Prepping for the APHG Exam FRQs

Deconstructing the different parts of the APHG exam

Free (Focused, Constructed) Response Questions – FRQs There are three Free (focused) Response Questions (FRQ) on the APHG Exam. You have 75 minutes, which breaks down to 25 minutes per question. Each question is designed to elicit a student’s geographic knowledge and how well one can APPLY geographic knowledge. Of course, each question seeks to challenge students on three different topics. However, each question is looking for the examinee to demonstrate different skills. APHG free response questions are typically written to test students’ ability with specific skills.

In APHG We Do Not Write Essays Writing a thesis and developing the thesis plays a major role in other AP courses. However, writing style is not scored in APHG.

In APHG We Do Not Write Essays The APHG Exam is more content-based. The student is only asked to answer the question using cogent constructs. Therefore, the APHG teacher must teach students to write in a process-oriented style, which speaks to the main ideas of the question. Most students who have trouble on the APHG exam simply do not answer the question which has been posed. In short, APHG exam students should get to the point of the question and supply appropriate content with proper examples as possible. Remember, writing style is simply not an issue.

Summary of main FRQ writing tips… Students should try to avoid writing “dump” essays where they “dump” or empty their brain of everything they can think of on to the paper. Remember to try and integrate geographic themes in their response. For example, using a point from several different units of study in their answer. PLEASE answer the question in the same format that it is written. For example, if the question has three parts which are labeled A, B and C, they need to answer in the same format. Students can sometimes “explain” in a sentence or two. They should not belabor a point. Please be direct and use evidence to support their argument. However, they try to use Geo “vocabulary” wherever it is relevant.

Summary of main FRQ writing tips (cont.) Please do not rewrite the question in their response and make sure to answer what the question asks! Please, NO THESIS statements, introductions or conclusions. DO NOT use bullets in their answers.

Thinking Maps are your friend Creating a thinking map for the questions is an important tool that will help students tremendously! As soon as students get the FRQs, they should spend a couple of minutes creating a thinking map of the main points for their answer right on the questions sheet. This way, when they go to write their full response they will have a baseline of information/important points to send them on their way!

Miscellaneous FRQ Tips … Answer the question students think is the easiest first than they should go on to the next easiest, etc... This way, they leave the hardest one for the end where they have more time to answer. It doesn’t matter if the questions are in order when they write them in their answer booklet.

Miscellaneous FRQ Tips … Students should be as neat as possible when writing their responses. Remember, this is not their classroom APHG teacher who is used to reading their hieroglyphics that will be reading their response In the same vain, skip a line in between each line of their answer to the FRQs. They have plenty of space in the answer booklet and they can then go back and add information if need be.

Key WORDS/PHRASES to understand the meaning of with regard to answering FRQs

APHG Verbs Effective answers to essay questions depend in part upon a clear understanding (and execution) of the meanings of important directive words. These are the words that indicate the way in which the material is to be presented. For example, if students only describe when they are asked to compare, or if they merely list causes when they have been asked to evaluate them, their responses will be less than satisfactory.

APHG Verbs An essay can only begin to be correct if it answers directly the question that is asked. Individual teachers can provide what AP Examinations cannot — help with the meanings and applications of some key terms like the following on the next few slides:

1.Analyze: determine their component parts; examine their nature and relationship [usually answers the question "why?"] 2.Assess/Evaluate: judge the value or character of something; appraise; evaluate the positive points and the negative ones; give an opinion regarding the value of; discuss the advantages and disadvantages of. 3.Compare: examine for the purpose of noting similarities and differences. APHG Verbs

4. Contrast: examine in order to show dissimilarities or points of difference. 5. Describe: give an account of; tell about; give a word picture of. 6. Discuss: talk over; write about; consider or examine by argument or from various points of view; debate; present the different sides of.

APHG Verbs 7. Explain: make clear or plain; make clear the causes or reasons for; make known in detail; tell the meaning of. If you are asked to explain something, make sure to read carefully as to what you will be explaining and how many or what specifically you are asked to address. Do not try to read between the lines of the question. ONLY ANSWER WHAT THEY ARE SPECIFICALLY BEING ASKED TO ANSWER! To earn a “5” elaborating on their basic premise is KEY!

Other prompting terms/words: Define: If you are asked for a definition, make sure you specifically define the term or concept. Choose either/or: You don’t have to pick both! Pay attention to how many examples the question is looking for if a specific number is noted! Key Features or factors: Discuss TWO or THREE ideas in detail. Look for a specific number of examples that the question is asking for. List: No elaboration needed. Identify: Point out and you will then most likely have to discuss.

Summary of key MCQs answering strategies There are 75 multiple choice questions on the APHG exam, each with five answer choices. Students have 1 hour to answer them. Types of MCQs: Definition questions. Synonym questions. All of the following EXCEPT questions. Stimulus questions (some type of visual).

Summary of key MCQs answering strategies Students need to make sure they read the entire question carefully. There should be some phrase or clue in the question to lead students in the right direction. Students should not linger on answering any given question. If they are not sure of how to respond to a question they should move on as they can always come back to it.

Summary of key MCQs answering strategies IMPORTANT: Students will only get credit for the questions they answer correctly and will NOT lose a ¼ point for those they get wrong.

Exam MC Question Analysis Review Get Students to Break Down Questions 1. STIMULUS MATERIAL CAN SOMETIMES THROW YOU OFF YOUR GAME 2. WHAT WORD(S) SHOULD YOU FOCUS ON? 3. PROCESS OF ELIMINATION 4. TO SKIP OR NOT TO SKIP? 5. MORE PROCESS OF ELIMINATION and ANSWER LENGTH 6. PAY ATTENTION TO CANADA IN YOUR TEXTS 7. WHO SAYS STUDYING VOCAB IS NOT IMPORTANT? 8. WHICH WORD(S) DO YOU FOCUS ON and KNOWING THE NUANCES OF RELIGIONS? Call up WORD Document

Exam MC Question Analysis Review Get Students to Break Down Questions 9. AND THE APHG PROPHET SAID, “KNOW HOW THOU MODELS WORK – NOT JUST WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE!” 10. AGAIN, KNOWING WHAT A MODEL AND ITS PARTS LOOK LIKE IS NOT ENOUGH; NOW, THE QUESTION… 11. PROCESS OF ELIMINATION, SOME HISTORY AND EVEN MORE COMMON SENSE – LOOK FOR THE CLUE 12. STUDY THE OLD APHG EXAMS – THIS ONE IS A MULTIPLE CHOICE VERSION OF FRQ #2 FROM THE 2001 APHG EXAM – ALSO, WATCH FOR POSITIVE WORDS IN “NOT” QUESTIONS 13. FOCUS ON WHAT THE QUESTION IS ASKING 14. INTERPRETING PHOTOGRAPHS IS IMPORTANT

Exam MC Question Analysis Review Get Students to Break Down Questions 15. CONNECT GEOGRAPHER NAMES TO THEIR WORK 16. STATEMENT ANALYSIS QUESTIONS ARE POSSIBLE (BUT WITH 5 ANSWERS ON THE APHG EXAM) 17. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY HAS LOTS OF TERMS 18. I AM CONFIDENT THIS TERM WILL BE ON THE 2013 APHG IN SOME FORM i.e.…Subsistence Agriculture 19. QUESTIONS WITH NEGATIVE WORDS IN THEM NEED TO BE READ SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY – IT IS USUALLY SMART TO COME BACK AND CHECK THESE

Exam MC Question Analysis Review Get Students to Break Down Questions 20. KNOW MULTIPLE NAMES FOR THE SAME TERM (SWIDDEN, SLASH and BURN, SHIFTING CULTIVATION, MILPA) 21. DO YOU KNOW YOUR MODELS WITHOUT LOOKING AT THEM? 22. CAN YOU READ A SCATTERGRAM? 23. KNOW EXAMPLES OF THE TERMS YOU HAVE LEARNED 24. THIS IS A VERY HARD QUESTION – GRAPH ANALYSIS, GRAPHS WHICH LOOK COMPLICATED CAN BE SOLVED BY READING, RE-READING AND TIME

Helpful Websites for Review /with/ /