Environmental Science Syllabus College

The AP® Program unequivocally supports the principle that each individual school must develop its own curriculum for courses labeled “AP.” Rather than mandating any one curriculum for AP courses, the AP Course Audit instead provides each AP teacher with
a set of expectations that college and secondary school faculty nationwide have established for college-level courses.

AP teachers are encouraged to develop or maintain their own curriculum that either includes or exceeds each of these expectations; such courses will be authorized to use the “AP” designation. Credit for the success of AP courses belongs to the individual schools and teachers that create powerful, locally designed AP curricula.

The AP Environmental Science course should be designed by your school to provide students with a learning experience equivalent to that of an introductory college course in environmental science. Your AP Environmental Science course should be based upon scientific principles and analyses from a variety of scientific fields and approaches, and include a scientific laboratory and/or field investigation component.

Schools’ AP Environmental Science courses are typically designed to be taken by students after the completion of two years of high school laboratory science (one year of life science and one year of physical science) and at least one year of algebra. Also desirable, but not necessary, is one year of earth science. Students are encouraged to keep copies of their laboratory and field investigation work for use in determining college credit or placement.

All students who are willing and academically prepared to accept the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum should be considered for admission to AP courses. The College Board encourages the elimination of barriers that restrict access to AP courses for students from ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in the AP Program. Schools should make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population.

High schools offering this exam must provide the exam administration resources described in the AP Coordinator’s Manual.