I really enjoyed taking AP Biology, and would highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in science. I appreciated the low amount of homework and learning the concepts was something I thoroughly enjoyed. The teacher is very creative with how students learn, and I liked that class always consisted of something different each day.
ap chemistry
1. Course Overview AP Chemistry is a science AP course that focuses on the chemical interactions between molecules, different types of reactions, and the mathematics that can be used to describe occurrences within the natural world. 2. Courseload Description AP Chemistry is a very manageable course. There is homework on each chapter, quizzes periodically, and tests that follow each chapter. As with all AP courses, time management is very important. The homework typically requires you to answer questions from the book, which can be challenging but ultimately useful in preparing for the test. The tests and quizzes are also challenging, but test corrections can be completed for every test to help offset the difficulty. You also have labs with write ups, but you are given plenty of time to complete them. 3. Advice from a Past Student AP Chemistry helped me a lot in deciding my future path. Although the class was challenging, the instructor is always very helpful and eager to answer questions! Extra credit opportunities are available throughout the term to help with the grade, and test corrections are very important! Ultimately I am very happy I chose to take this course. 4. Future Applications This course is very useful for people interested in science majors, nursing, and the medical field. It can also be helpful for students who may not be as interested in these fields, as it will allow you to test out of a course in college. 5. Student Reflection AP Chemistry was very useful for me. It was a very interesting class and I loved the labs. This course also helped me decide what I wanted to do in the future with regard to my major, and I will be able to place out of a college course!
ap environmental science
1. Course Overview This class focuses on the environment and all the factors that go into its deterioration or management. Pollution, global climate change, biodiversity, and similar topics are recurring themes. 2. Courseload Description The workload for environmental science is very heavy. Typical assignments include extensive labs, reading chapters, group projects, worksheets, and other assignments typical to science classes. Some weeks will have minimal homework, whereas other weeks will include hours of work, so be prepared to handle a range of work. 3. Advice from a Past Student Since the work is very heavy, be careful selecting this class if you are already in multiple AP’s that have heavy workloads. The work assigned in this class alone is amangeable, but when combined with assignments from other classes, the work can quickly become very difficult to manage. 4. Future Applications This class is good for majors relating to environmental science or environmental studies. It is also good to have an understanding of what is happening to our environment, no matter what your major is. 5. Student Reflection The material covered in this class is very interesting, but at times can be turned overly stressful because of the difficulty level of the class. If you are willing to put in a lot of work for a class and are truly interested in the topic, then you should definitely take it.
ap computer science
1. Course Overview AP Computer Science is a course which covers the basics of coding, as well as learning to design and apply computer programs to solve real world problems. This course grants students a foundation in using programming to solve problems within many realms such as art, media, and engineering. 2. Courseload Description The workload of this course is very manageable. You are responsible for reading chapters on your own, and there are labs and tests periodically, but as long as you manage your time appropriate, it really is a very manageable course load. Time management also makes studying for the tests a lot less daunting. 3. Advice from a Past Student This class really is what you put into it. With effort, you can be very successful, and I know this course will be useful in the future. Make sure you really apply yourself in the homework and labs and the tests will be a lot more manageable. 4. Future Applications Computer science is relevant to almost all majors including those in math, science, and liberal arts. 5. Student Reflection I am so happy to have taken this course. I feel like I am literate in computer programming and have a solid foundation from which I can grow as I continue to pursue more computer science courses in college. Although challenging, this class allowed me to understand the basic principles of computer programming, and also how these principles can be applied to solve real world problems.