PS Chemistry (Regents)



PS Chemistry 2013-2014

Mrs. Kotlowski

Regents Chemistry Syllabus

OVERVIEW:

Chemistry plays a key role today in all fields of science and technology in many diverse areas ranging from research to the application of new technology in our everyday lives. This is a lab course that has been designed to give a basic understanding of the fundamental principles and ideas that define the science of chemistry. Chemistry is the study of matter and energy and the interactions between them. This course will include discussions of past, present and future social and historical issues related to chemistry.

GOALS:

a. Understand principles that define the science of chemistry

b. Apply chemical principles to explain real world problems/applications

c. Develop and enhance laboratory skills

d. Enhance general knowledge of the physical world live in

e. Develop general problem solving skills

f. Learn about the history of chemistry

g. Prepare to successfully pass the NYS Regents exam

MATERIALS REQUIRED: must be brought to class daily

• ring binder: hold unit packets, various handouts and class notes

• pen(s), pencil(s): blue or black ink only for graded assignments

• scientific calculator: programmable/graphing calculators are NOT permitted

• reference tables: provided by teacher

• unit Packets: provided by teacher

supplemental materials required:

• marble notebook: used as lab journal; provided by teacher; to be kept in classroom

• textbook (Chemistry: Matter and Change): to be kept at home since all required reading will be HW assignments

Students are expected to come to class, with the proper tools, participate in class discussions, take notes and complete the assigned work so they can be successful!

Students are expected to ask questions when they don’t understand something. I’m here to help but it is the student’s responsibility to make sure they understand the curriculum content.

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ATTENDANCE:

Regular attendance is crucial for success. It is easier to keep up than catch up!

• absent students are responsible for ALL content and assigned work covered during absence

• absent students are given detailed handout upon return to class (includes all missed assignments, assignment due dates and make-up dates for labs)

All students absent the day before a Unit Test are expected to take the test as scheduled.

Any student who misses 3 or more days must see Mrs. Kotlowski to work out a schedule to make up work missed during the student's absence.

TARDINESS:

Students not present in class when the last bell rings are considered late. A pass is required to be admitted late to class. Late students will be required to sign in as they enter class; a student who is late three times may be assigned detention.

PASSES:

• a “Bathroom pass” will be available in the classroom

o only one student is permitted to leave class at a time

o cell phones must remain in the classroom

o bathroom pass can not be used during the first or last 10 minutes of class

• students are not permitted to leave class for any other destinations unless thay have be provided with an official pass

CLASSROOM:

• Cell Phones:

o MAY NOT be used in the classroom at any time – No Exceptions!

o designated place will be provided for phones during class to eliminate this huge distraction to student learning

• Participation:

o students are expected to be prepared for every class (have completed homework & materials) and be ready to participate in classroom discussions

o everyone’s opinion can be a valued contribution so all are encouraged to share

o everyone makes mistakes and we learn best from our errors; all will be expected to treat each other with respect at all times

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GRADING:

The assessment percentages for each quarter are as follows:

• Tests 65% [failed tests must be signed by a parent/guardian]

• Quizzes 10%

• Labs 15%

• Homework 10%

MIDTERM AND REGENTS EXAMS:

• Midterm exam counts as 25% of the 2nd quarter grade (equivalent to 2 test grades)

• Chemistry Regents Exam counts as 5th quarter grade (20% of the total course's grade)

ASSESSMENTS:

Any student that takes out a CELL PHONE during a quiz/test (whether using it or not) will be given a grade of zero – NO EXCEPTIONS!

• UNIT TESTS: announced in advance; given at the end of each content unit

o test questions cover current unit content and may contain content from previous unit(s)

o no in class review for tests

▪ after school review sessions are held the day before each unit test

o students absent the day before a unit test are expected to take the test as scheduled

o students legally absent for a unit test have 1 week to complete the test (preferably during a free period or after school)

• QUIZZES: usually announced in advance: pop quizzes can happen anytime

o quiz questions may be from class notes and lectures, textbook readings, assigned labs, and homework assignments

o students legally absent for a quiz generally have 2 days to complete the quiz (preferably during a free period or after school); quick feedback is essential for quizzes

• HOMEWORK:

o must be turned in at beginning of class on due date; not accepted after class has begun

o DAILY HOMEWORK IS NOT ACCEPTED LATE unless a student is legally absent

▪ absent student may submit HW assignment(s) at beginning of class on day return to class

▪ absent student is responsible for handing in HW once they return to class

o LONG TERM HW assignments ARE NOT ACCEPTED LATE regardless if student is absent or not

▪ may always be handed in early

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• LABS: help reinforce learning process

o students encouraged to complete ALL labs and submit completed lab report on time

▪ NYS lab requirement will be met as long as miss/fail ONLY ONE lab

o ALL Lab reports must be typed (templates are provided on the web site)

o ALL lab questions must be answered in full, complete, grammatically correct sentences

o labs submitted after due date have 1 point deducted for each day late, up to 7 days

▪ lab reports received 7+ days late given grade of zero: eligible for lab hours only

o lab templates, due dates, and make-up dates are posted on website

Students ABSENT for a lab:

- labs can only be made up after school

- all labs must be made up within 2 weeks of originally scheduled date

- scheduled make up days (alternating Tuesday/Wednesday) posted on website

- any lab not made up will earn a grade of zero and can not count towards lab hours

- complete, typed lab report must be submitted by revised due date given

Students who FAIL a lab:

- students are given opportunity to make corrections on first 4 labs ONLY (allows students to compensate for any difficulties meeting expectations of writing a proper lab report)

[NOTE: NYS requires completion of 1200 minutes of lab work which requires student to perform lab, submit completed lab report, AND achieve passing grade for each lab. Failed labs DO NOT count. Students failing to meet this requirement will be barred from taking the NYS Chemistry Regents exam in June.

LAB SAFETY:

Safety rules in the lab are strictly enforced. There are NO exceptions! Any student who is not practicing safety in the lab (as outlined in the Safety Contract) will be asked to leave the lab area immediately; a grade of zero will be given for the lab and there will be NO MAKE-UP the lab.

EXTRA HELP:

Content review sessions: Thursdays 2:00 – 3:30pm

Lab make-up sessions: Tuesday/Wednesday 2:00 – 3:30pm

(as scheduled)

All students are encouraged to come for extra help as needed. Putting academics first will help students maximize their success in Chemistry. Extra help should take priority over sports practice or after school employment. Students are expected to adjust their after school activities so they may attend extra help sessions as needed.

Chemistry is a building block course which means that each unit builds upon the previous unit(s). If the content is not learned and understand as we go along, students will have problems as we move forward. It is always more difficult to work from a deficit than to stay on track.

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WEBSITE:

Mrs. Kotlowski’s website found on the John Jay Home page on district website under teacher links

• Announcements Link

- important course announcements

- information on assessments (tests, quizzes) and long term HW assignments

• Homework Link

- day to day HW assignments

• Textbook reading assignment Link

- scheduled assignments and due dates

• PPT lesson Link

- PowerPoints presented in class listed by unit

• Test objective Link

- everything need to know for each unit test

• Lab Link

- templates for completing typed lab reports

- due dates and make-up dates

• Course documents Link

- course Syllabus

- student info sheet

- Lab Safety Contract

-documents regarding ways to maximize your success in Chemistry

• Links Link

- assorted chemistry related websites and various resource sources

CHEM-IS-TRY: Good work habits, good behavior, and regular attendance will have a significant positive impact on your success in this class as well your grade.

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FOR PARENTS

PS Chemistry (Regents) 2013-2014

Why is Chemistry so challenging?

Chemistry presents some unique challenges for even the best students. For many students this may represent the first time they have been challenged in their learning process. It may take much more effort in order to achieve the kind of success that came easier in the past. Here’s why:

• The Chemistry course curriculum is comprehensive and detailed. This requires students to do higher level problem solving; analyzing of concepts, comparing and contrasting concepts to each other or a known situation to an unknown situation.

• Chemistry is a building block course in which content builds upon itself from the first unit through the last one. Each unit builds a foundation for the unit(s) that follow. Much like the foundation of a house, each row of foundation blocks (each chemistry unit) must be strong enough to support the house (completed chemistry course content). Weakness at any level affects the whole.

• Test questions used are from the New York State Regents test bank. The multiple choice questions are not simple ‘what is this’ type of questions. Instead they are detailed, analytical type questions. Students often are expected to draw from their own knowledge pool to perform multiple step functions before they arrive at an expected answer.

• Students often overestimate their knowledge of the content. They confuse being familiar with a topic (such as recognizing it) with actually knowing and understanding it. For example think about these two tasks: Task 1: You are given a list of names and are asked to circle the names of the US presidents – this is recognition. Task 2: You are given a blank piece of paper and are asked to list the names of the US presidents in order – this is knowledge. The Regents Chemistry course involves being able to meet the challenges needed to perform Task 2.

What can be done to increase success?

Your son/daughter can increase their chance of success by utilizing these helpful guidelines:

• spend at least 20 minutes each day going over the lesson covered in class

o review class PowerPoint lessons (found on website)

o re-write notes to re-inforce learning (or take notes while viewing PowerPoints online)

o finish all unit packet pages not completed in class and/or complete extra packet pages not covered in class if need more practice (can compare answers with Mrs. K’s key)

• complete unit vocabulary definitions

o use textbook NOT google to find correct definitions

o students who don’t do vocab are not as successful as those that do

• print PowerPoint lessons ahead of time

o students can fill in the ‘extras’ gone over in class and highlight key points

o students copying every single word in class cannot keep up lesson’s fast pace and miss key ideas of content covered as well as class discussion because are too busy copying

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• use test objectives for each unit (see website)

o start reading/reviewing several days before test so can ask pertinent questions in class – waiting until night before unit test to study is counterproductive

o answer the review questions at the end of each unit packet (compare with Mrs. K’s key)

• make flash cards as needed – these are helpful to:

o compare and contrast concepts

o keep complex definitions straight

o utilize Mrs. Loh’s website which has some great flashcards to printout and/or use

• use Review Book as source to review topics

o answer questions for each topic to check understanding (Barron’s version is a good one because it explains why the wrong answers are wrong)

• find a buddy to study with – working with peer can be very helpful and productive

o can quiz each other on definitions

o can compare and contrast topics together

o can talk things out with someone which helps reinforce/fine tune your knowledge

• in addition attend review sessions:

o allow students to review any and all concepts having difficulty with

o after school review sessions will be given the day before a unit test

How will parent/teacher communication work?

Parent/Teacher contact accomplished through usual methods:

o progress reports (every five weeks)

o quarter report cards (every 10 weeks)

o lab letters sent by district every 5 weeks (starting week 10) to students missing labs (you will also be contacted directly by me if labs are missing)

o emails (JJHS Chem class on subject line) are from me to share important class info

To contact Mrs. Kotlowski: best method is via e-mail

• e-mail: elizabeth.kotlowski@

o to ensure that your e-mail is opened please put student’s name on subject line

• phone: (845) 897-6700 ext. 30203

o answering machine in chemistry office is shared by 3 teachers so please state:

▪ name of teacher

▪ name of student

▪ phone number can be reached at and best time to call you

The Success of your son or daughter is important to both of us!

I encourage, and look forward to working together to maximize your son’s/daughter’s success in Regents Chemistry. Please feel free to contact me any time with any questions or concerns you may have. I look forward to meeting you at the Open House!

Regards,

Mrs. Kotlowski

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Parents & Students: Please sign, tear off and return this page only, Keep the syllabus for future reference. Thanks! Mrs. K

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Students get HW credit for turning this in by Friday September 13, 2013

Kotlowski PS Chemistry (Regents) 2013-2014

By signing this you acknowledge that you have read and agree to abide by the rules stated in the Regents Chemistry Syllabus for the 2013-2014 school year.

_______________________________________________ ________

Student Name (please print legibly) class period

_______________________________________________ _______________

Student Signature date

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Parent/Guardian Name (please print legibly)

_______________________________________________ ________________

Parent/Guardian Signature date

* Parent e-mail address:

(please print legibly)

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