In March, I attending a training session given by the College Board on the new 2019 AP Calculus Course and Exam Description (2019 CED). I was impressed by the copious other materials the College Board had prepared for the roll-out that will be available at summer institutes. Among these was the Mathematical Practices. The MPACs…
The new 2019 AP Calculus AB and BC Course and Exam Description is now available. New and experienced AP Calculus teachers should download a copy and read it carefully. (A paper copy with binder can be ordered here – it’s FREE.) The main sections of the book are here with notes on each. Part 1: General…
So, Tuesday is the day. My usual suggestion for Monday is to get the kids both relaxed and psyched. They know it by now; not much more you can pour into their heads. So, not last minute advice or hints. Good Luck and best wishes. Looking ahead – May: the new Course and Exam Description for…
The last BC question on the exams usually concerns sequences and series. The question usually asks students to write a Taylor or Maclaurin series and to answer questions about it and its interval of convergence, or about a related series found by differentiating or integrating. The topics may appear in other free-response questions and in…
Ideally, as with parametric and vector functions, polar curves should be introduced and covered thoroughly in a pre-calculus course. Questions on the BC exams have been concerned with calculus ideas related to polar curves. Students have not been asked to know the names of the various curves (rose curves, limaçons, etc.). The graphs are usually…
The parametric/vector equation questions only concern motion in a plane. In the plane, the position of a moving object as a function of time, t, can be specified by a pair of parametric equations or the equivalent vector . The path is the curve traced by the parametric equations or the tips of the position vector. . The velocity of the movement…
Any topic in the Course and Exam Description may be the subject of a free-response or multiple-choice question. There are topics that are not asked often enough to be classified as a type of their own. The two topics listed here have been the subject of full free-response questions or major parts of them. Other…
