Course Syllabus

IB Physics 2: Course Overview, Grading, Policies and Expectations

Parents: Please read, review, and discuss these policies with the student.
Please sign the back page and return.
I welcome and questions or comments.

Instructor: Rick Holmes
Phone: 503-431-5384 (Classroom) – calls during class time will be directed to voicemail.
Email :rholmes@ttsd.k12.or.us
Textbook: Conceptual Physics, Addison-Wesley 8th ed., Hewitt

Course overview:

This course is an extension of IB Physics 1, which is a pre-requisite for IB Physics 2. It assumes a working knowledge of the ideas from IB Physics 1 (motion with a constant force, Newton’s laws, free-body diagrams, momentum, energy, circular motion, gravity, and rotation) as well as the skills and problem solving techniques learned or used in IB Physics 1 (algebra, trigonometry, analytical resolution of vectors, unit conversions, graphing).

One of the goals of the IB Physics program (IB Physics 1 and IB Physics 2) is to prepare students to do well on the higher-level IB test in Physics. I strongly encourage all students taking the IB Physics test to take the higher-level exams. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to cover all of the IB topics in class before the test in May. In the past I have conducted once-a-week after-school study sessions to cover material in the second option of the IB exam and will do so again if there is student interest.

The WebAssign online homework system will be used extensively for practice in solving problems, review for tests, and additional preparation for the IB test. Students are expected to log on to the internet and submit their answers to the assignments.

Course content:

• Introduce the WebAssign online homework system
• Review the use of Excel spreadsheets so that you may use them for data tables, data analysis, uncertainty calculations and modeling.
• Review methods of handling uncertainty calculations (necessary for IB internal assessment)
• Review of topics from Physics 1
• Hooke’s Law and Simple Harmonic Motion
• Heat, Temperature, and Thermodynamics
• Waves, Wave Properties, Applications to Sound and Light
• Electricity and Magnetism
• Relativity
• Atomic Physics

This semester we will continue using the IB Physics 1 book, “Conceptual Physics Eighth Ed” by Paul Hewitt. I will augment the text with additional material and problems as I did in IB Physics 1.

Due to the pace of this course, it is very important that you attend class, do the reading, work the problems, and don't fall behind. If you get stuck, ask questions, come see me. I want everyone to enjoy and do well in this class. We will cover a lot of material but I think you will find it not only fascinating, but begin to see how the new topics build on the old. By understanding a few central ideas, you will begin to see that you can make sense of topics that at first seem very new and different

A special word on textbooks: I choose this textbook because it is interesting and readable. These books have to last at least seven years. They still look new because I insist that every book be covered at all times. Except to record your name, do not write in the book – do not even mark homework assignments. If you feel the need to write in the book, please purchase your own personal copy. They are often available on Ebay or half.com.

Grading Policy:

There is no reason everyone can't get an A or B in this class. Grades will be based on the percentage of points earned out of the total points possible. The grading scheme is as follows:

90-100 % A
80-89 % B
70-79% C
60-69 % D
<60 style=""> F

If you are taking the course Pass/Fail, a passing grade is 70% or greater.

Tigard High uses the ESIS grading system which allows students to access their grades. I encourage students to monitor their progress in this class.

Tests are worth 100 points. Labs are usually worth between 10 and 30 points. Homework may also be collected and graded. WebAssign assignments will be graded. Quizzes are usually worth 5 to 10 points and cannot be made up for a grade (though I encourage you to do them for practice) if you are absent or tardy since we go over them in class. I drop the lowest 20% of quiz scores. If you miss a quiz, those quizzes will be dropped first.

If you are absent, homework that is handed in that I have already graded and handed back to the rest of the class may or may not count towards your grade. This means the tests and labs will count as a greater percent of your grade. In addition there may be other projects that will count towards your grade.

Grading late work, especially labs and homework, is usually not fun. Therefore, to keep your teacher happy and help your grade, hand in work on time. Labs handed in late will be assessed a penalty or may not be accepted. Late homework, if accepted, will be penalized.

Behavior:

Everyone is expected to act in a ways that are SAFE, RESPONSIBLE, and RESPECTFUL.
All other rules are derived from this basic policy.

Specifically, here are some guidelines:

1. Be Enthusiastic. I feed off of your enthusiasm. Let’s make this a great class!

2. Behave at all times in a safe and responsible manner.

3. Come to class prepared to learn

· Be on time for class, and be ready to start when the bell rings

· Bring class materials including your textbook, notebook, and calculator

· Participate in classroom discussions and activities. I will often ask for your opinion on the outcome of an experiment or the answer to a question. There is no penalty for a wrong answer. I expect everyone to participate.

· Do not wear headphones in class

4. Be respectful of the rights and feelings of others. Treat everyone with courtesy and respect. Support and encourage each other. Foul language, intimidating behavior, and sexual harassment will NOT be tolerated. No further warnings will be given.

5. Be respectful of the lab and equipment. Put away equipment after labs. Inform the teacher of any accidents or broken equipment.

6. Clean up after yourself and leave the classroom neat and tidy. The book containers under the lab benches are NOT garbage cans. Trash cans are provided in the classroom.

7. Listen attentively, without interrupting or talking to others when the instructor or other students are talking.

8. No eating or drinking (except water in a bottle) during class. Note that food is allowed only in designated areas and is not allowed in hallways or classrooms.

9. Turn off and put away cell phones during class. Put away any headphones and do not use calculators for playing games. These items will be confiscated and cheerfully returned at the end of the day.

Honesty:

All work must be your own. Copying or allowing others to copy your work is cheating. This is unethical and does NOT help YOU learn. Copied work may result in a zero grade for BOTH students, parental notification, and administrative referral. This is a lab class and you will have a lab partner. I expect you and your partner to have the same experimental data and I encourage your and your partner to share ideas and analysis. However, what you write MUST be your own words and any graphs you make must be your own. Each lab partner will always hand in his/her own paper. There are no group papers.

Handing in Work:

Each block has a separate wire tray. Anything to be handed in will be placed by the student into this tray. Please hand in assignments BEFORE class begins. Do not come to class and expect to spend time completing an assignment that is due that day and certainly do not come to class and hurriedly copy someone else’s paper and then turn it in.

Check the whiteboard for due dates on assignments and tests. Record these due dates in your student planners. In general, labs are due two days after the lab has been done in class i.e if a lab is done on Tuesday, the lab write-up is usually due on Thursday.

Laboratory Work:

· Always be prepared for a lab, they may occur on any day of the week. I will try to announce when we are doing labs outside. Be sure to dress appropriately.

· Lab write-ups will be handed in separately (not in a lab notebook)

· Each student in the group will ALWAYS hand in his/her own work – NOT one write-up per group. Though your data may be the same as other group members, the organization of data tables and your explanations and evaluations MUST be your own independent work.

· In all cases, whether you are present or not, you are responsible for all labs that we do as a class

· If you missed a lab, please make arrangements to make up the lab as soon as possible. This is a lab course. Missed labs that are not made-up will receive a zero grade.

· Students in the IB program must return their graded labs back to the instructor (place them in the wire tray) after they have reviewed the grade. Please write “IB” at the top of the lab before returning it to the wire bin. The instructor must keep these labs for the IB internal assessment. You may view your IB file in the classroom by asking the instructor. When it comes time for the IB internal assessment, I will ONLY assess labs that you have returned to me.

Student Planners as Hall Passes:

It is school policy that students carry and use their student planners.

The student planner is the hall pass for students leaving the classroom. To leave the classroom, the student must fill out the time, and destination IN THEIR OWN PLANNER. The teacher will verify that it is your planner then initial the planner. If you lose your planner you must purchase a new planner in order to use it as a hall pass. You may NOT “borrow” another student’s planner for hall passes.

If you absolutely need to leave the classroom and do not have your planner, you may use the teacher’s planner but then make up missed class time with a 30 minute classroom detention after school.

The hall pass is to be used for bathroom breaks only, not to go get something to eat or make calls on your cell phone. It may not be used the first or last 10 minutes of class.

School Policy on Class Absences and Tardies:

If a student’s absence is excused, the parent MUST phone in the absence (attendance line: 503-431-5430). Hand written notes are not acceptable. If the absence has not been phoned in, it will be considered an unexcused absence and the student will be assigned an after-school detention.

• Make up work will be accepted only after an absence has been excused. Assignments that we have already gone over in class may not be made up. The student may do them to learn the material but will not receive a grade for them.
• Labs are difficult to make up. If you missed a lab, it is your responsibility to check with the teacher to make arrangements to make up a lab. Generally these must be done after school within one or two days of your return.
• If an absence is unexcused, the student receives a zero score for any work that was done in class that day, and for any work that was due to be turned in that day.
• If a student is 30 minutes or more late to class, it will be recorded as an absence.

Tardies:

Late arrival disrupts the classroom.

• A student must be in the classroom, ready to begin when the bell rings or the student will be marked tardy
• The third time in a quarter that a student is tardy, the student will bring a 3^rd Tardy Notification Form home to be signed by a parent and then returned to the instructor THE NEXT CLASS PERIOD. If the signed form is not returned that day, the student will be issued a 30 minute after-school detention. This form will state that subsequent tardies will result in after school detention.

o 3^rd tardy: note home. If signed note not returned the next day, 30 minute detention.

o 4^th tardy: 30 minute detention

o 5^th and subsequent tardies: disciplinary referral with after school detention

• I do not sign tardy slips unless the student is going to a study hall. I do not want my students to miss my class because they are meeting with another teacher and do not want my students missing another class because they are talking to me.
• Note that parents cannot excuse a tardy unless it is for an emergency or medical appointment. A student who is tardy for medical reasons must check in with the attendance office when they arrive to school. A parent cannot excuse a tardy for oversleeping, etc.