Chemistry 100 Course Syllabus

General Information
Instructor: Dr. David Velazquez
Class Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Location: S 215

email: davidvelazquez@cerritos.edu

Recommendation:

It is strongly recommended that a grade of “C” or better in Math 40 or above has been
completed within the past 4 years.

Texts & Materials:

Must be purchased:
●​ A small three-ring binder for the Lecture Outline
●​ Chemistry, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th Edition, by Timberlake
●​ Periodic Table of the Elements, Sargent-Welch VWR Scientific Company (Not
required, but handy to have)
●​ A simple Calculator (non-graphing calculator) may be used on exams.
 ●​ Goggles: Safety goggles in compliance with ANSI Z87.1-1989 and which
have splash protection, as required by California State Law, must be worn at
all times while performing experiments that are not just video observation.
●​ Lab Apron (you may use any apron to protect from spills) must be worn at all
times while performing experiments that are not just video observation.
●​ A Lab kit is easiest to purchase at the bookstore. Individual parts can be
purchased separately.
●​ Additional items will need to be purchased throughout the semester to
complete labs.

Available on the lecture course Canvas site:

●​ Chemistry 100 Lecture Outline, Spring 2022 Edition - Available on Canvas.

Available online at the Cerritos College Website

and on the Canvas site

●​ Safety in the Chemistry Laboratory (links to a .pdf)

●​ (Links to an external site.)
●​
●​ Practice Safety Quiz (links to a .pdf)
●​ (Links to an external site.)
●​

Available online at the course Lab Canvas site:

●​ Experiments are on LabArchives paid for by the college (a link will be found
in Canvas in your lab course)

Attendance:

You are expected to keep up with classwork by regularly watching the videos,
completing homework assignments, and attending labs as designated. If there is no
participation for 1 week, the teacher may contact you to see what help you need to keep
up with the course.

Withdrawal:
If you find it necessary to drop the course, do not just stop attending class. Please come
to an office hour to talk to me, so we can decide what will help you succeed.

Important dates to know:

You can find the last date to drop to get a refund, drop with a "W", or change your grade
option to pass/ no pass on the Admissions and records Add/drop site. The final
schedule can be found on the Cerritos College General Information page.

Grading Structure:

Examinations: (400 points)

Five exams, each worth 100 points, will be given. The tentative dates for the first four
exams are given in the course outline on the back of this sheet. Exam 5 is also an
80-minute exam and is not comprehensive. At the end of the semester, the lowest of the
first four exam scores will be dropped. Your score on Exam 5 will not be dropped, even
if it is the lowest of your five exam scores. These exams will be provided in two ways.

●​ You may take the exam sometime before the due date on Proctorio™, a free
outside proctoring company that uses Chrome.
●​ Take the exam in person on the scheduled date & time.

Missed Exams:

No make-up exams will be given. You should take each exam by the date/time that is
scheduled for your class. Please note that only tentative exam dates are given in the
course outline. If you find that you have issues with the date /time of any exam please
contact me as soon as possible.

If you miss one of the first four exams, this will count as the exam that is dropped.

All students must take Exam 5.

Course Grade:

Your grade in the course will be computed as follows:

Overall % = (0.75 x lect %) + (0.25 x lab %)

Grading Scale:

●​ 90 – 100% A
●​ 80 – 89% B
●​ 60 – 79% C
●​ 50 – 59% D

If you fail (average less than 50%) in either the lab or the lecture, you will receive an F
in the course.

Grading Structure:

Laboratory (25%)

You may not miss more than 2 experiments or you cannot earn higher than a D. You
must earn at least 50% in the lab to earn a C or above.

Attendance/Professionalism (5%)

Attendance and professionalism will be calculated by monitoring your progress in

attendance, lecture videos, online homework, and lab reports, lab quizzes, and exams.

Online Homework (10%):

There will be daily assignments that will look like Canvas quizzes, but there are no
quizzes in the lecture portion of this course. These are repeatable until you get the
grade you want. There is no reason anyone shouldn't get a perfect score in this section
if they choose to.

Examinations: (60%)

Five exams, each worth 15% of your grade, will be given. Exam 5 is not
comprehensive. At the end of the semester, the lowest of the first four exam scores will
be dropped. Your score on Exam 5 will not be dropped, even if it is the lowest of your
five exam scores.
 ●​ Take the exam in person on the scheduled date & time.
●​ You may take the exam anytime before the due date on Proctorio™, a free
outside proctoring company that uses the Chrome browser.
●​ No make-up exams will be given. You should take each exam by the
date/time that is scheduled for your class.
●​ Please note that only tentative exam dates are given in the course outline. If
you find that you have issues with the date /time of any exam please contact
me as soon as possible.

If you miss one of the first four exams, this will count as the exam that is dropped.

All students must take Exam 5.

Course Grade:

Current grades will reflect the exams and homework you have completed and can be
found in your Canvas grade book. The multiple-choice questions will show up
immediately. Items that must be individually graded such as short answer questions or
discussions will be updated weekly, on Mondays.

Your grade in the course will be computed as follows:

Overall % = (0.75 x lect %) + (0.25 x lab %)

If you fail (average less than 50%) in either the lab or the lecture, you will receive an F
in the course. If you do not complete 3 or more labs you can earn NO HIGHER than a
D in the course. –NOTE: Completing a lab includes turning in the report for grading.

Grade Distribution:

Activity Percentage of Final Grade

Exams 60% (15% each)

Online Homework 10%
Professionalism/Participation/Attendance 5%
Laboratory 25%

Reminder: To achieve a "C" or greater for Chemistry 100 you must obtain an overall
grade of 60% and:
 ●​ Pass the lecture portion (>50%)
●​ Pass the laboratory portion (>50%)
●​ Pass the lecture final (>50%)
●​ Not miss more than 2 lab experiments

Learning Outcomes:

●​ Analyze the fundamental features of inorganic chemistry including

measurement, mathematical interconversion of physical properties such as
mass, volume, density, temperature, solutions, concentrations.
●​ Demonstrate knowledge of inorganic chemistry including physical and
chemical properties, naming and writing chemical formulas of commonly
occurring inorganic compounds, and evaluating chemical reactions.
●​ Differentiate typical acid and base formulas, compare/contrast the behavior
associated with acids, bases, buffers, and electrolytes.
●​ Construct and name structures containing common mono-functional organic
molecules and differentiate functional groups when they appear in an organic
structure, relate the physical and chemical properties of compounds to the
functional groups present.
●​ Distinguish various roles of four major classes of biomolecules in living cells,
distinguish and construct key structural features, and common reactions of
these classes of biomolecules.

Scholastic Ethics
Science is a subject that thrives with shared information, however, everyone must do his
or her own work. Cheating, plagiarism, and other failures of scholastic ethics will not be
tolerated. There are no second chances. The Cerritos College Academic Honesty
policy is clearly stated in the college catalog and schedule of classes.

If you cheat in either lecture or lab you will receive a zero grade on the assignment and
may receive an F in the course. Any time you write a response to a question the
thoughts and words must be original to you with the following exception. If you copy a
sentence or phrase or if you paraphrase someone else’s words you must give reference
to the source. More clarifications are as follows:
 ●​ Cheating on assignments: Copying assignments, in particular, consulting or
copying lab reports or problem sets from previous years of this course are
considered cheating. The minimum penalty for this is a zero on the work in
question and the maximum is a failing grade in the class.
●​ Cheating on tests: Anyone caught cheating on a test (quiz or exam) will
receive an F for the course. No amount of pleading or apologizing will change
this action, even if it is the first offense. Helping a cheater is also cheating
and will receive the same penalty. Do not consider anything that may
resemble cheating, such as loading your calculator with useful information
before a test, as this will also cause you to receive a failing grade for the
course.
●​ If the instructor finds a student using another student’s work on a quiz or
summary sheet or cheating on a quiz, such as using a cheat sheet or other
aide, the student will receive a zero grade on that assignment and may
receive an F grade in the class.

Resources
Succeeding in Chemistry
Chemistry is like many other skills. You have to 1) understand the basic concepts and
ideas and 2) practice the skills of chemistry. Some students think it is enough to simply
understand the chemistry and not practice it. This is like watching a skilled basketball
player and thinking you can just go out and do what they do. It takes practice. Some
students get frustrated when they don’t completely understand the concepts.
Sometimes your understanding grows as you practice. Chemistry requires both
understanding and practice.

Chemistry 100 Specific resources found in

each unit module.

Exercises:
Exercises and the answer keys are found on the CHEM 100 website and Canvas.
These sets of exercise problems are extra problems for your exam and will not be
collected. It is your responsibility to do all problems assigned and check all set-ups and
answers. Similar problems may be on exams.

Study Guides:

Study guides are available on your Canvas site for CHEM 100. The study guides list all
the topics that are to be studied for the exam. They also indicate which exercises and
lab experiments will be included in exams.

Practice Exams:

Practice exams are available on your Canvas site for CHEM 100. These will give you an
idea of the breadth, depth, and timing of the exam. Answer keys are NOT provided.

Student Hours:
This is when I am in my office available just to meet with students. Come in for
any reason, including to ask questions, have the information explained again, get
feedback before submitting an assignment, ask about careers, to share what is
important to you. Feel free to email me anytime, I will reply within 24 hours unless it is
a weekend or holiday. Furthermore, I will happily meet with you at times outside of my
office hours upon request.

Many elements influence student life, so let me know if obstacles arise. You might be
surprised at all of the ways our college can help you address challenges common to
adult lives. There are many sources of support on this campus, and I will do my best to
help you get familiar with them.

Asking Questions
As your professor - it is my goal to help you in any way I can. I expect you to have
questions during the semester. You should never feel inferior if you have a question!
Often the top students have the best questions. Also do not feel intimidated by the
professor. Ask your question! If you don’t know what to ask or how to ask the question,
listen to the way other students ask questions, and follow them. Another good way to
ask a question is simply to ask “Professor, can you please clarify what you mean by...?”
I expect you to interact with me and with other students. If you feel intimidated by the
course or by my response to you, please talk to me about it. You can always come to
my office hours to ask questions as well.

Additionally, please email me if you have more questions and are unable to make it to
student hours. I reply fairly quickly there and everyone can see the response. I can also
meet on Zoom if needed. You may also get responses from tutors or other students that
can help you whenever you are stuck. The Student Success Center is also available for
extra tutoring and mentorship.

I want you to know that my goal is for you to succeed not just in Chemistry but to
succeed in life. If you need help with chemistry or any other problem you have please
know I am available, when I can be, to help you, or just to listen to you. If you have a
problem of any kind that may affect your chemistry work please tell me as early as
possible so that I can do whatever I can to assist you.

Instructor Feedback:
I may write short messages to you on your practice sets, discussions, extra credit
assignments, and exams. Please read them. After reading the feedback, on certain
projects, you may be asked to respond to me, and then might be allowed to resubmit
that assignment. Make sure you read all of the instructor's comments on your work,
then respond promptly. These resubmit opportunities will be at the discretion of the
instructor, but will only occur in response to an instructor feedback message.

To read the instructor feedback on the assignment's submission details page, click on
the View Feedback button, you can view these annotated comments through a preview
tool called Canvas DocViewer. You can also use Canvas DocViewer

(Links to an external site.)

to reply to any comments or make your own annotations.

STUDY HABITS:
Probably the main reason that students do not succeed in Chemistry is because of their
schedule. Either they have too many hours of work and/or too many difficult classes.
Please analyze your schedule now to see that you will not be overwhelmed by the
workload. Science classes tend to be much more difficult and require many hours
outside of class. You need to keep up with the assignments daily: last-minute cramming
in chemistry does not work! I strongly suggest you read the appropriate material in the
textbook before and after the lecture. Students need to understand that science courses
tend to be more difficult than other subjects. Chemistry is designed to prepare students
for such things as medical school or pharmacy school or other graduate work. Therefore
it is expected that the student will learn to be an independent learner and studier. I want
to help you.

Note-taking in class

Students must take organized and high-quality notes during the lecture. ​
All notes in class should be taken on the unit lecture outline. At the end of each lecture
unit, an exam will be given. Students will take their notes directly onto the lecture outline
as modeled by the professor. Therefore it is expected that each student will have a hard
copy of the lecture outline in their possession during each class period. If you prefer
taking your notes directly on a tablet that is acceptable as long as the lecture outline is
on the tablet.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
Students with disabilities will be fully included in this course. Please inform the professor
if you need any special accommodations in the curriculum, instruction, or assessments
of this course to enable you to participate fully. The confidentiality of the shared
information will be maintained. Cerritos College is dedicated to a safe, supportive, and
non-discriminatory learning environment. It is the responsibility of all undergraduates to
familiarize themselves with policies regarding Special Accommodations, Academic
Misconduct, Religious Beliefs Accommodation, Discrimination (for details please refer to
the Schedule of Classes; or the “Rights and Responsibilities” section of the Catalog.)

Campus Resources:

To be successful, students need support in many aspects of their lives, not just
academically.

Basic Needs:
Many students are challenged to meet their basic needs like food and shelter. There are
basic needs resources on campus to help. Please let me know if you would like my
help connecting you with these resources.

Cerritos College’s Student Services offers a more complete list of services. Check them
out; you might be surprised at how comprehensive the list is.

Inclusion:

Everyone has the right to feel comfortable and safe in every space, and classroom on
campus. If you feel like your performance in class is being impacted by your
experiences inside or outside of class, please don't hesitate to come and talk with me. I
want to be a resource for you and help build a bridge to the many resources available to
you on campus.

If something is said in class (by anyone, including me) that makes you feel
uncomfortable, please talk to me about it. It helps me to learn to become more aware of
what I am saying and how it makes others feel. You and I can discuss the best options
for moving forward.

Maternity:

If you are pregnant or become pregnant while enrolled in this class, please let me know
so I can connect you with Pregnant SEAS

Links to an external site.

, Cerritos College's Pregnant Students Rights and Resources that will support you
while you are a Cerritos College student.

Universal access

Universal access is another way that student success is supported in the classroom.
Again, let me know if some arrangements and adjustments can help support the work
you do for this class. Our Student Accessibility Services (formerly Disabled Student
Programs and Services) offers this description on its web page: Students with limitations
due to a disability may receive support services and instruction from Disabled Student
Programs and Services. Those students with mobility, visual, hearing, speech,
psychological, and other health impairments as well as learning and developmental
disabilities are served. Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) has been in
operation at Cerritos since 1969.

Gender Identity:

If you have a name and/or set of pronouns that differ from those that appear in your
official records, please let me know! I want to call you by your preferred name. Cerritos
College welcomes its students and employees that identify as LGBTQ+. The Cerritos
College Gender Identity page offers information about services available at Cerritos
College for members of our diverse community that identify as transgender and gender
variant.

A more complete list of resources can be found in the introductory module for this
course.

Land Acknowledgement:
Cerritos College acknowledges the Tongva people as the traditional stewards of this
land. As a public institution, we pay our respect to their ancestors, the people, and their
future generations, for the ability to use this land to study and work. If you would like to
learn further about the Tongva people and or how you can help support them, please
visit their website

Links to an external site.

curated by tribal members.

GABRIELINO-TONGVA INDIAN TRIBE

Links to an external site.