Course Description:
This inquiry- and lab-based course is designed to support modern science curriculum and teaching practices. It robustly meets NGSS learning standards associated with high school chemistry along with additional concepts and standards typically included in a full-year high school chemistry course. Content topics include atoms and elements, chemical bonding, chemical reactions, quantitative chemistry, molecular-level forces, solutions, and energy and changes in matter. It also addresses additional concepts and standards typically included in a full-year high school chemistry course, including molar concentrations, acid-base reactions, advanced stoichiometry, gas laws, and organic compounds. Each lesson includes one or more inquiry-based activities that can be performed online within the context of the lesson. In addition, the course includes a significant number of hands-on lab activities. Approximately 40% of student time in this course is devoted to true lab experiences, as defined by the National Research Council (2006, p. 3).Lab materials note: Most hands-on labs employ relatively-common household materials. A few labs require specialized scientific equipment or materials, such as an electronic balance (0.01g), graduated cylinders, test tubes, and chemical reagents. These few specialized labs are optional but provide valuable laboratory experience. School laboratories may be used for these specialized labs or single-student Edmentum Lab Kits may be purchased from Ward’s Science. Please refer to the Student Syllabus or Teacher’s Guide for details on lab materials.
Course Prerequisites:
high school students
Required Materials:
None
Course Accessibility:
accessible
Course Participation: Student participation in this course is documented by the following:
- Student active time in course logged by the learning management system.
- Course Progress monitored using Course Progress Report. If student is Off Pace, logged time is examined using Learner Daily Usage Report.
No
- If a student has not met participation thresholds for being considered present as tracked in LMS for the week, but virtual education teacher can confirm that the student has an IEP, and the student has satisfied what was required according to the IEP, the student will be counted present.
- When this course is taken by a student in a school with a district-assigned learning coach, seat time attendance may be used to document participation.
- The virtual education teacher verifies participation in the course 1-3 times a week.
- Once a week, Course Progress checked. If student is Off Pace, logged time is checked. If less than 150 minutes (for a typical 5 in-session days week), for a single course enrollment, logged time on all virtual courses is considered. If student combined logged time for all virtual courses is less than number of virtual courses enrolled in for the week multiplied by 150 (for example, for a student enrolled in 4 virtual courses, the threshold would be 4x150=600 minutes), student is considered absent for the week for the course. Consideration of total time logged for all virtual courses is to allow for students to concentrate on a subset of virtual courses.
