Prepping for and AP class

[Julie in MO]

HI,

I've been following the discussions about AP testing and learning much from the collegeboard website. Here's my "real life" question. My 9th grader will be taking biology from a co-op this year using Apologia. I looked at the Barron's AP study guide. I understand the test is in May. I'm curious how others structure preparation for the test - do you just schedule going through the study guide along with the class topics, or go through the book a little each day? Does attention to the Biology text and good study habits during class prepare one enough? This will be our first experience with AP...do others start AP testing as early as 9th grade, or am I pushing a bit here?

 

Thanks...I am trying to sink my teeth into the meaty topics of high school! :001_smile:

 

Blessings,

Julie

[Teachin'Mine]

I can't answer all your questions, but we're using Apologia too, and it's necessary to use the Advanced Biology text as well as the regular text in order to prepare for the AP test. If you do a lesson a week, you can complete both in a year, or just do the advanced next year. Of course you can get the anatomy and physiology elsewhere for the AP test.

[MomsintheGarden]

9th grade is a wonderful time to be thinking about AP! It is great to have several years to plan and study.

 

Whatever AP exam you prep for, I strongly recommend comparing the topics in the Apologia texts with the College Board AP Course Description for that subject. There may be required topics not covered by Apologia, and you could look around for another text to fill in those gaps. It would be easy and cheap to get a used slightly older edition of a Campbell text or something for just those things.

 

We ran into the gap problem with my ds with Apologia Chemistry. Even though he had done both Apolol. Chem books, there were still topics not covered by the exam. He found that the prep books reviewed, not taught, the material and just could not learn it that way. He ended up passing the exam, but he couldn't get the score he needed for college credit. As a positive note, he ended up taking and acing chemistry in college.

 

YMMV, but that was our experience with using Apologia for AP prep.

 

GardenMom

[Michelle in AL]

My dd did the AP biology test in 9th grade. She took an online course and worked about 12 hrs/week on it~most of that was studying for test and about 2hrs/week for lab.

 

I felt it was important to do as many of the AP Labs at home as possible. I think she did 14? There were several ?'s on the test that referred to specific labs and one essay ? that referred to it.

 

I think it would be real important to use a study guide as she/he went along to fill in any gaps. People recommend studying regularly for the test at least 2 months ahead of time. To be honest, dd only started studying 2 weeks ahead of time, but she was using the Campbell book and studying like mad all year long. It worked out in the end and she scored high.

 

You may also want to buy a couple of actual old AP biology tests. They sell them on the collegeboard web site. This will give you a gist of what the questions are like.

 

I remember one essay ? had the kids draw a classification tree. Amy's teacher covered it well in class, but it's not in my younger dd's regular biology text. Not sure if Apologia cover those trees or not.

 

Joining the AP biology listserv (message board at collegeboard) will give you lots of ideas on what needs to be covered.

 

I wouldn't recommend taking the test as a 9th grader unless they're really advanced in science and highly motivated, otherwise the test/prep can be quite overwhelming.

[Julie in MO]

thank you so much. I will continue to study all this.

Blessings,

Julie

[FloridaLisa]

I'm curious how others structure preparation for the test - do you just schedule going through the study guide along with the class topics, or go through the book a little each day? Does attention to the Biology text and good study habits during class prepare one enough? This will be our first experience with AP...do others start AP testing as early as 9th grade, or am I pushing a bit here?

 

My dd has done AP in 9th grade, but not AP bio. :tongue_smilie: Based on our experience, I wouldn't start with that one (YMMV and all that.) AP bio is *college-level* and a high school level study, while in no way prerequisite, is certainly helpful to lay a foundation. AP bio also has lots of chemistry and my ds1 found a year's study of Apologia chemistry very helpful. Ds took AP bio in 10th grade and it was very time consuming. He spent about 2 hours per day, and worked many Saturdays. I thought maybe it was just him, until I began to hear similar stories from others (on this board and IRL). He did well in the class and on the exam, but I was glad he'd had Apologia bio and chem as a foundation before tackling AP bio.

 

HTH,

Lisa

 

ETA: I like Apologia. We've used it and will continue to use it in our family. I'm facilitating a biology class this year using Apologia. That said, I would'nt select it as a primary text for AP bio. The *regular* level doesn't have any human anatomy and very little biochemistry. Prep book might help (esp. if you or dh are science minded), but my experience is that prep books cram the major points, but often with inadequate explanation.

Edited August 6, 2010 by FloridaLisa