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Parras Middle School 2014 Science Fair

April 30th, 2014

Parras Middle School 2014 Science Fair

It’s Science Fair season once again! We are excited to return as judges to Parras Middle School in Redondo Beach on Wednesday May 14th. The students have been hard at work hypothesizing and experimenting and we cannot wait to see what they have come up with this year! As we saw last year, there is no limit to a child’s imagination. The most talked about and memorable experiment amongst our tutors was titled “Fat Cats: Is your cat overweight?” in which a student “interviewed” several cats of various weights and tested their mental abilities. He theorized a high correlation between heavier weights and lower mental ability. In conclusion, he found significant evidence that proved his hypothesis to be true.

To prepare for this year’s science fair, we are currently working closely with the Parras science teachers to create a unique grading rubric for each student’s project and presentation that will correspond with the project guidelines that have been provided to the students. Last year, each student took his or her turn presenting their project to a pair of judges. After they completed their presentations, the judges asked them a series of questions about their experiments and findings.

It was a great experience last to year to see some of our regular students in action at their school, presenting projects some of us tutors even helped them create! We are looking forward to this year’s science fair and hoping we can help make it a fun and memorable experience for the teachers, students, and their families. It is our greatest pleasure to give back to a community that continues to give us its infinite support.

Free AP Diagnostic Test

March 14th, 2013

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! THE MANHATTAN BEACH STUDY HUT IS OFFERING FREE AP DIAGNOSTIC TESTS!!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to get a 5 on an AP test? Well now is your chance!! We are offering free AP Diagnostic Tests and the first one is only 10 DAYS AWAY!

March 24th (Sunday) and April 20th (Saturday) are the two times that we will be offering the exams for all subjects.

If you would like to sign up please contact samantha@studyhut.com or call 1-310-546-2408.

For those of you that don’t know, AP stands for Advanced Placement – a program in the United States created by the College Board offering college-level curriculum and examinations to high school students. American colleges often grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high scores above a certain number on the examinations. The AP curriculum for the various subjects is created for the College Board by a panel of experts and college-level educators in each subject. For a high school course to have the AP designation, the course must be audited by the College Board to ascertain it satisfies the AP curriculum.

Some colleges use AP test scores to exempt students from introductory coursework. Each college’s policy is different, but most require a minimum score of 3 or 4 to receive college credit. Typically this appears as a “CR” grade on the college transcript, although some colleges and universities will award an A grade for a 5 score.

Grading the AP exam is a long and complicated process. The multiple choice component of the exam is scored by computer, while the free response and essay portions are scored by trained Readers at the AP Reading each June. The scores on various components are weighted and combined into a raw Composite Score. The Chief Reader for each exam then decides on the grade cutoffs for that year’s exam, which determine how the Composite Scores are converted into the final grades. During the process a number of reviews and statistical analyses are performed to ensure that the grading is reliable. The overall goal is for the grades to reflect an absolute scale of performance which can be compared from year to year.