AP Chemistry Reviews

AMAZING Class - Fabulous Professor and Fun Material!

Mr. Kernion is very knowledgeable about chemistry and communicates his love for the subject well!  I was very prepared for the AP test through this course thanks to Mr. Kernion's instruction.  I put in 8-10 hours per week on the course.  I loved doing the labs in the course.  They helped by giving me real life experience and applying what I learned reading to actual doing.  I still talk about what I learned in AP Chemistry today in my regular conversations.  It has helped me see how the world works day to day.  The discussion forum was very helpful in being able to ask questions and answer other students' questions.  If you want to be challenged in science and learn how the world fundamentally works, this class is for you!  If you do the work assigned in this course, you will do very well on the AP test - I guarantee it!  That's how well Mr. Kernion prepares you.  I cannot recommend it highly enough!  I LOVED this course!

Mark Kernion's AP Chemistry Class Review

Mr. Mark Kernion is an incredible chemistry teacher. Throughout my year of learning with him, I gained a level of understanding of chemistry that allowed me to succeed on the AP Chemistry exam. Throughout the year, Mr. Kernion impressed me with his thoughtfulness, humor, and knowledge, as he guided his students through laboratory studies, new concepts, and practices for the AP exam. His course is expertly designed to optimally aid his students in their chemical studies. I am extremely grateful to Mr. Kernion for my exam grade and his guidance throughout my AP Chemistry year. While it is undoubtedly a difficult course, this class absolutely deserves five stars. I would recommend it to any hardworking student who is willing to put in about 10-12 hours of work per week.

Amazing

This class was amazing! I felt that each minute of the hour and a half I spent every day on this
course pushed my knowledge of the subject to new heights. I loved doing the labs, for they used
all my previous hard work to obtain tangible results in an experiment. It is very valuable to see
the results of the chemistry sessions done on paper in the real world. The way the course was
structured, it was easy for students to give each other a hand if help was needed, responding to
questions and giving insight quickly alongside the instructor's feedback. If you are ready to put
in the work, I highly recommend this class.

Five-star course!

AP Chemistry Class Review

Did you feel this class prepared you for the AP exam?

Definitely! I walked into my test feeling very prepared, and I was glad to see that there wasn't any question on the AP exam that I didn't know how to solve. Content-wise, Mr. Kernion had more than covered it all, and the year-round MCQ and FRQ practice also helped me be familiar with the AP question format beforehand.

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into this class?

I typically put about 10 to 12 hours of work per week into this class, and it was definitely the most intensive class I've taken, but I think all the assignments were worth it and never felt like busywork. On weeks where we had labs, it might have even taken 15 hours.

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

I found the live class times on Mondays to be the most valuable in learning. All the homework, quizzes, tests, labs, AP Classroom work, etc. were all very helpful, but I personally learned the most via live interaction with Mr. Kernion in class. I know many students didn't actually go to class and just watched the recordings, but I found it very helpful to be able to ask questions and listen to explanations real-time.

Did this class enhance your interest in the subject?

Most definitely! I've always been very interested in chemistry and other sciences, but I got to go much deeper this year into truly fascinating topics than in any chemistry course I've taken before. Mr. K's teaching style is very engaging and easy to follow, and you can tell that he really knows his stuff. He also clearly cares about his students, so he was very approachable and easy to ask questions or further explanations of. 

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

I found the class forum to be a very useful resource in communicating with other students! If I had questions, I could post them and possibly get a response from classmates even before Mr. Kernion could get a chance to. I also frequently took the time to answer questions posted by others, and found that it helped me review and also practice explaining concepts in an understandable way.

What sort of student would do well in this class? Would you recommend this class to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

If you have the drive/self-motivation to put in a lot of work each week (10-12 hours), and turn in assignments on time and come to class prepared, then I think you would do very well in this class and on the AP exam! The structure of the class, despite Mr. K being very involved, does require a LOT of dedication on the student's part to stay on top of everything. Mr. K has pacing guides created for each unit with recommended work for each day, but the only deadlines are at the end of the unit, so if you fall behind, you have to work even harder to catch up. I was able to stay on top of my assignments for the whole year, so it allowed me to learn as much as possible without feeling rushed. You also have to be especially diligent in the last stretch of the year right before the AP exam to actively and properly review, but if you do, I think you'll find (like I did) that it was well worth it! AP Chemistry was definitely the hardest class I took this year (and I took 3 other AP's), and it moves at a pretty good pace because there's so much content to cover, but it was also the most interesting and enjoyable class this year, and I'd definitely recommend taking it with Mr. Kernion if you're willing to put in the work!

Learn Chemistry!

There is no doubt about it;  this is a difficult course.  Mr. Kernion not only has a passion for chemistry but was very supportive throughout the entire course.  I did not start off as well I would have liked, but Mr. Kernion did not give up on me and I performed at a higher level the second semester. He pushes his students to a high level, but this is only because he wants to see them do well on the AP exam.  I went into the exam with a lot of confidence not only because of the rigor of the course but also because of the insights that Mr. Kernion provided throughout the course.  I took the exam yesterday, and I think I did well. 

EXPERTLY-DESIGNED AP CHEMISTRY CLASS FOR A 5 ON THE EXAM! EXCEPTIONAL AND CARING TEACHER!! BEST SCIENCE CLASS EVER!!

If you are looking for an extremely well-structured AP Chemistry class with **expert** guidance from a deeply caring teacher who will prepare you exceptionally well to get a 5 on the exam while having fun learning, thinking and writing like a scientist--all with no undue stress--look no further! I would *highly* recommend this class to all students. 

There are no stressful surprises or curve balls in this class. If you follow Mr. Kernion's daily pacing guide and be interactive, ask/email questions where you need more help understanding, you *will* absolutely succeed. There are also opportunities to earn exciting bonus points!! So look out for these opportunities in Mr. Kernion's emails, live weekly classes, and chapter presentations. These really help to pull up your grades. 

Mr.Kernion deeply cares for his students, goes above and beyond to clarify individual questions, provides detailed feedback, and is a very fair grader. The live weekly class is optional but really helpful and fun so I highly recommend attending. Mr. Kernion also stays back to talk 1:1 with a student if they have questions. You can also email Mr. Kernion anytime. He is very approachable, responds to questions over email also very quickly in elaborate depth (including some I sent on the weekends!). I was deeply grateful for such fast replies with the incredible clarity that I needed at the time. Very quickly in the first semester, I felt a tremendous ease with the class knowing Mr. Kernion would be there to help clarify any questions. No question is big or small. He is very encouraging! The class also has a group mailing list with all the students so you have all the support you need! 

I was a 9th grader when I took this class. It was my first year taking any AP course and I'm incredibly glad I took Mr. Kernion's class. In addition to the invaluable materials and method of instruction (which I cover later in this in-depth review), he is also very kind and flexible. I had fallen sick during the second semester at a critical time and Mr. Kernion put my mind at ease about submitting all my lab reports and chapter tests on due dates. He guided me to make sure I stayed with learning new chapters so I don't fall behind and gave me extensions to submit my previous assignments whenever I was able to. I was able to pull through my sickness and ultimately did really well in this course--a feeling of accomplishment and challenge I wouldn't have been able to achieve without such a caring teacher. I also had intense extracurriculars and Mr. Kernion allowed me to submit a couple of my lab reports once I returned home since I couldn't carry my kits on the flight. Such kindness made me enjoy this class so much more and focus more on my subject learning. 

Expertly-designed materials, method of instruction, and daily pacing guide: Mr. Kernion has designed the class in a very thoughtful way that is easy for students to cover the huge AP chem syllabus and review and prep for the exam as well. In fact, some of you may already know that Mr. Kernion has over 33 years of experience teaching chemistry and has taught AP Chem since 1998 and this shines through how efficiently the class covers the depth and breadth required. Below are some very important aspects:

• The course is broken down into chapters that build on each other and are carefully sequenced for us to solidify and review concepts as we learn throughout the year.
• Highly detailed syllabus and course calendar with *daily* dates for the entire year per chapter is published upfront *before* the class starts. It really helps to know this in case you have any family/extracurricular/travel commitments and need to request any extensions. 
• Once the class begins, before every chapter, Mr. Kernion publishes a detailed *daily pacing guide* spreadsheet which is a life-saver. In addition to what needs to be done, it also has the time recommended to spend on it, so we can see upfront which weekdays are lighter than others. No day is overly burdensome. 90 mins to 2 hours per weekday generally suffices.
•  I was especially grateful that final deadlines on chapter tests were on Monday nights (as opposed to Friday nights or weekends that some of my other classes had). Mr. Kernion has been very thoughtful about how a wide variety of students may be pacing their work throughout the week. 
• For every chapter, Mr. Kernion has designed custom presentations and videos with built-in practice problems along with **note-taking templates** which are invaluable for students since after going through these, reading the Zumdahl textbook becomes a breeze! 
• Labs are very thoughtfully designed with the lab manual itself written by Mr. Kernion, so each lab serves to reinforce concepts in the chapter presentations. These labs are also very efficient (there is no busy work). Performing the lab itself can take between 30-60 mins. Writing the lab report is of course dependent on how much time the student wants to invest in but I wouldn't recommend spending less than 1-2 hours since the questions are designed to eek out where students may have conceptual gaps. I found my labs to be very useful to give a practical understanding to the concepts we were learning as well as developing my scientific writing abilities. 
• Along with chapter presentations and associated textbook reading, the class uses OWL from Cengage which allows students to practice problems, invaluable for cementing problem-solving approaches.
• At the end of each chapter, Mr. Kernion dedicates an entire session for detailed review with slides he has expertly prepared. These line up very well with the weekly live 1 hour classes so we students are very well prepared for our chapter tests. Also, these comprehensive decks are precious before the AP exam itself!
• All written tests and lab reports have a grading rubric. This was the first time I saw this approach and I loved it! We graded our work first by reading the rubric  and then Mr. Kernion would verify. This approach helps us go over twice on any gaps. I would recommend storing all the chapter tests and lab reports in a review folder as you go along since they are super helpful to go through during year-end reviews. 

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

• The course definitely prepared me for the AP exam! 
• Comprehensive and built-in AP exam prep throughout the year 
  • Mr. Kernion's live classes every Monday and daily presentations were very easy to understand, and the OWL homework truly built up concepts taught during class.
  • For every  chapter, in addition to the College Board AP MCQs and FRQs and Zumdahl textbook AP review questions, our chapter tests had FRQs designed by Mr. Kernion. I found these to be much more in-depth and these often uncovered my concept gaps that College Board or Zumdahl textbook FRQs didn't uncover. 
• Dedicated time for AP exam prep before the exam
  • In April, there is time built-in for a complete course review with Mr. Kernion augmenting the chapter-specific decks with specific AP problems followed by full-length practice tests. 
  • All of the exam prep decks and practice tests were organized really well on the course portal making it really easy for us to focus on the subject rather than spending enormous hours combing through all the work we have done throughout the year. I had to do this cataloging and organizing for one of my other AP courses and I was so grateful and relieved to see that Mr. Kernion had thought of everything we as students will need in the last mile of this course!! 

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

• I think I spent about 10-12 hours per week on this course. The presentations took about 5 hours collectively, with the homework/lab/tests/AP Classroom work assigned for the week taking an additional 5 hours. None of the work was tedious/busy work. It was all useful in preparing for the AP exam.

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

• In the first semester, I found the AP Classroom MCQs and FRQs especially valuable in understanding the format and content of the AP exam. I also found the OWL questions important since they reinforced how to do calculations as well as the overall concepts taught in class. But as the course progressed, I really found the labs very valuable. They were thought-provoking and reinforced what we learned in the chapters. Also some of the questions in the lab reports were FRQ-like so the questions would build upon themselves. 
• Apart from the course-related materials, Mr. Kernion's podcast with his brother Mr. Jack Kernion was very interesting and valuable. It was such a novel way to learn through interactive dialogue!

Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

• Without a doubt! The course absolutely increased my interest in chemistry. Through his very intuitive explanations, Mr. Kernion made chemistry simple and easy to understand. Through his lectures and presentations, I gained an immense appreciation for chemistry as being the backbone for so many complex processes in the world around us. Going into AP Biology next year, I feel super confident that I will have a much deeper understanding of the subject given Mr. Kernion covered organic chemistry in his class! 

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)

• Any student can thrive in this course as long as they are willing to put in the work. The course is not easy, but going through it is an immensely rewarding experience. There is a fair bit of work on a weekly basis, but there is no tedious work. Finally, Mr. Kernion has a tremendous love and passion for chemistry and the success of his students, so he goes above and beyond for his students. I'm incredibly grateful to Mr. Kernion! I would absolutely recommend this lively and stimulating class to anyone who's aiming for a 5 in AP Chemistry or anyone who is simply looking to further their love of chemistry.

Best Science Course Ever!

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?   I felt that I was very prepared for the AP exam due to the extensive review given to us the last 2-3 weeks of the semester.  Most classes do not allow you time to study for the exam, so I appreciated the time being set aside for just exam prep.
• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?  I probably spent 2 hours per school day and at least 4 hours on the weekend working on this course.
• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable? This was my first science course with real labs, so I feel very prepared to write up college lab reports in the future.
• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject? I really love Chemistry because of this course and am possibly considering a Chemistry career.
• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?  Students who do not work well online or without a teacher in front of them every day would not do well in this course. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone!

Fun, Informative, and Well-Structured

This class ranked highly in my all-time list of classes. Not only was the content presented in well-structured fashion, but there was enough time to review content for the AP exam, a key part that some teacher's leave too little time for. 

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

I felt very prepared. I went into the exam feeling well prepared and there were no problems on the exam where I was completely clueless on how to approach or solve them.  

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

Usually, I spent 2-3 hours a day working through the course content. However, this number did go up significantly during exam review time as well as on lab days, with some labs taking upwards of 3 hours to complete. This course is definitely time-intensive, but not impossible to structure into a student's work week.

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Definitely! Before taking this course I had taken a badly taught Honors Chemistry course, which established my love-hate relationship with chemistry. However, thanks to this course, I enjoy chemistry much more and can see its broader applications in the real world.

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

I think that any student who has a good grasp of the concepts taught in an Honors Chemistry course should be able to do well in this course. The material at times may be challenging and confusing, but by working through the pacing guide, the student should understand the concepts taught. Therefore, I would recommend this course to students who are willing to learn more chemistry, can time manage well, and have a basic understanding of chemistry. 

THANK YOU FOR MY FAVORITE CLASS THIS YEAR !!

this class was definitely one of the more time-consuming ones that i had this year with about two hours of homework and preparation outside of class time, but the preparation it gave me for the ap exam was phenomenal. i had taken 5 ap tests previously, and i had never felt as prepared as i did for this test. all the labs and assignments helped me understand the concepts given in the course, but i especially enjoyed the galvanic cells lab. also, the class where we filled out the chart with acid-base titration was really useful to me. i'd recommend this course to any student hoping to study some STEM- related course in college (if i get a four or better on this test, i get EIGHT credit hours transferred!)

thank you so much for your class, mr kernion, and thank you for how understanding and helpful you were with my work this year. have a great summer!!

Class Review for Mr. Kernion (AP Chem)

Five stars out of five. Highly recommend!

Homeschooling background: as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I switched to homeschooling in the middle of the 2019-2020 school year. The 2020-2021 school year was my first year with PA Homeschoolers.

Why I took AP Chem: I wanted to get a fuller understanding of general chemistry, and build on HS Chem, which I took the previous year.

Some Troubles I had: Due to the pandemic, I was not in the United States during the span of the course, and was not able to join the live sessions except for a few. However, Mr. Kernion always helped me more clearly understand concepts that were new to me through email correspondence, and even scheduled separate zoom meetings with me several times and answered my questions in person in full detail. I have never had another teacher who was willing to teach me outside of class time in means other than email correspondence. I was very thankful that he was willing to help me so extensively, and by the end of the course, I gained a much deeper and broader understanding of general chemistry compared to the beginning of the course. Though I was unsure of my capabilities in the start of the course, Mr. Kernion helped me quickly regain my confidence and tackle the new concepts the course presented me head-on. If you are also a bit unsure about whether or not you can tackle AP Chemistry, don't worry. As long as you are willing to try, Mr. Kernion will be there to fully support you in your endeavor!

Teaching methods: There are two aspects of the way Mr. Kernion teaches his students that I think really helped me become a better chemist and a student in general as well. The fist is that he utilizes google slides to guide students in learning concepts on their own. We had live sessions once or twice a week (sometimes three times), which is when he briefly went over the concepts we covered on our own before introducing a new concept to us, so it's okay if you don't fully get the concepts on the slide. The important point here is that this way, I learned to teach myself new concepts in not just chemistry, but also other subjects I was taking online. This proved to be an extremely valuable skill to have as a student learning amid a pandemic since the reduced class time in online courses had increased the importance of students having this skill. Second, Mr. Kernion also requires students to self-grade their lab reports and chapter test free response questions (FRQ). After you do the correction, Mr. Kernion will go over your responses and comments and report your final score. If there is something in your answers that the rubric does not cover, you can always write down your reasoning for why your answer is a valid one. Mr. Kernion is very reasonable in giving students credit for their work, and as long as your justification is sound, he will give you credit for your answer. From this, I learned to give myself feedback about my own responses by self-grading, which I think is a great skill to have when taking AP courses since it is a very effective way of preparing for the exam as well as better retaining the concepts learned. 

Overall, I very much enjoyed taking AP Chemistry with Mr. Kernion. With his help and support, I was able to grasp all the key concepts of the AP Chemistry curriculum, and further explore chemistry as an extension of HS Chem. I definitely recommend this class to students looking to take AP Chemistry. 

Excellent Class!! Highly Recommend!

I truly enjoyed learning from Mr. Kernion, and this class has been one of my favorites I have taken. He is an excellent teacher, and I highly recommend this class if you have the opportunity!

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Yes. I felt very prepared, and there was nothing on the test I was unfamiliar with. The material throughout the year and the final exam review encompassed everything on the AP exam. 

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I generally spent around 1.5-2 hours everyday. Lab days were significantly longer, but generally I'd usually spend 2 hours on a normal day. 

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Yes! I had taken a regular chemistry course prior to this class, but this class gave me a much fuller understanding and greater appreciation for chemistry. 

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

I think anyone willing to put in the effort would do very well. Mr. Kernion is an excellent teacher, so none of the concepts were difficult to grasp. If I ever did have any questions, he replied very quickly and with helpful explanations. As long as you are willing to do the work, I think anyone would excel. 

AP Chemistry with Mr. K

If you are looking for an AP chemistry class for your child, look no further, this is the best.

There are so many great things I could say about this course and the instructor, I'll just briefly mention two:

1. Expertise and dedication: Mr. Kernion has been teaching chemistry for over 30 years and AP chemistry for over 20 years. Teaching chemistry is his specialty. He not only knows the subject matter inside and out but also has years of experience in passing on the knowledge to students. His dedication to the students is second to none. He always answered my daughter's numerous questions in a timely manner and with great patience. His focus on the class and dedication to the students gave my daughter the confidence that she had the ultimate support to make the best use of her time and learn the subject well.

2. Comprehensive content and live sessions: The course incorporated multiple components in enhancing/reinforcing learning of the material. The component I especially appreciated was the live sessions as my daughter is a visual learner and people person who benefits greatly from an interactive, live classroom experience. These sessions also helped her gain a sense of belonging in the class.

My limited words cannot adequately express how valuable this class has been in our homeschooling journey. I highly and confidently recommend AP Chemistry with Mr. Kernion.  

AP Chemistry

I took the AP Chemistry class with Mr. Kernion and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mr. Kernion presented the information in a structured and engaging way, and he was available and helpful whenever I had questions or was stuck. If students are looking to expand their knowledge in chemistry, this class and teacher are great options!

AP chemistry review

This course had really prepared me for the AP chemistry exam. All of the topics on the exam were thoroughly examined in the class. The instructor Kernion did a great job of teaching the material in a way more easily understandable by the student. The class required at an average of about 4-5 hours a day and was especially longer on lab days but was worthwhile. In one the class lectures the teacher derived the ideal gas law with the students which was especially interesting and instructive. The course taught not only the equations and facts but the ideas and concepts behind the theories in chemistry. I recommend this course for any one who wants to take the exam or take a thorough summary of chemistry.

AP Chem '21

I felt that this course prepared us very well for the AP exam. We covered all the material in advance of the exam and had around two weeks of formal review at the end during which we went back over the content and practiced AP-style problems. This practice made me feel very familiar with the types of questions I saw on the exam; it almost felt as if I was looking at just another set of practice problems or another practice test.

I did find AP Chemistry to be pretty tough and demanding; I generally spent about twice as much time on it as I did on standard-level classes, i.e. about 14-18 hours per week especially when laboratory work was involved. That being said, I think some people needed to spend more time on the material than others, and I might have been one of those people. Either way, I found the time I put in to be valuable and rewarding, even if it was a lot.

The structure of the course was highly effective. Mr. Kernion's presentations were clear, comprehensible, and helped me digest concepts that often appeared impossible to grasp at first. These presentations were always left available on the class website so that I could refer to them throughout the year if I needed to review, as were the live session recordings, which were also extremely helpful and focused. The chapter reviews were especially useful for me in terms of understanding the big picture. Another thing I found valuable was self-evaluating my lab reports and tests, as this self-evaluation forced me to think critically about the mistakes I made instead of just glancing over them and moving on. The variety of contexts in which we found the content being studied (textbook readings, presentations, OWLv2 homework, live sessions, labs, worksheets, etc.) was just enough to master the material without being overwhelming. The course was also organized via pacing guides in a way that I always knew exactly what was expected of me every day, eliminating any stress and confusion that would result from having to schedule out the work for myself.

I found my interactions with other students to be valuable as well. We had an active online forum where I could not only get my own questions answered, but also learn from questions that my classmates were asking. We further had the opportunity to interact with each other during the live sessions twice a week. Sometimes during these sessions we would even separate into groups to solve problems together.

Mr. K is a truly remarkable teacher who is very generous with his time and knowledge and provides you with all the materials you need to succeed. He is also approachable and never lost his patience with me although there were plenty of occasions to do so. When I had questions about anything, he would often respond within minutes, allowing me to quickly get past whatever I was stuck on. I have come to a deep appreciation of the big ideas of chemistry under his guidance. In summary, this is a fantastic course that I would highly recommend to any hardworking student who wants to tackle something uniquely interesting and challenging.

AP Chemistry 2020-2021 with Mr. Kernion

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Yes, I felt that the course prepared me well for the AP Chemistry exam. The homework problems, test and quiz questions, and lab work all gave me valuable experience for the exam. The chapter reviews after each chapter, as well as the AP exam review in April, thoroughly covered all the content.

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I generally spent around 8 hours per week on the course, and each lab took around 2 hours.

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

I found the AP Classroom MCQ and FRQ questions to be very valuable. They modeled actual AP exam questions, so it was great practice. I also enjoyed the hands-on labs, especially the design your own procedure parts . They helped me think critically and synthesize my knowledge of chemistry.

Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Certainly. After taking the course, I gained a deeper appreciation of chemistry, the history behind it, its theories and applications, and its connection to other science disciplines.

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Communication with other students was quite helpful. There was a discussion forum where we asked and answered questions. It gave everyone an opportunity to not only get help, but also reinforce their knowledge of chemistry by answering other people's questions. 

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

Any student who is interested in chemistry should definitely take the course. The live sessions, pacing guides, and Google Slides presentations are extremely helpful.

AP Chemistry Review

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Yes, Mr. Kernion's course prepared me very well. When I took the AP test, I was familiar with all of the material in the questions and I got a 5. I also didn't need to use outside resources for additional help in learning the material. During COVID, Mr. Kernion also adapted very well to the online test and had his course review changed and put back together very quickly, making the switch fairly low-stress.

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I probably spent about 1-2 hrs. a day on this course. The work wasn't too difficult and he provided different methods of learning the material including virtual activities, textbook readings, practice questions, power point presentations and actual labs, ensuring I understood and was able to apply all the information in different contexts. The pacing wasn't too rushed and I felt there was sufficient time to do everything. I would say the labs are the most time-consuming component of the course but usually there aren't too many to do per chapter.

Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Yes, his course made the equations and tiny molecular processes apply to larger-scale, real life situations that made chemistry seem much more applicable and useful. This made the course interesting and, if you're curious about the sciences, this class is definitely right for you!

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Yes, the students were encouraged to answer many questions in our zoom meetings. This created some friendly competition that pushed me to focus and participate in class.

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

I would definitely recommend this course to any student that is motivated to succeed at learning Chemistry. I would say that most students could do well in this course as long as they keep up with the assignments and participate in class. If you have an A in this class you will likely do very well on the exam.

Also, Mr. Kernion was very approachable, easy to contact, and responded to my emails very quickly. 

Definitely recommend

Taking this AP chemistry class has been an enjoyable experience for me. I felt the AP chemistry class definitely prepared me for the AP exam. When I took the AP exam, the questions were not difficult to answer because I knew how to answer them. In general, I put around 13 hours per week into the AP chemistry class. My favorite assignment was the presentations (also live sessions on two different dates of the week) on different topics in each chapter of the textbook. These assignments were helpful in understanding new concepts and in fully understanding of concepts that I had previous exposure to. For the above reasons, I would definitely recommend this course to other students who are willing to work hard.

AP Chemistry with Mr Kernion

I would like to say Iloved this course. The workload was not too much or too stressful, and everything was very well presented.
Throughout the course Mr K was always willing to answer any questions I had, and never lost his patience.
This course was exelent for me and If you are willing to put in the effort, it will for you as well.

AP Chemistry (Mr. Kernion)

This is a very well-taught Chemistry course.

Throughout the year, Mr. Kernion teaches all chapters with great detail. At the end of the year, he provides the opportunity for extensive AP review.

The class consists of biweekly live sessions that help solidify concepts that may be confusing. Being actively involved in class discussion during live sessions improves comprehension. 

Other assignments include daily homework, laboratory work, and chapter tests. In all aspects of this course, Mr. Kernion presents information in an organized fashion that makes note-taking easy. Mr. Kernion also provides a clear Pacing Guide for every chapter that dictates exactly what homework students should be finishing every day.

Several times throughout the year, I had questions about the content in the course. Mr. Kernion answers emails promptly, thoroughly, and with polite professionalism.

Succeeding in this course takes hard work and dedication. Sometimes it took me 1.5-2 hours a day to study the content, and laboratory days often took much longer. That being said, I learned so much wonderful information in this course and felt very prepared for the AP exam.

I highly suggest this course to any student with a good work ethic who is looking for a challenging, yet rewarding, Chemistry course.

Parent Review

As a homeschool parent, I know I made the right choice by picking Mark to teach my teen AP Chemistry. Aside from being extremely well qualified and a published author of Barron's chemistry books, he is a patient and humble teacher. AP Chemistry can seem intimidating, but Mark's class was very organized, and he made sure each student was successful. He answers every email personally, and your teen will never feel lost. He teaches live classes and sends out helpful note taking documents to use while attending class or watching the recording. My daughter finished his class feeling very confident to take the AP exam.

Live AP Chemistry Classes

Mr. Kernion is a remarkable teacher that truly cares about all of his students. His live lessons are very engaging, and his deep understanding of chemistry made the difficult concepts in AP chemistry easy to comprehend. He records his live classes, which is beneficial if you are absent or if you want to review. His pacing guide is thoroughly thought out. I took AP chemistry with him this year, and I have signed up for his 8 Hours Towards an 800 course this summer. I HIGHLY recommend Mr. Kernion!