Earth & Environmental Science s1

Physics

Class Instructor: Mrs. Tubb websites: http://monikatubb.cmswiki.wikispaces.net http://myersparkphysics.cmswiki.wikispaces.net Email address: [email protected]

Course Goal: This class is structured to explore the exciting world of science and all of its workings. The objective of this class is to build a strong scientific background that can be used in your future education and career as well as introduce you to all areas of science.

IB Mission Statement: The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

Materials Needed for Class Daily: 1.5” three-ring binder specific to Physics Scientific Calculator- a graphing calculator is not required, but could be useful Pencil- ALL work must be submitted to me in pencil Colored Pencils- will assist in understanding concepts in notes

Materials on Teacher Wish List: Copy paper, colored copy paper, tissues, scissors, paper towels, Clorox wipes, glue sticks, colored pencils, markers, index cards, financial donations (for lab supplies).

Classroom Rules: 1. Be Polite- to everyone including your peers 2. Be Prompt- in the door when the bell rings 3. Be Prepared- all materials are readily available and homework is complete 4. Be Productive- not distracting!

Make-up Work: If a student has an excused absence, he/she will be responsible for acquiring any materials the student missed the day he/she returns. To receive full credit, make-up work needs to be turned in within five days upon return. If a student is absent on the day of a test, the test will need to be made up before school, during lunch, or after school.

Late Work: Students are expected to turn their work in at the beginning of class. Late work will be accepted but at the expense of a lower grade. After 8 days, the maximum score one can receive is 50%.

Test Days: For the fall semester, the testing days are Tuesday/Wednesday.

Tutoring Days: I am available after school from 2:30-3:30 on all Mondays and most other days (no Wednesdays) for extra help. Please let me know ahead of time when you wish to come so I can be sure I’m available to give you my full attention. I can be available before school as well; be sure to make arrangements.

Need Help? If you find yourself struggling and need help, do the following: 1. Try reading the section in your textbook that corresponds to the material being covered in class 2. Go to the class wiki and link to the online review for the topic that corresponds with the material being covered in class 3. Attend afterschool tutoring during the times listed above

Cheating will NOT be tolerated - I will follow the MPHS honor code which states that students will receive a ZERO for the assignment as well as an academic referral. Parents will be notified of the academic infraction immediately. This includes but is not limited to plagiarism, giving or receiving assistance on an exam/quiz or copying work of any type done in class. According to CMS policy, cell phones should be turned off and remain out of sight during the school day. During exams, the students will be reminded of this rule, and it is expected that they will abide by it.

Grading Scale: Breakdown of Assessment: CMS Course Calculations: 93-100% = A Tests: 60% Quarter 1 grade: 37.5%* 85-92% = B Quizzes: 15% (*80% class, 20% midterm) 77-84% = C Labs: 15% Quarter 2 grade: 37.5% 70-76% = D Homework: 10% Final Exam grade: 25% 0-69% = F

Assessment Tools: Tests: Tests will be given at the end of every unit. If a student knows that he or she will be out of class on the day of a test (for a field trip, band concert, etc.) the student is responsible for making an appointment with the teacher and taking the test ahead of time. These tests will cover the same material as the regular test, but will not necessarily be the same test or format. Students have five class days to make up the test, after that time the tests are considered to be zeros in the grade book. It is the student’s responsibility to schedule their tests within that time frame, not the teacher’s.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be used as a regular assessment tool. There will be at least one quiz per unit depending on the depth of the material. There is a small chance for pop quizzes during the grading periods, but they will be implemented based on behavior and responsiveness. Your two lowest quiz grades will be omitted at the end of each quarter, provided all quizzes were taken in class on regular days. If a quiz is missed for any reason, it will count as your omitted quiz. If more than two quizzes are missed, those must be made up afterschool.

Homework: Students are assigned homework most nights. Some assignments will be online, and students will need internet access to obtain the work and turn in their answers. They DO NOT, however, need to be on a computer to work on the assignment, nor do they need to answer the questions in order or all at once. Homework is an extension of the class lesson and is vital to successfully mastering Physics. They need to work on problem sets every evening, not just the day before it is due. The due date for homework is given in the syllabus, and will be due at 8 pm on that date. After the due date has passed, students will be able to access the correct answers and solutions by picking up the solutions on the UTexas site.

Projects: Projects will be given various values based on the amount of work involved; they can be included in any category of assessment.

Labs: Various labs will be performed throughout the semester, in which all students will be expected to participate. Grades will be assigned for accuracy, participation, and completion.

Participation: It is important for me to understand how well the students comprehend the material being covered. One way for me to measure their knowledge is to ask questions during class for them to answer aloud. I also will implement group work and other class work. MYIB

UT Homework Information

Getting Started a) Log on to the following address http://quest.cns.utexas.edu/student/ or go to the class wiki and use the provided link.

b) Get your UTEID by following the instructions at the given link. Then log back in to the system.

c) When you view "My Courses", if you don't see any courses listed, click "Enroll in new course". Obtain the unique number for your class from your instructor and enter this when prompted. Your instructor will be notified that you want to register, and you will see a status message indicating that your enrollment is pending. Your number is ______d) Viewing and submitting your assignment Choose My Courses to view your course listings, and then choose a course to see the assignments associated with that course. Click on an individual assignment to see problems and a form to submit your answers. Problems have many different variations, so your assignment will be different from another student in your class. All assignments have due dates and your instructor has the option of displaying a solution after the due date has passed.

Numbers a) Significant digits and precision The computer carries out all calculations to at least six significant digits. Do not use "significant figures" algorithms to round off your answer. Do not round off 'intermediate' calculations. Six digits are shown in solutions. To be scored as correct, an answer must be within 1% of the computer's answer (except for an answer of zero, which must be exact). You will be informed of any exceptions to this tolerance.

b) Scientific/Engineering notation ("times 10 to the power") Very large or very small numbers may be input with "scientific notation," e.g., +3.56e-10, which is 3.56 times ten to the negative tenth power. However, 468 (or 468.0) is just as good as +4.68e+02 or +4.68E+02.

Constants and Conversion Factors Be aware that using conversion factors and/or constants not identical with those used by the algorithm in the computer may cause discrepancies (e.g., using pi = 3.14 instead of pi = 3.14159265358979324). In general, don’t use constants other than those given in the links in the help section online.

Number of Tries Allowed for Web submission You will be told immediately whether your answer is correct or not. If your answer is incorrect, you are provided additional opportunities (multiple tries) to get the correct answer, as follows: a) Multiple-choice questions: You are allowed n - 1 tries, where n = "number of choices." b) Numeric questions: On "numeric" questions (you input the number itself), you are allowed seven tries.

Randomization All students have the same generic question; however, each student has different parameters and hence different answers. The order of the choices is scrambled from version to version. Online Homework Scoring a) Multiple-choice questions A randomly guessing student should, on average, receive the same score as a student who does not answer. Our multiple-choice scoring scheme corrects for random guessing by giving negative scores for incorrect answers. (The SAT does this also.) This scheme makes haphazard guessing a waste of time, which will not improve (or help) your score over the long run. If you are not sure of the correct answer, but you can eliminate one or more of the choices as wrong, you increase your chances of selecting the correct answer. Statistically, it is to your advantage to answer such a question. The table above illustrates how the neutral scoring scheme works for a +10.00 point question. The table is subdivided into three blocks, which represent the number of choices for a particular multiple choice question: Block 1 (10 choices); Block 2 (6); and Block 3 (3 choices). Each block includes three columns: Try represents the number of times a question is attempted; Correct represents the question score if answered correctly on this particular attempt; and Incorrect represents the question score if answered incorrectly on this and all previous attempts. For example, when you select the correct choice on the first try, you receive full credit; a score of +10.00. If your answer is incorrect (on a 10 option question), however, you are penalized and you receive a negative score of -1.11 (at least until you try again). b) Numeric questions using web submission For more than one try, the full credit score is multiplied by 0.93^(t - 1), where “t” is the number of tries you use, and “^” means “raised to the power of”.

Question with 10 tries Question with 6 tries Question with 3 tries

Try Correct Incorrect Try Correct Incorrect Try Correct Incorrect 1 +10 -1.11 1 +10 -2 1 +10 -5 2 +7.78 -2.22 2 +6 -4 2 0 -10 3 +5.56 -3.33 3 +2 -6 4 +3.33 -4.44 4 -2 -8 5 +1.11 -5.56 5 -6 -10

6 -1.11 -6.67 7 -3.33 -7.78 8 -5.56 -8.89 9 -7.78 -10 MYIB

MYIB / HONORS PHYSICS TESTING AND HOMEWORK SCHEDULE FALL 2012

ALL DATES ARE TENTATIVE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Unit Topics Homework Due Date Test Date 1 Linear Motion Unit 0: Homework 8/31 9/11 Unit 1: Homework 9/10 2 Vectors and 2D Unit 2 Homework 1 9/20 9/25 Motion Unit 2 Homework 2 9/24 3 Newton’s Laws Unit 3: Homework 1 10/3 10/9 Unit 3: Homework 2 10/8 4 Circular Motion Unit 4: Homework 10/18 10/17 Midterm Exams 10/22-10/26 Unit 5 and Unit 6 will 5 Work and Energy Unit 5: Homework 11/1 be tested together. 6 Momentum Unit 6: Homework 11/6 11/7 7 Waves and Optics Unit 7: Homework 12/3 12/4 8 Electricity and Unit 8: Homework 1 12/13 1/8 Magnetism Unit 8: Homework 2 1/7 Final Exams 1/11 – 11/18

OTHER IMPORTANT PHYSICS DATES

TOPIC DUE DATE Bridge Project Partners/Research 10/18 Bridge Project Pre-Testing Paper 10/31 Bridge Project Due 11/19 Bridge Project Testing Day 11/20 Bridge Project Post-Testing Paper 12/5