HONORS CHEMISTRY To Honors Chemistry page.
Chemistry is the study of the relationship between the properties and structure of matter. Honors Chemistry is designed to help you build up a picture of why substances behave as they do -- rather than fill you with facts. It focuses on theories (the models, equations, and ideas chemists create and employ), and experiments (the methods used to study substances and test new theories). The course is organized as an expanding spiral: we'll study a behavior of matter, modify an existing theory or create a new one to explain that behavior, and then use that theory to study new behaviors. We'll also extensively critique past theories and experiments in order to better understand the present models and future directions, using primary source documents and Creations of Fire: Chemistry's Lively History by Cobb & Goldwhite. In addition, throughout the year we'll be reading The Periodic Table, the autobiography of 20th century chemist and humanitarian Primo Levi.
first semester: the behavior of gases, liquids, and solids; the kinetic-molecular and atomic theories of matter; chemical composition; changes in energy and composition in reactions (stoichiometry).
second semester: electrical phenomena, solution chemistry and ion models; atomic structure & nuclear reactions; periodicity and chemical bonding.
ESSENTIALS OF GLOBAL SCIENCE To Essentials of Global Science page.
This is the first of a three year sequence of courses designed to provide the essential knowledge and skills in science required for high school graduation and direct entry into the workforce or acceptance to a technical post-secondary program. In the freshmen year we will establish skills in laboratory work (measurement and data management) and begin to develop skills in experimental design and interpretation. The content is integrated, with units combining biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics to explore the Earth as a system. In the freshmen year we will pay especial attention to forest systems, the cycling of water, nitrogen, oxygen, other materials throughout the Earth, and the flow of heat energy to and around and off the Earth.
ESSENTIALS OF PHYSICS To Essentials of Physics page.
This course is the final "capstone" of the Essentials of Science sequence and combines physics with some astronony. We will complete our develop laboratory skills, with a special focus this year on computer-assisted measurements and student designed engineered projects. The first semester we'll study waves, focusing on sound and light, and apply that to stars. The second semester we'll study motion and forces, and apply that to the motions of bodies in the Solar System. Completion of the Essentials I-III sequence fulfills the minimum requirements for graduation for CHRHS Science.