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AP® World History

The best ap® world history: modern review guide for 2024.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: February 6, 2024

You’ve taken the class, you’ve put in the hours of studying for unit exams and completing the work assigned by your teacher, and now it’s crunch time for the 2024 AP® World History review exam!

Taking any AP® class can be difficult and stressful, but if you prepare and follow the guidelines and resources below, you will be even more armed with the knowledge and confidence to pass the exam. 

This post includes information about the exam format, the topics covered, and study strategies for the AP® World History exam. Links to additional information and resources are also provided throughout.

What We Review

What’s the Format of the 2024 AP® World History: Modern Exam?

Students are given some choice over the short answer questions to answer (part 1B) as well as the specific long essay question to answer (part 2B).

You likely already know that AP® Modern World History covers the historical period from 1200 CE to the present, over eight hundred years!

The course is divided into 9 total units broken down as illustrated by the chart below. All topics are covered rather evenly by percentage, though units 3-6 compromise a slightly higher percentage of the exam.

Source: AP®World History: Modern CED

*Events, processes, and developments are not constrained by the given dates and may begin be fore or continue after the approximate dates assigned to each unit.

Return to the Table of Contents

How Long is the AP® World History: Modern Exam?

The AP® World exam begins with 55 stimulus-based multiple-choice questions. “Stimulus-Based” refers to the exam format in which groups of 3 to 4 questions are related to a single chart, graph, picture, or primary/secondary source excerpt. This format requires you to analyze the stimulus to answer the questions attached to it. The multiple-choice questions are 40% of the exam, and students have 55 minutes to complete the section. 

After the multiple-choice section, there is a short answer section. You must answer the first two questions but have a choice between the third and fourth questions to answer three short-answer items. The short answer portion of the exam is 20% of the exam, and you have 40 minutes to write out responses for this section. 

Following the short answer portion, the exam will have one hour to answer the Document-based Questions or the DBQs. You will write these extended response questions based on a set of primary and secondary sources. The DBQ portion makes up 25% of the total exam score. 

The exam ends with the long essay portion, where you will respond to a question and craft an essay response.  You will have 40 minutes to write this essay, and it makes up 15% of the exam score. Here is the link to the student page that breaks down the exam format even further if you are looking for more details.

What Topics are Covered on AP® World History: Modern Exam?  

Albert provides numerous resources to help you prepare for the AP® World History: Modern Exam. Click here to access our practice questions for both multiple-choice and free response item types. There are also full-length practice tests so you can practice in a way that closely mimics the actual exam. 

If you are looking for visual resources, those are covered as well. The chart below links to videos—both brief and detailed— explaining many of the topics covered in this exam. Most students learn best through multiple channels, so Albert provides both print and visual learning tools!

Units 1 and 2 make up between 16-20% of the exam, Units 3 through Unit 6 are the biggest percentage of the exam with a coverage range of 48-60%, and Units 7 through Unit 9 makeup 24-30% of the exam. 

You can use this breakdown to guide exam preparations. For example, if you study for 100 minutes, you should spend between 48 and 60 minutes on Units 3-6.

Knowing the breakdown of the topics can be useful in being prepared for all portions of the exam, particularly those that require a written response. The Document Based Questions (DBQs) cover a wide year range and can be about any topic from Units 2 – 9. This might seem intimidating, but the documents can help provide context for your writing if you get stuck. 

For the long essay question, you will be given three questions, and you will choose ONE to construct an argument-based response. You will be writing about either the period from c. 1200–1750, from c. 1450–1900, or from c. 1750–2001.

What Do AP® World History: Modern Exam Questions Look Like?

The multiple choice questions on the exam have a stimulus attached that you will use to answer the 2-4 questions connected to it. The stimulus could be a political cartoon, picture, map, or some other type of primary or secondary source. Here is a link to an example of a multiple-choice question you may see on the exam. This question is about Inca territorial expansion in the 1400s, and there is a map to use in answering the question.

Older versions of the AP® exam did not always use stimuli in the multiple-choice sections, but the College Board decided that providing stimuli actually showcases a student’s higher-order and critical thinking skills. These skills of analysis, evaluation, and synthesis are required to answer these questions (as well as your overall knowledge of the topic). 

The stimuli not only help to show how well you know the material but having the stimuli can really assist you in answering questions if you take the time to analyze what is provided. 

Other sections of the exam, as described above, are the short answer, long essay question, and document based question.

Albert, on the upgraded platform, provides many document-based and long-essay questions. Here is the link to a list of all the AP® World FRQs that Albert has to offer .

Below you will find an example of one of the released free-response questions from the 2018 AP® World: Modern exam. 

Source: College Board

Based on the scoring rubric that is provided by the College Board, there are recommended strategies to help you earn all three points for this free response question. 

The first key to scoring well on this section of the exam is to truly make sure that you answer all three parts of the question. Make connections and use the stimulus to help you construct your response. 

Use the ACE acronym when constructing your response: 

• A: Answer the Question, 
• C: Cite your supporting evidence, and 
• E: explain how your evidence supports your response. 

If you notice in the answer breakdown below, the answers don’t necessarily connect to each other.  Each part of a Short Answer Question is worth one point and scored independently from the others.

The response from part A does not have to connect to your answer for part B. For example, you can discuss the Nazi Holocaust in part A, and then you can discuss the actions of British soldiers in Australia. These historical topics do not have connection to each other, but they answer part A and part B. To answer part C, you then make your claim about why the author may have made his claim about the difference between totalitarian governments and democratic governments. 

Source: AP® Central 2018 Released Free Response Questions

Focus on each individual part of the question and not necessarily the question as a single overarching unit. This can benefit you when writing a response because it guarantees that you answer what each part of the question is asking.

The multiple choice questions, as stated before, always have a stimuli attached. Below you will find an example of a question that you might see on the AP® World History exam. On the AP® exam, you would use this stimuli to answer 3-4 questions, but here is an example of one way you would use the map to answer a single question. This sample question is on the Albert website about the Industrial Revolution. 

Question: What areas had the biggest population growth during the Industrial Revolution? 

• Areas with considerable coal deposits 
• Areas near the coastline 
• Areas in northern England 
• The areas of growth were not homogenous 

Once you analyze the stimuli, which in this case is a map that shows the population difference due to the Industrial Revolution, the answer is (A). 

The Industrial Revolution was driven by coal, so the population grew near coal deposits since coal was needed to run factories during the Industrial Revolution.

Students have one hour to answer the Document-Based Question, or the DBQ. These are extended response questions that you will write based on a set of primary and secondary sources. The DBQ portion makes up 25% of the total exam score. There are 7 possible points for the Document-Based Question (DBQ).

For a preview of what these prompts look like, here’s an example of a DBQ from a previous AP® World exam:

…and below are the accompanying documents from the 2019 DBQ. Note: click on each document below to see a larger view.

Additionally, the AP® World History: Modern exam includes a Long Essay Question (LEQ). Students are typically given 3 different LEQ prompts and are required to pick only one prompt to write their response.

Here are the examples of three prompts from the 2019 exam:

For more tips on how to answer these types of Free Response Questions on the AP® World exam, check out this article called “How to Answer AP® World History SAQs, DBQs, and LEQs” .

What Can You Bring to the AP® World History: Modern Exam?

Here is a list of items to bring on test day for in-person exams. To lessen the likelihood of stress on exam day, pack these items the night before so you are prepared. 

DO bring these:

You should bring:

• No. 2 pencils for your multiple-choice answer sheet
• Pens with black or dark blue ink for completing areas on the exam booklet covers and for free-response questions in most exams
• If you don’t attend the school where you’re taking the exam, you will also need a current government-issued or school-issued photo ID. (Additional ID may be required by authorized test centers outside the United States.)
• Your College Board SSD Accommodations Letter if you are taking an exam with approved testing accommodations.

How to Study for AP® World History: Modern Exam: 5 Steps to Success

Everyone has a different study method and style, but these five steps will directly aid you in preparing for this exam. 

1. Collect and organize all notes that you took during the year .

Put your notes in chronological order and then highlight topics that you struggled with during the year. Read through the notes, especially information from earlier in the year. 

2. Either discuss the information with another person or try to teach the topics to someone else once you have organized the information.

For example, you may have a Socratic seminar with a study group from your class. You have likely participated in one during your class, but if you need help getting started here is a link to an outline for a Socratic seminar. 

This tip can be very useful, but it is recommended that you practice a Socratic seminar or group discussion method of your choice in chunks of no more than one hour. However, you should hold discussions at least 5 times. 

3. Practice how you would organize writing a DBQ, short answers, and long essay once you have collected your information and discussed the information with your peers.

Your teacher has probably given you many extended response questions throughout the year that mimic the exam, so use those to get started. 

Use the organizational format that you like best and take time to master quickly mapping out an extended response. 

Use your favorite writing outline web to practice sample questions that are provided on the AP® Central website or on the Albert website. If you don’t have a favorite writing outline web, here is one that you might find useful . 

Limit your prewriting to 15 minutes as you are preparing for writing essays on a timed test.  However, you can practice planning out responses for multiple writing prompts during each study period.

4. If you are still struggling after you have done the first three steps, use the resources provided to you on the AP® Central website.

Use the resources, such as the released questions from the past three years of the exam on a daily basis when studying. 

Practice and study in small chunks throughout the weeks prior to the exam. Study for 20 minutes and then take a 10 minute break. Once you have completed about one hour of studying, you should take an extended break. 

5. To fill in gaps, watch videos on a variety of historical topics covered on the exam— like those linked to earlier in this post.

After watching the video, you should write a 2-3 sentence summary about the video to refresh your memory about the topic.

Your summaries should not take long, so aim for 4 minutes maximum to jot down a quick summary of each video.

AP® World History: Modern Exam: 13 Must Know Study Tips

1. You have taken a whole year or semester of this course, so take a deep breath. You know this stuff.

Take time to do some deep breathing exercises that clear the mind and can assist with increasing focus. Here is a link to help you with deep breathing exercises. 

2. Practice multiple choice questions from previous tests that you took during the year.

Your teacher wrote questions for your unit tests to mimic the questions you will see on this exam. Create a mistake log and cross-reference units to identify which units you need to prioritize most. Look at your old tests and find which types of questions you struggled with the most to guide what to focus on while studying. 

3. Construct a free response question from one of the released questions from the College Board or from Albert.  

Here are all the practice questions released on the College Board ‘s website. Also here is the link to resources on the Albert website. 

Write a free response long essay once a week for about one month prior to the exam so you are able to write on a variety of topics and get comfortable with the allotted time to do so. 

4. If you are a visual learner, watch the videos that are linked above for each unit .

Watching and hearing the information again may help on test day! Once you have watched the videos, summarize the top three takeaways from each video so you have a summary page to read over on test day. 

5. If you are an auditory learner, listen to historical podcasts on Spotify or listen to YouTube videos without watching.  

Here is a link to a few historical podcasts to prepare you for the exam. After you listen, summarize the top 3 takeaways from each podcast so you have a summary page to read over on test day.

6. If you are a tactile learner, you can rewrite or type your notes because the repetition will help you remember the information.

 This may sound pretty old school, but repetition is beneficial to help people remember information. 

7. Time yourself on the multiple choice questions . 

You will have one minute per question because there are 55 questions, and you have 55 minutes to complete the section. Learn to not dwell on questions and come back at the end if you need to. Do not spend more than 1.5 minutes on a question, even if you are stuck. 

8. Construct DBQ responses (document based questions) . 

You may find these daunting since you have to use the source documents in your writing. Albert provides a variety of DBQs that you can write during your study period prior to the exam. 

Just like the free response questions, write no more than once a week but attempt to write a total of 4 DBQs. Just a reminder, you have 60 minutes during the exam to construct a DBQ, so time yourself during your writing. 

Many students struggle with incorporating the documents into their writing. Attempt to use all the document s to support your argument. 

Here is a link to a comprehensive post about the aspects of the FRQ’s from Albert. 

9. Practice your free response questions and learn about key turning points.

You will not have documents to help organize your response in this portion of the exam, so make sure you have a general understanding of key themes through world history. 

If you understand the units and can place historical events into these time periods, you have context for all your FRQ’s.

10. Practice your short answers.  

These can really help your overall total score, so make sure you take them seriously. But also make sure you don’t ramble. Answer the question asked thoroughly, but do not drag out the response. Here is an example short answer question and response from Albert. 

11. Try and study with a classmate . 

Saying the information out loud and “teaching” others has shown to really help students learn and recall information. 

Use the socratic seminar outline that is provided in the previous section for maximum impact. 

12. Trust that your teacher prepared you well! Use your notes and resources that were given to you throughout the class.

Highlight topics that you struggled with during the year and focus a larger portion (about 25%) of your studying efforts to learn that information. 

13. Albert and AP® Central are great resources with many details if you have further questions about the structure of the exam.

Take one of Albert’s full-length practice tests, then review which topics and units you struggled with most. From there, isolate your practice to focus on these weaknesses so that you can make the most of your limited study time. After you’ve built up your confidence in these areas, take another full-length practice exam; repeat this process until you feel ready . 

AP® World History: Modern Exam: 5 Test Day Tips to Remember

Here are some test day study tips to help get you prepared to pass the AP® World History: Modern Exam: 

1. Review information that you may have struggled with over the past couple weeks.  

Do not spend more than fifteen minutes reviewing last minute information. 

Read the summary sheets you collected from the videos and podcasts as well as your notes from your Socratic seminar. 

2. Make sure you bring the bag that you packed the night before with all the items you need to take the exam . 

Review the bring and do not bring list from earlier in the post! 

3. On your way to the exam, start talking to yourself. It may be a little funny, but saying  things out loud is proven to help you remember the information.

According to psychologists , once you get your ears involved in the learning process, more senses are engaged with your learning. 

4. Stay focused on what you are there to accomplish.  

Keep your confidence level up but remain calm. Use the deep breathing exercises that were provided in the 13 Must Know Study Tips section .

Know that you are prepared to pass the AP® World History: Modern Exam. 

5. Take your time on your exam but keep yourself organized, especially on the writing sections.

Remember that you have 55 minutes for 55 multiple choice questions, so move quickly and do not dwell on questions for too long. 

For the free response questions, you have forty minutes to produce three short answer questions., You have sixty minutes for the DBQ, and you have forty minutes for the long essay. Plan on taking about 5-8 minutes on planning before writing each free response question. 

AP® World History: Modern Exam Review Notes and Practice Test Resources

Now that you have read through this “How to Pass” guide, here are some great additional resources to help get you more prepared for the AP® World History: Modern exam. 

Two Additional AP® World History: Modern Resources: 

Freemanpedia.

This website provides resources for all topics and units for AP® World: Modern. 

Use this site if: you need more in-depth resources about the entire course. This site provides a variety of graphic organizers about key ideas for each unit. 

Do not use this site if: you do not like graphic organizers. There are a ton of them on each page for each unit. 

Heimler’s History: Youtube Channel: 

On this Youtube channel, you will find a collection of videos that cover the entire curriculum for AP® World History. 

Use this site if: you are a visual learner and need a quick overview of each topic that you learned during the course. 

Do not use this site if: you are not a visual learner or you need more in- depth information about a certain topic. 

Summary: The Best 2024 AP® World History: Modern Exam Review Guide

You have the information, you have the skills, and you have the motivation to get ready to pass the AP® Modern World History exam. In this post there are a variety of resources to benefit a multitude of learners. 

There are videos to help jog your memory about the topics covered in the exam. There are links to practice questions and more information if you have any further questions about the AP® World History: Modern Exam. 

This How to Pass AP® World History: Modern Review Guide will be a great starting and endpoint on your journey to get prepared. If you need any other resources, check the Albert website as there are many other resources available! Good luck and stay positive…you got this!

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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., guide to the ap world history exam.

The AP ®  World History: Modern exam covers historical developments from c 1200 to the present. It will test topics and skills discussed in your Advanced Placement World History: Modern course.  If you score high enough, your AP score could earn you college credit !

Check out our AP World History Guide for what you need to know about the exam:

• AP World History: Modern Exam Overview
• AP World History: Modern Question Types
• AP World History: Modern Scoring
• How to Prepare

AP World History Exam Overview

The AP World History: Modern exam takes 3 hours and 15 minutes to complete and is composed of: a multiple-choice, short answer, and free response section.

AP World History Question Types

Multiple-choice.

AP World History: Modern multiple-choice questions are grouped into sets of usually 3-4 questions. They are based on primary or secondary sources, including excerpts from historical documents or writings, images, graphs, and maps. This section will test your ability to analyze and engage with the source materials while recalling what you already know about world history.

Short Answer

The AP World History: Modern short answer questions require you to respond to a secondary source for Question 1 and a primary source for Question 2, both focusing on historical developments between 1200 and 2001. Students will choose between two options (Questions 3 or 4) for the final required short-answer question, each one focusing on a different time periods of 1200 to 1750 and 1750 to 2001.

For all short answer questions, you’ll be asked to:

• Analyze the provided sources
• Analyze historical developments and processes described in the sources
• Put those historical developments and processes in context
• Make connections between those historical developments and processes

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

The AP World History: Modern DBQ presents a prompt and seven historical documents that are intended to show the complexity of a particular historical issue between the years 1450 and 2001. You will need to develop an argument that responds to the prompt and support that argument with evidence from both the documents and your own knowledge of world history. To earn the best score, you should incorporate outside knowledge and be able to relate the issues discussed in the documents to a larger theme, issue, or time period.

Long Essay Question

The AP World History: Modern Long Essay Question presents three questions and you have to choose one to answer.    All questions will test the same skills but will focus on different historical periods (i.e., from c. 1200–1750, from c. 1450–1900, or from c. 1750–2001). Similar to the DBQ, you will need to develop and support an answer to the question you picked based on historical evidence to earn the best score possible.

For a comprehensive content review, check out our book,  AP World History Prep

AP World History Review

The College Board is very detailed in what they require your AP teacher to cover in his or her AP World History course. They explain that you should be familiar with world history events from the following nine units that fall within four major time periods from 1200 to the present.

Read More: Review for the exam with our AP World History Cram Courses

AP scores are reported from 1 to 5. Here’s how students scored on  AP World History exam in May 2020:

Source: College Board

How can I prepare?

AP classes are great, but for many students they’re not enough! For a thorough review of AP World History: Modern content and strategy, pick the AP prep option that works best for your goals and learning style.  You can also check out our AP World History: Modern test prep book here .

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AP World History Unit 2 Practice Test: Networks of Exchange

The following test covers content from AP World History Unit 2: Networks of Exchange. This unit continues to explore the period 1200–1450, but shifts focus on how regions and cultures were connected. Topics will cover trade routes and networks, cross-cultural interactions, the Mongol Empire, and more. Test your Knowledge with these multiple choice questions that reflect the difficulty of the AP exam.

Congratulations - you have completed .

You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.

Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%

Questions 1–4 refer to the passage below.

Which of the following aspects of the mali empire best explains why ibn battuta was fascinated with it as discussed in the passage, ibn battuta’s statement “another one of their good qualities” reflects battuta’s belief that, the practices described by ibn battuta in the passage above are an example of which of the following, this account of traveler ibn battuta would be useful when studying, questions 5–8 refer to the images below..

Which of the following historical developments can be inferred from the information presented in map #2?

The information shown in both maps supports which of the following, map one would most likely be used by a historian studying this time period to show what, the trade patterns depicted in these two maps suffered a decline in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. which of the following was most directly responsible for this, questions 9–12 refer to the passages below., the statements of both european travelers share similar descriptions of, what is the author’s purpose in writing source #1, marco polo’s writing best reflects which of the following developments in the history of the silk road after 1200, the views expressed in the two passages reflect what cultural trends of europe in the late medieval era, questions 13–15 refer to the passage below., which major historical event is best described by the excerpt from the passage above, the spread of gunpowder was most similar to the development of what other historical occurrence, how may a historian researching this time period argue that this passage reflects a turning point in world history, questions 16–17 refer to the images below..

The philosophy reflected in the two images most directly contributed to which of the following?

T​he content of the images reflects most directly which of the following trends in the late medieval/post-classical period(s).

Next Practice Test: Land-Based Empires >> AP World History Main Menu >>

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the best ap world history notes to study with.

Advanced Placement (AP)

AP World History is a fascinating survey of the evolution of human civilization from 1200 CE to the present. Because it spans almost 1,000 years and covers massive changes in power, culture, and technology across the globe, it might seem like an overwhelming amount of info to remember for one test.

This article will help you organize your studying by providing links to online AP World History notes and advice on how to use these notes to structure and execute a successful study plan.

How to Use These AP World History Notes

The notes in this article will help you review all the information you need to know for the AP World History exam. If you are missing any notes from class or just looking for a more organized run-through of the curriculum, you can use this guide as a reference.

During your first semester of AP World History, study the content in the notes that your class has already covered. I'd recommend conducting a holistic review of everything you've learned so far about once a month so that you don't start to forget information from the beginning of the course.

In the second semester, after you've made it through most of the course, you should use these notes in conjunction with practice tests . Taking (realistically timed) practice tests will help verify that you've absorbed the information.

After each test, assess your mistakes and take note of where you came up short. Then, focus your studying on the notes that are most relevant to your weak content areas . Once you feel more confident, take and score another practice test to see whether you've improved. You can repeat this process until you're satisfied with your scores!

Background: AP World History Themes and Units

Before we dive into the content of the AP World History test, it's important to note that the exam underwent some significant changes in the 2019-20 school year . From now on, the test will focus on the modern era (1200 CE to the present) , covering a much smaller period of time. As such, its name has been changed to AP World History: Modern (a World History: Ancient course and exam are currently in development).

Other than this major content change, the format of the exam will remain the same (since 2018).

Now then, what exactly is tested on AP World History? Both the course and exam are divided into six themes and nine units.

Here are the current World History themes:

• Theme 1: Humans and the Environment
• Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions
• Theme 3: Governance
• Theme 4: Economic Systems
• Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization
• Theme 6: Technology and Innovation

And here are the units as well as how much of the test they make up, percentage-wise:

Source: AP World History Course and Exam Description, 2019-20

You should examine all content through the lens of these themes and units. AP World History is mostly about identifying large trends that occur over long periods of time. In the next section, I'll go through the different time periods covered in the curriculum, with links to online notes.

AP World History Notes

The following AP World History notes are organized by unit. There are both overall notes for each unit as well as notes focusing on almost all of the individual subunits.

Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (1200 to 1450)

Overall Notes

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange (1200-1450)

Unit 3: land-based empires (1450-1750), unit 4: transoceanic interconnections (1450-1750), unit 5: revolutions (1750-1900), unit 6: consequences of industrialization (1750-1900), unit 7: global conflict (1900-present), unit 8: cold war and decolonization (1900-present), unit 9: globalization (1900-present).

AP World History Exam: 4 Essential Study Tips

Here are a few study tips that will help you prepare strategically for the AP World History exam. In addition to these tidbits of advice, you can check out this article with a longer list of the best study tips for this class .

#1: We All Scream for Historical Themes

I'm sure you've been screaming with delight throughout your entire reading of this article because the themes are so thrilling. Seriously, though, they're super important for doing well on the final exam. Knowledge of specific facts about different empires and regions throughout history will be of little use on the test if you can't weave that information together to construct a larger narrative.

As you look through the notes, think carefully about how everything connects back to the six major themes of the course .

For example, if you're reading about the expansion of long-distance trade networks in the early modern period, you might start to think about how these new exchanges impacted the natural environment (theme 1). If you get into this mode of thinking early, you'll have an easier time writing high-quality essays on the final exam.

#2: Practice Outlining Essays (Especially the DBQ)

It's critical to write well-organized, coherent essays on the World History test , but statistics indicate that a large majority of students struggle with this aspect of the exam.

In 2021, results from the DBQ scoring looked like this:

• 79% of students earned the thesis point
• 30% of students earned the contextualization point
• Evidence: 11% of students earned all 3 evidence points; 41% earned 2 points; 40% earned 1 point; 8% earned 0 points
• Analysis & Reasoning: 2% earned 2 points; 15% earned 1 point; 83% earned 0 points

So clearly, it can be tough to do well on the DBQ. However, I guarantee you can score well on the DBQ and other essay questions if you consistently practice writing outlines that follow the instructions and stay focused on the main topic. Try to become a pro at planning out your ideas by the time the exam rolls around.

#3: Know Your Chronology

You don't need to memorize a ton of exact dates, but you do need to be aware of the basic order in which major events happened in each region of the world . If someone tells you the name of an empire or dynasty, you should know which centuries it was active and what caused its rise and fall.

Pay attention to the overall developments that occurred in world history during each period designated by the course. What types of contact were made between different regions? Where were trading networks established? What were the dominant powers?

Multiple-choice and essay questions will ask you to focus on certain time periods and regions, so you should know the gist of what was going on at any given juncture.

#4: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

It's not necessary to know the names of every single region in a particular empire and the exact dates when they were conquered. You're not expected to have a photographic memory. AP World History is mostly about broad themes.

You should still include a few specific details in your essays to back up your main points, but that's not nearly as important as showing a deep understanding of the progression of human history on a larger scale.

Conclusion: How to Study With AP World History Notes

A well-organized set of notes can help ground your studying for AP World History. With so much content to cover, it's best to selectively revisit different portions of the course based on where you find the largest gaps in your knowledge . You can decide what you need to study based on which content areas cause you the most trouble on practice tests.

Here are some tips to keep in mind while studying the above AP World History notes:

• Connect facts back to the themes
• Practice writing essay outlines
• Know the basic chronology of events
• Don't worry too much about small details

If you meticulously comb through your mistakes and regularly practice your essay-writing skills, you'll be on the right track to a great AP World History score!

What's Next?

What's a document-based question? How do you write a good response? Read this article to learn more about the most challenging question on the AP World History test .

If you're taking AP World History during your freshman or sophomore year, check out this article for some advice on which history classes you should take for the rest of your time in high school.

How many AP classes should you take in high school? We'll help you figure out how many AP classes you should take based on your goals and the course offerings at your school.

Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to help students adopt a less stressful view of standardized testing and other academic challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the SAT, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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Coffee House Historian

Teaching historical thinking, ap world: map project & unit 2 plan.

The Class: AP World History Modern

Unit 2: Networks of Exchange

Due to a variety of factors (still Covid related…) I am a little farther behind in the curriculum than normal. Unit 1 always takes a bit extra time because I like to front load so many skills. Unit 2 presented an opportunity to save some time since a lot of its content is already previewed in unit 1. So we (the other AP World teacher and myself) developed a plan to make sure we cover the key concepts across the CED while also continuing with skills so that students are ready to write their first complete DBQ at the end of the unit.

This will be the first year I have not used the Trial of Ghenghis Khan, but there is just not enough time. Even with the 2019 redesign of the course, time is always a factor.

Map Project

The other AP World teacher had a project he had used before that I liked. With some quick adjustments we found that it both covers content and many of the CED key concepts. Although students will be learning about all three major trade routes, the project will ask them to go into depth with one of them. We added a few analysis pieces to reflect the skills work we have been doing with Comparison, Causation, and CCOT. This project became a “spine” for the unit. Each block will involve some content instruction and skill-building while also giving students time to work on the project in small pieces.

The images in the directions are from a previous year’s iteration of the project. I like the traveler portion of the project since I normally do post-card activity around the travels of Ibn Battuta. We will leverage the project with a gallery walk and analysis activity when they are turned in. Below is an overview of what we have planned for the lesson structure and activities.

Lesson Structure

Changes will happen, but this is our working plan. Students read a section from Strayer’s Ways of the World 4th edition prior to each lesson. I use reading guides to scaffold note-taking and quick reading quizzes to hold students accountable for the reading. My reading guides (linked below) are fairly basic. I am not a fan of the CED based reading notes I have seen only because I find them to be a bit repetitive. Luckily, notes are not the make or break variable for students. Over the years I have become a huge proponent of textbook reading at home with application in class. I am not full “flipped classroom” but am pushing towards it.

Block 1: Silk Roads (2.1)

• We planned a half block lesson that would both review some content and let students practice SAQ writing. In pairs, students worked together on an SAQ focused on causation. After debriefing it and reviewing some model answers students completed a formative SAQ individually that was focused on CCOT. For the first SAQ they worked on, we rotated answer sheets through different parts. So, one pair would write the topic sentence with an identified answer, the second pair would write the explanation and select which evidence to use and so forth. Gave the activity a nice twist.
• Project Work Time

Block 2: Indian Ocean Trade Routes (2.3)

• At least once a unit it’s helpful to return to the themes in a direct way. For this block we asked students to brainstorm the characteristics and key concepts of Silk Roads and Indian Ocean Trade Routes on SPICET charts. From these, we asked students to write thesis statements for comparative arguments. Our focus was on pushing students to “complex” comparisons that will produce some good analysis and insight.

Block 3: Trans-Saharan Trade Routes (2.4)

• Since the first full DBQ is coming up at the end of the unit we thought it would be useful to return to contextualization. Students were provided with thesis statements around a common LEQ topic and asked to contextualize them. It was quick and most of the block was preserved for project work time. I also squeeze in vocabulary review when there is an extra 10-15 minutes.

Block 4: Project Work Time

• Self-Explanatory. I appreciate that the school I work at seeks to minimize homework in order to help students develop good work/life balance. Admittedly, its also easy as a teacher to forget how long frequent reading and projects across multiple classes can take. This means some creative unit planning to finish the AP curriculum in time, but it’s worth it.

Block 5: The Mongols (2.2)

• My only lecture of the unit is on the Mongols. Pieces of this topic have already been covered, but I spend my time unpacking the context and global significance of the Mongols instead of getting into details. I also introduce a topic that is on my half-joking list of “guaranteed complexity points.” When getting into empires I like to introduce Ibn Khaldun’s concept of “assabiyah” or social cohesion. I combine this with a touch of cliodynamics from Peter Turchin’s work on the rise and fall of empires. It’s one of my favorite topics to get into with a lecture. A good dose of humor and energy helps.

Block 6: Project Analysis (2.5, 2.6, 2.7)

• Gallery Walk & SAQ Writing. The students will have a graphic organizer to focus them on particular aspects of the projects they are viewing. After the gallery walk students will write a comparative SAQ. So much of the content from topics 2.5 – 2.7 is already covered separately as a part of individual trade routes that I did not see a reason I could not address all of these in a single day as part of a “capstone” activity with the projects.

Block 7: DBQ Time

• All the DBQ skills have been introduced, so this is just about putting them together into a single essay. I usually use a DBQ from the AMSCO text on sub-saharan African achievements in the period 1200-1450, but have also seen a good Black Death DBQ that I am tempted to use. I will probably end up using the Africa DBQ again since I spent less time on African content in unit one. Either way, we just go through the rubric, take a look at a couple of examples of various skills in the context of an essay, and go over general tips for argumentation clarity and organization. The first DBQ is always formative and then I ramp up which points I hold students summatively accountable for over the course of the first semester. I never hold them accountable for the complexity (unicorn) point even thought I teach it.

As I post this I am nearly done teaching through the unit. All that is left is the project analysis and the DBQ; I am hoping both go as well as everything else has thus far. I will likely update this post with some images of new projects once they are all turned in.

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How These Teachers Build Curriculum ‘Beyond Black History’

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A pilot to infuse Black history and culture in social studies curriculum is gaining ground in the nation’s largest school district, offering a potential model to overcome widespread political debates over how to teach race in public schools.

In a symposium on the project at the American Educational Research Association’s annual conference last week, M.C. Brown II, the executive director at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, called New York City’s $3.25 million Black studies curriculum “a nationally historic moment.”

The curriculum “acknowledges the history and the contributions of Black Americans predating slavery, which is where much of American social studies begins,” Brown said, “and provides a paradigm for professional learning that can support effective implementation, not just in New York City, but around the world.”

The project comes amid vicious political fights over critical race theory , which holds that race is a social construct, and racism can be embedded in policies and laws (such as enrollment policies that tend to segregate schools), not just personal prejudice. The legal concept is separate from but often conflated with culturally responsive teaching , which holds that students learn more effectively when teachers use their customs, experiences, and identities as tools in the classroom.

The New York curriculum, developed in collaboration between local educators and the Black Education Research Center at Columbia University Teachers College, includes pre-K-12 lessons aligned with the state’s language arts and social studies standards, designed to be used throughout the year. If it proves successful in an ongoing evaluation, the collaborative plans to roll it out to more schools in New York and other states.

Dawn Brooks DeCosta, the deputy superintendent of the 6,500-student Harlem Community School District 5, said its 23 schools piloted units of the curriculum this year across different grades.

Harlem District 5 recruited elementary and secondary teachers with backgrounds and interests in Black studies. They met biweekly with researchers from the Black Education Research Center at neighboring Teachers College, Columbia University to design curricular standards and units, as well as professional development needed for teachers.

“As teachers were contributing and helping to refine and design the lesson, … they didn’t understand what it means to co-design,” said Rodney Hopson, acting education co-dean and professor at American University, who is leading an evaluation of the curriculum. “It wasn’t just like, ‘Here’s a [curriculum] package, run with it,’ ... we were actually trying to collaboratively build this thing together.”

For example, Samantha Chung, a Teachers College doctoral researcher, helped design a unit for 5th grade in which students read and listen to Black poets and discuss the literary form’s use in advocacy.

“Black studies started out with a pedagogical mission, not just content,” said Joyce King, the chair for Urban Teaching, Learning and Leadership and an education policy professor at Georgia State University, during the discussion at AERA. “… That includes inspiring people to learn deeply and critically about the African diaspora histories and contemporary social formation, to recognize and affirm our peoplehood—that we are a people across many different cultures.”

In New York, that’s particularly important, according to Linda Tillman, chairman of BERC’s advisory board. Tillman said teachers and researchers worked to incorporate Dominican, Puerto Rican, and other Black students’ cultures into the curriculum “to combat misconceptions about the history of African Americans and Black people throughout the global diaspora.”

For example, in one of the earliest units, kindergarten students explore the meanings and origins of their names, and talk about the importance of pronouncing names correctly. Studies find name mispronunciations are often one of the earliest and most common alienating experiences, particularly for children of color.

Beyond ‘Critical Race Theory’ debates

The curriculum offers a holistic way for teachers to discuss the role of culture and race in American and world history at a time when many educators face restrictions on how they can approach the subject. As of 2023, at least 18 states have passed bans or limits on how teachers can discuss race or gender in class, and the research firm RAND Corp. found half of K-12 teachers nationwide said they face state and/or local restrictions on teaching about race.

Yet in a nationally representative survey this fall, more than 8 in 10 registered voters told the Black Education Research Center that public school students should learn both about the history of racism and slavery in the United States and how it affects students and communities today.

“Students should gain skills in biology and chemistry, physics, business, et cetera, and then use their Black studies knowledge, the curriculum, to gain an understanding of the significance of a role of those subject areas in the development of the Black community,” said Kofi Lomotey, the chancellor and professor of educational leadership at Western Carolina University.

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