• HONORS CHEMISTRY

    Course Description and Student Expectations

     

    Instructor: Mr. Kyung Lee

    Classroom: A237

    Email address: klee@methacton.org

    Text: Chemistry-Principles and Reactions, updated 5th edition published by Thomson

     

     

     

    COURSE DESCRIPTION:

    Chemistry is all around you – in the foods you eat, the fuels you use, the medicines you take, the fabrics you wear, the water you drink and even in your body.  This class will focus on learning and applying the fundamentals of chemistry at a level that will prepare you to be successful in General Chemistry in college or Advanced Placement Chemistry at Methacton.  In order to accomplish this, honors chemistry is taught at a fast pace.  Additionally, the types of problems that you will solve require critical thinking, problem solving and proficient algebra mathematics skills.

    Chemistry is a subject that requires you to build a body of knowledge.  Concepts you learn in the beginning of the year will be used repeatedly throughout the year and your understanding of the new concepts will depend on your grasp of the previous concepts.  It is important that you concentrate each day and focus on the subject matter at hand.  To succeed in this course, you must exhibit the necessary work ethic and accept responsibility for the work.

    Listen carefully and stay focused during class, take careful notes, work diligently, answer every homework question (no matter how hard it is), do extra work when necessary (i.e. read through your class notes daily, rework problems done in class or for homework, read the relevant sections in the text book, etc), see me before and/or after school for extra help and write good lab reports.

     

     

     

    CLASSROOM PROCEDURES:

    You will have many new experiences in Chemistry this year.  You will participate in a variety of class activities and you will be expected to follow some general procedures to create the best learning environment.  Classroom procedures for this course include the following:

    1. It is expected that you give each activity your best effort.  There will be many and varied challenges throughout the year so please feel free ask questions.  If you are confused, chances are that others are also.  Ask questions if you’re confused!
    2. Come to class on time and prepared.  This means that you are in the room when the bell rings and ready to begin class.  You will need the following items each day:

    ·         a notebook

    ·         a pen or pencil

    ·         any assignments which are due, ready to be turned in—this includes assignment being stapled.  Note: please cut off all notebook perforations before turning assignments in.

    ·         a scientific calculator (it must have a ‘log’ button and a scientific notation button—labeled EE or EXP).  Programmable calculators, including GRAPHING CALCULATORS, will not be allowed on tests and quizzes, so I advise always using a standard, scientific calculator for all your chemistry work.

    You do not need to bring your book to class on a daily basis.  However, there may be times when you will need it.  I will notify you when you need to bring your book.

    1. Food and drink are not permitted in the classroom at any time.
    2. Signing out is limited to the first five and last five minutes of class.  Please use the lavatory on your way to class.  You may not sign out when the teacher is lecturing.
    3. Mature and courteous behavior is expected at all times.  Inappropriate language is not permitted.
    4. If you need additional help, I am available to help you before school (with an appointment and upon my availability) and after school.  Other times can be arranged depending on your schedule and mine.

     

     

     

    ATTENDANCE:

    1.      Be on time for class.  If you are going to be late for class, bring a pass from your prior teacher.

    2.      Unexcused lateness may result in a teacher detention (teacher detentions are half hour before or after school, see description of teacher detention for specifics).

    3.      Extreme unexcused lateness (over 2 minutes) will result in an administrative detention.

    4.      Please notify me the day before you will not be in class for privileges such as music lessons, field trips, on the road training, etc.  If you fail to do this, your absence may be considered unexcused and you will may receive a zero for any missed work.

    5.      When you are absent from class you are responsible for any work missed including lab activities.  (NOTE: It is not the teacher’s responsibility to tell you what you missed during the period(s) that you were absent; it is your responsibility to find out what you missed.)  It is your responsibility to schedule the necessary make up work.

     

     

     

    GRADES:

    1. Each student is encouraged to keep a grade sheet in his/her notebook.  Grades will also be posted periodically.
    2. Your grade will be determined by tests, quizzes, lab reports, classroom work, homework and preparedness.
    3. Any instances of cheating or plagiarism are subject to and will be dealt with according to Methacton High School’s Academic Honor Code.

     

     

     

    TESTS AND QUIZZES:

    1. Tests will normally be given at the end of a chapter or unit and will be announced in advance.  Quizzes may be announced or unannounced.
    2. Calculators may be used on tests and quizzes.  However, according to school policy, graphing calculators are not allowed to be used for chemistry tests.
    3. If you are absent the day of a test, you may be expected to take the test upon your return, so be prepared.
    4. If you are absent the day before a test and you come to school the day of the test, you are still required to take the test.  No material on the test will be covered the day before.
    5. If you are absent two or more consecutive days, the make-up policy will come into effect.  See the section on Make-Up Days for more details.
    6. Any cheating on tests is subject to Methacton High School’s Academic Honor Code.

     

     

     

    HOMEWORK:

    For the first marking period:

    1. Homework must be completed before coming to class.  No in-class, last minute completing of answers will be permitted.
    2. Homework will be checked and, in some cases, homework will be collected for grade.
    3. Copying or allowing your homework to be copied is considered cheating and subject to Methacton High School’s Academic Honor Code.
    4. Late homeworks will not be accepted.
    5. If you were absent for a graded assignment, it is your responsibility to hand it in upon your return to class.
    6. I will not check make-up homework during class time.  Please come in before or after school for your homework to be checked.

     

    For the second marking period:

    1. Homework will be assigned but they will not be checked.  Instead, homework for the chapter will be collected on the day of the test.
    2. Each homework packet should have a cover page which includes the following for full credit:
      1. Your full name
      2. The chapter number
      3. The date
      4. The numbers of the problems assigned
    3. Homework packets that are not stapled (they must be stapled; they should not be paper clipped or folded) may be returned to you.  You may be asked to prepare the packet correctly; this packet may be considered to be late (see late policy).
    4. Homework packets that have perforation still on the paper may be returned to you.  You may be asked to prepare the packet correctly; this packet may be considered to be late (see late policy).

     

    For the third and fourth marking period:

    1. Homework will be assigned but will not be checked or collected.  There will be no homework grade for the third or fourth marking period.  Solutions to the assigned homework problems will be provided.

     

     

     

    MAKE-UP DAYS POLICY (IMPORTANT):

    1. You will have as many ‘make-up days’ as ‘days you have been absent’.  For example, if you are absent for 3 days, you will have 3 days to make-up the assignment or test without penalty.
    2. When you are absent from class you are responsible for any work missed including lab activities.  It is your responsibility to schedule or hand-in the necessary make-up work.  (NOTE: It is not the teacher’s responsibility to tell you what you missed during the period(s) that you were absent; it is your responsibility to find out what you missed.)
    3. If you need more time, you may be allotted more time if and only if you come to talk to me within your make-up days.  If you ask for more time after your make-up days have passed, you may be denied your request.

     

     

     

    LABORATORY ACTIVITES:

    The number one concern for all laboratory activities is SAFETY!  To assure that all labs are conducted safely, we will adhere to the following guidelines at all times.

    1. All chemistry students and their parents must read and sign the lab safety information sheet.
    2. All students must successfully pass a lab safety quiz.
    3. All students must follow the experimental procedure.  Unauthorized experiments are not permitted.
    4. No ‘horseplay”, inappropriate behavior or inappropriate language is permitted.
    5. Safety glasses must be worn without fail and at all times.
    6. Failure to follow all safety guidelines may result in disciplinary action as well as a “0” for the lab activity.
    7. Prelab assignments must be completed prior to the beginning of the first chemistry period of the day.  If the assignment is not completed, you may not be permitted to participate in the lab that day and will be required to make up the lab after school.
    8. If you are absent the day of a lab, you are required to make up the laboratory activity promptly.  Labs can be made up during a study hall, after school, before school or at other times my schedule will allow.  You will have one cycle to make up the lab.
    9. There may be as many as two formal written lab reports per marking period.  All lab assignments must be completed on their due date.  Failure to turn in a lab assignment on time may result in a lower grade or a “0” for the assignment.
    10. Laboratory work is an integral part of this course.  Safe and proper behavior is required at all times.
    11. IMPORTANT: If you do not do the lab, you may not be allowed to take the lab quiz.  Completion of the lab is required to take the lab quiz.

     

     

     

    DAILY CLASSROOM PROCEDURES:

    1. When you first enter the class, please go directly take your assigned seat.  You may talk to your neighbor but you may not loiter around the class.  Please take your seat when you first come into class.
    2. Please remain in your seat until the end of the class bell rings.
    3. Please do not pack up before you are instructed to do so.  If you pack up prematurely, you may lose preparedness points from your marking period grade.
    4. Class begins when you enter class; the beginning of class is not limited to the ringing of the bell.

     

     

     

    SIGNING OUT PROCEDURES:

    1. You may only sign-out to during the first five minutes and the last five minutes of class.
    2. You must ask before you sign-out.
    3. You must legibly complete the sign-out book every time you sign out even if you leave before the bell rings.
    4. If you leave before the bell rings to go to the bathroom or locker and you return to class after the bell rings, you will be considered late for class.
    5. If you do not complete your name, the date, your destination, time in and time out in the sign-out book each time you sign out, you may loose you sign-out privileges.
    6. If you go to any other place other than the destination indicated in the sign-out book, you may loose your sign-out privileges, you may receive a teacher or administrative detention and/or you may be written up for cutting class.

     

     

     

    ASKED TO LEAVE CLASS:

    1. In certain circumstances (i.e. for private discussion or for disciplinary reasons), I may ask you to leave the classroom.  In my class, this is primarily a means of providing a good context for communication and not for discipline.  Please keep this in mind.
    2. If I ask you to leave the room, please wait immediately outside by the classroom door until I come out and talk to you personally.
    3. If I come out to the hallway and you are not there, you may be written up for cutting class (cutting class may result in failing grade for the marking period).
    4. If you do not leave class when I ask you to go out into the hall, you may be written up for insubordination.
    5. Going out into the hall does not mean that you are in trouble.

     

     

     

    TEACHER DETENTION:

    1. A teacher detention (located in the teacher’s classroom) starts at 2:30 pm and ends at 3:00 pm.  Or, a special appointment for a morning detention for 7:00 am to 7:30 am can be made.
    2. You cannot start the detention early (at 2:20 pm) and expect to leave at 2:50 pm.  Detention is from 2:30 pm to 3:00 pm.
    3. If you come late to detention (even 2:31 pm), you will not be able to take the detention.  Make sure you come a couple minutes early to detention.
    4. You will have approximately 5 school days to make up a teacher detention.  If you do not make up a teacher detention in the allotted time, you may be written up for skipping a teacher detention for an administrative detention.

     

     

     

    LATENESS:

    1. Your entire person must be through the threshold of the door before the bell rings.  If you are in the doorway or in the hall when the bell rings, you will be considered late to class and you may get a teacher detention.
    2. For those that come from the C wing of the high school, you will be allotted an extra minute.  A timer will be set for one minute that will begin when the school bell rings.
    3. A lateness of 2 minutes or more will be considered an extreme lateness which may automatically become an administrative detention.

     

     

     

    STAPLER:

    1. You may not use the teacher’s stapler on the day that an assignment is due.  The assignment should be “ready to be handed in” when you walk into the threshold of the door.
    2. If you use the stapler you may either lose points in your preparedness grade or your assignment may be considered late.

     

     

     

    GUM:

    1. Gum is not allowed to be chewed in chemistry class.  Please spit out gum as you enter the class.  If you are found chewing gum during class, you may be given a teacher detention.

     

     

     

    FOOD AND SODA:

    1. No food or drink is allowed to be consumed in class (especially in the lab area).  Please keep all food and drink in your bag.  If food or drink is seen in class, it may be confiscated.
    2. Water may be consumed in the classroom lecture area.

     

     

     

    CELL PHONES:

    1. Please keep cell phones in your bag.
    2. If your cell phone goes off in class, it will be confiscated.
    3. If I see your cell phone in class, it will be confiscated.
    4. If you use your cell phone in class, it will be confiscated and you may get a teacher detention or depending on the context, an administrative detention.
    5. If you go the bathroom to use your cell phone, you may get a teacher detention or an administrative detention.

     

     

     

    CLASSROOM DISRUPTIONS:

    1. Once the lecture portion of the class begins, please do not disrupt the lecture with questions that are off task from the material being covered.
    2. You may only sign-out of the room during the first 5 minutes or last 5 minutes of class.  You may not ask (unless it is an emergency) to sign out once lecture has begun.
    3. If you make jokes that are off-task from the lecture, you will be given a warning.
    4. If you continue to make jokes that are off-task from the lecture, after you have been given a warning, you may be asked to leave the class and/or be given a teacher detention.

     

     

     

    COMPUTER USE:

    1. If you use the computer without asking the teacher, you may lose your computer privileges for the marking period.
    2. If you do any non-school related work on the computer (i.e. games or email), you may lose your computer privileges for the marking period.

     

     

     

    LOST AND FOUND:

    1. If you leave any personal belongings in the room, it may be taken down to the cafeteria lost and found.

     

     

     

    COPYING (i.e. PLAGIARISM)

    1. If you have any questions about what constitutes copying, please come and ask me.
    2. The following is considered copying:
      1. Same or similar answers for labs or any section of the lab.  (This means that if even one section of your lab is the same or too similar to another person’s lab, it will be considered copying).  YOU MAY NOT HAVE THE SAME OR SIMILAR ANSWERS AS YOUR LAB PARTNER.  YOU MUST DO POST-LAB AND PRE-LABS INDIVIDUALLY.
      2. Same or similar answers for homework (each individual homework is not worth very much.  It would be a shame to be written up for plagiarism for a homework assignment).
      3. Same or similar answers for in-class assignments.

     

     

     

    CENTER ROOMS:

    1. You may not go into the center rooms (in between Mr. Reigner and Mr. Lee) unless you are instructed to do so.

     

     

     

    BREAKING LAB GLASSWARE:

    1. If you break any glassware during a lab, please do not clean it up yourself.  Call me and I will clean it up.

     

     

     

    POST-LAB CLEAN UP:

    1. If lab equipment is returned to the wrong drawer, it may affect your lab grade.
    2. If you do not properly clean up your lab area, it may affect your lab grade.
    3. If your lab partner doesn’t properly clean the lab area or return the lab equipment to the right drawer, you will be penalized also.

     

     

     

    MISSING THE LAB PERIOD:

    1. The first time you miss lab because of forgetfulness, you will be given a warning.
    2. The second time you miss lab because of forgetfulness, you may be given a zero for the lab and you may not be able to make-up the lab assignment.
    3. The third time you miss lab because of forgetfulness, you may be written up for cutting class and you may receive a failing grade for the marking period.

     

     

     

    REPORTING OBSERVATIONS TO MR. LEE:

    1. If you have a grievance or observation or helpful criticism for me, please see me before class or after class.  Please do not express any criticism to me during class time in front of other students; please share observations with me in private.

     

     

     

    STUDENTS WHO FAIL TO MEET COURSE REQUIREMENTS MAY BE IN JEOPARDY OF FAILING THE COURSE FOR THE YEAR

     


     

    Please sign below and return.

     

     

    COURSE REQUIREMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

     

    I have read the above requirements and I am aware of what is expected of me in this course.

     

    Student Signature: (Print) ___________________________Date ____________

     

    Student Signature: _________________________________________________

     

    Parent Signature: (Print) ____________________________________________

     

    Parent Signature: _________________________________Date ____________

     

    Parent email address (please print carefully): _____________________________

     

    Parent phone number (please print carefully): ____________________________

     

     
Last Modified on October 5, 2011