AP Environmental science

INTRODUCTION

The AP Environmental Science (aka APES) course is designed to engage students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships within the natural world. The course requires that students identify and analyze natural and human-made environmental problems, evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and examine alternative solutions for resolving or preventing them. Environmental science is interdisciplinary, embracing topics from geology, biology, environmental studies, environmental science, chemistry, and geography.

COURSE PATHWAY

You must have passed Math I to take this course and be at least a rising sophomore. AP Environmental Science is a substitute for the Earth Environmental Science credit, meaning you don't have to take Earth Environmental Science if you pass this course. This course is typically available to Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors, making it a very diverse class in terms of grade level.

COURSE BREAKDOWN

AP Environmental Science Units.pdf

You can access an in-depth overview of the units above.

AP Environmental Science consists of 9 different units.

There are 4 major ideas you learn in APES:

Energy Transfer
Interactions Between Earth's Systems
Human Impact on the Environment
Sustainability

*It's important to note that your APES teacher may alter the order or composition of the units to better fit their teaching style.

Most units in APES are independent of each other, meaning the order in which you review each unit does not matter for the most part.

To the left is a chart that displays the weighting of each unit on the AP Exam.

EXAM OVERVIEW

SECTION I - MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS [60% OF EXAM]

There are 80 multiple-choice questions in the first section of the exam. You will have 90 minutes to complete them. While 80 questions may seem intimidating at first, most past APES students agree that the questions are not very difficult and are capable of being answered in a very quick amount of time (you either know it or you don't).

SECTION II - FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS [40% OF EXAM]

In this section, you will be given 3 free-response questions or FRQs for short.

Question 1 will require you to design an investigation or experiment.
Question 2 will require you to analyze an environmental problem and propose a solution.
Question 3 will require you to use math to analyze and solve an environmental problem.

You will have a total of 70 minutes to complete the FRQ section.

REVIEW MATERIALS

Below, you can access playlists for APES review videos created by the legendary Mr. Smedes!

DISCLAIMER: The units & topics below may be arranged differently than what your teacher has done in class.