The College Board AP Chemistry Course
Description states that the “course is designed
to be the equivalent of the general chemistry course
usually taken during the first college year.” The
text goes on to say that, “Students in such a course
should attain a depth of understanding of fundamentals and
a reasonable competence in dealing with chemical problems.
The course should contribute to the development of the
students’ abilities to think clearly and to express
their ideas, orally and in writing, with clarity and
logic.” Therefore I have adopted the following goals
for this course:
Students will work to learn the material as in a
typical college-level introductory chemistry class and
achieve an acceptable score on the AP Chemistry Exam, held
in May every year.
Students will work to become critical and independent
thinkers with a focus on general, non-algorithmic
problem-solving.
Students will learn the applicability of such
problem-solving techniques as applied to societal, cultural
and technological issues making them well-informed citizens
of an increasingly technology-saturated world.
Students will leave the course with a better
appreciation of the natural world through the application
of the concepts and mathematical modeling used in this
course.
Students will learn to work well in groups in labs,
class, and study groups to accomplish complicated tasks. In
doing so they will hone the important communication skills
also required for good writing, as in formal lab reports.
Instructional Techniques and Assessment
Grades in the course will be broken down as follows:
Tests: 40%
(1 per quarter)
Quizzes: 30% (4 - 6 per quarter)
Labs:
25% (6 - 7 2-hr labs per quarter)
Homework:
5%
Formal Reports: 100 points
Short Reports: 50 points
The schedule at the end of this introductory material shows
what to expect for each unit. Specific dates are not given
in the interest of maintaining flexibility. The number of
hours of class time for each unit is indicated as a goal.
Also in the schedule is recommended Memory
Work which are items that you should commit to
memory.
For each unit you will be required to complete a
brief Outline of the important points in
the reading assigned for that unit. This will be submitted
through Google Classroom. This Outline
must be separated into the sections used
in the chapter. Sometimes one or two entries on the Outline
will be sufficient for a given section. For other, more
complicated sections you will need to use your judgment as
to what the most important ideas and problem-solving
techniques are. Keep Outlines brief! I require this work to
encourage you to prepare thoroughly for class. It’s
up to you to make it useful to you. You may never look at
it again but the fact that you made it can help you to
learn and to read carefully. Outlines should be completed
by the first day of a new unit: you must read ahead!
A tip about reading textbooks: they are
not novels. In a novel you typically read a passage once
with full comprehension. The action carries you forward
through the text. Textbooks build sequentially in each
chapter and you will at times need to read a section
several times—and work through its examples on
paper— before you can move on to the next section. Be
self-aware and check in with yourself: Did I understand
that passage? Could I solve problems based on it?
Each unit has a Problem Set that consists
of questions and problems from the ends of the chapters. At
times I will assign problems from supplementary material
for the Problem Set. These problem sets can be approached
in several ways:
You will work independently to solve the problems using
only your brain, the text, a calculator and paper and
pencil.
You will work in study groups outside of class to help
one another to solve the problems. Use this time not to
copy another student’s solution but to compare notes
about the best way to get to a solution.
You will come to your teacher during Advisory to work
on problems so that you can check solutions and ask
questions.
Outlines will be checked for completeness and count for
a homework grade. Problem sets will be given a homework grade based on completion as well.
The date of the Homework Quiz will be set
whenever we begin a new unit. The Homework Quiz will draw
on problems directly from your homework and will be short.
Test dates will be near the end of each
quarter. Tests will be designed to simulate the AP
Chemistry Exam as closely as possible. Tests will be
comprehensive and will be designed to be completed in one
hour. Timed tests will help you to prepare for the AP Exam.
Labs will be offered six to seven times
each quarter. Lab assignments will vary in scope but at
minimum will require completion of pre-lab work by the
first day of work and completion of post-lab questions.
One to two times each quarter you will be required to
submit a full formal lab report (format available
separately). Unless specifically given as group work all lab assignments must be done by each individual student. Students may not work together, may not share answers, and may not copy one another’s work.
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Metacognition
In this course our motto is FIO (an acronym that I leave to
the reader: you will figure it out if you think about it
for a bit).
It is important that you evaluate yourself frequently as
you work to find out what you have learned. Try repeating
to yourself the contents of class discussions. Even better,
go over the concepts and problem-solving techniques with
your study group: communicating something you have learned
forces you to organize your thoughts about it. When you do
so, you learn it better yourself. This is true also about
writing in the course. Your lab reports and the answers to
lab questions are learning opportunities. When you explain
what you have learned in writing you often find that you
have not learned it as well as you thought you did. Go back
and learn it properly and your writing will improve.
We will spend time in this course developing your mental
math skills. The multiple-choice portion of the AP
Chemistry Exam must be done without calculators.
Advisory and Office Hours
One of the most important ways to improve your grade in my
class is to do well on tests and quizzes. In order to
encourage you to come in for help with your preparation I
will offer 5% in extra credit points on a quiz if you come
in at least once to study in my room during advisory or
office hours and actively ask me questions. To earn the
extra points your visit must be at least one school day
prior to the quiz. This is a great opportunity to get
together with friends to come in and ask questions and
study together.
“I think this class has made me more of a self-driven
learner. Before this year if I was stuck on a problem I
would often wait for the teacher to explain it, but now I
take the time and do the work to figure it out on my own. I
think this has really improved my learning.”
“This class has changed me as a student because I
have had to learn how to do more learning on my own and be
efficient in my work so I have time to study.”
“I’ve had to manage my time a lot more and
focus on what I have the most trouble on, rather than
everything. I am a more effective worker and problem solver
because of it.”
“This class has made me a much more independent
student. To be successful in this class, you must be driven
and do hours of studying outside of class.”
“This class has changed me in a lot of different
ways, honestly. I have learned to study better, which in
turn helped me keep my grades up not only in Chem but in
every class. I have also learned to time manage. It was
really fun and I'm glad I took it and I highly
recommend it!”
“This class has changed me as a student because
it's shown me that I'm not as smart as I thought I
was. It has showed me that if I want to be smart, I'm
going to have to try a lot harder.”
“This class has made me realize that some subjects
are most effectively learned—or even must be
learned—simply by applying new concepts through trial
and error (e.g., in the problem sets). I have become a more
patient learner because of this class, more willing
to blunder around in the dark until things make sense, and
more appreciative of the time it takes to develop true
understanding.”
“Success in fields like Chemistry has less to do with
how many facts you can just rote memorize and more with a
willingness to study, think about, and eventually
understand fundamental systems.”
“This class has changed me as a student because I had
to look at things before tests to not fail them.”
“This class has changed me as a student because it
has strengthened my ability to solve problems. I have
developed new strategies involving looking at problems from
different angles and writing down everything I know first.
This has carried through to my other classes”
“The way I study for classes is different. Overall, I
think I am able to more effectively study and succeed in
other classes. By taking this class, I better understand
what techniques work best for me. I value practicing the
problems more after the course. An example would be
practice tests for other courses. I made sure to use
practice tests before my other exams.”
“My studying has become much more efficient and
effective. In previous years I would save studying for the
night before but now I make an effort to study a little bit
as I go along. Also, in previous years I would rarely, if
ever, do extra assignments or supplemental material if I
wouldn’t get a grade for them. Now, I frequently do
these things because I want to expand my knowledge of a
topic which I know will probably help me later on.”
“This course has pushed me to the breaking point.
There have been times where I wanted to drop down a level.
But through these moments, I learned perseverance. I also
learned how to think analytically and really learned to
appreciate this class separate from the grades.”
“This class has single-handedly taught me that if I
put my mind to something, I'll be able to do it.”
