Course Description

The purpose of this class is to help you discover the basic laws of physics and chemistry that tell us how the universe works, and to give you a sense of how scientists conduct experiments to learn about these laws.  The class is taught in an “inquiry-based” style.  This means that there is essentially no lecture component; the class will consist almost entirely of group activities and discussions. 

 

Instructor Contact

Synchronous Meeting Times:	Section 12388/12393 MW 11:10 am - 12:35 pm Section 12401/12405 MW 2:20 pm - 3:45 pm Section 12416/12430 TTh 11:10 am - 12:35 pm
Zoom Appointment Office Hours:	Monday - Thursday 10:00 am - 11:00 am Friday 10:00am - 1:00pm Other mutually agreeable times upon request.   Office Hours Zoom Link: https://laccd.zoom.us/j/7790409889   Dr. Travis Orloff Email: orlofft@laccd.edu

I will generally respond to e-mails with 24 hours M-F. Sometimes on the weekends but not always.

 

Course Modality and General Expectations

This is an entirely online course. This course will be delivered entirely online through the learning management system, Canvas. You will use your Pierce College username and password to log in to the Canvas course. 

In Canvas, you will access online lessons, course materials, and resources. At designated times throughout the semester, we will participate in a blend of self-paced and group-paced activities using Canvas, Zoom web-conferencing and other internet-based technologies. Activities will consist of online assignments, discussion forums, quizzes, and tests. All student work is submitted/posted online in Canvas.

This is a 4 unit course and will require approximately 12 hours per week in order to read course materials, watch course experiments, and participate in course assessment activities. 

 

Goals and Learning Objectives

This is a broad set of goals that the physics department has developed for our Physical Science 4 students.  They are included here to give you a general idea of what we expect you to get out of this course.

Student demonstrates an understanding of the scientific method and applies it to the description and explanation of natural processes and their effects on the environment in the following ways:

1. Appropriately utilize the equipment and skills needed to make and interpret observations in order to draw connections to the fundamental laws of nature in order to overcome misconceptions about the basic principles on which the universe operates.
2. Utilize communication skills (e.g. written, oral, web-based) to effectively report observational results and conclusions based on these results.

 

Required Course Materials

Textbook/workbook:	NextGen Physical Sciences and Everyday Thinking, 1) Unit EM: Energy Model 2) Unit PEF: Potential Energy and Fields 3) Unit FM: Force Model 4) Unit CF: Combinations of Forces 5) Unit PC: Physical Changes 6) Unit CR: Chemical Reactions Goldberg et al., 2017.
Working Computer with:	Reliable Internet Webcam and Microphone Google Chrome

 

 

Grading Policy 

Your grade in this class will be based on five categories: Synchronous Activities (20%), Canvas Discussion Assignments (25%), Weekly Check In (5%), Canvas Extension Quizzes (10%), Midterm (20%), and the Final Exam (20%).  Each of these will be discussed in detail below.

Synchronous Activity (20% of grade):

Our class will meet twice a week on zoom at a designated time according to your section number. You cannot change which meeting time you attend and must attend the synchronous session at the appropriate day and time. We will discuss thoughts, findings, and analysis from prompts in our workbook activities. There will be between 3 and 5 synchronous activity points in each session where we will present a particular prompt for discussion, discuss the prompt for ~5 minutes in small randomly created groups for the day, and then when we return to the full class discussion I will give the prompt “3, 2, 1….” And then the countdown for the synchronous activity point begins. You have 1 minute to submit your particular thoughtful response to the prompt in the text chat window. Thoughtful responses completely address the prompt in a thorough way using a grammatically clear answer backed up by specific evidence/example from our experiments and/or experiences. Generic or incomplete responses will not receive the synchronous activity point. At the end of a 1-minute timer (and some kind of countdown) I will announce that time is up in the text chat and further answers will not receive the synchronous activity point. We will then discuss student answers (individually and/or collectively) to the prompts as a class for insights into our own thoughts and findings. After the end of each synchronous activity point the chat log will be saved and later reviewed to determine how many synchronous activity points were earned that day. I will automatically drop your 3 lowest synchronous activity scores and we have up to 3 hours allotted to our synchronous sessions every week at times and days corresponding to your section number.

 

Canvas Discussion Assignments (25% of grade):

For each workbook activity we will participate in two discussions and we will complete ~3 workbook activities per week (roughly 6 discussion assignments PER WEEK). 1) Predictions – We will discuss what we think will happen in a particular situation based on the initial ideas section of a workbook activity and evaluate our thoughts. 2) Summarizing Questions – We will discuss our thoughts to prompts from the summarizing questions section of workbook activity. In each discussion students will respond using video rather than writing. Students will post a thoughtful 30 – 180 second PG or lower rated video of their thoughts to prompts from the activity and reply to the thoughts from videos of 2 other students with videos of the same expected quality as their original post pertaining to the science discussed by their peer. The goal with these videos is to simulate an actual classroom discussion in an asynchronous fashion. Video posts due on Monday @ 11:59pm (Predictions) have video replies due Friday @ 11:59pm and video posts due on Friday @ 11:59pm (Summarizing Questions) have video replies due on Monday @ 11:59pm. Each discussion assignment requires 3 videos and with 6 discussion assignments per week this means an average of 18 videos every week. This much video could take a significant time to actually record and you must create thoughtful responses too! Expect to spend 6 hours or more on completing the workbook activities and responding to prompts within the activities with video every week.

 Your 6 lowest discussion assignments will be dropped (equivalent to ~1 average week).

 

Weekly Check In (5% of grade):

Every week you will submit a short report (~500 words) on the work you have done that week. First, you will submit what you think you have earned for a grade from each canvas discussion assignment that week based on a provided rubric. You will earn the grade you provide as long as the assignments are turned in, there is nothing offensive in the content you provide, and you are honest about your progress. Blatant lying or cheating will not be tolerated. Second, you will submit at a minimum 2 questions about the class itself, the class content, or other physical science related topics. Third, you will let me know about anything going on your life that might influence your performance in class so that I can be aware and potentially help.

 

Canvas Extension Quizzes (10% of grade):

You will have an online quiz corresponding to each of the online extension homework assignments. The online extensions themselves will not be collected. The extension is located on the book website (nextgenpet.sdsu.edu/sc/index.html) and the extension quiz is on Canvas. To succeed on the quiz you must first understand the extension activity. You will have two chances to take each extension quiz and only your best score will be counted. Your two lowest scores on the canvas extension quizzes will be dropped. Expect to spend 1-2 hours on the extensions and the quizzes combined per week.

 

Midterm (20% of grade):

There will be one midterm during the semester. The midterm covers all topics in Interactions and Energy (Unit EM and Unit PEF) and Interactions and Forces (Unit FM and Unit CF). The midterm may contain essay format, short answer, diagram, and/or multiple choice questions. The structure of test questions will closely follow that of the questions in the class activities and homework. This means that you should keep and study your activities and homework. We will devote a week to the midterm.

 

Final Exam (20% of grade):

The final exam is comprehensive but will focus on Matter and Interactions (Unit PC and Unit CR). The format is otherwise similar to the midterm.

 

Your grade will be calculated using the formula:

 

Final grade = (0.2)(Synchronous Activity Average) + (.25)(Canvas Discussion Activity Average)  + (.05)(Weekly Check In Average) + (.2)(Midterm Percent) + (.2)(Final Percent)+ (.1)(Canvas Extension Quiz Average).

 

Note that each category appears as a percentage, not as a number of points.  Final grades will then be determined using this scale: 90%-100% =A, 80%-89.9% = B, 70%-79.9% = C, 60%-69.9% = D, below 60% = F.

 

Late work/Absence Policy:

No late work is accepted. Instead, the lowest scores corresponding to some small number of assignments from select grading categories are dropped automatically.

I reserve the right to drop anyone from the class after more than five missed synchronous activity. However, this does not necessarily mean I will do so. If you stop attending class, it is your responsibility to drop the class at the Pierce College Office of Admissions and Records.  Do not depend on me to exclude you.  Otherwise, you will probably receive a grade of F in the course. Several students every semester experience this consequence.

 

 

University Policies

There are important University policies that you should be aware of, such as the Academic Integrity, Discrimination and Harassment, Add/Drop, and Student Conduct policies. - LAPC College Student Services

 

Office of Special Services/DSPS

Special Services is the program on campus providing services to students with disabilities. This program has been serving students since 1974. Each semester over 900 students with disabilities receive a wide range of support services that are not provided by other departments on campus and many services that are. This "One- Stop" approach creates a more user-friendly atmosphere for all our students.

• DSPS Website 

Student Health Center

• Phone: (818) 710-4270
• Student Health Center Website 

 

 

Week #	Date	Activities	Homework Assigned
1	Feb 8 - 12	Introduction Begin Energy Model Unit Unit EM: Activity 1 Unit EM: Activity 2	Extra Credit Pretest Canvas Test Unit EM: Ext. A Unit EM: Ext. B
2	Feb 15 - 19	President's Day Unit EM: Activity 3 Unit EM: Activity 4 Unit EM: Activity 5	Unit EM: Ext. D Unit EM: Ext. E
3	Feb 22 - 26	Unit EM: Activity 6 Unit EM: Activity 7 Begin Potential Energy and Fields Unit Unit PEF: Activity 1 Unit PEF: Activity 2	Unit EM: Ext. G Unit EM: Ext. I Unit PEF: Ext. A Unit PEF: Ext. B
4	March 1 - 5	Unit PEF: Activity 3 Unit PEF: Activity 4 Unit PEF: Activity 5	Unit PEF: Ext. C Unit PEF: Ext. D
5	March 8 - 12	Begin Force Model Unit Unit FM: Activity 1 Unit FM: Activity 2 Unit FM: Activity 3	Unit FM: Ext. A Unit FM: Ext. B Unit FM: Ext. C
6	March 15 - 19	Unit FM: Activity 4 Unit FM: Activity 5 Unit FM: Activity 6	Unit FM: Ext. D Unit FM: Ext E
7	March 22 - 26	Begin Combinations of Forces Unit Unit CF: Activity 1 Unit CF: Activity 2 Unit CF: Activity 3	Unit CF: Ext. A Unit CF: Ext. B Unit CF: Ext. C
8	March 29 - April 2	Unit CF: Activity 4 Unit CF: Activity 5 Cesar Chavez Day	Unit CF: Ext. D Unit CF: Ext. E
9	April 5 - 9	Spring Break
10	April 12 - 16	Review for Midterm Midterm
11	April 19 - 23	Begin Physical Changes Unit Unit PC: Activity 1 Unit PC: Activity 2 Unit PC: Activity 3	Unit PC: Ext A Unit PC: Ext B
12	April 26 - 30	Unit PC: Activity 4 Unit PC: Activity 5 Unit PC: Activity 6	Unit PC: Ext C Unit PC: Ext D
13	May 3 - 7	Unit PC: Activity 7 Unit PC: Activity 8 Unit PC: Activity 9	Unit PC: Ext E Unit PC: Ext F
14	May 10 - 14	Unit PC: Activity 10 Begin Chemical Reactions Unit Unit CR: Activity 1 Unit CR: Activity 2	Unit CR: Ext A
15	May 17 - 21	Unit CR: Activity 3 Unit CR: Activity 4 Unit CR: Activity 5	Unit CR: Ext B Unit CR: Ext C Unit CR: Ext D
16	May 24 - 28	Unit CR: Activity 7 Unit CR: Activity 8	Unit CR: Ext E
Final Exam Section 12388 and Section 12401 – June 7; Section 12416 – Jun 1