AP Physics Syllabus

Mrs. Ursula Gutierrez. Room 705

Classroom Rules:

  1. Follow directions. Listen to the instructions that are given to you in order to understand the activity at hand, the guidelines and due dates for the activity, and to ensure the safety of all in the class.
  2. Come to class prepared. Bring your binders, pencil, and calculator to class daily. You should be at your assigned seat when the bell rings and ready to start with the lesson or activity scheduled.
  3. Be respectful. Treat everyone with respect and dignity. If you do not have anything nice to say, please keep your comment to yourself. No profanity allowed in class. The way you act and treat others says a lot about your character.
  4. Be responsible. You will be advised of all deadlines to so sure to adhere to the dates. It is your responsibility to check in with me to make arrangements for any assignments that might have been due in your absence. If you miss during a lecture, the notes will be available on the class webpage. If you are having trouble with the subject matter, speak to me, and make arrangements to attend tutoring sessions.
  5. Be involved. You will be expected to alert, attentive, and actively engaged in class. This will enhance your learning experience. From time to time, you will be graded on your participation in an activity.
  6. Follow Apache Rules. Abide by the Antonian Code of Student Conduct, including dress code and electronic use.

Classroom Procedures:

  1. Each class will have a seating arrangement to ensure efficiency in the classroom. I will change the seating arrangement as I deem fit.
  2. Class will begin with a short prayer, followed by either a warm-up question or a short video over the topic to be covered in class. The only time we will not have a warm-up question or a video will be on a test day.
  3. Each student will be allowed up to 1 restroom break per week. Those students who do not use any restroom breaks for the reporting period will be awarded 5 points towards their lowest test.
  4. At the end of each class, the teacher will dismiss you, not the bell. In order to be dismissed, you need to be sitting quietly in your assigned seat and your area should be clean. Remember to pick up any mess you make.

* I wouldn’t go to your house and make a mess so please do not make a mess in my room *

Supplies:

  • Binder• Scientific Calculator
  • Dividers – 5• Pencils

Tutoring Hours:

Monday, Wednesday7:30 am – 8:15 am & 3:30 pm – 4:00 pm

Tuesday, Friday7:30 am – 8:15 am

Grading Guidelines:

* Labs and Journal Writing – 35%

Labs will be conducted in groups. Each member is responsible for turning an individual lab report. A lab report format will be given to the class.

You will be keeping a journal in the composition book over each unit covered throughout the year. You will document what you have learned over the unit, as well as how this is applicable to the “real world.” You should also address any misconceptions that you may have had over any of the topics in the unit. This should be grammatically correct – grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

* Tests & Special Projects - 55%

Quizzes and Binder checks will average out to one test grade per 9 weeks period.

Your binder should have 5 sections: Exams, Lab Reports, Journal, Handouts, and Notes. The most recent work should be up front, with older material towards the back. You do have the option of writing out your notes on paper or typing up your notes on a laptop, IPad, or tablet. If you type up your notes, you will need to print them out and place inside of your binder under the “Notes” tab. Warm-Up questions will be worth 5 bonus points. Binders will due on the date of the unit test, along the printout of the Binder checklist in the front.

* Daily Work / Homework – 10%

Worksheets and handouts will fall under this category. From time to time, participation will be assigned a daily grade. If you are off-task or being disruptive, then your grade will be reflective of this.

* Grade Improvement / Missed Work:

For students who score less than a 60 on their exam, test corrections will be mandatory during tutoring hours for a modified grade up to a 60. Students will write out the question, write the answer they initially chose, and write the correct response. Corrections are due 1 week from the test date.

If you are absent, you may make up any work (excluding exams) that was assigned. Be aware that if your absence is excused, you will be given a deadline based on the amount of excused days that you were out. If your absence is unexcused, the highest grade you can receive will be a 60, as per the Antonian Student Handbook. If you are out on a test day and have to take your exam after your class, you will be given a make-up test.

* Late work:

Labs and Projects: 10 point off the 1st day

15 points off the 2nd day

20 points off the 3rdday

No credit after the 3rd day late

Daily:10 points off the 1st day

No credit after the 1st day late

Tentative Curriculum Agenda – Fall Semester 2017

Date/Weeks / Topic / Exams / Holidays
8/17 – 8/18 / Precision vs. Accuracy
Significant Figures
8/21 – 8/25 / Unit Conversions
Review
8/28 – 9/1 / Constant Velocity / 8/30 – Unit 0 Exam
9/5 – 9/8 / Frame of Reference
Relative Velocity / 9/4 – Labor Day
9/11 – 9/15 / Constant Velocity
Free Fall
9/18 – 9/22 / Graphs
Review / 9/21 – Unit 1 Exam
9/25 – 9/29 / Vectors
10/2 – 10/6 / Projectile Motion
Relative Motion
10/9 – 10/13 / Review / 10/11 – PSAT / Early Dismissal
10/13 – Early Dismissal
10/16 – 10/20 / Newton’s Laws / 10/16 – Unit 2 Exam
10/24 – 10/27 / Types of Forces
Free Body Diagrams
10/30 – 11/3 / N-2 Equations
Systems
11/6 – 11/10 / Review
Work – Energy Theorem / 11/07 – Unit 3 Exam
11/13 – 11/17 / Energy / Conservation of Energy
Power
11/20 – 11/24 / Thanksgiving Break
11/27 – 12/1 / Review
Impulse / 11/28 – Unit 4 Exam
12/4 – 12/8 / Linear Momentum / Momentum Conservation
Collison
12/11 – 12/15 / Center of Mass
Review / 12/15 – Unit 5 Exam
12/18 – 12/22 / Review Units 0 – 5 / 12/20 – 12/22: Semester Exams

* Schedule may change based on circumstances which might arise.

Tentative Curriculum Agenda – Spring Semester 2018

Date/Weeks / Topic / Exams / Holidays
1/8 – 1/12 / Circular Motion
Period, Frequency, Angular Speed / 1/12 – Early Dismissal
1/15 – 1/19 / Density
Gravitational Acceleration / Orbits / 1/15 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
1/22 – 1/26 / Review
Angular Kinematics / 1/22 – Unit 6 Exam
1/29 – 2/2 / Torque
Rotational Inertia / 2/2 – Early Dismissal: Career Day
2/5 – 2/9 / Unbalanced Torques
Angular Momentum
2/12 – 2/16 / Review
Periodic vs. Harmonic Motion / 2/13 – Unit 7 Exam
2/19 – 2/23 / Simple Pendulum
Mass – Spring Systems / 2/19 – President’s Day
2/26 – 3/2 / Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion
Graphs / 3/2 – Early Dismissal
3/5 – 3/9 / Review / 3/8 – Unit 8 Exam
3/12 – 3/16 / Spring Break / Spring Break
3/19 – 3/23 / Wavelength, Period, Frequency
Transverse vs. Longitudinal Waves
3/26 – 3/30 / Waves on a String / 3/29 – Early Dismissal: Holy Thurs
3/30 – Good Friday
4/2 – 4/6 / Standing Waves: Pipes / Strings
Sound Waves / 4/2 – Easter Monday
4/9 – 4/13 / Review / 4/11 – Unit 9 Exam
4/12 – 4/13: IOWA Testing
4/13 – Early Dismissal
4/16 – 4/20 / Quantization of Charge / Coulomb’s Law
Voltage, Current / Ohm’s Law
4/23 – 4/27 / Review / 4/26 – Unit 10 Exam
4/27 – Battle of Flowers
4/30 – 5/4 / Review for AP Exam
5/7 – 5/11 / Review for AP Exam / 5/8 (PM) – AP Physics Exam
5/14 – 5/18 / Contributions of Scientists / Discoveries Project / Presentations
5/21 – 5/25 / Review Units 7 - 13 / 5/21 – 5/25: Senior Semester Exams
5/28 – 6/1 / 5/28 – Memorial Day
5/29 - Baccalaureate Mass
5/30 – Graduation

* Schedule may change based on circumstances which might arise.