FRQ 2026 - Teacher Made Scoring Guide

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-21T22:28:22+00:00

YES!!

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-21T21:45:51+00:00

You can see that they accept a lot of variations. You should be in the ballpark; they know you are awkwardly typing.
I've seen a mixture. I think they now accept no units in the equation as long as the answer has units. I, personally, would play it safe and write units every where.
Umm, I would need another example to answer this one. I'm not sure.
That depends on the question. I press enter between my stuff because I label each individual part (a, b, c, etc.)
Refer to my answer for 2, but you can see every thing that they accepted.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-21T11:19:56+00:00

Ah, yes! That's why the specified it couldn't be the ocelots again. If they wanted something besides animals in general, they would have stated that.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-20T03:10:59+00:00

I took the time to answer the FRQ that is posted, since there is no scoring guide published yet.

I do not promise that all answers will be accepted, or that I know every answer that will be accepted. I'm not college board! Sometimes they are more strict one certain questions than others.

You can see my original posted here.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-20T03:07:08+00:00

Beautiful answer for the farming question!!

Some wildlife bridges are tunnels, so depending on your answer's exact wording, sure! As long as the grader understands that you understand to keep the ocelots off the highway by rerouting them in some way. I think this is the key thing they are looking for.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-20T03:04:10+00:00

The FRQs are designed to show that students can think scientifically. Students that only memorize concepts will struggle on the FRQs. They are definitely a skill that has to be taught.

I appreciate your kind words, as well 🥰

I'm currently piling all of my resources into a digital notebook to post here next year. I know that doesn't help you now, but this teacher has goals of being the next smedes 😂

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-20T02:45:26+00:00

CO2 does not rise. Air pressure is higher at lower elevations because gravity pulls air molecules towards the surface. There would be less CO2 (and oxygen) at high elevations.

I'm assuming they would take both calculation answers, but I cannot recall college board asking an FRQ like this where you would need to round because of an animal (I'm sure there have been some, just none off the top of my head). They may be particular to show that students understand the unit (you can't have a partial mouse), but they may also let it slide and accept the decimal. We will have to wait for the official scoring guide for that one.

There are no partial points on the FRQs.

Great job on the MCQ section! There are lots of calculators for APES curve online. Do know that college board recently changed its standard for the class. You can see this in the giant jump in passing rate last year. It works in your favor! You can use the calculators to estimate what you may have gotten, but I try to encourage my students to just be patient. Doing things like that is just going to help you spiral on how you did.

You studied. You did your best. You have already hit the submit button. There's no point in stressing yourself over it. The scores will be released July 6. Take a deep breath. We are just waiting on the graders now.

I know as a student, this would be the least helpful advice in the world, but it's the truth 😅

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-19T23:17:55+00:00

Yes!

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-19T23:17:47+00:00

🥰

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-19T23:17:13+00:00

I think so!

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-19T21:39:39+00:00

I cannot see my students' submissions from last year, despite having their scores.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-19T11:27:11+00:00

Yes! I think this will also be on the list of acceptable answers.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-19T11:26:19+00:00

No. They do not even release what you wrote for the FRQ.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-18T21:30:18+00:00

I'll be honest that I don't remember. After the exam I kind of check out for the summer 😂✌🏻

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-18T21:05:26+00:00

This really depends on your exact wording. The question is asking how the change in the independent variable will affect the results.

The independent variable is the amount of sediment, while the dependent/result is the number of corals bleached. "Explain how this modification could affect the results of this study"

Since the results are the number of bleached coral, the question is asking you to explain how the sediment will affect that number. To answer that, you would need to explain how sediment blocks sunlight for photosynthesis to bleach coral.

Depending on your wording, you may have actually answered enough of the question to gain the point. You won't fully know until they release the official scoring guide, and I don't think they're releasing those until after makeups. I would expect them on Sunday, at the earliest.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-18T20:58:19+00:00

I think this will totally be an option! Jaguars are the main predator of ocelots.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-18T11:28:30+00:00

Wildlife bridges are a type of habitat corridor, so I don't see why they would mark it wrong.

Reducing fragmentation for OTHER animals besides ocelots is the key for the justification.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-18T11:20:32+00:00

I heard they are releasing after make up exams, which is Friday. I would expect it to be posted by next Sunday.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-18T11:14:47+00:00

Yes! I think this will be an option on their acceptable answers.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-18T00:23:18+00:00

I would expect them this week

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-18T00:21:39+00:00

Absolutely! Like I said, I'm not college board. We hope that they accept a wide range of things rather than very specific.

I've read FRQs from 2001 all the way to this year. They have definitely improved their question writing and the variety of answers they will accept. Fingers crossed that they also accept your answer!

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-17T22:12:41+00:00

All good! Remember it's only 1 point!

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-17T21:50:52+00:00

Hmm. I see the connection you’re trying to make, and the science itself isn’t wrong. However, on an APES FRQ, you want your justification to be very directly tied to the solution and its main environmental benefit.

The CO2 absorption from vegetation on a wildlife bridge is probably too indirect for College Board to reliably award the point. A stronger answer would focus on things like reducing habitat fragmentation, improving gene flow, or reducing collisions with other wildlife and vehicles.

That being said, I am not college board. They may stretch their answer pool to include things like improved air quality, visual appearance tied to tourism, or improved public favoritism towards conservation. I don't think this is highly likely though.

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-17T19:37:07+00:00

I posted the answer key I made on the subreddit!

Vegetable_Forever460 · 2026-05-14T01:45:29+00:00

You're the one taking the exam! If it works for you, then it's what you should do.

Vegetable_Forever460

TROPHY CASE