Advanced Placement (A.P.)

What is A.P.?

Advanced Placement is a program created to enrich students beyond the regular high school curriculum. Successful completion of A.P. exams can lead to students obtaining credit and advanced placement in most major universities and colleges throughout the world. There is Canadian content in all A.P. courses and a regional office. The courses are designed with enough flexibility to meet localized curriculum requirements as well as attain credits or advanced placement at most universities and colleges around the world.

How is A.P. different from I.B?

AP provides excellent enrichment opportunities for students that recognize differences in an individual’s level of preparation, motivation and ability. IB also provides these opportunities to students.
AP courses award students with university credit. Only selected IB courses will award university credit. The course must be taught at the “higher level” designation, in order to qualify.
AP offers students greater flexibility, as students are only required to complete the course, with no additional requirements. IB requires students to complete the course as well as the additional requirements.
Both AP and IB programs are equally recognized on an international level.

AP Courses 2009-2010

English Language Arts (Literature & Composition) (8 credits total – Eng. 30 – 5, AP - 3)
Pre-requisite: 80% + in English 20-1
This course is intended to replicate the environment found in competitive 1st yr. University classes. In this course, students will become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Students will examine a writer’s purpose, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the generic conventions and resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing.

Social Studies (European History) (8 credits total – S/S 30 – 5, AP - 3)
Pre-requisite: 80% + in Social Studies 20-1
This course is intended to replicate the environment found in competitive 1st yr. University classes. In this course, students will be introduced to cultural, economic, political, and social developments that played a fundamental role in shaping the world. In addition to providing a basic narrative of events and movements, the goal is for students to (1) understand the principal themes in modern European history (2) possess the ability to analyze historical evidence and historical interpretation (3) possess the ability to express historical understanding in writing. Units of study include: intellectual & cultural history, political & Diplomatic history, social & economic history.

Art (Studio Art) (3 credits) (pending approval)
Pre-requisite: 80% + in Art 20-1
This course is intended to replicate the environment found in competitive 1st yr. University classes. In this course, students will submit portfolios for evaluation – there is no written exam. The goals of the course are to: encourage creative as well as systematic investigation of formal and conceptual issues, emphasize making art as an ongoing process that involves the student in informed and critical decision making, help students develop technical skills and familiarize them with the functions of the visual elements, and to encourage students to become independent thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the making of art.

Math 31/AP (Calculus AP) (5 credits)
Pre-requisite: 80% + in Math 20-1, Co-requisite: Math 30 Pure
The course is designed to bridge the gap between the Math 10-20-30 course sequence and the calculus course sequences offered by post-secondary institutions. It is intended to replicate the environment found in competitive 1st yr. University classes. This course emphasizes the theoretical and practical development of topics in the algebra of functions, trigonometry, differential calculus and integral calculus up to a standard acceptable for entry into all first-year programs in mathematics, science, engineering and business. In this course, students will develop stronger skills and knowledge in algebra, trigonometry, differential calculus and integral calculus. Units of study include: pre-calculus and limits, derivatives and derivative theorems, applications of derivatives, as well as integral, integral theorems and integral applications. Students will gain a better understanding of the concepts of calculus and providing experience with its methods and applications. It emphasizes a multi-representational approach to calculus, with concepts, results, and problems being expressed graphically, numerically, analytically and verbally.

Chemistry AP (3 credits)
Required Pre-requisites:

75% or higher in Chemistry 20
Credits for Math 20 Pure

Recommended Pre-requisite:

Although not mandatory, Physics 20 is highly recommended

The AP Chemistry course is designed to be the equivalent of the general chemistry course usually taken during the first college year. For some students, this course enables them to undertake, in their first year, second- year work in the chemistry
sequence at their institution or to register in courses in other fields where general chemistry is a prerequisite. For other students, the AP Chemistry course fulfills the laboratory science requirement and frees time for other courses. Students in such a course should attain a depth of understanding of fundamentals and a reasonable competence in dealing with chemical problems. The course should contribute to the development of the students’ abilities to think clearly and to express their ideas, orally and in writing, with clarity and logic. The college course in general chemistry differs qualitatively from the usual first secondary school course in chemistry with respect to the kind of textbook used, the topics covered, the emphasis on chemical calculations and the mathematical formulation of principles, and the kind of laboratory work done by students. Quantitative differences appear in the number of topics treated, the time spent on the course by students, and the nature and the variety of experiments done in the laboratory.

AP Chemistry will run one course in both first and second term, and may require additional time for laboratory work through lunch hour, depending on the weekly lab. Because the AP course is run in conjunction with Chemistry 30, the AP exam with occur in May, and students will write the Chemistry 30 Diploma in June. (8 credits in total).

For more information please visit AP Canada’s website, http://www.ap.ca specifically Chemistry AP programming.