Chemistry

*Updated for the 25/26 Academic Year

The General Chemistry sequence at SLU comprises two sets of one-semester courses, with lecture and lab offered as separate 3- and 1-credit hour courses, respectively. Students normally enroll separately in both lecture and lab courses. Please note that because lecture and lab are administratively distinct courses on campus, separate syllabi must be prepared and disseminated for 1818 high school courses also. Much of the required information has been included in the templates available for download below; once downloaded, they can be edited by individual 1818 teachers and saved as Word files (and ultimately as PDF files for dissemination to your students). Please pay careful attention to instructions highlighted in the body of the document (green-highlighted text will be deleted, yellow-highlighted text replaced by information specific to your class), as well as informational comments viewable on the side of the document, which should also all be deleted from your final syllabi (note: the side comments are not viewable in the online webpage; they can only be viewed in the downloaded file once opened in Word). So that you can clearly see these side comments, PDF's of the templates are also available.

First Semester

• General Chemistry 1 Lecture (CHEM 1110): Word file (for editing), PDF file (for viewing only).

• General Chemistry 1 Lab (CHEM 1115): Word file (for editing), PDF file (for viewing only).

Second Semester

• General Chemistry 2 Lecture (CHEM 1120): Word file (for editing), PDF file (for viewing only).

• General Chemistry 2 Lab (CHEM 1125): Word file (for editing), PDF file (for viewing only).

Syllabi Upload

Please upload separate draft syllabi to DualEnroll by the following deadlines:

• CHEM 1110 (lecture) and CHEM 1115 (lab) by 15 July. If revisions are needed, 1818 teachers will be notified within 10 days. Corrected syllabi must be uploaded by 15 August.

  • This is also the deadline for all year-long 1818 courses.

• CHEM 1120 (lecture) and CHEM 1125 (lab) by 30 November. If revisions are needed, 1818 teachers will be notified within 10 days. Corrected syllabi must be uploaded by 31 December.

Caution: your course sections will only be opened for student enrollment if syllabi have been liaison-approved!

Notes on common syllabi errors

1. The Method for Determining Course Grade section in the lecture course syllabi should make reference only to lecture course assignments (e.g. homework, quizzes, exams) and not to any lab assignments. Likewise because the lab courses are separate and distinct, the Method for Determining Course Grade in the lab course syllabi should not make reference to assignments associated with the lecture course; there should only be lab assignments listed (e.g. pre-lab quizzes, lab write-ups). You may publish a separate high school course assignment breakdown which does include both lecture and lab assignments (in either lecture or lab syllabi) but only in addition to (and preferably following) the Method for Determining Course Grade section for the SLU lecture or lab course.

2. For the Course Grading Scale section, please publish only the following grades: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F and their % or point thresholds. Note that there are no D+ or D- grades at SLU. Again, you may publish a separate high school grading scale but only in addition to (and preferably following) the SLU Course Grading Scale. Note also that the SLU Grading/Grade Point Information section is not a grading scale used to determine letter grades, but shows how final course letter grades are translated into gpa on the SLU transcript.

* Updated for the 25/26 Academic Year

Assessment of learning objectives is carried out annually for CHEM 1110 and CHEM 1120 lecture courses. Specific instructions are provided in each course document, but the general objective is to select a minimum of 50 questions from the provided course pool based on a recent set of on-campus ACS-style exams. Teachers will embed these questions in semester quizzes, tests, and/or a semester final exam and record student performance in a provided spreadsheet. These student results should be submitted at the end of the school year.

Note: The only documents provided below are the Instructions documents (no questions), accompanying chemical & physical information documents, and the Results Spreadsheet files to be completed by 1818 teachers and submitted. The complete instructions with exam questions and answer key files will only be emailed directly to active teachers at the beginning of each academic year.

First Semester CHEM 1110 Lecture Course

• Instructions (no questions included): PDF file

• Periodic table, physical constants, & provided equations, tables, & charts document: PDF file

• 1818 Student Results Spreadsheet: Excel file

Second Semester CHEM 1120 Lecture Course

• Instructions  (no questions included): PDF file

• Periodic table, physical constants, & provided equations, tables, & charts document: PDF file

• 1818 Student Results Spreadsheet: Excel file

Spreadsheet Results & Graded Student Work Sample Submission

Please upload your completed results spreadsheets in addition to a single (scanned) example of graded student work here by 5 June each year.

Syllabi

The following are syllabi from actual on-campus lecture and lab courses administered within the last 1-2 years.

First Semester Courses

• General Chemistry 1 Lecture (CHEM 1110): PDF file

• General Chemistry 1 Lab (CHEM 1115): PDF file

Second Semester Courses

• General Chemistry 2 Lecture (CHEM 1120): PDF file

• General Chemistry 2 Lab (CHEM 1125): PDF file

Course Synopses & Provided Equations

• General Chemistry 1 Lecture (CHEM 1110): PDF file

• General Chemistry 2 Lecture (CHEM 1120): PDF file

The following exams from the 23/24 academic year are shared in order to provide an idea of exam scope and complexity. Chapters indicated are from the on-campus course text (Silberberg & Amateis: The Molecular Nature of Matter & Change). For each course, four exams are given during the semester. We use the ACS standardized test (General Chemistry Exam - 1st term and 2nd term for CHEM 1110 and CHEM 1120, respectively) for our final exam for both courses and thus cannot publish examples here. Teachers interested in viewing sample/practice questions can obtain the ACS Study Guide.

CHEM 1110 (General Chemistry 1)

• Exam 1 (Chapters 1-4; measurement & units, basic atomic theory & matter, mole concept, stoichiometry, basic reactions): PDF file

• Exam 2 (Chapters 4-6; acid-base and redox reactions, gas laws, thermochemistry): PDF file

• Exam 3 (Chapters 7-9; quantum theory, electron configurations, periodicity, basic bonding): PDF file

• Exam 4 (Chapters 10-11; Molecular structure & shape, covalent bonding models): PDF file

CHEM 1120 (General Chemistry 2)

• Exam 1 (Chapters 12 & 13; phase changes, intermolecular forces, solution processes, colligative properties): PDF file

• Exam 2 (Chapters 16 & 17; kinetics, equilibrium): PDF file

• Exam 3 (Chapters 18 & 19; acid-base equilibria, buffers, sparingly soluble salts): PDF file

• Exam 4 (Chapters 20, 21, & 24; thermodynamics, electrochemistry, nuclear chemistry): PDF file

Pre-Academic Year Meeting and Professional Development, Summer 2025

Wednesday 30 July, 1:00-3:00pm (lunch probably 12:00-1:00pm)

Agenda: TBA