CHEMISTRY I COURSE SYLLABUS Mrs. Taylor

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Cornelius Williamson
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1 CHEMISTRY I COURSE SYLLABUS Mrs. Taylor Chemistry is the study of the composition of substances and the changes that these substances undergo. The study of chemistry covers a broad range of interests and overlaps other sciences as well as other disciplines. Chemistry is difficult for most students, but with some hard work, almost all students pass this course with excellent grades. In this class you will be expected to do the following: 1. Take notes of all classroom activities. 2. Keep a notebook for classroom activities and for lab experiments. A 3-ring binder is the best choice. You will also need a composition notebook (the kind where the pages are attached permanently). This notebook will be called your ChemCatalyst notebook; you will have a notebook quiz twice each grading period and these quizzes will count significantly toward your daily grade average. I have a limited supply in the classroom that you can purchase for 50 cents. 3. Do homework. 4. Perform lab experiments and write lab reports. 5. Write reviews of scientific articles and programs. 6. Provide yourself with a scientific calculator. It does not have to be a graphing calculator, but should you choose to buy one, a TI-83+ or TI-84+ is most compatible with not only our activities, but also with any you might do in your math classes. Cell phone calculators are not allowed. We do have a set of classroom calculators, but they are not true scientific calculators, therefore they have some limitations. I highly recommend you purchase your own calculator! 7. Write papers suitable for your writing portfolio. 8. Learn some chemistry. 9. Complete several out of class projects. 10. Enjoy the class---after all, CHEMISTRY CAN BE FUN! Grades Your grade will be determined by daily work, tests and quizzes, lab reports, special projects and writing assignments (open response questions, portfolio entries, etc. Daily work will comprise about 50% of your grade and tests and quizzes about 50%. Daily work might include the following: 1. Homework: Homework will be graded in one of two ways: (1) I will collect and check it or (2) you will have a quiz over the assignment. You won't know ahead of time which method I'll choose. 2. Classroom work: Calculations, worksheets, book assignments, etc. 3. Labs and lab reports. Sometimes I will grade your labs directly and sometimes I will give you a quiz over the lab and you will be able to use your lab sheets and the data you collected. 4. Problem solving activities. 5. Special projects (creative writing, consumer research, take home labs, etc) 6. Open response questions 7. ChemCatalyst notebooks. These will be graded twice each grading period as mentioned above and will include two scientific article summaries. A separate explanation sheet for the article summaries will be given to you.

2 8. Others to be determined as we go along. Each assignment will be worth a certain number of points, which I will record in the grade book. At the end of the grading period, I will divide your total points by the number of possible points (Your Points/Total Possible Points x 100%), and that will be your report card grade. You can do this at any time, for any assignment, in order to determine your current percent grade. Be sure to keep track of your grades on a grade sheet or check STI Home regularly. Semester exams will count 10% of the total semester grade. You are responsible for your grade; I just record it. You should always know what your grade is in this class if you keep track of your assignments. Rules and Regulations *1. ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD OR GUM OR DRINKS OF ANY KIND IN THIS CLASSROOM. We all need to work together to keep our chemistry lab/classroom clean. Since our classroom is also the chemistry lab there will be no eating or chewing gum allowed in the room. The first time you are caught eating, drinking or chewing gum you will have to write a 3-page essay on the benefits of keeping food and gum out of the classroom. This essay will be due the next day. If you get caught a second time, you will be required to write a 4 page paper. I don't expect it to happen a third time! 2. I expect what most teachers expect: you need to be in your seat at the time class begins, you need to listen when I am speaking, and you need to do the work that is assigned. You will be excused at the end of class when I excuse you. The main special rules we have in here are safety issues that are necessary since we are in a chemistry lab. The general rule to follow is don t touch anything until you have been given clearance to do so. *3. We will have a special unit on lab procedures and proper safety techniques. You will have to take a test and earn a grade of 92% before you will be allowed to do any lab experiments. You will then be issued a lab license and will be able to do labs. 4. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to check with me to get your makeup work. Being absent is no excuse for not getting assignments turned in. There will be a place in the classroom, directly under the prep room window that will have copies of assignments, as well as a notebook that will list everything done each day. The first person that comes to me the second day of school and says, "I dig chemistry" will win a special prize. That will show me you have read this! If you are absent, check this notebook upon your return to class to see what you missed. Since we are on the block schedule, you will always miss a lot when you are absent. Try not to be absent! 5. We will use textbooks, but you will not be assigned a book. We will have a classroom set so a book is available any time you need it. If you want a book to take home I will assign one to you. At any time you will also be able to check out a book for a short period of time. 6. If you choose not to bring a scientific calculator to class you will do any math the old fashioned way. I will not allow you to borrow someone else s calculator at any time. If you do not bring a calculator to class I will assume you are telling me that you prefer to do math without one. 7. No cell phone or any type of music player is to be used during class. This includes text messaging while the

3 phone is in your purse or bag. I will take it away if I see it and turn it into the office where a record is kept of how many times you have had an electronic device confiscated. Three occurrences and you will be given a detention hall assignment. 8. At the beginning of each class there will be a ChemCatalyst on the screen. As soon as class begins you will be expected to write down the question in your ChemCatalyst notebook and answer it. If you fail to do this you will lose points from your grade. 9. Most of the activities and labs will be done in groups. Sometimes you will be able to choose your group, other times I will choose the groups. You will be expected to work with whoever is in your group. Group work means just that, a group of students working together, not one person does the work and the others do the copying. 10. I don t have a set restroom policy other than if you have to go I will let you. Anytime you leave the room I expect you to sign out when you leave and sign back in when you return. If you abuse the restroom privilege you will lose the opportunity to leave the classroom. Let's have a great year and remember: IS CHEMISTRY CAN BE FUN!!

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