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AP Environmental Science Exam Questions

Free-Response Questions and Scoring Information

Download free-response questions from past exams along with scoring guidelines, sample responses from exam takers, and scoring distributions.

AP Exams are regularly updated to align with best practices in college-level learning. Not all free-response questions on this page reflect the current exam, but the question types and the topics are similar, making them a valuable resource for teachers and students.

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2024: Free-Response Questions

2024: Free-Response Questions

Questions

Scoring

Samples and Commentary

Free-Response Questions - Set 1

Free-Response Questions - Set 2

Scoring Guidelines - Set 1

Scoring Guidelines - Set 2

Chief Reader Report – Set 1

Chief Reader Report – Set 2

Scoring Statistics - Set 1

Scoring Statistics - Set 2

Score Distributions

Sample Responses Question 1 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 1 - Set 2

Sample Responses Question 2 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 2 - Set 2

Sample Responses Question 3 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 3 - Set 2

2023: Free-Response Questions

2023: Free-Response Questions

Questions

Scoring

Samples and Commentary

Free-Response Questions - Set 1

Free-Response Questions - Set 2

Scoring Guidelines - Set 1

Scoring Guidelines - Set 2

Chief Reader Report – Set 1

Chief Reader Report – Set 2

Scoring Statistics - Set 1

Scoring Statistics - Set 2

Score Distributions

Sample Responses Question 1 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 1 - Set 2

Sample Responses Question 2 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 2 - Set 2

Sample Responses Question 3 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 3 - Set 2

2022: Free-Response Questions

2022: Free-Response Questions

Questions

Scoring

Samples and Commentary

Free-Response Questions - Set 1

Free-Response Questions - Set 2

Scoring Guidelines - Set 1

Scoring Guidelines - Set 2

Chief Reader Report - Set 1

Chief Reader Report - Set 2

Scoring Statistics - Set 1

Scoring Statistics - Set 2

Score Distributions

Sample Responses Question 1 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 1 - Set 2

Sample Responses Question 2 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 2 - Set 2

Sample Responses Question 3 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 3 - Set 2

2021: Free-Response Questions

Questions

Scoring

Samples and Commentary

Free-Response Questions - Set 1

Free-Response Questions - Set 2

Scoring Guidelines - Set 1

Scoring Guidelines - Set 2

Chief Reader Report

Scoring Statistics Set 1

Scoring Statistics - Set 2

Scoring Distribution

Sample Responses Question 1 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 1 - Set 2

Sample Responses Question 2 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 2 - Set 2

Sample Responses Question 3 - Set 1

Sample Responses Question 3 - Set 2

2020: Free-Response Questions

The 2020 free-response questions are available in the AP Classroom question bank.

2019: Free-Response Questions

Questions

Scoring

Samples and Commentary

Free-Response Questions

Chief Reader Report

Scoring Statistics

Scoring Distribution

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

2018: Free-Response Questions

2018: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Chief Reader Report Scoring Statistics Scoring Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2017: Free-Response Questions

2017: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Chief Reader Report Scoring Statistics Scoring Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2016: Free-Response Questions

2016: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Score Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2015: Free-Response Questions

2015: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Score Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2014: Free-Response Questions

2014: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Score distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2013: Free-Response Questions

2013: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Score Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2012: Free-Response Questions

2012: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Score Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2011: Free-Response Questions

2011: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Score Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2010: Free-Response Questions

2010: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Score Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2009: Free-Response Questions

2009: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Grade Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2008: Free-Response Questions

2008: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Grade Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2007: Free-Response Questions

2007: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Grade Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2006: Free-Response Questions

2006: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples and Commentary
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Grade Distributions	Sample Responses Q1 Sample Responses Q2 Sample Responses Q3 Sample Responses Q4

2005: Free-Response Questions

2005: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Grade Distributions	Sample Responses

2004: Free-Response Questions

2004: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Grade Distributions	Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4

2003: Free-Response Questions

2003: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
Free-Response Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A Scoring Statistics Grade Distributions	Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4

2002: Free-Response Questions

2002: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A Grade Distributions	Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4

2001: Free-Response Questions

2001: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary Student Performance Q&A	Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4

2000: Free-Response Questions

2000: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines Scoring Commentary	Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4

1999: Free-Response Questions

1999: Free-Response Questions
Questions	Scoring	Samples
All Questions	Scoring Guidelines	Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4