Honors Chemistry Syllabus - Fall 2009

Mrs. Sara Lepkofker

 Email: lepkofkers@fulton.k12.ga.us    School phone:  770-497-3828   

                                   Website:  http:/www2.fultonschools.org/teacher/lepkofkers

Course Description:  The major principles, concepts and applications of chemistry will be reviewed while employing a hands-on approach to learning.  This course is designed to prepare students for college-level chemistry and science related majors.  For specific content objectives, please refer to the GPS website at http://www.georgiastandards.org/science.aspx .  Go to “Grades 9-12, Chemistry Standards with Tasks”.

Syllabus Objectives

Text:  Chemistry; Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008; (ISBN #: 0-13-251210-6)

Materials (please bring daily to class):  textbook, 3-ringed binder with 5 dividers (labeled openers, notes, homework/classwork, labs, quizzes & tests), Lab notebook, paper, black/blue pens, #2 pencils, red pen, highlighter, scientific calculator. 

CLASSROOM RULES:

1.                   Obey all school rules.

2.                   Be polite and respectful.  Listen when someone else is talking.

3.                   Be prompt, prepared (with required materials), alert and ready to learn.  Follow all class procedures.

4.                   Unacceptable behavior during a lab or class activity will result in a grade of ZERO for that activity.

5.                   No food or drinks other than bottled water may be consumed in the science classroom.  During labs, no bottled water or chewing gum is allowed.

CLASSROOM PROCEDURES:

1.  Student Responsibility: You are expected to be respectful towards your teacher, classmates and the property of others.  Being in an Honors class is a privilege, not a right.  Correction of student misconduct within a given class period is as follows:

1^st Occurrence    Verbal Warning   

2^nd Occurrence   Detention (Private or Public) and/or Parent/Guardian Contact

3^rd Occurrence   Administrative Referral & Parent/Guardian Contact

2.  Seating Chart: Every student will be assigned a place to sit in the class. Assigned seats may be changed by the teacher, if the need arises.  Seating assignments will be changed periodically.

3. Tardy Students:  Students must be in their seats and ready to begin work when the bell rings.

1^st Tardy:                Warning

2^nd Tardy:               Public Detention (3:45-4:45)

3^rd Tardy:               2 Public Detentions (3:45-4:45)

4^th Tardy:               Saturday School (8 – 11) in the food court

5^th Tardy:               Office Referral

4. Leaving the Room: Students must use the time between classes to take care of personal matters. No student may leave the room during the first & last 10 minutes of class.  No lining up at the door before the bell rings.  A pass is required to leave the room.

5. Student Participation: Students are expected to pay attention and contribute to class activities and labs. This includes taking notes. Be an active learner. Do not be afraid to ask questions!

6. Honor Code Policy:  As explained in the student handbook, cheating is defined as “the giving or receiving, in any form, information relating to a gradable experience.”  Violations of the honor code will result in a zero for the assignment, plus an honor code violation form placed in the student’s disciplinary file.  Read the handbook carefully to fully understand what constitutes a violation.  The Honor Code policy will be strictly enforced.

Upon teacher request, students may be required to email research papers to turnitin.com. The website checks the submission for plagiarism, and reports to the teacher that the student’s work was not copied from any source.

7.  Homework and Assignments:  Homework (HW) and Classwork (CW) will be graded regularly. It will be graded based on effort and/or on accuracy. Simply writing down numbers or letters is not considered effort.  Show your work!   Classwork is comprised of activities that we do in class but are not labs.  In addition to assigned homework, students are expected to read each chapter in the textbook and to work extra chapter & review problems to develop skills in solving problems.

8. Late Work: All work is due at the beginning of class on the date it is due.  Homework that is one day late will be worth 50% of the grade.  Students will not be allowed to go to their locker to get homework- be prepared when you enter the room.  Labs and projects will be accepted late for a penalty of 20% each day.

9. Make-up Work : You are responsible for making up all missed work. Students are given the same number of days to complete make-up work as the absence, not including the day of return. Labs, tests and quizzes must be scheduled promptly with the teacher upon return.  Pop quizzes do not need to be made-up.  Because this course is lab-intensive, you will have 1 week to make-up any missed labs unless there are verifiable, extenuating circumstances.   Assignments issued prior to the absence, including tests and quizzes scheduled for the day of return, are due upon the student’s return.  Students who are present for any portion of the school day (i.e. TAG) are expected to turn in all assignments due on that day to receive full credit. An excused absence makes the student eligible to receive full credit for making up the work missed.   Extracurricular activities are not an excuse for not having time to do make-ups.   Failure to make up a test or lab results in a grade of zero.  See student handbook for more information.  Make-up work is to be handed to the teacher.

10. Missed Work: There will be a “Missed Work” binder in the room. I will place the daily agenda and any handouts for each day in the binder. It is your duty to get the material (notes, homework, handouts) that you missed.  The best way to keep up with missed work is to have a “study buddy” to copy notes from and to keep you informed of what you missed.

11. Quizzes and Tests: Scheduled and “Pop” quizzes will be given to assess the level of student’s understanding.  There will be a test after the completion of every chapter or unit. Lab Performance Assessments and projects may be counted as a test grade.

12. Openers: Every class will begin with an “Opener”.  The students will be expected to begin the opener immediately when the bell rings.  Openers will be kept in a separate section of the binder.  Periodically, quizzes may be given based on the openers. 

13. Notebooks: Notebooks will include the syllabus, handouts, notes, labs, class work, homework, and quizzes/tests. Save all your work to study for your cumulative final exam.

14. Lab Experiments: This is a very lab-intensive course.  You will be required to maintain a bound lab notebook that will document all parts of the lab experience according to specified requirements.  You will be graded on your lab notebook/typed lab reports as well as lab quizzes/tests. It is critical that you listen carefully to instructions and perform the labs in a safe and accurate manner.  Although students do labs in lab groups—all lab documentation in lab book or lab reports are done individually. Lab equipment is shared among all classes, so you will be responsible for paying for the replacement of any lab equipment that you break.

15. Literature Review:  A literature review is a required part of this Honors Science class.  During the fall semester, all Honors Chemistry students will investigate a question in science that relates to our curriculum, review the literature, and produce a report of their findings with parenthetical documentation and a works cited page.  This assignment will count as a test grade.

15. Help Sessions: Extra help is available before and after school on an as needed basis.  Please see me to arrange a mutually agreeable time. 

16. Fulton County Policy – Provision for Improving Grades

Opportunities designed to allow students to recover from a low or failing cumulative grade will be allowed when all work required to date has been completed and the student has demonstrated a legitimate effort to meet all course requirements including attendance.  Students should contact the teacher concerning recovery opportunities.  Teachers are expected to establish a reasonable time period for recovery work to be completed during the semester.  All recovery work must be directly related to course objectives and must be completed ten school days prior to the end of the semester. Teachers will determine when and how students with extenuating circumstances may improve their grades.

17. Northview Recovery Policy:   Opportunities for students to recover from a low/failing cumulative grade will be provided when all work required to date has been completed and the student has demonstrated a legitimate effort to meet all course requirements. Students who have not attempted to complete all course requirements are not eligible for recovery.  Students must contact the teacher concerning recovery opportunities at the time his/her grade falls below 74.  Recovery work must be completed within ten school days prior to the end of the semester. The type of recovery assignment is given at the discretion of the teacher.

18. Progress Reports: Progress reports will be issued every six weeks.  ParentCONNECTxp allows parents/guardians to access their children’s assignments, grades, attendance, and discipline records via the Internet. Please visit www.northviewhigh.com.

19.  Grading Procedure:

Tests: 45%              Labs: 25%           Quizzes:  7%                   Homework / Classwork:  8%           Final Exam:  15%

Grading Scale:      A= 90 and above                 B= 80-89 C=70-79 F= 69 and below

20.  Honors Points:  The student will receive 7 points added to his or her passing average which will appear in the overall GPA.