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AP Chemistry

Course Description

This rigorous college-level chemistry course will deal with intermediate concepts in inorganic  chemistry and basic concepts in organic chemistry. Higher-level thinking skills are mandatory for success in this class. Major topics include: stoichiometry, states of matter, chemical bonding, solutions, chemical reactions and reaction rates, thermodynamics, equilibrium, acids and bases, electrochemistry, organic chemistry, and descriptive chemistry. 

Course Big Ideas

  • Big Idea 1: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity (SPQ)                         
    • Explanations, predictions, and other forms of argumentation in chemistry require understanding the meaning of quantities at the macroscopic and atomic scale, and the relationship between quantities at the same scale and across scales.
  • Big Idea 2: Structure and Properties (SAP)
    • Chemical and physical properties of materials at the macroscopic scale can be explained by the structure and the arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules and the forces between them. Properties are predicted from known aspects of the structures and interactions at the atomic scale. Observed properties are used to infer aspects of the structures and interactions.
  • Big Idea 3: Transformations (TRA)
    • At its heart, chemistry is about the rearrangement of matter. Understanding the details of these transformations requires reasoning at many levels as one must quantify what is occurring both macroscopically and at the atomic level during the process. The rate of a transformation is also of interest, as particles must move and collide to initiate reaction events. 
  • Big Idea 4: Energy (ENE)
    • Energy has two important roles in characterizing and controlling chemical systems. The first is accounting for the distribution of energy among the components of a system and the ways that heat exchanges, chemical reactions, and phase transitions redistribute this energy. The second is in considering the enthalpic and entropic driving forces for a chemical process. These are closely related to the dynamic equilibrium present in many chemical systems and the ways in which changes in experimental conditions alter the positions of these equilibria.

Course Essential Questions

  • If atoms are too small to be observed directly, how do we know how they are structured?
  • How can large quantities of objects be counted by weighing?
  • How does atomic structure determine the patterns and properties of elements on the periodic table?
  • How can the properties of different compounds be explained by their chemical bonds?
  • How does the spacing and motion of particles relate to a substance’s state of matter?
  • In what ways can a chemical change be described, documented, and measured?
  • Why are some chemical reactions faster than other chemical reactions?
  • How can energy changes be tracked and measured when energy can’t be seen? 
  • Why do some chemical reactions occur without intervention, but others require the input of energy?

Course Competencies

  • Understand the relationship between atomic structure and the patterns and properties of elements on the periodic table. 
  • Understand the relationships among the masses, volumes, and numbers of particles of substances that are measured in the laboratory.
  • Understand the role of energy in determining the type and extent of changes in matter.
  • Understand the role of electrostatic forces on the type and extent of changes in matter.
  • Understand how the properties and changes in matter observed at the macroscopic level are determined by the movement and interactions of particles at the atomic level.

Course Assessments

  • Lab Practical and Written Assessments
  • Unit Summative Assessments
  • Formative Assessments
  • Course Final Assessment
  • AP Exam 

Course Units