Hi my name is Scott Wake and I teach Honors Chemistry, Chemistry and ChemCom in the Goshen High School science department. This is my 7th year at Goshen and my 18th year of teaching. I have my masters degree from Xavier University and my undergraduate from Wright State University. Please contact me through my e-mail if you have any questions: wakes@goshenlocalschools.org
HONORS CHEMISTRY AND CHEMISTRY
Both courses are college prep courses which are taught in a traditional style. The classes consists of lecture and lab work that deals with the study of metric conversions, states of matter, atomic theory, periodic table, bonding, formula writing, balancing equations, chemical reactions and energy relationships.
1st quarter: matter, measurements, calculations, atoms
2nd quarter: electrons, periodic law, chemical bonding
3rd quarter: chemical formulas, compounds, equations
4th quarter: physical characteristics of gases, liquids and solids
ChemCom - CHEMISTRY IN THE COMMUNITY
ChemCom® takes a different approach to the learning of chemistry. Each of the four units revolves around a societal question. This question creates a need to know chemistry to find a solution. The context of each question is a community: local, workplace, national, or global. The chemistry presented to the students builds upon the same vocabulary, thinking skills, problem solving and lab techniques as most traditional introductory chemistry courses. However in ChemCom® the student is lead to integrate what they have learned to see how it addresses issues in the real world. This is accomplished through many decision making activities that are a part of the course. It is the long term goal of the curriculum to present to the students the need and the skills to acquire technical knowledge to make intelligent decisions for themselves and for the communities in which they belong.
The course is broken down into 4 units:
Unit 1 : Supplying our water needs.
Covers water in the United States, density, symbols, formulas, equations, ionic compounds, solubility and solution concentrations
Unit 2 : Materials: Structure and Uses
Covers physical and chemical properties, predicting properties, trends in metal activity, atoms, chemical equations, molar masses, percent composition, linking properties to structure
Unit 3 : Petroleum: Breaking and Making Bonds
Covers hydrocarbon boiling points, automobile energy, heats of combustion, fuel sources
Unit 4 : Air : Chemistry and the Atmosphere
Covers graphing atmospheric data, applications of pressure, predicting gas behavior, using gas relationships, molar volume and reactions of gases, ideal gas laws, solar radiation, thermal properties of materials, trends in atmospheric CO2, acids and bases, interpreting the pH scale