Students who take AP Physics 1 should have completed Algebra 2 as a prerequisite, as the inquiry-lab-based course covers the content of the first semester of college-level algebra-based physics.
Senior Alicia John enjoys the collaborative structure of the class, where students work together in their table groups to understand concepts.
“At first I was a bit weary of it, but I think it's so far it's worked well and I liked how much interaction you have with other people in your class when doing labs,” John said. “I've found that physics is actually really interesting.”
Besides spending an average of an hour a day on homework, John spends time watching homework videos and doing practice tests before unit exams.
John considers the material difficult, so she emphasizes taking advantage of resources such as the online textbook, videos and teacher-hosted study sessions.
“I think [taking AP Physics 1] is good, especially if you've never taken physics before and you're wanting to see if you're interested [in it], because I think it's quite different from the other sciences like biology,” John said. “This is more math-based or more application-based — it's a different kind of style of science.”