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Honors Chemistry

Course Description

This is a very rigorous chemistry course designed for students planning a career in the sciences. The course content will include units of measurements, physical and chemical properties, atomic theory, stoichiometry, bonding, solutions, acids and bases, and the periodic table. Students taking this course should expect a fast pace and a high level of academic difficulty focusing on higher level thinking skills. Considerable laboratory work is performed and a thorough understanding of mathematics is required.

Course Big Ideas

  • All forms of matter exist as a result of the combination or rearrangement of atoms.
  • The atoms of some substances combine or rearrange to form new substances that have different properties.
  • All forces between objects, regardless of size or direction, arise from only a few types of interactions.

Course Essential Questions

  • How do particles combine to form the variety of matter one observes?
  • How can the interactions between atoms and ions be predicted and explained?
  • How can the reactions of substances be explained and predicted?
  • How can stoichiometry be used to relate the relative amounts of reactants and products in a chemical reaction?
  • How can matter be described in terms of its composition, properties, and changes it undergoes?
  • How is the periodic table arranged and how does that impact predictions about how elements behave?

Course Competencies

  • Understand the relationship between atomic and subatomic particles and how they affect matter.
  • Understand how to name and write the formula of simple substances.
  • Understand how particles change chemically through reactions and/or physically.
  • Understand how molecules interact with each other including various forces.
  • Understand the importance and relevance of the periodic table to chemistry and other disciplines.

Course Assessments

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

Course Units