Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 22:17     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My rising freshman is enrolled in honors physics 1 next year. After reading this thread, I'm wondering if he should hold off. He will be taking Algebra 2 concurrently. Is it better to take honors physics in Sophomore or Junior year?


Most schools have freshmen take Bio, sophomores take Chem, and juniors take Physics.


What happened to Earth science?


MCPS got rid of Earth Science. Instead they split up the content and stuffed it into Bio, Chem and Physics
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 20:38     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:To the Physics teacher above:
Poolesville HS offers AP Physics 1&2 as a double period. They also offer AP Physics C Mech as one year course and also E&M as another full year course. The MCPS site says for C, the prereq is Physics A/B but not exactly sure what this means. I assume it means any prior physics like Honors or AP 1. Not sure if Poolesville enforces this prereq bc many students take Calc junior year and it is interested that you suggest one of the C's concurrent with Calc....but DC wouldn't have taken any prior physics by then so not sure if allowed w/o the prereq.

Informative slides, not sure what year but info seems current.
https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/departments/publicinfo/ap-physics.pdf


"Course Sequencing and
Content Pacing
Varies from school to school.
Dependent on student demand"

Ha!

IMO, the hifhly intersested physics a student should take is:

* Physics major or similar (Chemistry, Engineering, Math, Applied Math):
Honors Physics, AP C Mech, optional AP C E&M
Or
AP Phys 1, AP Phys 2, AP C Mech + E&M in one period.

Both of these give you about 1.5 years of each main branch of physics.

* Other science major, that doesn't need advanced physics inncollege:
AP Phys 1, AP Phys 2

But it's hard. There's a lot of material to cover.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 20:27     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My rising freshman is enrolled in honors physics 1 next year. After reading this thread, I'm wondering if he should hold off. He will be taking Algebra 2 concurrently. Is it better to take honors physics in Sophomore or Junior year?


Most schools have freshmen take Bio, sophomores take Chem, and juniors take Physics.


What happened to Earth science?
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 19:41     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:My rising freshman is enrolled in honors physics 1 next year. After reading this thread, I'm wondering if he should hold off. He will be taking Algebra 2 concurrently. Is it better to take honors physics in Sophomore or Junior year?


Most schools have freshmen take Bio, sophomores take Chem, and juniors take Physics.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 18:31     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
My rising freshman is enrolled in honors physics 1 next year. After reading this thread, I'm wondering if he should hold off. He will be taking Algebra 2 concurrently. Is it better to take honors physics in Sophomore or Junior year?
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 16:56     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
To the Physics teacher above:
Poolesville HS offers AP Physics 1&2 as a double period. They also offer AP Physics C Mech as one year course and also E&M as another full year course. The MCPS site says for C, the prereq is Physics A/B but not exactly sure what this means. I assume it means any prior physics like Honors or AP 1. Not sure if Poolesville enforces this prereq bc many students take Calc junior year and it is interested that you suggest one of the C's concurrent with Calc....but DC wouldn't have taken any prior physics by then so not sure if allowed w/o the prereq.

Informative slides, not sure what year but info seems current.
https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/departments/publicinfo/ap-physics.pdf
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 16:47     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is AP Physics C also a double period class...or is each one a single period class?

Thoughts on AP Physics 1 vs AP Physics 1 and 2? What is covered in 2? Is the AP exam for 2 just as hard as for 1 in terms of % scoring 4s and 5s?

Only so much space for classes.
Thoughts on AP Physics 1 junior yr (AP Calc junior yr as well) followed by AP Physics C senior yr -vs- AP Physics 1 and 2 as a double period junior yr and no C?

If you recommed the path with C instead of 2, which C?

Physics teacher here. Whether or not AP Physics C is offered as a double period or not is school dependent. I believe most schools start with Mechanics in the first semester and then Electricity and Magnetism in the second semester. Both AP Physics C and AP Physics 1 are intended as first time physics courses, so you don't have to take one before the other. My high school recommends taking AP Physics C concurrently with AP Calculus (either AB or BC) because of heavy overlap in the first quarter kinematics unit. AP Physics C is stronger preparation if your DC is interested in Engineering. AP Physics C is also more likely to earn college credit for non-STEM majors. I'm actually not sure if any high school is actually offering AP Physics 2 (if yours is, please share!)

My recommendation is to take AP Physics C junior year concurrently with AP Calculus and take a different science like APES in senior year.


I could be wrong but I don’t believe that AP Physics C is intended as a first year physics class. Although it can be done. Many students have taken Honors Physics or AP Physics 1 before AP Physics C. AP Physics C E&M is much more challenging than AP Physics C Mechanics and the Calculus used in E&M is more complex as well
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 16:43     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:AP Physics 1 is a difficult course. If your child is used to getting As without much work, and is not up for a more challenging class, stick with honors. Very few students got As all 4 quarters, and the As were 89.5 this past year in my kid's class. You have to be able to conceptualize the derivation of formulas and answer very tricky multiple choice questions. My kid's teacher gave AP test questions from Day 1 to help with performance on AP test. It was brutal for the students.


Getting a 5 on the AP physics 1 test is a big achievement. Only 8% of students get it. 50% end up with a 1 or a 2. It is a much more challenging class than Honors Physics in MCPS. There is very little direct mathematical calculation but you still need to be confident in math because there is a lot of emphasis on algebraic manipulations, graphical relationships, and derivation of equations. Check out some of the AP MCQ and FRQs to get an idea. You should be able to google them.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 15:22     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
AP Physics 1 is a difficult course. If your child is used to getting As without much work, and is not up for a more challenging class, stick with honors. Very few students got As all 4 quarters, and the As were 89.5 this past year in my kid's class. You have to be able to conceptualize the derivation of formulas and answer very tricky multiple choice questions. My kid's teacher gave AP test questions from Day 1 to help with performance on AP test. It was brutal for the students.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 15:01     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is AP Physics C also a double period class...or is each one a single period class?

Thoughts on AP Physics 1 vs AP Physics 1 and 2? What is covered in 2? Is the AP exam for 2 just as hard as for 1 in terms of % scoring 4s and 5s?

Only so much space for classes.
Thoughts on AP Physics 1 junior yr (AP Calc junior yr as well) followed by AP Physics C senior yr -vs- AP Physics 1 and 2 as a double period junior yr and no C?

If you recommed the path with C instead of 2, which C?

Physics teacher here. Whether or not AP Physics C is offered as a double period or not is school dependent. I believe most schools start with Mechanics in the first semester and then Electricity and Magnetism in the second semester. Both AP Physics C and AP Physics 1 are intended as first time physics courses, so you don't have to take one before the other. My high school recommends taking AP Physics C concurrently with AP Calculus (either AB or BC) because of heavy overlap in the first quarter kinematics unit. AP Physics C is stronger preparation if your DC is interested in Engineering. AP Physics C is also more likely to earn college credit for non-STEM majors. I'm actually not sure if any high school is actually offering AP Physics 2 (if yours is, please share!)

My recommendation is to take AP Physics C junior year concurrently with AP Calculus and take a different science like APES in senior year.


I don't think any school offers Physics C as a first/only physics class, and offers both Mech and E&M, in only one period.

That would be the most intense AP course by far.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2023 14:40     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:Is AP Physics C also a double period class...or is each one a single period class?

Thoughts on AP Physics 1 vs AP Physics 1 and 2? What is covered in 2? Is the AP exam for 2 just as hard as for 1 in terms of % scoring 4s and 5s?

Only so much space for classes.
Thoughts on AP Physics 1 junior yr (AP Calc junior yr as well) followed by AP Physics C senior yr -vs- AP Physics 1 and 2 as a double period junior yr and no C?

If you recommed the path with C instead of 2, which C?

Physics teacher here. Whether or not AP Physics C is offered as a double period or not is school dependent. I believe most schools start with Mechanics in the first semester and then Electricity and Magnetism in the second semester. Both AP Physics C and AP Physics 1 are intended as first time physics courses, so you don't have to take one before the other. My high school recommends taking AP Physics C concurrently with AP Calculus (either AB or BC) because of heavy overlap in the first quarter kinematics unit. AP Physics C is stronger preparation if your DC is interested in Engineering. AP Physics C is also more likely to earn college credit for non-STEM majors. I'm actually not sure if any high school is actually offering AP Physics 2 (if yours is, please share!)

My recommendation is to take AP Physics C junior year concurrently with AP Calculus and take a different science like APES in senior year.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2023 21:31     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Is AP Physics C also a double period class...or is each one a single period class?

Thoughts on AP Physics 1 vs AP Physics 1 and 2? What is covered in 2? Is the AP exam for 2 just as hard as for 1 in terms of % scoring 4s and 5s?

Only so much space for classes.
Thoughts on AP Physics 1 junior yr (AP Calc junior yr as well) followed by AP Physics C senior yr -vs- AP Physics 1 and 2 as a double period junior yr and no C?

If you recommed the path with C instead of 2, which C?
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2022 10:31     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My WJ graduate who is now a sophomore majoring in physics & CS took AP Physics 1 sophomore year then AP Physics C junior year at WJ. My son was able to use his credit from the two AP physics exams to place out of freshman classes, so he's taking junior-level courses as a sophomore.

I'd go for the AP, personally. All the STEM-focused kids my son knew at WJ were in AP, not honors science, after freshman year.


According to DC, the credits/course waivers that one gets from AP Physics C usually are a superset of what one can get from AP Physics 1. Meaning, for a student who is capable of taking AP Physics C exam and scoring well, AP Physics 1 exam is not necessaryl. (So DC and friends decided to take only the AP Physics C exams.)

Is there any University where this is not the case?


There are two issues here. One is what to take as the 'basic' Physics class (required for all students). The other is the AP Physics credit.

On the latter issue, I'd agree, if you can pass (do well on) the AP Physics C class, then the AP Physics 1 AP test doesn't add much. But these courses are taken sequentially. Most people who want to take AP Physics C will want to take AP Physics 1 (whether you take the exam is a matter of choice). But many kids who never take Physics C will also want to take Physics 1.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2022 10:07     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:My WJ graduate who is now a sophomore majoring in physics & CS took AP Physics 1 sophomore year then AP Physics C junior year at WJ. My son was able to use his credit from the two AP physics exams to place out of freshman classes, so he's taking junior-level courses as a sophomore.

I'd go for the AP, personally. All the STEM-focused kids my son knew at WJ were in AP, not honors science, after freshman year.


According to DC, the credits/course waivers that one gets from AP Physics C usually are a superset of what one can get from AP Physics 1. Meaning, for a student who is capable of taking AP Physics C exam and scoring well, AP Physics 1 exam is not necessaryl. (So DC and friends decided to take only the AP Physics C exams.)

Is there any University where this is not the case?
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2022 12:37     Subject: AP Physics 1 vs. Honors Physics
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone weigh in on how these compare? This is the lower level AP and is Algebra-based, not calculus. It sounds like Honors might actually use higher level math than AP Physics 1? How hard is this AP? Which is better from a college admissions perspective? WJ, if anyone has school specific info. Not interested in AP Physics C.

Be careful here - AP Physics 1 isn't "lower level". It is very conceptual - kids need to really understand a situation and explain how they know, not just plug-and-chug into math equations. It is one of the hardest APs - only 23% scored 4 or 5, compared to 52% scoring 4 or 5 on AP Physics C Mech.
https://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php

NGSS Honors Physics is a very different course and covers a wider variety of topics, including Earth Science topics closely related to Physics. If your student isn't interested in STEM (judging by not being interested in AP Physics C), then have them take Honors Physics. It gives them more general knowledge. From a college admissions perspective, it is really not going to make a difference.

-physics teacher


100% - another physics teacher who teaches both AP physics classes


Hi Physics Teachers - Any thoughts on AP Physics I vs Honors for a student who really loves physics theory and concepts, but can easily do, but doesn't love the math?