Calculus

CALCULUS  AP BC 23505 AP AB 23506   Honors 23405

5 credits

Prerequisite: PreCalculus (or Algebra II Honors for Honors Calculus #23405) 

In order to enroll in either AP version of this course as a senior, a student must take and perform well in precalculus during 11th grade. AP Calculus BC, the most advanced and fastest paced version, should only be considered for students who excelled in AP PreCalculus. AP Calculus AB is also a highly demanding and fast paced course intended for students who demonstrated a high level of proficiency in AP or Honors PreCalculus during 11th grade. 

In order to enroll in the honors version of this course as a senior, a student must either have taken precalculus or excelled in Algebra II Honors during 11th grade. 

There is a great deal of overlap in the design of the AP Calculus AB and BC courses. Both include the following eight units of study (not necessarily in the same order) and attends to the same four mathematical practices — (1) Implementing mathematical processes; (2) Connecting representations; (3) Justification; and (4) Communication and notation — as described on pp. 16-24 of the AP Calculus AB and BC Course Exam and Description:

• Unit 1 – Limits and Continuity

• Unit 2 – Differentiation: Definition and Fundamental Properties

• Unit 3 – Differentiation: Composite, Implicit, and Inverse Functions

• Unit 4 – Contextual Applications of Differentiation

• Unit 5 – Analytical Applications of Differentiation

• Unit 6 – Integration and Accumulation of Change

• Unit 7 – Differential Equations

• Unit 8 – Applications of Integration

AP Calculus BC also includes two additional units of study:

• Unit 9 – Parametric Equations, Polar Coordinates, and Vector-Valued Functions

• Unit 10 – Infinite Sequences and Series

The honors version of this course addresses the same four mathematical practices as the AP versions and attends to the same mathematical content from Units 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 from the AP course description. 

Students enrolled in either AP version of this course will be required to complete a summer assignment, to own or borrow a graphing calculator, and to take the AP exam.

Students enrolled in the Honors version of this course will have the opportunity to earn three college credits from Quincy College at a cost of $350 as long as they successfully complete the course with a final grade of C or higher.