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Exam Structure
Here is how the exam breaks down:
Section I — Part A: Multiple Choice — 55 questions; 55 minutes
Section I — Part B: Short-Answer Questions — 4 questions; 50 minutes
Section II — Part A: Document-Based Question — 1 question; 55 minutes (includes a reading period with a suggested time of 15 minutes)
Section II — Part B: Long Essay Question — 1 question (chosen from a pair); 35 minutes
Period 1 – Technological and Environmental Transformations, c. 8000 BCE to c. 600 BCE
• Key Concept 1.1 Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth
• Key Concept 1.2 The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies
• Key Concept 1.3 The Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies
Period 2 – Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies, c. 600 BCE to c. 600 CE
• Key Concept 2.1 The Development and Codification of Religious and Cultural Traditions
• Key Concept 2.2 The Development of States and Empires
• Key Concept 2.3 Emergence of Transregional Networks of Communication and Exchange
Period 3 – Regional and Transregional Interactions, c. 600 CE to c. 1450 CE
• Key Concept 3.1 Expansion and Intensification of Communication and Exchange Networks
• Key Concept 3.2 Continuity and Innovation of State Forms and Their Interactions
• Key Concept 3.3 Increased Economic Productive Capacity and Its Consequences
Period 4 – Global Interactions, c. 1450 CE to c. 1750 CE
• Key Concept 4.1 Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
• Key Concept 4.2 New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production
• Key Concept 4.3 State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion
Period 5 – Industrialization and Global Integration, c. 1750 CE to c. 1900 CE
• Key Concept 5.1 Industrialization and Global Capitalism
• Key Concept 5.2 Imperialism and Nation-State Formation
• Key Concept 5.3 Nationalism, Revolution, and Reform
• Key Concept 5.4 Global Migration
Period 6 – Accelerating Global Change and Realignments, c. 1900 CE to present
• Key Concept 6.1 Science and the Environment
• Key Concept 6.2 Global Conflicts and their Consequences
• Key Concept 6.3 New Conceptualizations of Global Economy, Society, & Culture
The Themes of AP World History
AP World History emphasizes themes as a way to get you to use your critical thinking skills. There are five major themes overall that they want you to think about, including
1. Interaction between Humans and the Environment
2. Development and Interaction of Cultures
3. State Building, Expansion, and Conflict
4. Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems
5. Development and Transformation of Social Structures
These five major historical processes have been specified largely because they can all be applied to almost every aspect of world history throughout all of time.
Let’s take a look at something like ancient Mesopotamia, for example. Generally speaking, this is an AP World History concept/event that took place for thousands of years, beginning in 10,000 BCE and developed in the modern-day Middle East. But that’s not all the information the CollegeBoard wants you to remember. These critical thinking themes need to be central parts of your studies as well.
Let’s take a look at something like ancient Mesopotamia, for example. Generally speaking, this is an AP World History concept/event that took place for thousands of years, beginning in 10,000 BCE and developed in the modern-day Middle East. But that’s not all the information the CollegeBoard wants you to remember. These critical thinking themes need to be central parts of your studies as well.
Theme 1 applied to Mesopotamia when considering how the rich soil that characterized the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers allowed for perfect agricultural production conditions.
Theme 2 applies when thinking about how this agricultural revolution made humans more sedentary, allowing for the proliferation of culture, art, and religion.
Theme 3 comes into play when looking at the formation of city-states like the Sumerian and Babylonian Empires.
And these empires created complex economies in order to feed their armies and maintain civic order (Theme 4).
Theme 5 comes through when thinking about the ways the complex religions and legal systems were created as a way to create social cohesion (for example, the Code of Hammurabi).
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