AP® Chemistry

109 Pages·2011·2.22 MB·English

AP® Chemistry
Curriculum Framework
2013–2014
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AP® Equity and Access Policy
The College Board strongly encourages educators to make equitable access a guiding
principle for their AP programs by giving all willing and academically prepared students
the opportunity to participate in AP. We encourage the elimination of barriers that
restrict access to AP for students from ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups that have
been traditionally underserved. Schools should make every effort to ensure their AP
classes reflect the diversity of their student population. The College Board also believes
that all students should have access to academically challenging course work before
they enroll in AP classes, which can prepare them for AP success. It is only through a
commitment to equitable preparation and access that true equity and excellence can be
achieved.
The AP Chemistry Curriculum Framework is designed to provide educators with a
first look at essential information needed to understand the design and intent of the
revised AP Chemistry course in advance of its implementation in schools in the
2013-14 academic year. Please be advised that the information contained in this
document is subject to change. The final course and exam information will be available in
the AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description, which will be published in early 2013.
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AP Chemistry: Curriculum Framework 2013–2014
Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................1
The Emphasis on Science Practices ........................................................................................1
Overview of the Concept Outline .............................................................................................2
The Concept Outline .....................................................................................................4
Big Idea 1: The chemical elements are fundamental building materials
of matter, and all matter can be understood in terms of arrangements of
atoms. These atoms retain their identity in chemical reactions. ...................................4
Big Idea 2: Chemical and physical properties of materials can be explained by
the structure and the arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules and the forces
between them. ............................................................................................................................15
Big Idea 3: Changes in matter involve the rearrangement and/or reorganization
of atoms and/or the transfer of electrons. ...........................................................................32
Big Idea 4: Rates of chemical reactions are determined by details of the
molecular collisions. ..................................................................................................................39
Big Idea 5: The laws of thermodynamics describe the essential role of energy
and explain and predict the direction of changes in matter. ..........................................46
Big Idea 6: Any bond or intermolecular attraction that can be formed can be
broken. These two processes are in a dynamic competition, sensitive to initial
conditions and external perturbations. ................................................................................60
Science Practices for AP® Chemistry ....................................................................73
Science Practice 1: The student can use representations and models to
communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems. ...........................73
Science Practice 2: The student can use mathematics appropriately. ........................73
Science Practice 3: The student can engage in scientific questioning to extend
thinking or to guide investigations within the context of the AP course. ...................74
Science Practice 4: The student can plan and implement data collection
strategies in relation to a particular scientific question. [Note: Data can be
collected from many different sources, e.g., investigations, scientific
observations, the findings of others, historic reconstruction, and/or
archived data.] .............................................................................................................................75
Science Practice 5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation
of evidence. ..................................................................................................................................75
Science Practice 6: The student can work with scientific explanations
and theories. ................................................................................................................................76
iii © 2011 The College Board.
AP Chemistry: Curriculum Framework 2013–2014
Science Practice 7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across
various scales, concepts, and representations in and across domains. .....................77
Sample Questions with Targeted Learning Objectives ...................................................78
References .....................................................................................................................87
Appendix: AP Chemistry Concepts at a Glance .................................................88
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AP Chemistry: Curriculum Framework 2013–2014
introduction
Given the speed with which scientific discoveries and research continuously expand
scientific knowledge, many educators are faced with the challenge of balancing breadth of
content coverage with depth of understanding. The AP® Chemistry course addresses this
challenge by focusing on a model of instruction which promotes enduring, conceptual
understandings and the content that supports them. This approach enables students to
spend less time on factual recall and more time on inquiry-based learning of essential
concepts, and helps them develop the reasoning skills necessary to engage in the science
practices used throughout their study of AP Chemistry.
To foster this deeper level of learning, the breadth of content coverage in AP Chemistry
is defined in a way that distinguishes content essential to support the enduring
understandings from the many examples or applications that can overburden the course.
Illustrative examples are provided that offer teachers a variety of optional instructional
contexts to help their students achieve deeper understanding. Additionally, content that is
outside the scope of the course and exam is also identified.
Students who take an AP Chemistry course, designed with this curriculum framework as
its foundation, will also develop advanced inquiry and reasoning skills, such as designing
a plan for collecting data, analyzing data, applying mathematical routines, and connecting
concepts in and across domains. The result will be readiness for the study of advanced
topics in subsequent college courses — a goal of every AP course.
The Emphasis on Science Practices
A practice is a way to coordinate knowledge and skills in order to accomplish a goal or
task. The science practices enable students to establish lines of evidence and use them to
develop and refine testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena. Because
content, inquiry, and reasoning are equally important in AP Chemistry, each learning
objective described in the concept outline combines content with inquiry and reasoning
skills described in the science practices.
The science practices that follow the concept outline of this framework capture important
aspects of the work that scientists engage in, at the level of competence expected of AP
Chemistry students. AP Chemistry teachers will see within the learning objectives how
these practices are effectively integrated with the course content, and will be able to design
instruction with these practices in mind.
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© 2011 The College Board.
AP Chemistry: Curriculum Framework 2013–2014
Overview of the Concept Outline
The key concepts and related content that define the revised AP Chemistry course
and exam are organized around a few underlying principles called the big ideas, which
encompass the core scientific principles, theories, and processes governing chemical
systems. For each of the big ideas, enduring understandings, which incorporate the core
concepts that students should retain from the learning experience, are also identified.
Each enduring understanding is followed by statements of the essential knowledge
necessary to support it. Unless otherwise specified, all of the details in the outline are
required elements of the course and may be needed to successfully meet the learning
objectives tested by the AP Chemistry Exam questions. To help teachers distinguish
content that is essential to support the enduring understandings from the many possible
examples and applications that can overburden a course — and to see where important
connections exist among the different content areas — particular content components are
emphasized as follows:
• Exclusion statements define content or specific details about the content, which
do not need to be included in the course because teaching this level of detail does
not foster students’ conceptual understanding, or the level of detail represents
knowledge students should have acquired prior to participating in this course.
The content in the exclusion statements will not be assessed on the AP Chemistry
Exam. Exclusion statements are denoted as shown in this example:
✘✘
Memorization of exceptions to the Aufbau principle is beyond the scope of this course
and the AP Exam.
Note: While excluded content will not be assessed on the AP Chemistry
Exam, such content may be provided in the body of exam questions as
background information for the concept and science practice(s) being
assessed.
• Learning objectives provide clear and detailed articulation of what students
should know and be able to do. Questions for the AP Chemistry Exam will be
written based upon both the content and the science practice designated in the
learning objectives. Each learning objective is designed to help teachers integrate
science practices with specific content, and to provide them with clear information
about how students will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities.
Alignment of the learning objectives to the science practices is denoted in
brackets. For example, in the first learning objective under 1.A.1: “The student can
justify the observation that the ratio of the masses of the constituent elements in
any pure sample of that compound is always identical on the basis of the atomic
molecular theory. [See SP 6.1],” the bracketed reference points to this science
practice: “6.1 The student can justify claims with evidence.”
Note: To develop conceptual understanding, it is essential that the student can
draw connections between concepts and engage in reasoning that combines
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© 2011 The College Board.
AP Chemistry: Curriculum Framework 2013–2014
essential knowledge components from across the curriculum framework. For
this reason, learning objectives may occur at the level of big ideas, enduring
understandings, or essential knowledge. In addition, some learning objectives
connect to different portions of the curriculum, which is indicated with the
addition of [connects to] at the end of the learning objective.
Big Ideas
Enduring Understandings
Essential Knowledge Sciences Practices
Learning Objectives
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AP Chemistry: Curriculum Framework 2013–2014
the Concept Outline
Big Idea 1: The chemical elements are fundamental building
materials of matter, and all matter can be understood in
terms of arrangements of atoms. These atoms retain their
identity in chemical reactions.
The atomic theory of matter is the most fundamental premise of chemistry. A limited
number of chemical elements exist, and the fundamental unit of the chemical identities
they carry is the atom. Although atoms represent the foundational level of chemistry,
observations of chemical properties are always made on collections of atoms, and
macroscopic systems involve such large numbers that they are typically counted in the
unit known as the mole rather than as individual atoms. For elements, many chemical
and physical properties exhibit predictable periodicity as a function of atomic number. In
all chemical and physical changes, atoms are conserved.
Enduring understanding 1.A: All matter is made of atoms. There
are a limited number of types of atoms; these are the elements.
The concept of atoms as the building blocks of all matter is a fundamental premise of
the discipline of chemistry. This concept provides the foundation for conceptualizing,
interpreting, and explaining the macroscopic properties and transformations observed
inside and outside the laboratory in terms of the structure and properties of the
constituent materials. The concept of the mole enables chemists to relate measured masses
in the laboratory to the number of particles present in a sample. These two concepts also
provide the basis for the experimental determination of the purity of a sample through
chemical analysis. The most important aspect of chemistry is not the memorization of the
laws and definitions, but rather the ability to explain how the laws and relationships arise
because of the atomic nature of matter.
essential knowledge 1.A.1: molecules are composed of specific
combinations of atoms; different molecules are composed of
combinations of different elements and of combinations of the same
elements in differing amounts and proportions.
a. The average mass of any large number of atoms of a given element is always the
same for a given element.
b. A pure sample contains particles (or units) of one specific atom or molecule; a
mixture contains particles (or units) of more than one specific atom or molecule.
c. Because the molecules of a particular compound are always composed of the
identical combination of atoms in a specific ratio, the ratio of the masses of the
constituent elements in any pure sample of that compound is always the same.
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AP Chemistry: Curriculum Framework 2013–2014
d. Pairs of elements that form more than one type of molecule are nonetheless
limited by their atomic nature to combine in whole number ratios. This discrete
nature can be confirmed by calculating the difference in mass percent ratios
between such types of molecules.
Learning Objective:
LO 1.1 The student can justify the observation that the ratio of the masses of the
constituent elements in any pure sample of that compound is always identical on
the basis of the atomic molecular theory. [See SP 6.1]
essential knowledge 1.A.2: Chemical analysis provides a method for
determining the relative number of atoms in a substance, which can be
used to identify the substance or determine its purity.
a. Because compounds are composed of atoms with known masses, there is a
correspondence between the mass percent of the elements in a compound and the
relative number of atoms of each element.
b. An empirical formula is the lowest whole number ratio of atoms in a compound.
Two molecules of the same elements with identical mass percent of their
constituent atoms will have identical empirical formulas.
c. Because pure compounds have a specific mass percent of each element,
experimental measurements of mass percents can be used to verify the purity of
compounds.
Learning Objectives:
LO 1.2 The student is able to select and apply mathematical routines to mass
data to identify or infer the composition of pure substances and/or mixtures.
[See SP 2.2]
LO 1.3 The student is able to select and apply mathematical relationships to mass
data in order to justify a claim regarding the identity and/or estimated purity of a
substance. [See SP 2.2, 6.1]
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AP Chemistry: Curriculum Framework 2013–2014
essential knowledge 1.A.3: the mole is the fundamental unit for
counting numbers of particles on the macroscopic level and allows
quantitative connections to be drawn between laboratory experiments,
which occur at the macroscopic level, and chemical processes, which
occur at the atomic level.
a. Atoms and molecules interact with one another on the atomic level. Balanced
chemical equations give the number of particles that react and the number of
particles produced. Because of this, expressing the amount of a substance in terms
of the number of particles, or moles of particles, is essential to understanding
chemical processes.
b. Expressing the mass of an individual atom or molecule in atomic mass unit (amu)
is useful because the average mass in amu of one particle (atom or molecule) of a
substance will always be numerically equal to the molar mass of that substance in
grams.
c. Avogadro’s number provides the connection between the number of moles in a
pure sample of a substance and the number of constituent particles (or units) of
that substance.
d. Thus, for any sample of a pure substance, there is a specific numerical relationship
between the molar mass of the substance, the mass of the sample, and the number
of particles (or units) present.
Learning Objective:
LO 1.4 The student is able to connect the number of particles, moles, mass, and
volume of substances to one another, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
[See SP 7.1]
Enduring understanding 1.B: The atoms of each element have
unique structures arising from interactions between electrons
and nuclei.
The shell model arises from experimental data. The shell model forms a basis for
understanding the relative energies of electrons in an atom. The model is based on
Coulomb’s Law and qualitatively predicts ionization energies, which can be measured in
the lab. Understanding how the shell model is consistent with the experimental data is a
key learning goal for this content, beyond simple memorization of the patterns of electron
configurations.
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© 2011 The College Board.