Online for the 2024-2025 School Year
Teacher: Linda Henderson
Email: hendymath.lh@gmail.com
First day of class: Monday, August 19, 2024 (course will open for introductory activities on Friday, August 16, 2024)
Last day of class: One week after the AP® Calculus BC exam in May 2025
Course fee: $900.00 (“early bird special” of $850.00 if registered by June 30, 2024)
Course description:
The Calculus is the mathematical subject which takes what has been defined in “static” mathematics – which is all that students learn in previous courses – to “dynamic” mathematics which deals with motion and the results of this motion. AP® Calculus AB/BC concentrates on the continued development of a student’s understanding of Calculus concepts and providing experiences in theory, fundamentals, and applications. This course emphasizes a multi-representational approach to problem solving. Concepts will be explored graphically, numerically, analytically (algebraically), and verbally.
The Fall semester of our course, AP® Calculus AB, encompasses the essential elements of differential and integral Calculus. In Spring semester, AP® Calculus BC covers four units beyond the AP® Calculus AB curriculum. The four units in AP® Calculus BC focus on exploring advanced methods of integration as well as vectors, polar graphs, parametric equations, and polynomial approximations and series. Investigations and explorations are included throughout the course as enrichment and extension of the material required for the AP® exam. All content lessons are completed by mid-April so as to allow sufficient time to review and prepare for the AP® Calculus BC exam in early May 2025. Over the year, the course covers the equivalent of two semesters of college-level Calculus.
After completion of this course, you will be prepared to take the AP® Calculus BC exam in May 2025. The content of this Exam is approximately one-third AB material and two-thirds BC material. Those who score well (3, 4, 5) could receive advanced placement standing in their math level in college and/or credit hours towards graduation. The use of graphing calculators without a QWERTY board is permitted for use on the exam. Most TI graphing calculators including the TI-83, TI-84, and TI-89 graphing calculators, which do symbolic manipulation, will be allowed on the calculator portions of the exam. The exam will test your basic knowledge of the concepts in this course as well as applications of your knowledge to unique problems.
The purpose of this course, then, is two-fold. First, I strive to adequately prepare the student to enable him/her to pass the AP® Calculus (BC) examination in May. Second, and perhaps most importantly, I strive to provide the student with a very solid and thorough understanding of single-variable Calculus through graphic, numeric, algebraic, and verbal representations.
To meet the requirements of the College Board Advanced Placement Program for Calculus AB/BC, the following units will be covered this year:
In Fall 2024 –
AB Unit 1: Limits and Derivatives
AB Unit 2: Methods of Differentiation
AB Unit 3: Integration
AB Unit 4: Methods of Integration
AB Unit 5: Applications of Integration
In Spring 2025 –
BC Unit 1: Advanced Methods of Integration
BC Unit 2: Calculus of Polar & Parametric Curves
BC Unit 3: Vectors and Vector Functions
BC Unit 4: Sequences and Series
Enrollment eligibility:
A student taking this class must come with a strong knowledge of Algebra 2, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Trigonometry. The student must be prepared for a very rigorous and quick-paced course that will require work on a daily basis. Over the course of the academic year, the student is completing two courses, each of which are often covered solely over one academic year.
What to expect of the course:
Specific to taking AP® Calculus as an online course, you will need to be self-motivated, self-disciplined, and willing to work at a very regular, quick, and consistent pace.
Our course content will be housed in Canvas and all lessons and materials will be delivered via that platform. Lessons will include written lessons (by me) and lots of videos, all of which were created by me or close colleagues of mine. Supplemental videos are always provided should you need further examples or explanations. Most lessons will take you one to two days to complete. As you go through each lesson, you are encouraged to take notes as you would in any face-to-face class and study the content of the lesson until you understand it. You should not attempt an assignment until you understand the concept. You should expect to spend 10-15 hours a week on the course material.
While there are no set meetings for the class, I will be providing you with due dates for your assignments so as to keep you on the necessary pace to be finished with the course content by mid-April. After that point, we will be reviewing and preparing for the AP Exam. As an online course, this is meant to be flexible so as to meet your personal time commitments, schedule, etc. That being said, it is expected that students will adhere to these due dates – extensions will be considered for extenuating circumstances. Weekly office hours will be held via Zoom on Thursday nights, 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Eastern time) starting on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. You are welcome to visit with me at that time to ask questions, engage in some extra practice I might have, or just to say “hello”! Otherwise, you are welcome to email me at any time for help and assistance. You will find that I typically respond to emails at night.
There will be homework assignments to complete out of our textbook for every lesson. These are not graded but are for your own instruction and benefit. It is expected you will complete these problems so that you can master the content. Worked solutions will be provided so that you can check your own answers. Textbook problems should take no more than 60 minutes per assignment.
Through each unit there will be a few graded assignments that must be submitted. These will be investigations, problem sets, enrichment or cumulative exercises of some sort. Problem sets and quizzes often will be assigned to you in AP® Classroom and DeltaMath. Each unit will end with a summative test, often administered as part non-calculator and part calculator-permitted … as the AP® exam is administered. Your course grade simply is the accumulation of earned points against the total possible.
It is expected that students will sit for the AP Calculus BC Exam in May 2025. Students not taking the AP® Exam will be required to take a final exam for our course.
Technical requirements:
- Computer or tablet device with high-speed internet access for accessing Delta Math, AP Classroom, Canvas, and Zoom.
- Use of email.
- Graphing calculator – the course will be taught from the perspective of the TI-84 Plus series.
- Ability to PDF multiple pages of work into a single document (via app or scanner).
- Microphone and web camera capability for online tutorial/office hour sessions. Both will be mandatory for participation in these sessions.
- AP® Classroom account (I will provide you with our join code)
- DeltaMath account (I will provide you with instructions for creating your free account)
Required textbook:
Calculus: Early Transcendentals Single Variable, 12th edition, by Howard Anton, Irl Bivens, and Stephen Davis.
- E-book text ISBN 978-1-119-77807-3
- If doing e-book rental, you can rent for two 150-day subscriptions ($100.00 total on Wiley website) to start Aug. 19, 2024 and end May 11, 2024.
- You also could purchase the e-book outright for $119.50.
- Print textbook ISBN 978-1-119-79853-8
- If doing textbook rental, you will need to rent for two 130-day subscriptions ($110.00 total on Wiley website) to start Aug. 22, 2024 and end May 8, 2025. With this option, please note that you might need to surrender the text prior to the AP Calculus Exam date!
- You also could purchase a loose-leaf copy of the book for $134.95.
- Either format is acceptable
- Print and E-book options might be available through other online vendors.
So how do you join our class?
Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted.
If you are accepted into the course, you will be directed to register and pay the tuition at the Pennsylvania Homeschoolers AP Online website online store, using one of their payment options.
About the instructor:
I am a seasoned mathematics and distance education professional with 30+ years experience in teaching mathematics. I have taught everything from 8th grade Algebra 1 through AP® Calculus AB, AP® Calculus BC, AP® Statistics, and Discrete Mathematics. My love, though, lies with the Calculus! I have been blessed to teach AP® Calculus AB since 1993 and AP Calculus BC since 2011.
I earned my B.S. in Mathematics from Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA and a M.Ed. in Secondary Mathematics Education from Widener University, Chester, PA. A native of the Philadelphia area, I taught for 16 years at an all-girls, college preparatory high school in Delaware where I served as Middle and Upper Schools Mathematics Department Chairman and taught Honors Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Honors Pre-Calculus, and AP® Calculus AB. Moving to North Carolina for my husband’s job, I secured a teaching position with the North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics in their Distance Education & Extended Programs division. For 9 ½ years, I taught AP® Calculus AB and AP® Statistics via live interactive video conferencing to students all across North Carolina. I also taught AP® Calculus AB/BC as an online course and am thrilled to have the chance to teach both AP® Calculus AB/BC and AP® Calculus BC with PA Homeschoolers! As I developed a new-found love for the online teaching platform, I earned another M.Ed., this time in Instructional Technology from North Carolina State University. For two years I also served as an AP® Calculus Consultant with the National Math and Science Initiative, facilitating training to AP® Calculus teachers and students in Pennsylvania.
Since 2013, I have been honored to serve as a Reader with The College Board for the annual grading of the AP® Calculus exams – both AB and BC. I love being able to provide my students with first-hand, “inside” knowledge of how the exam are graded! I am certified in secondary mathematics teaching in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Currently I am enrolled in Millersville University's Curriculum & Instruction Supervisory Certification program.
Outside of school, I spend a significant amount of time volunteering at both the local and national level with my sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma, and with the National Panhellenic Conference, the advocacy organization for 26 inter/national social sororities. I love gardening, traveling, and the Jersey shore, and spending as much time as possible with my husband, friends, family, nieces, and nephew.