Advanced Placement Physics 1 Syllabus
Program Description: The accelerated program of study is designed to position students to engage in challenging and enriching course content. During the junior year, assignments and difficulty will focus on college readiness. During senior year, assignments and difficulty will focus on college level content.
Advanced Placement courses, are designed to be college level work.
Lackawanna College Dual Enrollment: This course is also a dual enrollment course. Students completing this course with the appropriate requirements are eligible for up to 4 college credits through Lackawanna College.
Course Description: In this course, we will explore the underlying, governing physical principles of our universe through the use of hypothesizing, observation, data gathering, and mathematical analysis.
Key topics to be discovered and discussed are as follows: data gathering and graphical analysis, mechanics, 1- and 2-dimensional kinematics, including Newton's Laws of Motion, statics and dynamics, conservation of momentum, work and energy conservation, fluid mechanics, and wave motion. This course is the first part of a 2-year Advanced Placement Physics 2 course. Students will be expected to work to their full potential.
Reference Textbooks:
- Textbook: Walker (2009) Physics, 4th Ed. Prentice Hall, $124.97
- Online Textbook: Wolfe, Gasper, Stoke, et.al., (2015) OpenStax Physics
Class Rules
Come to class on-time, prepared to learn and stay the entire time.
- 3 Ring Binder or Bound Notebook and Folder (Required)
- Scientific Calculator (Required)- Not provided
- District Chromebook
(Required)
- Composition Notebook (Required)- For Lab <--For 2021/2022 hold off on purchasing until told to do so.
- Sharpened Pencil or Pen
- Homework Completed
- No Food and Drinks
- Plan to work bell to bell
- Do not interrupt class to go to the lav. You will be denied during the first or last 15 minutes of class
- Get the homework that you missed from a friend or e-mail me.
- Excessive absences will be grounds for credit denial and/or failure of the course, according to school district policy
Respect all people, property, and ideas
Do your very best!
Follow any school rules not addressed here but found in the student handbook including but not limited to:
Consequences
| Warning |
30 seconds after class |
Notify parents |
Detention |
Request Conference |
- If an action is severe enough, higher consequences can be taken.
NOTE:
Since this is a laboratory class, fooling around in the laboratory will not be tolerated. Any student who fools around in the lab will be removed from the lab, receive a failing grade on the current assignment and will receive an appropriate consequence. Students must follow the lab rules listed as lab safety rules.
Grading Procedures
Grading will be done on a percentage system with each graded assignment providing a specific number of points towards each category. A 65 % minimum average is needed to pass. Your grade will be comprised of:
- 75% Tests / Quizzes / Chapter outlines
- 10% Labs / Lab Quizzes
- 15% WebAssign / Homework / Class Assignments
Assignments may include:
Tests / Quizzes (Announced and Unannounced)
3 or 4 test per quarter
- comprised of Problems, Concepts, Interpretation of lab, Understanding of relationships of equations
- I reserve the right to deny credit if data tables, equations, plugged in data, and a final answer with units is not shown.
- Student may earn up to 30% of the points they miss on their test back by completing a test correction procedure that will be outline in the class.
All tests must be completed in the time provided. No extra time will be given unless previous permission has been granted.
If you are absent the day before a test and new information is presented for the test you are given 1 day to make up the test. If you are absent the day before a test and no new information is presented, you are still required to take the test.
If absent it must be made up promptly upon return or you will receive a zero. This means you may need to come during a study, lunch, before, or after school. It is your responsibility to schedule your makeup with Dr. Croom between 7:25 and 7:40 on the day you would like to make up the test.
Repeated absences on the day of tests may lead to the following consequences:
- Forfeit of extra credit opportunities
- You may be also given another version of the test where a given problem written in multiple choice format is replaced by an open-ended problem, where all work must be shown - the replacement problem may or may not be equivalent in complexity
- students being required to make up the test at the end of the quarter. During the last two weeks of the quarter, the instructor will open a window for make ups to take place. It is the responsibility of the student to find a time within this window to come and make up the test. If the student does not find a time to come and take it, they will have to take it during the class period.
Labs
Formal labs must be typed and must follow lab report format.
- There will be a deduction of points for every day late
- After 3 days the lab becomes a ZERO
- Notebooking Labs (Informal Labs) will also be performed and will weighted appropriately compared to Formal Labs.
- Lab Notebooks will not leave the classroom unless previous permission is given.
- Lab Notebooks will be checked approximately every 2 weeks.
Reading Assignments
- Students will outline the new chapter. The outline off the chapter using the format taught in class will be handed in at the end of class 2 days after the previous chapters test.
- No extra time will be given unless previous permission has been granted.
- A quiz on the reading may be given as a spot check. In this case the student’s notes can be used to answer the questions.
Spot,Homework, and Announced Quizzes
- Being absent the day before a quiz does not provide exception from the quiz. Email your instructor, call a friend, read your chapter, practice your problems, determine what you missed.
- All quizzes must be completed in the time provided. No extra time will be given unless previous permission has been granted.
Homework / WebAssign
- Homework assignments may or may not be graded. Students are expected to always come to class with their homework complete.
- Late homework WILL NOT be accepted
- It is the student’s responsibility to complete their WebAssign problems by the beginning of the class in which it is due.
- Partial completed homework will be considered incomplete
Example of a full credit homework problem:
Problem: A car goes from 5m/s to 25m/s in 3s,
what is the acceleration of the car?
Class Participation
- Will be considered for borderline grades
- Students who miss more than 4 days of class total after the first quarter, 6 days total after the second quarter, 8 days after the third quarter, and 10 days after the fourth quarter will not be eligible for participation recognition
Extra Credit
- Extra Credit if assigned will be given to the entire class. Extra credit assignments are not to be worked on in class and will be required to be handed in on the given day. No partial credit is given for extra credit.
- Some tests may have extra credit on them. Extra credit on a test can vary from extra reading assignment, recent news events, problems, or opinion statements.
End of year research Paper
- Research papers will involve the research of physics topics and the creation of a presentation to demonstrate the learned concepts. Research papers will be graded like a test.
End of year presentations
- Presentations will be graded according to a rubric handed-out before the beginning of the project. All areas discussed int he rubric need to be covered
Final Exam
- There will be a final exam in this class the week before the AP exam for the entire class. The final exam will be based on the information required for the AP Physics 1 exam
Unprepared for Class
- Students coming to class unprepared based on the rules above will lose up to 5 points from their test point total for each occurrence.
Absenteeism and Grades
- Being in class on a regular basis is important. Many activities we do are not graded but are still part of the content you need to learn.
- If a student misses over 15 days of class during the year, the student may begin to see a reduction in their quarter class grade by 1 point for each additional day they miss.
- Any assignment you miss because of absence is your responsibility to make up. If after a week the assignment is still outstanding, it becomes a zero. This may require you to spend some time after school making up labs and projects.
Additional Information
- Leaving the classroom in the middle of a test, quiz, or other formal assignment is not allowed. Take care of all personal issues before entering the classroom. A consistent pattern of leaving during an assignment will be viewed as giving the test taker an unfair advantage and points may be deducted. Follow the rules provided for the SATs found at http://www.collegeboard.com/html/sat_terms_conditions.html
- Proficiency in word processing and spreadsheet skills will be an ongoing process. Formal lab reports and certain assignments will require a certain proficiency using the Microsoft Office 2007 or later package, Google Sheet, and Google Docs which are readily available to all students on the NPSD Internet. Specifically, we will be using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel throughout the semester.
- It is the responsibility of the student to keep track of his/her grades. Dr. Croom will not give grades out during the semester. All grades will be posted on the school's Online grading program for you to check. If you question your nine weeks average, you must be able to provide evidence to support your claim. Keep your returned assignments until your grades are finalized.
Final Course Grade
will be determined by the following system.
22.5% of each quarters average
10% Final Exam Score
Academic Honesty
- Your integrity should be very important to you. Copying homework or assignments is cheating, and when caught you will be given a 0%. Working together is different than copying. Any quiz, test or project you are caught cheating on will result in automatic 0% with no opportunity for a retake. I will give different versions of test/quizzes and move students around during testing to ensure you are doing your own work. Ultimately however, it is you who must determine how you want to succeed, on your own merits or dishonestly through the work of someone else.
Other Information
Computer Responsibility
Students are required to pay for any damage done district computers during the time they are using them. Because of this, it is very important that students report any damage to the machine when they sign it out, so they are not held responsible. It is also important that students always return the computer to where they originally got them. Computers left out could be accidentally broken. If students don't return their computers, they could lose their computer privilege and/or have to pay for damages.
Calculator Replacement Cost
| Model |
Cost |
| TI-84 |
$106.55 |
| TI-30 |
$12.60 |
Students should bring the same calculator to class each day. Please borrow or buy one if you do not already have one. A small number of calculators are available to sign-out. These calculators will be assigned to each student, and it will be their personal responsibility-to carry the calculator with them. UNDER NO CICUMSTANCES may calculators be left in the classroom.
If a calculator is lost, stolen, not returned, or it is returned in a damaged condition, the student will be responsible for replacing the calculator with a new fully functional calculator of the same model. Students are also responsibility for replacing batteries in calculators they borrow if necessary.
Students will be required to accept full responsibility for the calculators that are borrowed from the school. If a calculator is not returned or it is retuned in damaged condition, the student will be obligated replace the calculator with a brand-new calculator of the same model in its factory-sealed box or pay the price listed above.
All the graphing calculator models require batteries. Student may be required to purchase batteries for the calculators they borrow if necessary.
We are asking you and your student to sign the form on the last page of this letter and return it to the student ’s physics teacher. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your student's physics teacher at the above number.
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Publication / Picture Waiver
A picture of your student or work created by your student may be included in a classroom project. We may use the resulting project in one or more of the following ways:
- Science Fair Projects
- Use as a demonstration project/activity in educational workshops, classes, and/or conferences.
- Use videos for the benefit of improving on classroom management techniques
- Use portions of the videos during meeting dealing with your child.
- Submit as samples to grant and contest entries for your child and/or the North Pocono School District.
- Part of school projects that student might publish on the Internet.
- Part of an article submitted to the district website or a newspaper about an activity your child participated in related to the school or the class
If you do not want your students picture used please contact me by one of the means listed above.
Lab Safety Rules (Your Copy)
This is to certify that I, ____________________, have been instructed in the following safety component of this science class:
- By signing below, I verify that I have been informed where the following items are located and have been instructed on how to use the so named items:
- Fire extinguisher
- Fire blanket
- Eyewash fountain
- Safety shower
- Exhaust hood
- Chemical spill control kits
- First aid kit
- Eye protective devices (goggles)
- Master shutoff for gas, electricity, and water
- Heat sources (Burners, ovens, etc.)
- I will not use any lab equipment, unless instructed on when and how to use such an item by my teacher. If I have any questions on how something works or need a refresher on how something works, I will ask the teacher in charge.
- There will be no projectile motion in this class, unless instructed by the teacher to do so.
- Special laboratory clothing shall be worn when dealing with labs that require clothing protection. These clothing items can include but is not limited to, closed toe shoes, glasses instead of contacts, safety goggles, lab jackets, long pants and gloves. Any students repeatedly failing to comply with this regulation may be removed from participation in class and receive an unsatisfactory grade.
- I have been informed on the safety procedures for the following situations, and know that I must report the following situations as soon as possible to my teacher:
- Fire
- Chemical Splash to the body
- Eye emergency
- Chemical Spill
- Broken Glass
- Other injuries
- I will follow all other safety rules in the class which will be posted which include but are not limited to
- No running
- No physical contact with others
- No harassing others
- No food, drinks or gum
- I will be required to buy all lab equipment I break in class. (Some of the lab equipment is in excess of $500)
Student Copy
Procedures and Rules Acknowledgment
I, ________________________ (student's name) have read and agree to follow all the, policies, procedures, classroom rules, and lab safety rules set forth in the class syllabus found on my courses procedures page on www.croomphysics.com. If I have a question about any portion of the syllabus, I will ask my teacher for clarification. I realize that I must obey these rules to ensure my own safety, and that of my fellow students and instructor. I will fully cooperate with my instructor and fellow students to maintain a safe classroom and lab environment. I will also closely follow the oral and written instructions provided by the instructor. I am aware that any violation of this safety contract that results in unsafe conditions in the laboratory, or misbehavior on my part, may result in being removed from the laboratory, receiving a detention, receiving a failing grade, and/or dismissal from the course.
Dear Parent or Guardian,
We feel that you should be informed regarding the school's effort to create and maintain a safe science classroom and laboratory environment. With the cooperation of the instructor, parents/guardians, and student, possible hazards can be corrected and prevented. You should be aware of all the, policies, procedures, classroom rules, and lab safety rules your student will receive before engaging in class and laboratory work. Please read the list of these policies, procedures, classroom rules, and lab safety rules which are set forth in the class syllabus found on the Procedures page on www.croomphysics.com. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your student's teacher. No student will be permitted to perform laboratory activities unless this contract is signed by both the student and the parent/guardian and is on file with the teacher. Your signature on this contract indicates that you have read this syllabus and are aware of the measures taken to ensure the safety of your student in the science class and laboratory as well as the grading procedure and the student's responsibilities for the course. It is also expected that you will instruct your student to uphold their agreement to the follow these rules and procedures in the class and laboratory.
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| Parent/Guardian Name (print) |
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Signature |
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Date |
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Please return the signature sheet to Dr. Croom in Room 104
Information Sheet
Name(Student) ( First, Last,Preferred) _____________________________________________
Contact Name (First, Last, Relationship) ____________________________________________
Contact Phone Number__________________________________________________________
Contact e-mail address(parent)____________________________________________________
Contact e-mail address(student)___________________________________________________
Questions
- Are you color blind?
- Do you have an after school job?
- How many hours per week?______
Record of Home Contact
Do not write in this box
Procedures and Rules Acknowledgment
I, ________________________ (student's name) have read and agree to follow all the, policies, procedures, classroom rules, and lab safety rules set forth in the class syllabus found on my courses procedures page on www.croomphysics.com. If I have a question about any portion of the syllabus, I will ask my teacher for clarification. I realize that I must obey these rules to ensure my own safety, and that of my fellow students and instructor. I will fully cooperate with my instructor and fellow students to maintain a safe classroom and lab environment. I will also closely follow the oral and written instructions provided by the instructor. I am aware that any violation of this safety contract that results in unsafe conditions in the laboratory, or misbehavior on my part, may result in being removed from the laboratory, receiving a detention, receiving a failing grade, and/or dismissal from the course.
Dear Parent or Guardian,
We feel that you should be informed regarding the school's effort to create and maintain a safe science classroom and laboratory environment. With the cooperation of the instructor, parents/guardians, and student, possible hazards can be corrected and prevented. You should be aware of all the, policies, procedures, classroom rules, and lab safety rules your student will receive before engaging in class and laboratory work. Please read the list of these policies, procedures, classroom rules, and lab safety rules which are set forth in the class syllabus found on the Procedures page on www.croomphysics.com. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your student's teacher. No student will be permitted to perform laboratory activities unless this contract is signed by both the student and the parent/guardian and is on file with the teacher. Your signature on this contract indicates that you have read this syllabus and are aware of the measures taken to ensure the safety of your student in the science class and laboratory as well as the grading procedure and the student's responsibilities for the course. It is also expected that you will instruct your student to uphold their agreement to the follow these rules and procedures in the class and laboratory.
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| Parent/Guardian Name (print) |
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Signature |
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Date |
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Please return the signature sheet to Dr. Croom in Room 104
