Course Syllabus

Physics

Physics

Instructor

Mr. Andrews

Phone

(619) 344-4500 ext. 4301

Room

1301

E-mail

[email protected]

Instructor

Ms. Banchik

Phone

(619) 344-4500 ext. 4005

Room

1005

E-mail

[email protected]

Instructor

Mr. Gruber

Phone

(619) 344-4500 ext. 4301

Room

1301 & 1005

E-mail

[email protected]

Course Rationale:
The California State University and University of California systems A-G admissions requirements state
that two years of lab science are required (three years recommended) with a grade of C or better.
Pre-requisites: N/A
Course Description:
The state of California recently adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as the framework
for science education in grades K-12. This year, you will focus on the key concepts and principles of
Physics as described in the NGSS and continue to develop your skills of scientific inquiry, analysis and
problem-solving. You will also have opportunities to engage in relevant science and engineering practices
to demonstrate your understanding and ability to apply the key concepts and principles learned.
Textbooks:
Physics Course - Hewitt, Conceptual Physics: Upper Saddle River, N.J. Prentice Hall, 2006.
Advanced Physics Course - Glencoe Science, Physics Principles and Problems: New York, N.Y.
McGraw Hill, 2008.
Student Supplies: Bring a 3-ring binder or spiral notebook to this class every day. Use it to keep all your
Physics notes, homework, lab reports and other important work in one place. Use your notebook as a
reference in preparing for quizzes and exams.
Bring a calculator to class every day. Phone calculators cannot be used on exams !

Course Outline- Key Concepts and Areas of Study

Acceleration, Velocity & Motion (Kinematics)
-

Vectors & Scalars

Drawing, Analyzing & Interpreting Graphs of Motion
Describing and Predicting Motion using the Big Five equations
Galileos Law of Odd Integers

Forces, Interactions and Effects

-

Gravity, Tension, Compression, Spring, Friction, Electrical, Magnetic & Nuclear Forces
Mass and Inertia
Vectors, Free-Body Diagrams
Newtons Laws of Motion

Momentum & Energy

-

Analyzing Collisions and Momentum Transfers

Impulse-Momentum Theorem
Conservation Laws ( Momentum, Energy & Charge)
Forms of Energy and Energy Transformations
o Gravitational and Elastic Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy
o Electrical, Light, Sound , Heat, Chemical, Nuclear Energy
Work, Energy and Power
Energy & Waves

Electricity & Magnetism

-

Static Electricity & Electrical Forces

Analyzing and Understanding Electric Circuits
o Current, Voltage, Resistance
o Ohms Law
o Energy & Power
Understanding Magnetism and Magnetic Forces
o Permanent Magnets and Electro-Magnets
o Law of Attraction
o Right-Hand Rule

Waves, Sound & Light

-

Wave Characteristics (Frequency, Amplitude, Wavelength, Speed)

Analyzing and Predicting Behavior of Sound and Light Waves
o Wave Equation
o Doppler Effect
o Reflection and Refraction
Light, Color and EM Spectrum

Heat & Thermodynamics

-

Temperature, Heat and Phase Changes

Heat Transfer (Conduction, Convection, Radiation)
Specific Heat Capacity & Heat Equation
Entropy

Homework Policy:
Homework is an essential part of the learning process. Homework will be assigned on a regular basis and
will always be an extension to what is learned in class. The work students do at home will be assessed
and commented on in a way that will help students succeed on formative and summative assessments.
Late Work Policy:
You are responsible for being aware of upcoming assignments and when they are due. Normally late work
will receive a 25% lower grade than work turned in on time. Normally, work more than one week past the
original due date will not be accepted.
Academic/Behavior Expectations:
The classroom will be run on a basis of mutual respect of three parties: teacher, students, and parents.

Student Responsibilities:
o Be on time every day. Come prepared for instruction and be ready to work.
o Be an active participant in learning. Stay engaged. Allow others to do the same.

o
o
o

Take personal responsibility for your academics and behavior.

Be a positive, respectful, responsible, and considerate member of the class. Effective
collaboration with other students in class activities, discussions, projects and study groups is a
key component of being successful.
Monitor your assignments and grades in PowerSchool. Communicate with the instructor
regarding any academic issues. Study groups and tutoring can really help you learn better.

Teacher Responsibilities
o Provide a safe, positive and healthy learning environment
o Provide a standards-based curriculum
o Provide feedback and return student work in a timely manner.
o Communicate with parents about student progress.
Parent Responsibilities
o Create an expectation that daily attendance is important.
o Encourage and guide your students to help ensure they are maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
o Monitor your students attendance and grades in PowerSchool.
o Encourage your students to work hard, contribute in class, and complete their assignments on
time.
.
Academic Integrity:
Demonstrate academic integrity by submitting your own work as evidence of your learning. Plagiarism is
considered a serious offense at Hoover. The penalty for this is normally a zero on the assignment and an F
in citizenship for any individual(s) involved. Cheating on any assignment will merit the same penalty as that
for plagiarism. Make sure you know the difference between collaboration and copying. Copying is bad.
Assessments:
This course is organized into units encompassing the key concepts and areas of study as described in the
Course Outline section of this syllabus. A variety of assessments are used to measure your demonstrated
mastery level of the course performance expectations. These include:
o Practice work, reading, questioning & note-taking activities, collaborative discussions,
homework assignments, lab activities and projects.
o

Formative Assessments given throughout the unit are used to determine where you are at in
terms of your learning of what has been covered so far, and to help guide instruction for the
rest of the unit. Labs and Hands-On activities are often used for this purpose.

Summative Assessments given at the end of each unit are used to check your level of mastery
of the performance expectations for the whole unit and also material covered previously in the
course. At Hoover High School, these exams are usually administered as Common
Assessments where all Physics teachers administer a common set of exam questions to all
students taking the course. The Common Assessment Timeline is included at the back of this
syllabus.
Since exams are cumulative, the Common Assessment administered in November will
serve as the Mid-term exam.
The Common Assessment exam in January will serve as the Final exam.

Challenge Projects: For each unit you will work in teams with several other students to learn
basic concepts and principles and then apply what you have learned to complete a unit project
called a Challenge. The project provides an opportunity for you and your team to
demonstrate your knowledge, engineering design and problem-solving skills. Some examples
include Parachute Project, Egg Drop, Wind-Powered Vehicles, Aluminum Boats, Electrical
Safety Campaign and the Physics Photo Challenge .

Grading Policy: Weighting and grade scale are as follows:

Approximate Weighting :
(70%) Performance Assessments including,
Exams, Quizzes, Labs, & Challenge Projects
(30%) Class Assignments & Homework

Grading Scale:
88% and up = A
78% and up = B
70% and up = C
60% and up = D
59% and below = F

Mastery Level
Advanced
Proficient
Basic
Below Basic
Far Below Basic

Important Notes:
PowerSchool is a web-based system that enables students, parents, teachers and
administrators to work together to improve student achievement.
o Using the Student Portal you can check your grades on assignments, quizzes and
exams as well as keep track of your overall course grade. You can also see what
assignments are coming up and when they are due. You can also look over your
attendance record.
o The Parent Portal allows parents and guardians to monitor the same basic info for
their students.

Mastery Model Protocol- Retaking Unit Exams and Common Assessments

o For those students who desire to re-take a unit exam or common assessment to
improve their grade, teachers will offer a make-up exam. The opportunity to do a retest will be available for a limited period of time (normally, about two weeks after the
original exam.).
Prior to taking a retest, students must meet with their teacher and negotiate a
re-test contract which outlines specific requirements for the student to
complete before taking the make-up exam. Prior to this meeting, the student
should review their previous exam to help identify those specific areas where
they will need to focus their study efforts. Discuss your game plan with your
teacher.
Normally, the contract requires attending a specific number of tutoring
sessions at the tutoring center in the library or at another Hoover tutoring
venue approved by the teacher (Gear Up, AVID, Cardinals Interact, etc.)
Students should save the work completed and get a signature from the tutor
documenting their attendance at the session.
Contract may also require the student to complete or re-do any previously
missing or unsatisfactory class assignments and homework related to the
assessment.
o The re-test will normally be administered at the tutoring center in the library. Students
score on the re-test will replace their original score, not to exceed a score of 85%.

Common Assessment Timeline

ID #
1516-1
1516-2
1516-3
1516-4
1516-5
1516-6

Exam
Kinematics
Forces & Motion
Energy & Momentum *
Electricity & Magnetism
Waves, Sound & Light*
Heat & Thermodynamics

* Comprehensive exam which may serve as the Mid-Term or Final.

Projected Time Frame

Oct 2015/ Feb 2016
Oct 2015/ Mar 2016
Nov 2015/ Apr 2016
Dec 2015 /May 2016
Jan 2016/ Jun 2016
TBD / TBD

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Physics Course Syllabus 2015-16

Learning Contract: We have read and understand the rules and requirements for the course,
including the performance expectations, academic standards and important notes about Power
School and the Mastery Model Protocol .
Date: _________________
Student Name (Print) & Signature
________________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name, Signature & Day-time Phone

______________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian email ____________________________________