Chemistry (Honors)—Course Syllabus2015

School: Robeson Early College High School

Teacher: Mr. Keenan

Note to Parents/Guardians:

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you and your child to Chemistry (Honors). We, at Robeson Early College High are all looking forward to a productive and successful school year. I am so very pleased to have your child this semester.

The Chemistry course encourages students to continue to explore their investigations of the structure of matter and to gain knowledge about basic chemical concepts. At the completion of the Chemistry course, students will be required to take a state “Final Exam” which will count as a comprehensive final exam. In order to ensure that all students score at or above grade level we will cover lots of material and perform many labs and other activities. These activities will include using calculators, other hands-on and manipulative activities, including problem-solving activities. Our goal is to be SUCCESS oriented. For this reason, it is mandatory that all school and classroom rules will be followed everyday. Please take the time to review the student handbook with your child.

Classroom Rules

The classroom rules are as follows:

  1. Be in your seat, working on your starter assignment, when the class begins.
  2. Come to class prepared each day (fully charged digital device, pencils, paper and homework) and ready to learn.
  3. Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself.
  4. No talking while the teacher is talking. Additionally, raise your hand and wait to be recognized before speaking at all other times.
  5. Follow all directions the first time given.

Consequences

If, at any time, these rules are broken the penalties will be as follows:

1st time—Warning

2nd time—Teacher-Student conference

3rd time—Parent-Teacher conferenceand learning center detention

4th time—Teacher-Student-Parentconference

5th time—Office referral

Additionally, severe offenses will be referred directly to the office.

Course Content: The Chemistry course encourages students to continue their investigations of the structure of matter along with chemical reactions and the conservation of matter and energy in those reactions. Inquiry is applied to the study of the composition, structure, properties and transformation of substances. The course focuses on basic chemical concepts and incorporates investigations to build understanding of these concepts. The unifying concepts and program strands provide a context for teaching content and process skill goals. This course is broken into 4 large units. This is intended to reflect the NC Final Exam testing philosophy where students are expected to know less detail and more over-arching connectedness within the curriculum. Rather than have small units with tests that focus on details of specific topics, the 3-4 tests provided in this course will test the students’ knowledge on a broad scale. The quizzes are designed to focus more on the details while students are learning each section within each unit. These were created with the intention to be used more as a study guide and to hold the students accountable for their own preparation by counting them as quiz grades.

Integration: Objectives taught during this course will be aligned with the Essential Standardsfor Chemistry. Activities such as starters will assist students in preparations for competency testing. Daily activities will be correlated with other subject areas, such as science, reading and writing.

North Carolina ChemistryEssential Standards

Chm.1.1 Analyze the structure of atoms and ions.

Chm.1.2 Understand the bonding that occurs in simple compounds in terms of bond type, strength, and properties.

Chm.1.3 Understand the physical and chemical properties of atoms based on their position in the Periodic Table.

Chm.2.1 Understand the relationship among pressure, temperature, volume, and phase.

Chm.2.2 Analyze chemical reactions in terms of quantities, product formation, and energy.

Chm.3.1 Understand the factors affecting rate of reaction and chemical equilibrium.

Chm.3.2 Understand solutions and the solution process

Materials/Supplies Needed:

Three ring binder with notebook paper

Pencils

Graph Paper

Pens

Composition Book

Textbook

** Notebooks, pencils and paper are required daily!

Other Information: Please feel free to contact me, for any reason, at the school to arrange for a conference after school on any day. Appointments may be made by calling the school at (910) 737-5232. Thank you.

Grading Scale:

9 Weeks Grading

CW/Homework20%

Labs/Projects: 20%

Tests 40%

Quizzes20%

Semester Grading

1st 9 Weeks grade: 37.5%

2nd 9 Weeks grade: 37.5%

Final Exam grade: 25.0%

*****Please be reminded that a student who is absent for more than 5 days per semester/course constitutes grounds for a failing grade. This is school board policy. In the event that more than 5 days are missed, days may be made up by attending Saturday Academy.

Again, I look forward to working with you and your child this semester. Please come to the next PTSA open house meeting so that we may get acquainted.

RECHS fields a Science Olympiad team that prepares throughout the year for tournaments. Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in each division. By combining events from many disciplines, like anatomy, physics, geology, astronomy, mechanical engineering and technology, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved in active, hands-on, group participation.


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