IPC - Susan Garfield

2016-2017

Room 206

Welcome to IPC! This syllabus is designed to help you understand more about the expectations and policies for the year. Expectations are high inIPC as I prepare you for high school. I look forward to a great year with each of you.

Overview

We will be studying chemistry and physics in more depth this year. Chemistry plus space will be studied in the fall and physics plus geology will be studied in the spring. We will be carrying out many labs and activities to help students retain the information that they learn and relate their learning to the real world. Approximately 40% of our class time will be spent in some form of activity or lab.

Students will also be expected to create and analyze experiments. Students will be doing a good bit of technical writing to put this process down on paper. Writing helps them organize and sequence their thinking in a logical way that makes it easier to determine cause and effect. Students will also use algebra to define scientific processes. They will be examining how variables relate to each other and from that they will be able to see how math formulas are derived.

In the Earth Science part of the course, we will be focusing on cycles and processes. Lunar cycle, tidal cycle, plate tectonics, and the weather. We do not spend as much time on this part of the curriculum since most of it is a review of knowledge learned in previous grades.

Academic Skills Emphasized

  • Lab safety and using scientific tools
  • Designing and interpreting charts and graphs
  • Analyzing, evaluating and critiquing data and theories
  • Designing and implementing experimental investigations
  • Research and Technical Writing with supporting evidence
  • Math skills needed to manipulate algebraic equations and formulas
  • Creating maps and models and their limitations
  • Looking at scale

Grading Policy:

  • Homework10%
  • Tests and Projects40%
  • Classwork 40%
  • Quizzes10%

Late Homework Policy:

Assignments are to be done in neat, legible handwriting or done on the computer. The exception is graphs and charts which must be done by hand. All assignments should be turned in on time. For each grading period, the homework assignment with the lowest score will automatically be removed from the gradebook and therefore not counted in the final grade for the grading period. These assignments can either be zeroes for late work or an assignment that received a low grade.

Retesting: Retesting will be done only for tests. All students who make below a 70 on the original test may take the retest. Students must make test corrections and attend tutorials in order to take the retest. The retest will be set at the teacher’s discretion. Also, there may be additional requirements in order to qualify for the retest subject to the topic.

Absent Policy:

All assigned work will be on the HUB. Any supporting documents, videos, etc. that the students need to use to complete assignments will either be on the HUB or on Google Classroom. For each class period missed, students will have 2 days (not class periods) to make up the work. The student will need to come and talk to me to schedule missed labs.

When students are absent:

1. They should look on the HUB and Google Classroom to complete as much of the assignment as possible. The student should also print off any handouts that pertain to the missed assignments and bring them to the next class.

2. When the students get back to class they should look in the IPC crate to get any papers not available online.

3. If they have specific questions about the work they should come and talk to me.

The more the student makes up while absent, the better prepared he or she will be when they return to class.

TEXTBOOKS:

We will also be using Integrated Physics and Chemistry by Cambridge Physics. This can be found on the student’s science class page on the HUB. The district IPC textbook is also on the HUB.

Required Materials:

One green binder for papersGraph Paper

Paper, pens, pencils, metric rulerNotebook Paper

Red checking pensScientific Calculator

Good EraserTabs for the binder

VERY IMPORTANT: Students must bring a Scientific Calculator every day to class. Students will not be allowed to go back to their locker for their calculator as we don’t have time for that. Please do not bring a graphing calculator.

Labs:

Labs are a very important part of the learning process in science and I feel that they are just as important as tests in assessing student knowledge and skills. For this reason labs are a very important part of your grade – they can count as classwork, 40%, or as a test, 40%. If you do your best on the labs your grade should be stellar. However, the labs are quite rigorous and some of the questions on tests come from the labs covering that topic. If you pay attention, follow directions, and use your time well, you should be fine. Labs are not a time to play and chitchat with your friends. Horseplay will not be tolerated in labs. As you can understand, this could be quite dangerous from a safety standpoint.

Student Expectations and Responsibilities:

Individual responsibility is stressed in IPC as most assignments are individual and not group based. That means that the first moment you do not understand something we are covering in class, you must stop and ask questions. Your best friend and tablemates are not responsible for what you know - you are. Ask Questions! Be Proactive!

PARENTS:

Please feel free to share any comments, questions or concerns that you might have. I try to answer all emails and phone calls within 48 hours so if you have not heard back from me please email me again. The email might have gotten lost amid all the other emails. My conference time is 3rd Period on Tuesdays and Thursdays, between 11:30-12:00am. Also, if you have an area of expertise or interest that you would like to share with the students, please let me know. My email address is . The school phone number is 713-917-3565.

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Parent NameParent SignatureDate

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Parent’s Daytime Phone NumberParent’s E-mail Address

STUDENTS:

I have carefully read and understand the information, procedures, and guidelines for Mrs. Garfield’s

IPC class.

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Student NameStudent SignatureDate