CopyCat Calculus - 1/6/25

There have been subtle changes in the types of free response questions in the AP Calculus exam over the past 8 years. There has been an emphasis on real-world problems with the calculator now becoming an integral part of the solution rather than just as a verification tool. Real-world problems are constructed for the exam that stress the importance of using the calculator because analytic approaches are just too cumbersome and real-world answers are not nice, neat whole numbers. I applaud this approach because I have always felt that students learn better when they understand how calculus is used in the everyday world, and I like when this spills over to the exam.

I have also seen a more global aspect to problems. In the past, problems were typically either derivative problems or integral problems. Now, there seems to be more creative ways of packing a lot of concepts into a problem.  A great many concepts are crammed in making the problem more of a study than a test question.

With that in mind, I created a new database of questions.  I went to the AP Central site and created problems that look very much like the problems of the past 8 years. They ask the same questions, like "find the absolute maximum", "when is the rate increasing", "find the total number of bottles", "determine how fast the volume is changing", "when are the particles getting closer", etc.  However, although the structure of the problems is the same as in these previous exams, everything else about the problems is different. The functions are different, the graphs are different, any data is altered, and the context in real-world problems are completely changed. The resulting problems bear no resemblance to their source other than the typical calculus questions that they ask (what is the maximum value, how fast is the area changing, find the number of, approximate using ..., etc.).   Hence the title, CopyCat Calculus. 

The result is a database of 50 AB problems and 25 BC problems that test all asepcts of the AP curriculum and contain both calculator and non-calculator problems in rougly the same proportion that they appear on the actual exam. will increase in size every summer when the year's AP exam free response questions are released by the college board.

Any like just about everything on the MasterMathMentor.com website, the student versions are completely free and can be downloaded below.

With the solutions version you also get the point values breakdowbn for each subpart solution as well as a grid that details the skills that each question requires. This grid is tied into the mastermathmentor.com manual that many teachers use.

This allows teachers to create practice exams for their students ensuring that most of the skills that are tested in the AP exam are covered.  You can now create different exams every year. If you want to mimic the testing environment of the actual exam, CopyCat Calculus allows you to give problems that you know students have never seen before.

With CopyCat Calculus, you are sure that your practice exams will be very similar to the actual exam students taken in May and your students will be better prepared.

Coming in April, 2025 will be a Multiple-Choice version of CopyCat Calculus.

            CopyCat Calculus

Student Version Free Downloads

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 CopyCat Calculus

Solution Versions

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