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.” 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%
The schedule at the end of this introductory material shows
what to expect for each unit. Specific dates are approximate. The number of
hours of class time for each unit is indicated as a goal.
The work for each unit will begin with an assignment to read
the assigned sections of the textbook and to work out on paper
the solutions to the Practice Exercises in the text. This is a
homework assignment and will be checked for completeness. Questions
will be addressed in class during lectures.
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?
Class time will be used for lectures, group work, and labs. Every unit
has a Problem Set. Do the assigned problems from the syllabus
for each unit. Problems are found at the end of each chapter in the text.
On the day the Problem Set is due it will be checked for completeness. Student
questions will be handled in class by a combination of class discussion and
additional practice. Solving problems is the best way to learn and understand
the course material. The problems are a tool you will use
to learn new material: you will not immediately know how to
solve each problem no matter how well you pay attention and
take notes in class.
Plan ahead and leave yourself enough time to work through things
you don’t understand. Do not wait until the night before the Problem
Set is due to begin work. There are three ways to approach getting your problem set done. Get it done by…
working independently to solve the problems using
only your brain, the text, a calculator and paper and
pencil.
working 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.
coming to your teacher during Advisory to work
on problems so that you can check solutions and ask
questions.
Problem sets will be given a homework grade based on completion. To show completion you must write something for every problem.
Lab Assignments are written work that may take either of two forms. A formal lab report is a multi-page report requiring specific content and layout. Another type of lab assignment will consist entirely of answering designated pre-lab and post-lab questions in a typed document. This second type of assignment will be weighted at the equivalent of one half the weight of a formal report.
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.
page break
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 comprehensive and will be designed to be
completed in one hour.
Metacognition
The purpose of every academic class is to learn new concepts,
master new skills, and to deepen your understanding of
the world. The purpose of the class is not to get the assignments
done. The assignments are tools to enable learning and practice
and simply getting them done without learning anything
will be counterproductive.
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.
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).
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.
Recitation
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 AEAST
and actively ask me questions. You must do this at least one full
day before the quiz date. 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.”
“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 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 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”
“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.”
No labs; concentrate on being able to name formulas and write formulas for names
Ch. 02, Part II Practice Exercises
Ch. 02 Part II, Problem Set
POGIL: Naming Ionic Compounds
POGIL: Polyatomic Ions
POGIL: Naming Acids
Ch. 01/Ch. 02 Part I Quiz
Ch. 04 Practice Exercises
Ch. 04 Problem Set
POGIL: Net Ionic Equations
Net Ionic Equations Practice Solutions to Net Ionic Equations
Midweek: Acid-base Titration Lab Pre-lab
Ch. 10 Practice Exercises
Acid-base Titration Lab Report
Ch. 04 Quiz
Ch. 19 Practice Exercises
Score/Correct AP FRQ Review #2
AP FRQ Review #3
Score/Correct AP FRQ Review #3
AP FRQ Review #4
Ch. 19 Problem Set
Ch. 19 Quiz
Electrochemical Cells and Electroplating (Flinn Kit)
Ch. 20 Practice Exercises
POGIL: “Oxidation and Reduction”
POGIL: “The Activity Series”
POGIL: “Electrochemical Cell Voltage”
Score/Correct AP FRQ Review #4
Full Length Practice Test 1, with scoring
Ch. 20 Problem Set
Full Length Practice Test 2, with scoring
Ch. 20 quiz
The AP Chemistry Exam is scheduled to be in person in school at 12 pm on Monday, May 6, 2024
