Overview
Pre-AP Chemistry focuses on students developing a deep conceptual understanding of matter and energy at the molecular level by asking students to explain their macroscopic observations using particulate-level reasoning. The Pre-AP Chemistry course emphasizes the integration of content with science practices—powerful reasoning tools that support students in analyzing the natural world around them. Having this ability is one of the hallmarks of scientific literacy and is critical for numerous college and career endeavors in science and the social sciences
Areas of Focus
The Pre-AP science areas of focus, shown below, are science practices that students develop and leverage as they engage with content. They were identified through educator feedback and research about where students and teachers need the most curriculum support. These areas of focus are vertically aligned to the science practices embedded in other science courses in high school, including AP, and in college, giving students multiple opportunities to strengthen and deepen their work with these skills throughout their educational career. They also support and align to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and AP science practices of theory building and refinement.
Pre-AP Chemistry Areas of Focus:
- Attention to modeling: Students develop and refine models to connect macroscopic observations to structure, motion, and interactions occurring at the atomic scale.
- Strategic use of mathematics: Students integrate mathematics with conceptual understanding to model chemical phenomena.
- Emphasis on analytical reading and writing: Students engage in analytical reading and writing to gain, retain, and apply scientific knowledge and to carry out scientific argumentation.
Underlying Unit Foundations
These big ideas are addressed across units:
- Structure and Properties: All matter is composed of particles that are in constant motion and interact with one another. This movement and interaction is responsible for the observable properties of matter. Observed properties can be used to infer the number and type(s) of particle(s) in a sample of matter.
- Energy: Energy is transferred in all physical and chemical processes. During these processes, energy is either redistributed within the system or between systems.
- Transformations: At its heart, chemistry is about rearrangements of matter. These rearrangements, or transformations, involve the breaking and forming of intermolecular forces or chemical bonds. Macroscopic observations can be used to quantify and describe these rearrangements at the atomic scale.
Course at a Glance
The tables below show the four main units in Pre-AP Chemistry, the recommended length for each unit, and the key topics in each.
Timeframe: 6 weeks
Key concepts:
- 1.1 Particle view of states of matter
- 1.2 Phase changes and particle interactions
- 1.3 Kinetic molecular theory
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Key concepts:
- 2.1 Classification and interactions of matter
- 2.2 Molecular structure and properties
- 2.3 Covalent and ionic bonding
Timeframe: 6 weeks
Key concepts:
- 3.1 Counting particles in substances
- 3.2 Counting particles in chemical reactions
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Key concepts:
- 4.1 Precipitation chemistry
- 4.2 Oxidation–reduction chemistry
- 4.3 Acid–base chemistry
- 4.4 Thermochemistry
- 4.5 Reaction rates
Instructional Resources
Schools that officially implement a Pre-AP course will receive access to instructional resources for each unit. These resources don’t constitute a full day-by-day curriculum. Instead, they provide support for teachers as they design their instruction for each Pre-AP Chemistry unit.
Pre-AP Chemistry instructional resources include:
- A course framework: the framework defines what students should know and be able to do by the end of the course. It serves as an anchor for model lessons and assessments, and it is the primary document teachers can use to align instruction to course content.
- Teacher resources, available in print and online, include a robust set of model lessons that demonstrate how to translate the course framework, shared principles, and areas of focus into daily instruction.
Additional resources: Pre-AP Chemistry does require additional resources to use in the model lessons. This list is divided into three categories: general consumable items that are generally replaced yearly, chemicals that will need to be replaced regularly, and general stock room equipment. The general consumable materials and chemicals have the unit when they are used listed.
The majority of these items are commonly found in science stock rooms and are low tech and low cost; this ensures all students can engage in inquiry-based investigations and reasoning.
Pre-AP Chemistry General Consumable Materials | Unit |
---|---|
12 oz can of regular soda | U4 |
2 empty 20 oz bottles | U4 |
2 L bottle of regular soda | U4 |
4 black pens or markers (for paper chromatography) | U2 |
9-volt batteries | U2 |
aluminum foil | U2 |
antacid tablets (such as Alka-Seltzer) | U2, U4 |
baking soda | U2, U3 |
black dye/food color | U2 |
chromatography paper | U2 |
clear plastic condiment cup | U2 |
cloves (optional) | U2 |
colored pencils or pens | all |
colored soda | U2 |
cotton balls | U4 |
cotton swabs | U2 |
crayons or paraffin wax | U3 |
crushed ice | U2 |
dish soap | U2 |
filter paper | U2 |
foam cups | U1 |
food coloring | U1, U2 |
granular charcoal (from pet store) | U3 |
hard boiled eggs | U1 |
iron nails | U4 |
markers | all |
metal thumb tacks | U2 |
modeling clay | U1, U2 |
nutmeg (optional) | U2 |
olive oil | U2 |
opaque cups with lids | U3 |
pH paper | U4 |
paraffin wax (can use crayons) | U3 |
plastic knives | U4 |
plastic page protectors | U4 |
plastic pipettes | all |
plastic wrap | U2 |
pony beads | U1, U3 |
quart size freezer bags | U2 |
red dye/food color | U2 |
rock salt | U1 |
salt (non-iodized) | U2, U4 |
sand | U2 |
sandpaper | U4 |
sandwich bags | U1 |
small rubber bands | U2 |
spherical magnets | U1 |
sugar | U2, U4 |
tape | all |
toothpicks | U2, U4 |
transparent plastic cups | U1 |
vegetable oil | U2 |
vinegar | U4 |
wide-bore plastic transfer pipettes | U2 |
wood splints | U2 |
Chemicals | Unit |
---|---|
acetone | U4 |
ammonium nitrate | U4 |
butane spray can | U4 |
calcium chloride | U2 |
citric acid | U3 |
cobalt chloride paper | U2 |
copper (II) carbonate (optional) | U2 |
copper (II) chloride dihydrate (optional) | U4 |
copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate | U4 |
distilled or deionized water | all |
dry ice | U1 |
ethanol | U2 |
glucose | U2 |
hydrochloric acid | U4 |
isopropanol | U2 |
lead (II) nitrate | U4 |
methane gas (from laboratory gas jets) | U2 |
methanol | U2 |
n-butanol | U2 |
n-pentanol | U2 |
n-propanol | U2 |
potassium chloride | U2 |
potassium iodide | U4 |
silver nitrate (optional) | U4 |
sodium carbonate | U4 |
sodium hydroxide | U4 |
universal indicator | U4 |
aprons |
balances |
beaker tongs |
beakers (50 mL - 800 mL) |
bingo chips (or other small, multi-colored objects) to model chemical reactions |
chemical splash goggles |
conductivity testers |
cryo gloves or heavy winter gloves droppers |
Erlenmeyer flasks (250 mL and 500 mL) |
funnels |
gas pressure sensors |
graduated cylinders (10 mL - 100 mL) |
hammer |
hand lenses |
hot mitts |
hot plates |
ice |
large (size 11) stoppers |
lighters |
magnetic disks |
metal samples for density lab (cut-up rods from hardware store) |
metal samples for specific heat lab (can use samples from density lab) |
mini white boards |
mirror |
mixing bowl or large beaker |
molecular model kits |
mortar and pestle |
one-hole stoppers |
Petri dishes |
pliers or clamp |
protractors |
rock or mineral samples (limestone and any other non-carbonate mineral or rock) |
rulers |
scissors |
scoopulas |
slotted spoons |
small foil pans or can lids |
spatulas or spoons |
stirring rods |
syringe for gas pressure sensor |
temperature probes or digital thermometers |
test tube racks |
test tubes |
thermometers |
timers |
tongs |
tweezers or forceps |
wide mouth glass bottles (or 500 mL Erlenmeyer flasks) |
Assessments for Learning
Each unit contains:
- Short, open-ended formative assessment problems or questions embedded in some model lessons to show the targeted content and skills, related to the lesson’s learning objectives, that students should master.
- Two online learning checkpoints per unit that feature multiple-choice and technology-enhanced questions modeled closely after the types of questions students encounter on SAT tests and AP Exams. Learning checkpoints require students to examine graphs, data, and short texts— often set in authentic contexts—to respond to a targeted set of questions that measure student understanding of the unit’s concepts and skills.
- One performance task per unit that engages students in sustained problem solving and asks them to synthesize the unit’s skills and concepts to answer questions about a novel context.
- One performance task with scoring guidelines and instructional support suggestions for each unit.
State Standards Alignment Executive Summaries
The following documents provide a summary of the alignment of the Pre-AP Framework to the state standards.
- NGSS Alignment (.pdf/506 KB)
- Arkansas Standards Alignment (.pdf/514 KB)
- California Standards Alignment (.pdf/1 MB)
- Colorado Standards Alignment (.pdf/802 KB)
- Florida Standards Alignment (.pdf/840 KB)
- Georgia Standards Alignment (.pdf/851 KB)
- Illinois Standards Alignment (.pdf/1 MB)
- New York Standards Alignment (.pdf/898 KB)
- Tennessee Standards Alignment (.pdf/533 KB)
- Texas Standards Alignment (.pdf/611 KB)
- Virginia Standards Alignment (.pdf/957 KB)