The First Week

The first full week of school is over and we are all, both students and teachers, grateful for the three day Labor Day weekend. Except for the oppressive heat and humidity common to this time of year, things went well.

My first year chemistry students seem interested in the work, especially the new activity I developed on the scientific method. I found a set of empty boxes that once contained greeting cards, placed a D-cell battery in each, and used duct tape to seal them.
Part one of the activity involved determining what was in the box, without opening it of course. The students shook, turned, and listened to the box as they argued with each other about the contents. Each group had to turn in a written report with their observations and hypothesis; the oldest member of the group assigned to be its leader.

In Part two they made a “Cartesian diver” out of an empty plastic bottle, small test tube, and some tap water. Their written report had to include an explanation of how it works. I posted the answer to each “scientific problem” on a new web page I set up for my classes at blogspot.com. I wanted to get them used to looking there for class information so I exploited their natural desire to know what was in the box by not telling them, but letting them know that they could find the information there. I also posted a link to their homework assignments and files of their handouts that could be downloaded if necessary.
Several students who lost the original handouts this week downloaded copies at home. The explanation for the Cartesian diver activity was a U-tube video about how to make one. There is a playlist music box as well, along with links to webelements.com , and homework help web sites. I plan to add more links as the year progresses, building the page into a major resource for my classes.

The A.P. Chemistry class took its “summer homework test” Tuesday and Wednesday. The grades were acceptable, but I had hoped for better. It is obvious to me that some extra review will be necessary. After the summer homework test one student dropped, and I recommended that another two do the same.

One student, a young lady who got a 53% (the worst grade in the class) on the test, sent me the email below:

“im worried about the grade i received on the summer homework test. do you have any suggestions on what i should do?”

My reply was:

“Your grade was significantly lower than the average in the class. I noticed that you had problems on several different topics--especially those that were not covered in Chemistry A. The purpose of the summer homework was to emphasize those skills that are necessary to master before beginning AP Chemistry. For Honors Chemistry students this was review material, but for those who took Chemistry A, about 1/3 of it was new material. Students who took Chemistry A needed to spend extensive time over the summer mastering these necessary skills.

If you did spend extensive time this summer and still did not master the necessary skills I would recommend dropping AP Chemistry now. On the other hand, if you did not study this summer as you should have, you may still be able to get up to speed, but it will take weeks of intensive review and work over and above the normally assigned class work.

Your records indicate you are a very good student who qualified for Honors Chem, and if she had taken Honors Chemistry would have easily mastered the necessary work. But you took Chemistry A instead of Honors, and took a year off between Chemistry A and AP Chem, neither of which is recommended for success in AP Chemistry.

You are the only one who knows your motivation and determination to catch up. I will not press the matter one way or the other, and will support you whether or not you decide to drop. If you decide to stay you will need about 2 hours a week of intensive review that I will gladly help you with. You need to think about these things, maybe discuss it with your parents and/or guidance counselor before you decide.”

Now I will wait to see what happens.