AP Chemistry © SyllabusKimberley W. Sherman
2015-2016Kell High School
Introduction: Advanced Placement Chemistry is comparable to a general chemistry course usually taken during the first year of college. This course is designed to promote enduring, conceptual understandings and the content that supports them. Students who take this course will also develop advanced inquiry and reasoning skills, such as designing a plan for collecting data, analyzing data, applying mathematical routines, and connecting concepts in and across domains.
The key concepts and related content of this course are organized around six big ideas, as shown below, with an emphasis on science practices (i.e., aspects of the work that scientists engage in).
Big Idea 1: Structure of Matter – atomic and molecular structure
Big Idea 2: Properties of Matter – characteristics, states, and forces of attraction
Big Idea 3: Chemical Reactions
Big Idea 4: Rates of Chemical Reactions
Big Idea 5: Thermodynamics
Big Idea 6: Equilibrium
Textbooks: Brown, Theodore L. et al, Chemistry: The Central Science, 11th edition, 2009, Prentice-Hall; Waterman, Edward L., AP Test Prep Series: AP Chemistry, 2009, Pearson Education
Additional Required Supplies: In addition to your textbook, bring the following items to class every day: notebook or binder for class notes, pencil, pen (blue or black ink), scientific calculator, and a hardbound (composition style) notebook for labs.
Meeting Times: This course will meet daily for one class period over the entire school year, and during academic support period three days a week. A minimum of 25% of this instructional time will be spent engaging in investigative laboratory work.
Grading: The categories and percentages for determining your final grade are as follows:
Tests (55%) – Unit tests will usually cover more than one chapter in the book. The test date for a given unit will be announced on the first day of instruction for that unit. Tests will contain both multiple choice and free response items similar to the AP Exam given by The College Board.
Laboratory (25%) – During this course you will complete a minimum of sixteen laboratory experiments, spending no less than one 90 minute period per week in lab. Of the sixteen labs, a minimum of six will be conducted in a guided inquiry format. You are expected to keep an accurate record, in your lab notebook, of all work that you do in lab. In addition, you will be asked to write full laboratory reports on selected labs. Please refer to The Laboratory Notebook and Report – Beginning Level, attached to the end of this syllabus.
Daily Grades (10%) – Daily grades include class work, homework, and quizzes. Homework exercises and practice problems will be assigned at the beginning of the unit. It is the students’ responsibility to keep up with those assignments. Quizzes may or may not be announced.
Final Exam (10% )– The midterm and final exams will be cumulative and will include both multiple choice and free response items similar to the AP Exam given by The College Board.
** Letter grades will be assigned in accordance with Cobb County policy: 90-100 = A; 80-89 = B; 74-79 = C, 70-73 = D; below 70 = F