Physics
Mr. Border Period 6 2005-2006 Room 154
Course Description
This course is designed to prepare students for an entry-level college physics course. The focus for the first semester will be on mechanics. Students will learn to make observations and measurements of force, mass, velocity, and acceleration. The second semester will study dynamics as well as a brief examination of electricity and magnetism, light, and modern physics. The mechanics portion of the course will stress both conceptual and mathematical understanding of ideas, while the remainder of the course will focus mainly on only the concepts involved.

Grading
Quarter grades will be based on the following assessments:
Participation 5%
Daily Work/Assignments 25%
Laboratory Reports 40%
Section Quizzes 30%

Semester grades will be calculated based on quarter grades and a semester final exam:

Quarter 1 40%
Quarter 2 40%
Semester Final Exam 20%
Participation
This is an advanced class. All students are expected to be timely, prepared and active in all class activities. Students who do not participate by being late, not contributing to discussion, or coming to class unprepared will lose participation points for the week.

Daily Work/Assignments
Throughout each unit are non-lab activities and calculations that will be assigned as needed to increase students understanding of topics covered. These will be graded by the instructor on a scale of 0 - 5 based on correctness and completion.

Laboratory Reports
Students will work in groups to investigate chemical concepts in the lab. Labs will be graded based on a scoring guide to be passed out at the start of the first lab. If, a student misses a lab because of an excused absence, that student will be responsible for making up that lab at the next scheduled lab makeup. Labs can be made up Thursdays from 3:30-4:30. Labs cannot be made up ahead of time.

Quizzes
Quizzes should be an opportunity for students to confirm their knowledge, which they have already demonstrated on their homework assignments, in lab, and in their projects. Quizzes will be given at the end of each section. Each quiz will be scored on a 100% basis. Students who receive less than 70% on a quiz are strongly encouraged to re-take the quiz. However, the maximum credit a student may receive for a retake is 70%. Arrangements for a retake must be made the day the quiz is returned to the student. If you are absent from class the day of a quiz, it is your responsibility to schedule a time to take the quiz as soon as possible.

Missed Work
It is the responsibility of the student to find out what assignments were missed, and to promptly make those assignments up. All work missed due to excused absences must be made up in an amount of time equal to the time the student was absent (e.g. a student absent for three days has three days to make up missed work).
Students who forget to bring in assigned work may turn it in for a grade based on completion, but not correctness (this means the best grade on late work is a 50%!).

Behavior/Attitudes
Students are expected to be present at the start of class and ready to work each day. All members of the class are expected to be polite and considerate of both their classmates and the teacher. Students who have problems in class will lose participation credit for the day. If the problem is more serious or continues after a warning is given the student can expect a call home. Students who continue to act out will be referred to the office.
In addition to standard classroom behaviour, students are also expected to follow all safety guidelines while in the Lab. Students who fail to follow the Lab rules will be subject to consequences which could include, but will not be limited to: a reduction in the lab grade, dismissal from that particular lab (resulting in a 0 on that lab), or a referral to the office.