Mission Statement: The O’Farrell Charter School is a community-oriented institution dedicated to fostering high academic standards, ensuring emotional and social growth, and maintaining a safe and secure learning environment for all its students.

Teacher: Mr. Ward/Mr. Bui

Email: brandan.ward@ofarrellschool.org | duc.bui@ofarrellschool.org 

Course: General Chemistry

Text: Experience Chemistry in the Earth System

Supplies REQUIRED: 2 pens, 2 pencils, notebook

Course Description: Chemistry is a college preparatory science course aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. A special emphasis will be placed on scientific literacy and numeracy, as well as inquiry and problem-solving skills.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will:

a. Understand the role of chemistry in today’s world.

b. Learn and practice safety in the laboratory.

c. Practice the scientific method as an approach to problem solving and further develop the ability to think critically.

d. Be able to access and use a wide variety of scientific information sources.

e. Improve oral, written, numeracy, engineering and communication skills.

Grading Policy: Your academic grade will be determined on the following grading scale and weighted categories for assignments:

A - 90-100%       Category       Weight

B - 80-89% Assessments 70%

C - 65-79% Labs and Projects 20%

F - < 65% Classwork/Homework 10%

Assessments: Each semester will consist of intermittent quizzes, unit tests, a final, and assessment labs. Due to the nature of chemistry and the design of the course, every quiz and test will be cumulative, i.e., will cover all material up to the point of that assessment.

Labs and Projects: Labs are critical to your understanding of Chemistry and as such, I will place a large emphasis on “doing” chemistry. My hope is that we will do many labs in chemistry class. Safety is paramount in any class, but especially in Chemistry lab where we will be using many different chemicals and glass lab equipment. I will provide a lab safety agreement for you and a parent/guardian to review and sign. This must be signed before you can participate in any labs. Any student not following directions and/or acting in an unsafe manner during a lab may be removed from the lab experience and earn an F on that lab. 

You will turn labs and written assignments in using TurnItIn.com. 

Classwork/Homework: We will have classwork and homework nearly every day with the intention that these assignments will help prepare you for the quizzes and tests. They are a small portion of your grade themselves, however, the more you invest in these activities, the better you will understand and ultimately do on the assessments. Please take them seriously.

Late Work: It is expected you will be proactive and talk to me about absences and/or late submissions before they occur. For most assignments, late work will be accepted with no grade deduction until the unit test. Because labs take significant setup and planning, no make-up labs will be given. Occasionally, there may be a computer-based virtual lab that may be done instead. Typically, you will be expected to get the data from your group and complete any follow-up assignments (such as a lab report) with their data.

Academic Integrity: Please see the academic integrity policy in the student handbook. The policies set forth by the school will be strictly enforced and any assignment in violation will receive a grade of zero.

I will do my best to make the content in chemistry class accessible for every student; however, it is important that you take ownership of your own learning and education. If you feel you don’t understand something and/or are falling behind, please seek help from me and/or other resources available through the school or online.

**Please address any questions to me via email and I will answer as best I can.