Chemistry I Honors Syllabus
2021-2022 School Year
Instructor: Mr. Brandon Collins
Classroom: Room 220
Chemistry Laboratory: Room 216
E-Mail: [email protected]
Remind: @gnachem1h
Webpage:
http://hs.gnasd.com/cms/One.aspx?portalId=911651&pageId=3269630 (Teacher Page)
https://classroom.google.com/c/MTQ4OTg5NDc5ODk3 (Google Classroom – Code: h4wczle)
Honors Designation:
As an honors level course, this class will move at a much faster pace and will look into chemical concepts with greater detail and additional mathematical rigor. A greater level of responsibility will be placed upon the student to complete outside readings, assignments, and obtain assistance from the teacher when necessary. Additional concepts will also be covered that are not normally discussed in the traditional Chemistry I class.
Required Materials:
The following materials need to be brought to each class period unless told otherwise:
- “Chemistry” by Prentice Hall Textbook
- 3-Ring Binder or Multi-Subject Tablet with Folder
- Scientific Calculator (must be able to handle powers and Scientific Notation)
- Device with Internet Connection
- Pen / Pencil
- Required Work (i.e. homework, worksheets, Periodic Table, guides… etc.)
Students will also be responsible for maintaining an electronic laboratory tablet that will be utilized for laboratory periods. More information regarding these electronic lab tablets will be provided.
Student Grouping:
Students have been placed into one of the following groups and will be responsible for completing work in person, online, and/or both options based upon their grouping.
Group A Students – Monday and Tuesday In Person with Wednesday through Friday Online
Group B Students – Monday through Wednesday Online with Thursday and Friday In Person
5 Day Virtual – Online Monday through Friday
Class Format:
Class Periods:
Each day there will be one or more short response questions listed on the board for you to answer during the first few minutes of class. Upon arrival to the classroom, you need to answer these questions since these will be part of your daily participation grade. During this time, homework will be checked or collected and attendance will be taken.
Laboratory Periods:
***At this time, laboratory experiments are NOT allowed due to restrictions enacted to the Coronavirus Pandemic by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and GNA School District. If lab is possible later in the school year, students will be engaged in laboratory activities. ***
As part of your experience in this class, we will be engaging in multiple laboratory experiments throughout the school year. Upon arrival to the lab, you will be required to remove all unnecessary books, tablets, etc. from the lab tables and put on your safety equipment. Students who have not returned the laboratory safety contract or cannot safely conduct themselves in the lab will not be allowed to take part in experiments.
Online Periods:
Student participation in online discussions, assignments, and virtual instructional periods are required as scheduled. Participation will be closely tracked and monitored by the teacher. Please note that the district has Chromebooks or other compatible devices available for those that do not have access to these at home. Additionally, many internet service providers are providing free or discounted internet access for families with students attending school.
Attendance and Tardiness Policy:
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class and lab period. In order to take part in the daily lesson and receive a high quality education, you need to be present in the classroom. Let’s face it, in reality we all get sick or have situations arise that may cause us to miss a day of school. This is understandable. However, having three or more days of unexcused absences within a quarter will begin to negatively affect your participation grade.
Students are encouraged to arrive to class on time. Please make every effort to make it to class on time. If you are late, you need to have a SIGNED pass from the office or the teacher you are coming from in order to be admitted to class. Arriving consistently late to class will negatively affect your participation grade and possibly lead to further disciplinary action by the main office as defined in the student handbook.
Students are reminded that they are responsible for obtaining and completing any work that they may have missed due to their absence. As required by the student handbook, students will be given five (5) days to make up any assignments for absences that have been excused by the main office. After that time, no credit will be issued for the assignment. Students who miss assignments due to unexcused absences will NOT be eligible to make up the assignment for credit but are encouraged to do so in order to not fall behind in class.
Assignments:
All homework assignments, projects, lab reports, etc. will be given a due date in which the assignment must be completed and returned to the teacher for credit. The due dates for these assignments depend on the nature of the assignment, length of the assignment, and the difficulty of the assignment. Below is a listing when assignments will typically be due:
Homework Questions or Worksheets: Start of the following class period
Pre-Lab Assignments: Due at the beginning of a laboratory experiment
Informal / Formal Lab Reports: One week from the end of the experiment.
Projects: Due Dates will vary, no less than two weeks time.
Late Assignments
You will be penalized 10% of the value of pre-laboratory assignments, laboratory reports, and projects that are handed in after the due date. Late homework assignments will not be accepted for credit. There will be no exceptions to this rule.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the practice of taking written work of another individual and passing it off as your own original work. Please be aware, Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. Students caught plagiarizing papers will be given a zero for the assignment and may be referred to the office for further disciplinary action.
Plagiarism will be defined as:
1. Taking a small portion or an entire paper from another individual’s book, magazine, or website and passing it off as your own work. (i.e. cut and paste from the internet)
2. Using the same assignment a student has used in the past while claiming it is your own work. Students cannot reuse the work of other students from the current or prior school year.
Students are encouraged to do outside research and include quotations from other people's work. However, you are expected to cite the material used in the paper using a reference or works cited page.
Labs:
All lab activities will be accompanied with a written report or assignment. There will be two different classifications of lab reports that will be completed in this class.
Formal Laboratory Reports (100 points)
These reports will be a type written / word processed report following a specific lab template that will be provided by the teacher. One written report will be issued each quarter. Students will be provided some time in class to complete this work but will be expected to work on this on their own time.
Informal Laboratory Reports (25-50 points)
These reports will typically require the student answering a worksheet or brief list of questions that utilize results and lab procedures from the experiment.
Lab Participation and Etiquette (25 points)
Students will also be given a lab participation and etiquette grade for each experiment. A rubric as to the scoring will be provided by the teacher. This grade can be issued for an entire lab group or individually to each student based upon the activity, at teacher discretion.
Tests:
During each marking period, students will be tested approximately every two weeks. These tests will be pre-dominantly be composed of multiple choice, true-false, or matching questions and will be worth 100 points unless otherwise noted. Short answer questions, essay questions, or chemistry problems may also be given on these tests.
Students are urged to be present on the day of the test! Students having unexcused absences on the day of a test will NOT be eligible to make up the test due to unexcused absence and will receive a zero grade.
If you know you are going to be absent on the day of a test and cannot avoid being absent on that day, please let me know in advance so that arrangements can be made for you to take the test a daily early or earlier in the school day. An additional 10% will be deducted for each additional day from the scheduled make up time that the test has not yet been completed. Incomplete tests will be recorded as a zero grade at the end of the marking period.
The presence of cell phones during testing will not be tolerated at any time. Students will not have cell phones located on or near their desks at any time during a test. Cell phones have no role being in the class during testing and only encourage the possibility of cheating and other dishonest activities. Students caught with cell phones during testing may have their test scores disqualified and be required to take a make-up test of similar difficulty to validate their level of understanding.
CHEATING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!! As required by the school administration, any student(s) caught cheating will be given a failing grade on the test or assignment and referred to the office for further disciplinary action. Remember, the person next to you may not even have the same question or test as you do!
Mid Term and Final Exams:
There will be a school mandated Mid-Term and Final Exams. These exams will be cumulative in nature and will include all material that has been covered to date. Information regarding these exams and the total points value of these exams will be discussed as the information becomes available. Any student who has a 94.0 average two weeks prior to the final exam will be exempt and not required to take the final examination.
Mid-term and final exams are typically worth 200 points, which is double a normal test grade and will be included in the second quarter and fourth quarter grade respectively.
Homework:
Students will be assigned various activities for homework which may include reading material, writing notes or outlines, worksheets, lab reports, or other work. Homework will be checked and/or collected daily and will count towards your quarter grade.
If applicable, homework will not always be graded based upon having the correct or incorrect answer. Rather, homework will be graded based upon the effort put into completing the assignment. Simply writing down an answer without any supporting details or mathematical work will not fare as well as answers with supporting explanations and mathematical calculations.
Quizzes:
Quizzes, whether announced or unannounced, will be given during a marking period in order to gauge student understanding. These quizzes will be no longer than ten questions and students will be given at least ten minutes of time to complete these quizzes.
The presence of cell phones during quizzes will not be tolerated at any time. Students will not have cell phones located on or near their desks at any time during a quiz. Cell phones have no role being in the class during quizzes and only encourage the possibility of cheating and other dishonest activities. Students caught with cell phones during testing may have their quiz scores disqualified and be required to take a make-up quiz of similar difficulty to validate their level of understanding.
Cell Phone Policy:
Cell Phones, especially smartphones, have become a normal part of our daily lives. However, the use of cell phones in an academic environment is not always proper or conducive to the best educational experience for our students. Unless specifically allowed by the teacher, cell phone usage in class is not allowed. Students are to keep cell phones silenced and out of sight during class periods. Habitual offenders of the cell phone policy may have their cell phones confiscated and submitted to the main office.
Daily Participation:
One of the keys to success in a chemistry class is asking questions and being an active member of the class. Although I don’t expect to answer every question, I do expect you to participate in some way during each in person class, virtual session, and applicable lab periods.
Progress Reports:
An emailed copy of your weekly progress in this class throughout the year will be automatically be emailed to your parents through the Skyward Grading system. Students and parents are permitted to request a progress report at any time.
Topics to be Covered:
Chapter 1: What is Chemistry?
Chapter 2: Matter and Changes
Chapter 3: Scientific Measurements
Chapter 4: The Development of the Classical Atom
Chapter 5: Modern Atomic Theory
Chapter 6: Periodic Table of the Elements
Chapter 7: Ionic Chemical Bonding
Chapter 8: Covalent Chemical Bonding
Chapter 9: Chemical Formulas and Nomenclature
Chapter 10: Mole Conversions
Chapter 11: Chemical Equations
Chapter 12: Stoichiometry
Chapter 13: Gases and the Gas Laws