In this post:
a note to this year's incoming Freshmen
details about class - required materials, this web page, optional assignments
your first homework assignments
I am very excited to have you in my class this year! A few notes about the class that may be helpful:
-Book assignments are intended as background; read the assigned reading and try your best on homework problems. If you haven't done the reading, you may find yourself lost in class.
-If you need help, ask! I am around before and after school, and if you want to check any book - homework problems, feel free to look at my teachers' edition which is always available to you in the classroom.
-Homework assignments are ALWAYS given with 2 days' notice. If you can't get work done by the assigned time, a 20% late penalty will be assigned and you can still turn it in one day late by 7:15am. After that, there will be no credit assigned unless I am contacted by your parent to explain why you can't finish homework within 3 days.
-Have fun! I will try to get you involved as much as possible; hands-on demonstrations and activities are a great way to learn science.
This page will be updated daily as a resource for you and your parents. Links to additional assignments (optional assignments) that you may do to buffer your grade, copies of upcoming notes and handouts, homework listings, and all sorts of fun things will appear here.
-Mr.F.
This year's first stuff to know:
Lab Journals: We will do lots of labs in this class; we will do roughly one official lab write-up per unit.
I am trying a new approach this year:
If you continue on to Honors Chemistry next year, you can buy a bound graph paper composition notebook and count on using it for two years.
If you aren't going into Honors Chemistry, or aren't sure, I am flexible on the journal you use and I can even give you graph paper to glue in when you need it.
With the inception of BYOD this year, I am going to accept typed / emailed / other types? of electronic lab journals. Your creativity as to how you want to share your work is the only limit.
Weird grading of labs/projects: Labs and many assignments in this class will be listed as "Optional" in the gradebook. This doesn't mean that you have the option to sit there like a slug :-) , but if you do a poor job on a lab or another project, your grade will not be penalized; the lab will not be recorded at all. The same goes if you are absent and can't make up a lab activity... this does weight your test and homework grade more heavily though, so you want to do well on labs and try many optional assignments!
Online textbook: On your syllabus there are instructions to access the online textbook. Try it out and you can get a head start on homework - read p.14-21 and work problems p. 21 #1-5... due next week after books...
Digital copy of the textbook: Bring in a flash drive to school and I will copy the textbook for you - we have lots of CD copies but they don't always work well. (I will need a few volunteers to try this since we are short on texts)
Syllabus - sign (Parents too) and return. You must have this signed and returned to participate in labs
1st assignment: List of 10 metric measurements + Metric vs. Standard argument- Due Monday:
--> Argue for the use of either Metric or Standard units' measurements of a particular item.
-->Find ten items around the house and record the metric, or S.I. (International System) units of measurement on their labels. Units should be based on liters, grams, or meters mostly, and many will use a prefix, like mL for milli-liters or cm for centi-meters.
Examples:
Item Measurement
1. Head & Shoulders Shampoo 400 mL
2. Canned corn 375g
3. Aluminum Foil 7.5 m^3
Argument example: Yards make more sense than meters to me because there are 36 inches in a yard, which is easier to remember than 100 cm in a meter.
Friday's in-class worksheet (I will be absent but you will have an exceptional sub, Mr. Rademacher, here to help you!)
Student Information sheet for Friday
Monday's in-class worksheet
Friday's in-class notes
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