Let’s talk about AP Environmental Science (APES). The good news for anyone considering this course is that it’s among the most applicable APs in the real world. You’re learning about topics that genuinely affect your life, such as pollution, ecosystems, climate change, and how humans are destroying the planet (but also how we could fix it), rather than just memorizing facts for an exam.

The course itself combines problem-solving, policy, and science. Everything from biodiversity loss and energy use to food production and water resources will be covered. There are many debates concerning what is and is not sustainable, along with a small amount of biology and chemistry. It is definitely the easiest AP science course out there, though. You don’t really need much prior knowledge, and a lot of the course material that you do learn is totally applicable in real life, and most of the vocabulary words you learn you have heard of before in one instance or another.

Also, all the labs that we do are really fun! Think water testing, soil experiments, and possibly even some field trips if your teacher is cool. This class has some awesome labs and projects if you enjoy experiential learning. There’s this one lab that we did for the mining unit in APES. We kind of simulated that, but with cookies. We mined the chocolate chips out of the cookies and had to deal with the “environmental destruction” left behind—aka, the cookie crumbs everywhere. It sounds funny, but it actually did a great job of showing how mining works, from extraction to land reclamation. And yeah, just like real mining, the more you take, the harder it gets to put everything back together. Spoiler: The cookie never looks the same again.

Is it challenging? To be honest, it depends. The science won’t seem too overwhelming if you’ve taken AP Bio or AP Chem, but there is a lot of memorization required (carbon cycles, laws, various forms of energy, etc.). The AP exam’s free-response questions (FRQs) can be challenging because they require you to provide a clear explanation of a concept, but they are completely doable with practice!

But I wouldn’t worry about passing the exam, though. If you really take your time and think through each step and if you care deeply about the subject and want to learn more, I think you’ll be just fine!