The AP Precalculus Exam is coming up in just a few weeks! What are the most important tips and strategies for doing well on the exam? We’ve created a list of our top 10 favorite AP Exam tips with absolute must-knows, helpful reminders, and winning test-taking strategies that will help you maximize your score. This video is part of the official Calc Medic AP Precalculus Review Course. To receive access to more videos, practice problems, and full length practice exams, get a quote. Download the handout for students to complete while watching the video. Tips for Crushing the AP Precalculus ..read more

We've now come to the final question on the AP Precalculus Exam. FRQ 4 is all about symbolic manipulations, and most resembles what you would probably expect on a typical Precalculus exam. Here students will work on solving equations and rewriting expressions, making use of logarithmic, exponential, and trigonometric properties and identities. This FRQ is non-calculator (like FRQ 3), but does not feature a real-world context. In this video, we share the structure of FRQ 4, including what students can expect in each part and subpart. We also identify the specific content that students should b ..read more

The second section of the AP Precalculus Exam features 4 free response questions (FRQs). The FRQs are based on task models, meaning that each question has a predictable structure from year to year, and features mostly the same skills and function types. The first FRQ on the non-calculator section is another modeling scenario (similar to FRQ 2), but this time featuring a periodic context and a sinusoidal function. In this video, we share the structure of FRQ 3, including what students can expect in each part and subpart. We also identify the specific content that students should be familiar wi ..read more

As your students are preparing for the AP Precalculus Exam, there are several things students should "know cold." This includes the behavior of the parent functions, justifications for the growth patterns of each function type, log properties, and trig identities. When you actually write out all of these items, it can be a pretty extensive list! But identifying which items to include can be the hardest step. This is why we have created the Calc Medic AP Precalculus Flash Cards, with all the must-know information students should have in their back pocket (not literally, of course!). We've brok ..read more

The AP Precalculus Exam has a calculator and non-calculator section. You will be allowed to use a graphing calculator on the last 12 multiple choice questions and the first two free response questions. You can learn more about the format of the exam here. There are a few things to keep in mind when using your calculator. Make sure your calculator is in RADIAN mode. Using a calculator does not mean you should show no work. While you don't have to do the calculations by hand, always write on your paper the equation you are solving, or the value you are evaluating. For example, write out th ..read more

One of the three mathematical practices of the AP Precalculus course is communication and reasoning. Part of this strand is being able to justify conclusions with appropriate rationales. Since the AP Precalculus Free Response Questions are all based on task models, we have a pretty good understanding of the kinds of things students will be asked to justify on the exam. So we created the Calc Medic Ultimate Justification Guide to prepare students for these questions. The left column of the document gives the statement or conclusion, while the right column gives the justification. Some varianc ..read more

The AP Precalculus Exam includes four free response questions (FRQs). Each of these questions is worth six points. The first two allow the use of a graphing calculator and the second two do not. Students have about 15 minutes to complete each FRQ. What is most important to know is that the FRQs are based on task models, meaning that each question will have a predictable structure from year to year, and feature mostly the same skills and function types. This is very different than the FRQs found on the AP Calculus Exam or the AP Statistics Exam. In this video, we share the structure of FRQ 1, i ..read more

One of the key differences between AP Precalculus and a traditional Precalculus course is its focus on modeling. Students will be asked to write equations that represent contextual, scenarios, certain function characteristics, or data sets. The three types of modeling students will be asked to do are: Deterministic: the question gives all the information needed and there is one correct answer. (Ex: Write an equation that models the number of bacteria for a population that initially has 7 bacteria and triples every week. Or, write an equation for a function that has shifted three units to the ..read more

I've always wanted to give a test to students that was just a blank piece of paper and they would get to tell me everything they know about a given unit of the course. I liked the idea of them getting to show me what they did understand, rather than what they didn't. Logistically, I knew this probably wasn't going to work as an actual assessment. But I started thinking more about how we could structure a task where students would have just enough of a prompt to get their gears turning, but then full control and creativity over what and how they demonstrate what they've learned. This is how the ..read more

Modeling is one of the big themes of the AP Precalculus course. A subskill of this larger category is being able to write an equation that passes through particular points. Students focus on this particularly with linear and exponential functions, since these functions have the unique property that just two ordered pairs determine the equation.  Now that students are at the end of the course and have familiarity with all the function types, why not up the ante? In the Chili Pepper Function Challenge students are given two points on the coordinate plane, and each challenge asks them for so ..read more