When choosing which classes to take, students usually ask their friends and peers questions like “Is this class hard?”, “What’s the workload?”, and “How hard is the AP exam?”. This school year these questions seemed to be raised the most about AP Environmental Science. It is believed by many students that the curriculum has changed from last year due to the results from last year’s AP test. Is APES harder than it was last year? Is it a good ‘first AP’ to take?
“Last spring had higher test scores than the national average and also the state average,” APES teacher Kyle Mathieu said. “The curriculum is essentially exactly the same, but we implemented using an online homework system called AP Classroom much more”
One new factor in this year’s curriculum is the lengths taken to ensure mastery among students. They are given practices throughout each unit to help them get prepared for quizzes and tests. This leads to a heavier workload, which can be tedious and overwhelming for students. However, according to Mr. Mathieu this curriculum helps in the long run by increasing grades.
All the rigorous practice will come in handy during major assignments. The actual AP test is quite challenging itself and is a combination of fact memorization and math analysis.
“There’s just a lot of different elements — all of them combined, it’s very easy to forget,” Mathieu said.
Due to the heavy content load, it’s possible to briefly touch on something in the beginning of the year and then never talk about it again until the AP test. Mathieu said APES teachers hope that different questions on the test will spark student’s memories.
The main goal of FRQ’s (free response questions) is to prove content mastery. FRQ’s are a common AP essay preparation method used in-class by many AP teachers. Mathieu said that keeping students at level and having to stay up to date with the large workload is challenging.
“From a student standpoint, interpreting the fact that this is a college level class,” Mathieu said. “It can be fun, but the workload is really heavy. There’s just a lot to do all the time. And it may not be hard to do, but there’s always something going on. There’s a lot of moving parts all the time, and it doesn’t slow down. We only speed up as we get closer to the end of the year because we have to.”
Lots of students take APES when they have an extra elective to fill or are trying an AP class for the first time due to APES reputation as an “easy” class, but it can be extremely overwhelming. However, Mr. Mathieu said if they are willing to work hard and manage their time, “APES is often a great fit. Every part of this class is a puzzle piece that fits together to allow students to feel confident and ready for their AP test.”
“I also want to instill a different type of mindset as well, so nothing to do with the grades at all,” When discussing how APES instills a mindset of contributing to positive environmental changes, Mathieu said. “I’m not asking you to change your lifestyle at all. All I’m asking you to do is just think about certain things. Think about your lifestyle, think about the things you do, think about the impact that it has. Thinking about it is better than doing nothing at all.”
