Honors Physics Syllabus

Grades:

The standard NASH grading scale will be used in this course (A = 90; B = 80; C = 70; D = 60). Grades will be figured by calculating a percentage based on the total number of points possible during the marking period. Final grade will be figured by calculating a percentage based on the total number of points possible during the entire school year. The final grade will NOT be figured by calculating an average of the four marking period grades.

Your grade for each marking period and the course will be determined by summing the total points obtained and dividing by the total points possible.

Grade reports are available online: https://grades.northallegheny.org .

All assignments will be posted online at the site above. There is no excuse for not handing in any assignment.

Here’s where points may come from:

Midterm Exam

v Will be cumulative from the beginning of the academic year.

v Will be primarily multiple-choice format. May include some problem solving.

Final Exam

v Will cover material since the midterm.

v Will be primarily multiple-choice format. May include some problem solving.

Tests

v Covers the material from one or more chapters.

v May be in-class or take-home and may be individual or group, or a combination of those formats.

v Can be multiple-choice, matching, true-false, short answer, completion, essay, or problem solving.

Quizzes

v May take place several times over the course of a chapter. .

v Will usually be unannounced, but I reserve the right to give a quiz at any time.

v Can be multiple-choice, matching, true-false, short answer, completion, essay, or problem solving.

Homework

v Will be given regularly

v Will usually be spot checked for completeness, but I reserve the right to collect homework and check for completeness and/or accuracy.

v Will usually be worth five points, but point value may vary.

v When everyone in the class does their homework, everyone will receive a bonus point. Don’t let your classmates down; they will be mad, guaranteed.

v Neff Note: Doing the homework is the only way you can get good at this stuff. I give small assignments that wont take more than 15-25minutes or so. Listen: I’ve been an upperclassmen before too, and I realize that doing homework isn’t exactly fun. But, I’m only asking for a couple of minutes a day.

Laboratories

v The point value for laboratory reports will vary according to the experiment.

v Will be done in groups (student selected or Neff selected at Neff’s discretion).

v Lab handouts will usually be handed in with questions answered one per group or one per student as Neff specified.

v Neff Note: Labs are what this class is all about. They are a break from taking notes and sitting in our seats. Enjoy the labs, but always safely. The class can really drag with no labs. It’s happened before!

Projects

v Will be out of class assignments that can be done in groups or individually.

v The point value will vary according to the project, as Neff specified.

v Neff Note: Projects are pretty sweet. We might do two of my favorites: the egg drop (chapter 7) and the toothpick bridge (chapter 8). Those are things you’ll remember!

Notebook

v Each of you will need a two-inch three-ring binder with notebook paper.

v All classwork will be dated and put in order in the binder. You choose an order so that you will be able to find things in your notebook quickly. A great way I've found is Monday stuff all together, followed by all Tuesday stuff, followed by all Wednesday stuff, ...

v Several times during the year, a notebook check may occur. You will be asked around ten questions about specific things in your notebook. For example, you may be asked "what was the answer to the POD on November 17, or how many homework problems did we do on March 1?" You will be expected to quickly locate the information in your notebook and answer the question. This assessment will be timed; you will have only about 30 seconds on average to answer each question. This will be plenty of time if your notebook is organized.

v Neff Note: Part of my responsibility is to get you ready to succeed in college or in life. “A” students keep themselves organized, so that’s what I am forcing upon you. You may not like this policy now, but just wait. I’ve had many students thank me for changing their life.

Reading Assignments

v Students are to have read and taken notes on those sections BEFORE they come to class that day.

v Mr. Neff may or may not remind you about these reading assignments. Either way, you are responsible for looking on the course outline and getting your reading done.

v Many reading assignments will have an accompanying reading quiz the next day in class, which will be a quick, oral quiz about the facts contained in the reading. Any notes you take on the reading can be used during the reading quiz!

v Neff Note: Some students don’t like this reading assignment stuff, and they let me know it. Just like the notebook, you’ll have to be able to do this next year. I cannot in good conscience let you slide.

v Neff Note 2: Many students don’t know this (and neither did I), but reading a textbook and reading a novel or a newspaper are way different. When you read a novel or the paper, you can go through quickly, skipping some things and still get the message. Textbooks are different, in that there are no unimportant things. Textbooks are expensive to print, and only the important stuff is included. When you read a textbook, you have to go SLOWLY, and you have to constantly ask yourself “Do I understand?” When you don’t, you have to be willing to go back and re-read. Taking notes will help you. When you get to the end of the paragraph, summarize in your own words as briefly as possible.

Attendance: Physics is an intense course and it is imperative that you are in the classroom to actively participate in the learning process. Copying someone else’s notes will give the day’s content material, but the learning experience cannot be conveyed in that fashion. Frequent absenteeism can make a challenging course, such as physics, nearly impossible. So please, do everything that you can to get to this class.

If you are absent…

v You must provide an excuse from home (1st period only) or an approved excuse from your homeroom teacher upon your return to class. If an excuse is not presented for an absence, a tardy, or an early dismissal within three school days of your return to school, a detention will be issued. For example: if you are absent on Wednesday and Thursday, and return to school on Friday, a detention slip will be given to you on Wednesday of the following week.

v You are responsible to get all notes from your classmates, not me. (Please make a friend in this class who you can count on to take notes when you are absent.)

v Work that was due on the day of your absence must be submitted upon your return, otherwise it is considered late.

v Work that was assigned on the day of your absence must be submitted the following day. Example: if you are absent on Tuesday and and an assignment was assigned to the class on Tuesday (due Wednesday), your assignment is due on Thursday. Just because you are absent one day, you do not have the right to hand in your assignment on your own timeline.

v Missed assignments are your responsibility…hopefully, your note-taking friend is also good at keeping track of assignments and due dates. I will not track you down or ask you when you intend to make up anything. If you do not contact me, I assume that you are not interested in making up the missed assignments.

v If you miss a laboratory, be prepared to wake up very early in the morning to make up the experiment. Also, you will need to bring along a classmate who has completed the experiment to help you. Perhaps most importantly, you have to make up labs within 3 days of your absence.

v The day before an announced test or quiz, you must take the test or quiz when you return.

v On the day of a test or quiz, you have to take the test or quiz when you return…no extensions, no exceptions.

v Your make up test will be of equal difficulty and will cover the same material as the test given in class, but it may or may not be the same format. Makeup tests have been known to be entirely essay/free response in nature.

v For an extended period of time, you must make arrangements with Mr. Neff to complete any missed work. A word of warning, you will have a maximum of one day for every day missed to complete your work.

v For a foreseeable reason (like sports, field trips, vacations, etc), I must know about your absence PRIOR to your absence.

Discipline Policy:

Misbehavior in Class or Lab/ Tardiness

v First offense receives a verbal warning.

v Second and all subsequent offenses receive detention.

v Continued behavior problems will result in removal from the class.

Assignments submitted late

v One day late results in half-credit for the assignment.

v Two or more days late result in no credit for the assignment.

Academic dishonesty (a.k.a. “Cheating”)

v You will receive no credit for any assignment completed in an academically dishonest fashion. This includes (but is not limited to) copying from someone else's test, project or homework, getting answers or questions from a student in a different class, and or handing in a paper similar to someone else's because you "worked together."

v Repeated offenses will result in removal from the class.

Cutting Class

v First offense results in a detention and no credit for any assignments due or given on the date of the illegal absence.

v Second offense results in a conference with the appropriate administrators.

v Continued offenses will result in removal from the class.

Required materials:

v Ink pen.

v Pencil

v Notebook paper

v 2-inch three-ring binder

v Scientific calculator…I would strongly encourage you to purchase a Texas Instruments graphing calculator (TI-83); however, a graphing calculator is not required for this course-at least a scientific calculator is required.