High School Chemistry is being revised to align with NGSS Science Standards below

Chemistry is a challenging academic course designed for students taking college prep math courses. Students will learn how chemical principles and concepts are developed from experimental data, and how these principles can be used to explain phenomena encountered in daily activities. Problem solving and laboratory experimentation are an integral part of this program. The Chemistry course incorporates Earth Science principles and concepts.

Course Levels - Honors Chemistry differentiates from College-Prep Chemistry in the amount of homework, topic coverage, pacing, and rigorous assessments. The Honors Chemistry course includes additional topics.

Major Areas of Study

College Prep: Chemical Reactions, Atomic Structure, Chemical Bonding, Kinetic Molecular Theory, Gases, Periodic Table, Solutions, Solids and Liquids, Thermochemistry, Acids and Base

Honors: Chemical Reactions, Atomic Theory, Chemical Bonding, Molecular Structure, Kinetic Molecular Theory, Gases, Solutions, Thermochemistry, Entropy and Free Energy, Colligative Properties, Equilibrium, Reaction Kinetics, Oxidation-Reduction, Electrochemistry, Acid-Base Theory

NGSS STANDARDS

Matter and its Interactions

• HS-PS1-1 Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
• HS-PS1-8 Develop models to illustrate the changes in the composition of the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay.

Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

• HS-PS4-3 Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning behind the idea that electromagnetic radiation can be described either by a wave model or a particle model, and that for some situations one model is more useful than the other.

Earth's Place in the Universe

• HS-ESS1-1 Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the life span of the sun and the role of nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation.
• HS-ESS1-3 Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.

Traditional Topics: Structure of an atom, periodic table, electron configuration.

NGSS STANDARDS

Matter and its Interactions

• HS-PS1-4 Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy.
• HS-PS1-3 Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles.

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

• HS-PS2-5 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that an electric current can produce a magnetic field and that a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current.
• HS-PS2-6 Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.

Energy

• HS-PS3-5 Develop and use a model of two objects interacting through electric or magnetic fields to illustrate the forces between objects and the changes in energy of the objects due to the interaction.

Earth's Systems

• HS-ESS2-5 Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.

Traditional Topics: IMF, bonding (I,C,M), formula writing

NGSS STANDARDS

Matter and its Interactions

• HS-PS1-2 Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
• HS-PS1-5 Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs.
• HS-PS1-6.Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.
• HS-PS1-7 Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

• HS-PS2-6 Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.

Energy

• HS-PS3-2 Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motions of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative positions of particles (objects).

Traditional Topics: Chemical reactions, moles, stoichiometry, acid-base

NGSS STANDARDS

Energy

• HS-PS3-1 Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known.
• HS-PS3-3 Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.
• HS-PS3-4 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics).

Earth's Systems

• HS-ESS2-6 Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.

Earth and Human Activity

• HS-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
• HS-ESS3-6 Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity

Traditional Topics: Energy and heat, solubility, molarity/molality, gas laws