CFHS Chemistry

Spring Semester
Ms. Drapkin
Room B-209
E-mail: adrapkin@cfsd16.org
Course Website:
https://sites.google.com/a/cfsd16.org/dr
apkin-chemistry/home
The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our
teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our
apple pies were made in the interiors of
collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.

Carl Sagan, Cosmos

topicS
Mole: The Chemists Dozen
Stoichiometry: comparing aPPles to Oranges
Gas Laws: PV=nRT
Solutions: You are either part of the solution or part of the precipitate.
Acids and Bases: All your base (and acid) are belong to us.
Chemistry is, well technically, chemistry is the study of matter. But I prefer to see it as
the study of change.
- Walter White, Breaking Bad

exPectations
Arrive on time and be engaged.

Take care of your budster and your budster will take care of you.

Keep an open mind and be curious.

Classroom Procedures
Bathroom passes
o 5 given at beginning of semester
o Needed to enter classroom late
o Needed to leave the classroom for bathroom, water fountain, locker
o Sign-out on sheet and leave pass before leaving, take yellow bathroom pass
o Can be exchanged for use of calculator or pen
o Can be earned during class for participation, good deeds, awesomness, etc.
Tardiness
o Sign-in sheet at front of classroom and leave bathroom pass
o Quietly get seated and ask budster what to do
Absences
o Check website
o Talk to me before or after school
o Make up challenge questions or labs
Late work
o PSR assignments not accepted late (see grading)
o Lab stamps given half credit if late
o Lab reports, challenge questions, and tests must be finished by end of grading
period

Consequences
Positive
Praise
Bathroom pass
Activity corner/ free time

Negative
Warnings
Separation from budster and lab group
ISS

gradIng
Personal and Social Responsibility (PSR) grades will be reported in PIV but do not affect
report card grades. They include daily bell work, learning goals, practice labs, homework,
annotations, unit packets, and vocabulary charts. These assignments are graded on completion
and showing all work and must be turned in on time for full credit. Homework is graded weekly
and all other assignments at the end of each unit, including lab notebooks, bellwork, learning
goal sheets, unit packets, and vocabulary charts.
Content Standard Grades include tests, quizzes, and lab reports that assess the students
content knowledge and ability to solve chemistry problems. The breakdown is as follows:
10%
30%
40%
20%

Challenge questions
Lab reports (includes completion of all informal labs in lab notebook)
Unit tests
Final exam

Challenge questions are weekly quizzes graded on a 10-point scale to see how students are
learning the material.
Lab reports are formal assessments at the end of each unit. Each student designs their own
experiment, collects data, and types a report. Lab reports can be turned in printed form or
through the Google Classroom website.
Unit exams are given once a unit and are cumulative. Both lab reports and exams are graded
with a four-point rubric. Rubric scores convert to percentages as follows:
4.0 = 100%

3.5 = 95%

3.0 = 85%
1.0 = 45%

2.5 = 75%
0.5 = 35%

2.0 = 65%

1.5 = 55%

For unit tests, students have the opportunity to re-take the test within one week if they have
completed all of the homework for that unit. The final exam cannot be reassessed as it takes
place on the last day of school.

Our academic system rewards people who know a lot of stuff and generally we call those
people smart, but at the end of the day who do you want- the person who can figure things
out that they've never seen before or the person who can rattle off a bunch of facts?
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Dear Parents/Guardians,
Please read over the syllabus and sign below. Have your students return this to class by the end
of the week. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please email me or check my
website.
Good luck for the semester!
Alicia Drapkin
E-mail: adrapkin@cfsd16.org
Course Website: https://sites.google.com/a/cfsd16.org/drapkin-chemistry/home

__________________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian
Date

I would love to know more about your student. If there is anything I should know about your
student (such as interests, strengths/weaknesses, strategies that have helped learning in the
past, etc.) please let me know in the space below or in an e-mail. Thanks!