CHEMISTRY                                            ________     Mrs. McInnes

In chemistry we will study measurements, problem solving, types of matter, atoms: their properties and interactions, periodic table, chemical formulas, reactions and stoichiometry, phases of matter, heat and solutions.  Chemistry is very mathematical. It will also require memorization of several formulas and names.

There may be an out of class project each quarter that will be worth the same as a test grade.

There will be a review of the state standards about three weeks prior to students taking the Ohio Graduation Test in March.

Rules and Expectations

You are expected to:

• Always participate and put forth effort.  Remember, this room is for science.
• Bring needed supplies to class each day:  notes, charts, worksheets, calculators, book if needed
• Stay on task and be a good listener.  Do not interrupt the education of others. 
• Be kind, polite and respectful to everyone, and their belongings. (Even those people you don’t like). This includes substitute teachers as well.
• Report to your seat when you enter the room.  Be on time.
• No Sleeping.
• Wait for the teacher, not the bell, to dismiss you. No lining up at the door.
• Be quiet during ALL P.A. announcements.
• Use the restroom between classes.
• Use quiet voices when socializing is permitted.
• Obey all school and classroom rules.  Special laboratory rules will be announced and enforced.

Consequences

Any of the following may be used, depending on the violation

• Stay after class--shortening class exchange time.
• Detention after school (after three detentions for the same offense in one quarter, it will be considered "excessive" and will result in an office referral)
• Parent phone call
• Office Referral.

Grading Policy

       All homework is graded either for correctness or for completion.  There will be a daily quiz (although not always daily) worth 5 points each.  These will be averaged together at the end of a grading period and entered as a test grade. Other quizzes are worth 50 points.  Tests are worth 100 points (entered as a percent).  Lab grades vary with the experiment.           90 - 100    A                80 - 89      B               70 - 79    C               60 - 69    D

Note:  You will have to earn your 90,80, 70, 60.  I DO NOT ROUND UP.  (Daily quiz grades will say excluded in progress book).  They will be included at the end of the quarter when they are averaged and entered as a test grade.  The grade on the quiz will be listed in the comment section so you can keep track.

Late Work:  You are allowed to turn in an assignment up to 1 week late three times per quarter for full credit.  After they are used, late work is not accepted.

NOTE:  KEEP ALL REVIEW SHEETS AS A WAY TO STUDY FOR YOUR SEMESTER EXAMS.

Required Supplies

Notebook or pocket folder (for science), dry erase markers, highlighter, scientific calculator, pencils with eraser & paper.

Absences

Chemistry continues to build more advance topics on top of the initial, foundational topics.

 FAILURE TO LEARN THE FOUNDATIONAL TOPICS WILL RESULT IN CONFUSION, DIFFICULTY AND POSSIBLE FAILURE LATER ON IN THE COURSE.

When you have missed class (either due to an absence from school, a field trip, a class / club meeting, visiting the clinic or office etc. ), report to the front window area of our room  for what you missed both in class and in homework.

 It is up to you to obtain any make-up work (this includes class notes) as quickly as possible.  CLASS DOES NOT STOP AND WAIT FOR YOU TO CATCH UP AFTER AN ABSENCE.

School rules state that an unauthorized absence results in a zero for the day.  This is followed very strictly.  If you have trouble getting your absences authorized, then I would not miss class.

Attendance is taken every day and checked for authorization.  YOU WILL BE CAUGHT IF YOU SKIP THIS CLASS.

CHEMISTRY:  A College Prep Course

From the Teacher’s Edition of Heath Chemistry

Reality says:

• Most students want to understand, but when information is presented faster than they can make sense of it, they resort to memorization in order to cope.
• Students do not see ideas and skills as the purpose of schooling, but rather completing tasks and earning grades.
• Students do not want to know “why and wherefore.”  They just want to know how to get the right answer.
• Teaching problem solving involves teaching intelligent things to do when faced by unfamiliar tasks.  It is “what you do when you don’t know what to do.”

Good Problem Solvers:

• Believe they can solve just about any problem if they work at it long enough.
• Persistent.  They work at it a long time before giving up.
• Read carefully.  They read it over several times before beginning to work on it.
• Break complex problems into small steps and solve them one step at a time.  They look for new relationships that will lead them to a solution.
• Organize their work.
• Check what they have done along the way and at the end of the problem.
• Use mental representations like drawing pictures to visualize the example.

College students fail because:

• They are unprepared to assume responsibility for their own learning.
• They have not learned to manage time.
• They do not discipline themselves to study.
• They are not sure where to find the information they need or how to separate irrelevant information from that which is important.
• They have difficulty synthesizing information from several sources and using it to solve a problem.
• They are unable to interpret tables, diagrams, graphs, mathematical expressions and specialized languages such as chemical equations.
• Their writing is often poorly organized, grammatically incorrect and full of contradictions.
• Although they have skills at memorizing and applying a procedure in a routine manner, repeating what they are told, they are stumped by new tasks that do not have a set procedure.
• Few show an ability to evaluate facts, directions or other information.