Introduction
In May 2014, students will take the revised AP Chemistry Exam. The AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description describes the exam's format and content. It also includes sample multiple-choice and free-response questions.
How the Curriculum Framework Is Assessed
The following guidelines are presented to show teachers how the curriculum framework is assessed on the exam:
How the Curriculum Framework Is Assessed
The following guidelines are presented to show teachers how the curriculum framework is assessed on the exam:
- All big ideas, enduring understandings, and essential knowledge components are required and therefore must be taught in the AP Chemistry course. The learning objectives should be used to guide teaching and learning.
- The exam will assess the application of the science practices.
- Questions on the AP Chemistry Exam will require a combination of specific knowledge from the concept outline as well as its application through the science practices.
- For the free-response questions, students will be expected to provide appropriate scientific evidence and reasoning to support their responses.
- For the entire free-response section of the AP Chemistry Exam, students will be allowed to use a scientific calculator.
- To emphasize the application of quantitative skills and mathematical reasoning, students will not be required to recall specific formulas. An equations and formulas list will be provided within the exam materials.
The Format
The AP Chemistry Exam consists of two sections: multiple choice and free response.
Both sections include questions that assess the students’ understanding of the big ideas, enduring understandings, and essential knowledge, and how they can be applied through the science practices. These may include questions on the use of modeling to explain chemistry principles, the use of mathematical processes to explain concepts, making predictions and justifying phenomena, experimental design, and manipulation and interpretation of data.
The exam is 3 hours long and includes both a 90-minute multiple-choice section and a 90-minute free-response section. The multiple-choice section accounts for half of each student’s exam grade, and the free-response section accounts for the other half.
Both sections include questions that assess the students’ understanding of the big ideas, enduring understandings, and essential knowledge, and how they can be applied through the science practices. These may include questions on the use of modeling to explain chemistry principles, the use of mathematical processes to explain concepts, making predictions and justifying phenomena, experimental design, and manipulation and interpretation of data.
The exam is 3 hours long and includes both a 90-minute multiple-choice section and a 90-minute free-response section. The multiple-choice section accounts for half of each student’s exam grade, and the free-response section accounts for the other half.
Section | Question Type |
Number of Questions |
Timing |
I | Multiple Choice | 60 | 90 minutes |
II | Long Free Response | 3 | 90 minutes |
Short Free Response | 4 |
Section I (No calculators)
Section I consists of 60 multiple-choice questions, either as discrete questions or question sets, that represent the knowledge and science practices outlined in the AP Chemistry curriculum framework, which students should understand and be able to apply. Question sets are a new type of question: They provide a stimulus or a set of data and a series of related questions.
Section II (Scientific calculator allowed)
Section II contains two types of free-response questions (short and long), and each student will have a total of 90 minutes to complete all of the questions. Section II of the exam will contain questions pertaining to experimental design, analysis of authentic lab data and observations to identify patterns or explain phenomena, creating or analyzing atomic and molecular views to explain observations, articulating and then translating between representations, and following a logical/analytical pathway to solve a problem.
Students will be allowed to use a scientific calculator on the entire free-response section of the exam. Additionally, students will be supplied with a periodic table of the elements and a formula and constants chart to use on both the multiple-choice and free-response sections of the exam.
Students will be allowed to use a scientific calculator on the entire free-response section of the exam. Additionally, students will be supplied with a periodic table of the elements and a formula and constants chart to use on both the multiple-choice and free-response sections of the exam.
Reference Documents Provided
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General outline (not specific) of what to know.aim for achievement level 5 (that is what you need to know for a 5
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Old Reference Documents (not provided anymore on AP Chem exam)
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