Download Honors Chemistry

HONORS CHEMISTRY
Honors Chemistry is taught by Rosemary Kohl, in room C22
in 07-08, and somewhere in the new building in 08-09!
Email: [email protected], phone: x 7094.
Honors Chemistry is a rigorous class meant for students intending to major in
math/science/computers/pre-med. Use of a graphing calculator is required for this course. Chemistry is
concerned with the chemical properties of substances. Topics include: properties of matter; atomic theory,
electron clouds and probability, periodic trends, chemical formulas, chemical reactions, chemical bonding
kinetic theory, the gas laws, properties of solutions, reaction rates, acids and bases, oxidation-reduction
and entropy.
Honors Chemistry students must be self motivated with an intrinsic interest in science.
Prerequisites: Concurrent enrollment in Algebra II with Trigonometry
or above; completion of all semesters of previous math and science
classes (including Biology) with B or better; permission of the
instructor. The student’s current science (usually Biology) teacher
needs to recommend the student for placement in Honors Chemistry
based on current math and science grades, science STAR scores,
attendance and work ethic.
Honors Chemistry Expectations:
The student’s grade in Honors Chemistry is based 20% on homework, 20% on labs and 60% on tests.
Though homework is only 20% of the grade, it is essential that students do all the homework. This means
not only that students have put something down on their paper, but that they understand what was
covered. If students do not understand the material, it is essential that they are mature enough to seek help
from the teacher or another student. Just getting homework problems done is the minimum requirement; if
students want to do well, they need to put in more time analyzing, synthesizing, summarizing, and
internalizing the information. Students who are not conscientious about doing the homework do not do
well on the tests.
Sometimes students sign up for Honors Chemistry based on a rumor that there is less HW in Honors
Chemistry than in regular Chemistry. In some sense this is true, because general Chemistry students have
lots of the exact same problems over & over again each night to really master certain key concepts;
Honors Chemistry students have fewer HW problems but much more rigorous HW problems, requiring
extensive Chemistry and math skills.
Honors Chemistry covers on average a chapter every week and a half. If students get behind they are
quickly overwhelmed. Therefore, students should have excellent attendance. Students can not miss more
than a day or two every quarter and expect to do well.
Honors Chemistry is an intense course with much higher expectations than general
Chemistry. ALGEBRA skills are very important! So are study skills and maturity.