Calculus AB Review Course
This is a comprehensive review course designed to prepare students for taking the AP Calculus AB exam through a single, intense, and concise course. This was partly in consideration of those students with limited time that are juggling multiple AP and college credit classes.
It could be taken stand-alone, however, it would best serve as a supplement to go along with a high school Calculus AB, or similar course, to prepare for this AP exam. As it covers much of the material that you would find in a college Calculus I course, it could also be used as a supplement for this course.
Though this particular review course does not contain all of the AP Calculus BC exam material, it could still be a helpful supplement to prepare those students, as well.
Course Objective
Master the concepts and problem solving skills needed to score well on the AP Calculus AB exam.
Course Description
This Calculus AB review course is intended mainly as an comprehensive, but concise, review course for the AP Calculus AB exam. As such, lecture and practice problems are focused on the content of this AP exam. For instance, problems are structured to mimic how questions are asked and selected specifically to match expected test content to begin preparing the student for the exam. Furthermore, to enable an efficient review, time spent on specific concepts is weighed corresponding to observed exam focus (e.g., key pre-calculus topics).
Due to the extensive nature of the course, we necessarily cover a large range of topics. These are organized into logical and manageable sections and lessons. After covering key pre-calculus items, we cover topics including limits, continuity, Intermediate Value Theorem, derivatives, implicit differentiation, integrals, Riemann sums, area between curves, average value, integral substitution, particle motion, rates of change, related rates, volume of a solid, introduction to differential equations, and AP exam abstract and free response questions. All of this material is part of the scope of the AP Calculus AB exam.
There are other courses available here in both Calculus and pre-calculus, if students would like to delve deeper, extend upon the topics covered here, acquire additional practice, etc.
Course Content
- 20 lessons which are broken up into 44 videos
- about 7 hours of video
- lecture video for each lesson
- short worksheet to practice material from each lesson
- review video to go over answers and methodology for each worksheet problem
- answer key for each worksheet
- final exam with answer key
Suggested Audience
The course is strongly recommended for high school students preparing for the AP Calculus AB exam (typically 12th grade). It is also suggested as a course supplement for students taking high school Calculus AB / BC, college Calculus I, or equivalent courses. I say supplement for Calculus BC and college Calculus I, as this course only contains a subset of topics that you would find in those courses.
Furthermore, it would likely be helpful to those students that have taken or struggled with Calculus I, or an equivalent course, in the past and who thus need a comprehensive and efficient refresher on this material or are looking to better master the subject.
Requirements
Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus AB (or BC).
Algebra and trigonometry skills are a must. The course assumes prior mastery of Algebra, however, it does provide a limited pre-calculus section, including a lesson on key trigonometry concepts to assist students.
You will need a good graphing calculator. Here I used an older TI-83 Plus device in a few of the lessons to help students with crucial calculator functions needed for the AP exam. I've seen that newer models can provide some advantages, such as faster procesing time for solving integrals. Some of the worksheet problems require a graphing calculator. Please make sure to checkout what specific calculators are allowed by the exam before making a purchase. Also it is possible that your school or test location will have calculators available, however, again it would be prudent to inquire with them beforehand.
Credits
Teacher: Mr. Copeland
Assistant: David
A special thanks to my son, David, for all his help in developing this course.