Syllabus for Grade 9 Organic Chemistry
Course Description: We will study the chemistry of living organisms: photosynthesis, chlorophyll, sugars and other carbohydrates, fermentation, alcohols, organic acids, esters and essential oils. We will also explore combustion, oxidation and reduction, common gases, the composition of air, classes of organic chemicals, and how organic reactions occur. Finally we will study some of the technology associated with organic substances, including guncotton, celluloid, petroleum refining and polymers.
Grading: Your grade will be based on the following elements:
Criteria, dates
Completeness, care, spelling, detail, depth, and artistic presentation.
The final book is due on the last day of class.
Contribution to discussions in class, participation in laboratory work,
and general attentiveness during class.
Quizzes (end of each week), closed book, to be worked on individually
The last day of block
30%
30%
10%
30%
Expectations:
1. You are expected to be on time at the start of class. Persistent lateness will result in a lower grade.
2. A late main lesson book will result in a significantly lowered grade.
3. You are expected to do your own work. Sharing computer files will result in a lower grade. If you copy notes from another student you are expected to “make them your own”.
4. Laboratory work is expected to be done with careful observance of the safety rules.
5. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to ask a classmate for notes. If you miss a test, I will give you the test to make up; it will still be closed book.
Main lesson book: Your main lesson book provides a record of the main points of the block. I will correct the assignments during the block. Final main lesson books are due at the last class of the block. The main lesson book will contain the demonstrations and experiments done in class day by day, plus additional essays or other assignments. Each write-up of an experiment or demonstration will include the procedure followed (including the experimental set up and drawing of the apparatus when needed), the observations (as detailed as possible) and the conclusions.
A special essay of 1-2 pages will be assigned during the block. The details for this essay will be given in
class. The writing must be your own and not copied from another source. Include a list of the reference sources that you have used.
I prefer that you hand write your main lesson book assignments. If you use a computer to type your main lesson pages, you will need to learn how to use subscripts and other symbols, so you can write chemical formulas like:
MnO2 catalyst
SO3 + H2O ——————> H2SO4
2 H2O2 —————————> 2 H2O + O2↑
In MS Word, the subscripts are done by selecting Format->Font and checking the subscript box, or by typing ctrl +. Then another ctrl + goes back to normal type. The arrows are dashes (ctrl-alt plus the numeric pad hyphen), followed by a greater than sign (>). The up arrow (↑ meaning gas given off) and the down arrow (↓ meaning precipitate) are special symbols in Times New Roman font: use Insert->Symbol, select the desired symbol, and press the Insert button.