High School Chemistry Part 1: General Chemistry With Weekly Labs/Projects

Course Summary

This course is a 16 class introduction to the essential concepts in general chemistry and comes with a 120 page course e-book as well as optional homework assignments, at home projects/labs, and assessments of students knowledge.

Course Description

*** EARLY BIRD SPECIAL *** $25 off before June 30th use code - 25DANCHEM1 A grade for the class is available if requested. Requirements for a grade are to complete all three tests and six of the projects/labs of the student's choosing. This course will give students a solid understanding of the essential concepts in chemistry. We will focus on a particular topic or series of topics each week with previous concepts being integrated into later topics when appropriate. Material will be taught in the socratic method as much as possible along with examples and illustrations. Each class we will go over a worksheet to help solidify the concepts taught, and students will be asked to contribute their knowledge to the completion of the worksheet. Optional out-of-class homework assignments with answers and at-home projects and labs will further help students master the concepts. At optional assessment at the end of each unit (every five weeks) will test the knowledge of the student. There is no pre-requisite for the course, however please note that out of necessity, a few topics do overlap with the chemistry portion of the Fundamentals of Science class that I teach. Specifically, this will occur in Class 1, Class 2, Class 4, and Class 6. Students should have a basic understanding of how to solve equations or should pick math up quickly as we will be doing calculations during some portions of the class. Students should understand the conversions in the metric system as well as scientific notation. Students should have access to a calculator, online or handheld, during class. Parent Reviews: A great environment for our learner to explore Chemistry. The clear structure, expectations (with homework), and feedback, in addition to a sincerely engaging and supportive atmosphere has been great. We'll look for more opportunities in the future to work with Teacher Lora. Much gratitude for her patient, supportive guidance.  Teacher Lora provides extensive handouts for reach class. Much material is covered every lesson and homework is encouraged. This is a class particularly for students who enjoy participation although passive listeners will also derive great value from teacher Lora's class. This class provides the students with a solid foundation in chemistry. We highly recommend this class! My daughter really benefited from this class. She says Ms. Lora helped her understand Chemistry much better. We look forward to taking more classes with Ms. Lora. 

Content Considerations

We will discuss radioactivity, uses of radiation in medicine and the creation of the atomic bomb, and radiocarbon dating. If students choose to do that at-home projects, they may be using sharp objects, glassware, chemicals, heating elements, and need to wear safety glasses, gloves, and/or aprons.

Syllabus

CLASS 1 – MODELS OF THE ATOM We’ll discuss the theory of the atom and how scientists arrived at our current model of the atom, the quantum mechanical model. CLASS 2 - THE PERIODIC TABLE We’ll discuss the information about an element that can be gained from the periodic table including the atomic number, the atomic mass, and the number of valence electrons. We’ll also discuss isotopes and their relation to the atomic mass that is found on the periodic table. CLASS 3 - MIXTURES AND COMPOUNDS, ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION AND HUND’S RULE We’ll talk about the differences between a mixture, an element, a molecule, and a compound and then discuss two forms of denoting the arrangement of electrons in an atom: electronic configuration and Hund's rule. CLASS 4 - CHEMICAL BONDING We’ll talk about why elements combine the way that they do to form ionic bonds, polar covalent bonds, and non-polar covalent bonds. CLASS 5 - NAMING COMPOUNDS We’ll learn how to name ionic compounds with and without metals with a variable valence as well as binary molecular compounds. CLASS 6 - CHEMICAL REACTIONS AND STATES OF MATTER We will talk about the difference between chemical changes and physical changes. We will learn how to balance chemical reactions and we will look at exothermic and endothermic reactions. We’ll also look at the states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas and the transitions between them. CLASS 7 - CHEMICAL CALCULATIONS – PART 1 We’ll discuss the mole and what it means as well as how to determine the molar mass of elements, molecules, and compounds. We’ll talk about molar ratios as given by a chemical equation and how to convert between grams and moles. CLASS 8 – CHEMICAL CALCULATIONS – PART 2 We’ll discuss limiting reactants, theoretical yield, and percent yield and see how to do calculations involving these. CLASS 9 – THE GASEOUS STATE We’ll discuss the kinetic-molecular theory of gases and see how to perform calculations using the gas laws. CLASS 10 - INTERMOLECULAR INTERACTIONS We’ll take a look at the interactions that occur between particles and see how they affect the properties of the materials that they comprise. We’ll talk about electronegativity and its effect on intermolecular interactions. CLASS 11 - SOLUTIONS AND SOLUBILITY We'll discuss solutions and the factors that affect solubility and perform calculations using molarity. We'll learn how to write a net ionic equation and identify the spectator ions. CLASS 12 - THERMOCHEMISTRY We’ll talk about the four major types of chemical reactions, enthapy and entropy, Hess’s Law, bond dissociation energy, and endothermic and exothermic reactions. CLASS 13 – ACIDS AND BASES We’ll discuss the definitions and properties of acids and bases and take a look at how these properties can be measured. We'll distinguish between strong and weak acids and bases and discuss the importance of buffers and the purpose of a titration. CLASS 14 – CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM AND REACTION RATES We’ll discuss the concept of chemical equilibrium and talk about the factors that affect the rate of a reaction. CLASS 15 – OXIDATION AND REDUCTION We’ll talk about oxidation and reduction reactions and how they can be used to provide electrical energy. CLASS 16 - NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY We’ll discuss radioactivity and half-life as well as the applications of radioactive elements.

Supplies

Learners will need a calculator for working through certain problems in class. A cell phone calculator should suffice and learners should be able to find an appropriate free online calculator as well. Learners will be provided with an e-book as well as optional homework problems with answers after the first class. Three times throughout the term learners will be provided with optional tests with answers to check their understanding of the topics. Learners will be provided with a packet with worksheets and at-home projects which lists the supplies needed for each project.