Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum

and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department

AP Calculus AB (290) Course Syllabus 2012-2013

Contact Information
Brian McNeill Burlington High School Math Dept Chair (781) 270-2933 Email: mcneill@bpsk12.org Or: bdmcneill7@gmail.com Twitter: @bmcneill7

Online Resource: http://bhsapcalc.wikispaces.com Course Overview

This course teaches all topics associated with Functions, Graphs and Limits, Derivatives, and Integrals as outlines in the Calculus AB topics Outline in the AP Calculus course description. Each student is provided a TI-84+ calculator by the school for his/her use throughout the course. We use these calculators almost every day to help solve problems, experiment, discover and reinforce the concepts of Calculus. Most problems are presented numerically, analytically, graphically, and verbally. All tests are given in two parts: one part which requires a graphing calculator, and the other part where the calculator is not allowed. Discussions are a part of the course both orally and written. Students are encouraged and required to explain solutions to problems both verbally and in writing. Students often work together inside and outside the classroom.

Primary Text
Anton, H., Bivens, I., & Davis, S. (2005). Calculus, early transcendentals. (8th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The following is an outline of the topics covered and the order in which they are covered. All time estimates are approximations. Functions, Graphs, Limits, and Continuity (4 to 5 weeks) 1. Review the definition and properties of elementary functions including algebraic, trigonometric, and exponential. Develop further understanding of composite and inverse functions. Review the following: function notation, domains, ranges, combinations, odd, even periodicity, symmetry, asymptotes, zeros, upper and lower bounds, and intervals where the function is increasing and decreasing. Explore and analyze the functions using the TI-84+ calculator.

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

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Burlington High School Mathematics Department Introduction of limits through definitions properties including properties of constant, sum, product, and quotients. Use of limit notation, right- and left-hand limits, one-sided limits, limits at infinity, infinite limits, and nonexistent limits. Compute limits intuitively, estimating limits from graphs and from tables of values. Calculate limits using algebra, providing support for previous estimates. Study asymptotic behavior, unbound behavior using graphical and algebraic approaches. Describe behavior in terms of limits involving infinity. Use graphing calculator to support conclusions about the behavior of functions. Learn the definitions of continuity and determine when a function is continuous or discontinuous. This will include examining continuity at a point, continuity over a closed interval, application of the Intermediate Value Theorem, and graphical interpretation of continuity and discontinuity.

Differentiation (4 to 5 weeks) 1. Find the slope of a curve and the tangent line to a curve at a point. Use the zoom and trace properties of the graphing calculator to model local linear approximation. 2. Approximate instantaneous rate of change from graphs and tables of values as the limit of average rate of change. 3. Find the derivative of an algebraic function by using the definition of a derivative and investigate the relationship between differentiability and continuity. 4. Apply formulas to find the derivative of algebraic and trigonometric functions. 5. Learn the characteristics of the graphs of a function and its derivative, in particular, the relationship between the increasing and decreasing behavior of a function and the sign of its derivative. 6. Apply formulas to find the derivative of the sum, product, quotient, inverse, and composite of elementary functions. 7. Find the derivative of an implicitly defined function. 8. Use implicit differentiation to model and solve real world related rate problems, which involve finding the rate at which some quantity is changing by relating to other quantities whose rate of change are known. 9. Apply linear approximation, which uses the values of the tangent line at a point to approximate the values of a nonlinear function close to that point. The Derivative Graphing and Applications (4 to 5 weeks) 1. Analyze curves by applying derivative to functions and their graphs, including matching graphs of functions with graphs of the first and second derivatives, finding local and absolute extrema, and determining increasing, decreasing, concavity and inflection points. 2. Use the derivative as an optimization tool to find local and global extrema. 3. Model and solve real world optimization problems using examples from business and industry, such as maximizing volume or minimizing cost and problems form economics, using cost, revenue, and profit functions.

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department 4. Interpret the derivative as a rate of change in rectilinear motion problems, using velocity, speed, and acceleration. 5. Use Newtons Method to approximate the roots of a function and investigate situations where the method fails. 6. Learn the Mean Value Theorem for derivatives and apply it both algebraically and graphically. Antiderivatives and Integrals (4 to 6 weeks) 1. Calculate the antiderivative of elementary and trigonometric functions, algebraically and graphically, including the construction and interpretation of slope fields. 2. Find the indefinite integral using the technique of substitution of variables. 3. Approximate the value of a definite integral as area under a curve using Riemann Sums and the Trapezoidal Rule. Define the integral as the limit of these sums. 4. Learn and use both parts of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. The first part to evaluate the definite integral and the second part to shat that a function can be recovered from its integral by differentiating, thus showing that integration and differentiation are inverse processes. 5. Define the definite integral of the rate of change of a quantity over an interval as the change of the quantity over the interval. 6. Learn and use the Mean Value Theorem of Integrals (average value of a function over a closed interval). Applications of Integration (3 to 4 weeks) 1. Find the area under a curve and the area between two curves in a plane using integration with respect to both the x-axis and y-axis. 2. Find the volume of a region that is revolved around the x-axis, y-axis, or any line parallel to these axes, using the method of disks/washers and cylindrical shells. 3. Find the volume of solids using cross-sectional areas perpendicular to the x-axis or the y-axis. 4. Find the arc lengths of plane curves using integration and areas of a surface of revolution. Logarithmic, Exponential, and Inverse Trigonometric Functions (4 to 5 weeks) 1. Identify the relationship between a function and its inverses, both algebraically and graphically. Differentiate inverse functions. 2. Derive and apply the rules of differentiation for logarithmic, exponential, and inverse trigonometric functions. 3. Derive and apply the techniques for integration of logarithmic, exponential, and inverse trigonometric functions. 4. Solve separable differential equations and use them in modeling, including exponential growth and decay problems. 5. Use LHopitals Rule to find the limit of functions whose limits are indeterminate forms.

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department Instructional Strategies/Procedures 1. Classroom lectures and discussion. 2. Students work individually or in groups discussing and/or presenting problems and solutions. These could be free response or multiple chose problems from released AP exams, problems from the homework, the warm-up problems from other sources. 3. Use of the textbook and/or supplementary material both in class and for homework to provide problems that illustrate and solidify the concepts presented in class. 4. Daily homework assignments consisting of problems from the textbook or supplementary worksheets often requiring the use of the graphing calculator. To encourage writing, I occasionally provide writing prompts, for example: explain in your own words the meaning of limit. 5. Class participation including response to the teachers questions in class or coming to the board to explain a problem or solution to the class. 6. Extra help sessions before and after school. 7. Two or three major tests given per unit with quizzes in between. Most tests, like the AP exam are given in two parts: part with the graphing calculator and a part without the graphing calculator. 8. Long term assignments, one to two weeks, called labs. These labs are done individually or in groups, which extend the concepts taught in class and teach concepts not necessarily in the AP curriculum. Many of these assignments are taken from previous AP teachers requiring extensive use of the graphing calculators. The students must write their conclusions in paragraph form. Student Activities: 1. Projects assigned to students include: a. Making boxes of maximum volume given a certain size of paper. Before introducing the idea of optimization, I have the students make an open top box and closed top box out of the same size of paper, trying to maximize the volume. The students begin to formulate their own ideas about optimization and the use of the derivative in real world problems. b. Calculus Genius Drink Project. Students will determine the best shape to distribute a made-up genius drink. Students will explore the optimization of different shapes with cost constraints. Students will create a replica of the drink shape and create a marketing proposal, to sway the creator of the drink to use the students shape. Students will support their arguments using calculus and cost analysis of drinks of different shapes. 2. Graphing calculator assignments created to familiarize the students with different functions on the graphing calculator. Students come to class with different experience using the calculator; these assignments are created to equalize their knowledge. 3. Building ideas together in class.

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department a. I introduce the concept of derivative as the slope of a curve. As a class, we will explore looking as smaller and smaller line segments to create a method for finding the slope of a curve. We will do this activity graphically and then using tables to help the student understand the idea of limits and the concept of slope of a tangent line. b. I also introduce the idea of area under the curve by using a graphical representation and finding upper and lower sums. We explore the differences in the area under the curve and how these approximations change as with make the width smaller and smaller. This approach shows the students the idea behind integration while linking it to summation.