April 13, 2020

Hello students taking AP Calculus AB and BC,   

 

You don't know me personally. But there is a good chance you have worked on countless number of problems I designed in worksheets and on exams.  My name is Stu Schwartz. I taught AP calculus for many years and since I retired, I have developed www.mastermathmentor.com, a website that has a huge number of resources for teachers in AP calculus and AP statistics.

 

Since the coronavirus took hold in the U.S. and it became apparent that our lives would be be heavily impacted, I have been hard at work developing materials for AP calculus teachers to present to students.  This is a bit different - I have developed AB and BC calculus reviews for you.  Hopefully, your teachers have sent this directly to you and all you need to do is to download the materials.  You don't have to work through your teachers ... they have enough to do.

 

You probably know at this point that the form of the AP exam will be two free response questions on Tuesday, May 12. There are countless free response problems on which you can practice. But the form of this review will require you to do little writing.  It is a True/False exam designed to quickly determine what you know and what you don't know.

 

If I asked you to add 2 + 3, the amount of time you would need to answer could be measured in milliseconds. There is almost no thought that goes into it.  The same is true with taking the derivative of x2.  If you take more than a half second to give the answer, you probably don't know your derivative rules. If you are asked to find the x-value where a relative maximum occurs on a function, you should know instantaneously that you need to take the function's derivative and find the x-value where it is equal to zero. It may take you some time to actually perform the calculations, but the key is first knowing what to do.  With that in mind, the review I created:

 

  • consists of 60 true/false questions in PDF format (50 for BC)
  • is designed to be completed in less than 40 minutes (35 for BC)
  • require very little writing
  • does not require a calculator
  • tests all concepts several times that the College Board is currently testing
  • is free to you
  • can be graded by you using an Excel spreadsheet also provided which will tell you your strengths and weaknesses
  • includes solutions (not just answers)

 

You can download this at any time.  It is suggested that you take this "test" a week or so before the May 12 administration of the AP exam so you have sufficient time to work on improving the areas in which you are weak.

 

The AB Exam:

 

Your only decision is how you want to take the test.  There are two ways:

 

  • If you would like to do a problem, then look at the solution, do the next problem, then look at its solution, etc, you want to download the files below.  There are two of them.

 

          AB Problems/Solutions   1 - 30        (revised 4/10/20 at 9:15 PM)

         AB Problems/Solutions   31 - 60       (revised 4/17/20 at 5:30 PM)

 

  • If you would like to take the test all at once - do the 60 problems and then look at the answers, you want to download these PDF files, the problems and the solutions. Also included is the grading Excel spreadsheet. (typically spreadsheets are downloaded into your computer document folder).  You must have Microsoft Excel for this to work.

 

         AB Review Problems   (revised 4/12/20 at 11:35 PM)

         AB Review Solutions   (revised 4/17/20 at 5:30 PM)

         AB Grading Excel spreadsheet

 

The PDF files show pages on your screen horizontally.   You should set your PDF app to show one page at a time. You should have paper and pencil with you - resist the temptation to have your calculator.  For each problem, you are given a time limit. Although you do not have to adhere exactly to that limit, you should use it as a guide.  The total time for the exam is 40 minutes and you may want to use that as your guideline rather than specific problems.

 

Using the Excel Grading spreadsheet:

 

Once you open the spreadsheet, I recommend you rename it and put it in a convenient location.

 

You must decide whether you want feedback after you answer each question or you want it all at once.  The default is no feedback because I recommend that you grade your work after you complete the exam.  In that way, you will answer all the questions first and when you are finished, place a 1 (or anything) in cell P2.

 

To answer questions, use a T or F (caps only) in column B and column I.  If you don't know the answer, guess, but also put an x in column C and J.  When you grade your work (by asking for feedback in cell P2), the "guess" cell will turn yellow to alert you that you need to look at the solution, whether you got the problem right or not.

 

Rows will either be green (right) or wrong (red). You are also told the basic and secondary topics that the problem tests. Your total problems right and wrong are at the bottom.

 

On the right side, you see a table that covers all the topics that will be tested on the upcoming AP exam and how many problems you got right and wrong that covers the topic. They are color coded either green, yellow, or red.  Green means you got all the problems correct, red means you got all the problems wrong, and yellow means at least one problem wrong. 

 

Most likely, you will have a lot of yellow rows.  The best way to review your work is to go over problem by problem that you got wrong. Look closely at the solution to see your mistake.  Once you believe you now understand the problem's solution, change your T/F answer to the correct one.  Your problem row will become green and little by little, your red rows in the topic table will turn yellow and eventually turn green.  In that way, hopefully your knowledge base will increase before the actual exam.

 

The BC Exam:

 

The BC test is very similar to the AB test with 50 questions. It covers all the BC concepts that may be tested on the May 12 AP exam as well as the AB concepts that have been eliminated from that exam.

 

  • If you would like to do a problem, then look at the solution, do the next problem, then look at its solution, etc, you want to download the files below.  There are two of them.

 

           BC Problems/Solutions   1 - 25

            (revised 4/24/20 at 12:30 PM)

          BC Problems/Solutions   26 - 50  

           (revised 4/24/20 at 12:30 PM)

 

  • If you would like to take the test all at once - do the 50 problems and then look at the answers, you want to download these PDF files, the problems and the solutions. Also included is the grading Excel spreadsheet. (typically spreadsheets are downloaded into your computer document folder).  You must have Microsoft Excel for this to work.

 

         BC Review Problems  

          (revised 4/24/20 at 12:30 PM)

         BC Review Solutions  

          (revised 4/24/20 at 12:30 PM)

         BC Grading Excel spreadsheet

 

Errors:

 

If you spot any problem that you feel is wrong, feel free to contact me at team@mastermathmentor.com and I will be sure to address it. The links above will always point to the most updated versions of the exams and solutions and the date and time of the last update is provided.  These links are also provided on the main page of www.mastermathmentor.com.

 

Best of luck in preparing for this exam in this tough time. Hopefully, this review will make the process less stressful for you.  Feel free to ask me any questions.

 

- Stu Schwartz & Fanucci the Cat