We are pleased to announce that our class has been approved by the college board to carry the AP prefix for the 2007-08 school year, and beyond!
Welcome to Ms. Smith's AP Chemistry Page
You should visit this site often. Use the online turtorials as a review after each lecture. The course schedule gives a tentative timeline for our year, lists topics covered each day, as well as provides a copy of handouts. You should use the flashcard page to your left to make flashcards of all relevant topics for a chapter.
Grades and Absences
Check your grades often and do not miss class unnecessarily. If you are absent, call a friend and be prepared for the next class by reviewing online turtorial, reading appropriate sections in your textbook, and completing your homework. It is VERY difficult to catch up if you fall behind. The key here is to NEVER fall behind. COMPLETE all assignments on time, STUDY every evening, and ASK questions in class. I am available by email every evening, or by phone if urgent. Call or email me with any questions. Please READ "How to Pass Chemistry Class" below.
Our 2006-07 Exam Students BEFORE the Exam
Sedef Arslan, Nicole Mancini, Kate Downes, LJ Watts
This class is both rigorous and rewarding! Students must be prepared to work very hard in this class.
Remember that compensation for the extra work done for this class is that a successful student will have a score on a national exam which gives credit and or waives course requirements at most colleges and universities. At more prestigious colleges and universities, a transcript that indicates successful work in AP Chemistry will decidedly distinguish a student. AP Chemistry is well recognized internationally for its academic rigor, development of higher-level thinking skills, and the kind of dedication and commitment required of college students.
Hints for success:
Spend at least 5 hrs per week on this class.
Form a Study Group! Solve Problems and study together!
Solve all assigned presentation problems/questions.
Do effective time management!
Organize and Execute around your priorities!
Try using these sites for study skills and test preparation:
If you are interested in the AP Policy at the college you are/might be attending, check on their policy by doing the following:
Colleges and universities throughout the world offer credit and/or placement for qualifying Advanced Placement exam scores. Information about AP credit and placement policies at many colleges and universities is now available on the College Board's web site. Follow these steps:
2.Type in the name of the college of the university whose AP policy you want to view (or browse by letter of the alphabet).
3.You will see two things for each school that has provided their AP credit policy info:
a.A link to the college's own web page that details its AP credit and placement policies.
b.A statement by the college or university about their AP policy.
How to Pass Chemistry Class
Have a good attitude!
Recognize from the start that chemistry is a subject that requires a lot of time and work. Be committed to investing the time and effort that the course demands. You have to be an active, aggressive student to do well in chemistry. You cannot afford to be passive in these courses.
Believe in yourself and your capabilities. Even though chemistry is difficult for many people, you can understand it if you work at it.
Decide that you will find something to enjoy about chemistry. It is easy to say that you hate chemistry, but if you make this choice, you will find it harder to study and attend class. Who wants to spend time with something they hate? There is something fun and interesting in every subject if you allow yourself to see it. Treat chemistry problems as a challenge or a game; solve them as if they were a cross-word puzzle or some other activity you enjoy.
Regard chemistry lab as an opportunity rather than a chore. Lab is your chance to have hands-on experience with chemicals and equipment. In lab, you can see the stuff you heard about in class happening before your eyes. Because a chemistry lab is expensive to build, maintain and operate, these labs may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you to experience these things.
Remember that learning chemistry is your own responsibility. I will help you out as much as possible, but the I can't learn it for you.
Come to class!
Arrive on time and don't leave early. Don't miss class if you can possibly avoid it.
Sit as close to the front of the classroom as you can. Don't try to sit in the back so you can fool around or slack off. This is not a class you can fool around or slack in. If you want to do that, don't take this course! If you sit up front, you will see better, hear better, and generally be more alert.
Ask questions if you don't understand what the teacher just said, or if the teacher is going too fast. Your classmates will not think you stupid; they will be glad you asked, because they probably didn't understand it either. Many teachers will stop and ask if anyone has any questions. When a teacher does this, it is a clue that the teacher thinks that the material just covered was difficult. The teacher is expecting students to have trouble with it. This is an invitation from the teacher to the students to go over the material again, or in a different way. If the teacher gets no feedback at this point, he or she will proceed to the next topic whether you are ready or not. So if you don't understand, say so!
Take notes, lots of notes.
Come to class prepared. Always bring your textbook, your periodic table, your calculator, and your notebook.
Work the problems!
Paying attention in class is important, reading the book is important, but nothing is as important as working the problems. Work as many problems as you can. Practice, practice, practice! THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY STUDENTS FAIL CHEMISTRY IS THAT THEY DO NOT WORK ENOUGH PROBLEMS.
When the teacher is working problems on the board, you may be tempted to think, "Oh, that's easy. I understand that. I don't need to do those problems." Don't be fooled! Watching the teacher or your tutor or your friends work a problem is not the same as doing it yourself. Simply watching someone else play the piano or use a typewriter or play tennis would not enable you to play the piano or type or play tennis. You have to practice it yourself. Chemistry requires a lot of practice. YOU HAVE TO DO IT YOURSELF.
Your textbook and study guide will show you how to work problems step by step. If you can read through the steps and understand them, that is a good start. But it is not a substitute for doing the problems yourself.
After you have read the book and the examples on how to work a kind of problem, try one yourself, without looking at the book or study guide. After you have finished the problem, check yourself with the study guide, but be careful not to peek at the answer to the next problem. Never look at the answer to a problem before you finish working the problem. Make sure you understand what you did wrong with the first problem (if anything) before you start the next one of that type. Be very careful not to lean too heavily on the study guide. Make sure before you're done that you can do a type of problem from beginning to end without having to peek at the study guide along the way.
As you work the problem, have a clear idea of where you are going, what the goal of the problem is. ("I have to figure out how many of these pills a patient needs.") List what you are given to start with. (Each pill contains 50 mg. of medication and the patient needs 75 mg.) Clearly show each step of your calculations or thought processes. Label units. Then, when you study your work later, you will have no trouble figuring out how or why you did what you did. If you need to show your work to someone else, to get help from the teacher, for example, the other person will be able to understand exactly what you did.
After you have figured out how to work a kind of problem, explain it to someone else. If you can explain it to someone else so that they understand it, you can feel confident that you really do understand it yourself.
If you have trouble finding time to work problems, set up a schedule for yourself. You should set aside at least one-half hour every day for working on chemistry. Write your study time into your weekly schedule as if it were another course.
THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY STUDENTS FAIL CHEMISTRY IS THAT THEY DO NOT WORK ENOUGH PROBLEMS.
Make the most of labs
The purpose of labs is to give you hands-on practical experience with the concepts that you are learning in lecture. Make the most of the labs. Think about what you are doing. Think about what is happening. It is very easy to think of a lab manual as a cookbook, and many of them are written that way, but always think about the meaning of the phenomena you are witnessing (a color change, a change in temperature etc.).
Read the lab ahead of time. Read the theory and read the procedure. Anticipate what is going to happen as you carry out the procedure. Then, when you actually do it, see if your predictions were right.
Most instructors will require you to answer and hand in the questions at the end of the lab. Resist the temptation to copy the answers from someone else. The questions are designed to help you understand the lab. They generally try to guide you into making connections between what you saw and did, and the theory behind the lab. You are cheating yourself out of a valuable learning experience if you just copy someone else's answers. If you don't understand the labs, then you won't get much out of them. If you do understand them, they should help you with the rest of the course.
Get help!
Sometimes you will just plain get stuck and need help. Sources of help include: the teacher, a tutor, lab teaching assistants, classmates, books in the library.
When you come for help, have a specific problem or list of problems. A teacher can't help you much if you come in with something vague like, "I just don't understand this course" or "this chapter." The teacher will be able to do much more for you if you say, "I tried to work problem 3.2 and I keep getting an answer of 4.6 but my study guide says that it's 194. Where am I going wrong?" Or "the book says I have to take the square root of this but I don't understand why." Be as specific as you can! After the teacher explains, ask if you can do another problem right there on the spot while the teacher watches. As you do it, explain out loud what you are doing and why, so that the teacher can either confirm your reasoning or correct you as you go along.
Don't be embarrassed about asking for help. Everyone needs help sometimes. Many people need a lot of help. It's smarter to get help when you need it than to try to do without it. Your teacher would much rather help you than flunk you. Teachers have a lot of respect for students who care enough about the course to get help when they need it.
Get help as soon as you start having trouble with the material. If you wait until the last week of class, come into the teacher's classroom and say, "I think I'm flunking your course. What should I do?", then it's too late.
Study effectively for tests!
The best way to study for the tests and quizzes is to work all the problems as described above, and to ask for help when you need it. Spread your studying out; do some every day. Don't expect to be able to learn it all the night before the exam.
Your teacher will give frequent quizzes. The purposes of quizzes are many: they encourage attendance, they keep the student from lagging behind (putting off all the studying until the night before the exam), they give the student practice in working types of problems, they give the student a preview of what will be on the exam, and they emphasize the kinds of problems the teacher feels are important. Some students blow off quizzes because they don't usually count for many points. Don't do it! Not only do those points add up, but the quizzes are actually a valuable study guide.
Anticipate what will be on the exam. Notice what the teacher spends time on in class. If the teacher assigns specific problems, make sure you know how to work every one of those problems and then more. Make sure you know how to work every problem given on a quiz. If you miss a quiz problem, make sure you know what you did wrong so that you will do it right the next time. Some teachers give out study guides. If the study guide says that you need to know a specific concept, make sure that you do know it. Most teachers will come right out and tell you almost exactly what will be on the exam, except for the specific numbers or examples. Pay attention!
Know the vocabulary of chemistry. In many ways, learning chemistry is like learning another language. Make sure you are so familiar with terms like "electronegative," "hydroxide," "cation" etc. that you don't have to spend time worrying about them during the test. If necessary, for example, when learning nomenclature, make flash cards of vocabulary words.
Get into a study group with some of your classmates. It is very helpful to be able to talk and argue about the material with other people. Make sure that you take an active role in these discussions. Many people "study" by watching their friends work problems. You will do much better if you are the one explaining the material to them!
The night before the exam, go to bed at a reasonable hour and get a good night's sleep. DO NOT STAY UP ALL NIGHT STUDYING or your brain will be pudding the next day. Eat a good breakfast before the exam and go easy on the caffeine.
Make sure you bring everything you are allowed to bring to the exam, like your calculator, for example. If you have to borrow someone else's calculator, make sure you know how to use it.
When you get an exam back, make sure you understand what you did wrong. You will need to know how to do it right next time. Because chemistry builds up from a base of knowledge, everything you learn at the beginning will be needed later for something more complicated. If you miss a concept on the first test, you will need to learn that concept for the next part of the course.
If you start out doing well at the beginning of the semester, keep it up. Don't try to coast through on one good grade. One A or B will not counterbalance a string of F's. The teacher cannot grade you on what you are capable of doing, only on what you actually did.
DON'T FALL INTO THESE COMMON TRAPS
• thinking that you don't need the prerequisites;
• skipping class and getting the notes from friends;
• copying someone else's work;
• thinking that you can understand the material without working lots of problems;
• putting off studying until the night before the exam;
• expecting to be able to catch up after missing much of the semester;
• expecting to be allowed to do an extra credit project to salvage a failing grade at the end of the semester;
• expecting the teacher not to count all the quizzes or homework you missed;
And... perhaps the biggest misconception about high school...
•expecting to pass even if you have all failing grades.
