Honors Project for Honors Credit
The Honors Credit looks good on a high school transcript and increases your grade point average (*Weighted):
Regular
Honors
Where a grade of a “B”
3.0
3.3 -- an increase of 0.3 points
Where a grade of a “B+”
3.3
3.6 -- an increase of 0.3 points
Where a grade of an “A+” 4.0
4.3 -- an increase of 0.3 points
*Please check with the guidance office, as I am only 90% sure that this is correct.
Due Date: -- The honors project will be due two days before finals starts = Thursday 6/9/11
Requirements – Pick a topic, learn about the topic, create a homework worksheet about the topic with answer
key, and be able to answer some questions about the topic that I will be asking you (quiz like questions).
1) To earn the honors credit you will need to learn a chemistry concept that other students at the high
school level would learn in an honors level course. Please note that other schools that do not have
block schedules typically cover more chemistry content material than those schools that do have block
schedules. You will need to learn this additional concept via self-study (reading the textbook, reading
on-line tutorials, or any other means of learning the concept – by yourself. I will NOT be teaching
these concepts during class time, but I can give “some” assistance where needed).
2) Each student must work independently, where each student must chose a unique topic. A list of
topics is listed below, and students will sign up for their topic of choice. Different topics will be
easier or harder based upon the backgrounds and interests of each individual student.
3) You must DEMONSTRATE your understanding by being able to answer several questions pertaining
to the topic you have chosen. You (the student) must generate a list of questions (main ideas) that
you are going to learn about. You must include at least two (2) skills as part of your list of questions.
Then, you must go about learning the answers to these questions, and being able to solve problems
related to the skills. You must also find/generate a list of skill questions, a worksheet, and provide an
answer key (this list of skill questions is similar to the worksheets that I give out for homework). Your
worksheet must be similar to the level and type of questions that I would ask on a worksheet.
4) You must also DEMONSTRATE your understanding by my asking you some basic questions
related to your topic. Think of this as a quiz that I would give after we learned something new.
“Most” of these questions will be related to the list of questions and worksheet that you created.
TOPICS - The list of topics below comes from the California State Standards for high school chemistry
1) PARTIAL PRESSURES - Students know how to apply Dalton’s law of partial pressures to describe
the composition of gases, and be able to solve problems related to partial pressure.
2) REDOX RXNs - Students know how to identify reactions that involve oxidation and reduction and
how to balance oxidation-reduction reactions.
3) REDUCTION POTENTIALS - Students know how to use standard reduction potentials to calculate
standard cell potential involved in electro chemistry.
4) SOLUBILITY TABLES - Students know how to use solubility tables to determine if a reaction will
occur and what the product will be. Students will also know how to write Net ionic equations
5) ACID/BASE REACTIONS - Students know how to identify Arrhenius, Brønsted-Lowry, and Lewis
acid-base and write balanced equations for each (neutralization).
6) CALCULATING pH - Students know how the pH scale relates to acids and bases, can explain the
logarithmic nature of the pH scale, and are able to calculate pH from the hydrogen-ion concentration.
7) CONCENTRATION - Students know how to calculate the concentration of a solute in terms of
grams per liter, molarity, molality, parts per million, and percent composition.
8) COLLIGATIVE PROPERTIES - Students know the relationship between the molality of a solute in
a solution and the solution’s depressed freezing point or elevated boiling point, and be able to
calculate the shifts for each type.
9) PURIFICATION & ISOLATION- Students know how molecules in a solution are separated or
purified by the methods of chromatography and distillation. Students must also be able to calculate
the Rf values for a paper chromatography experiment.
10) THERMO DYNAMICS - Students know how to solve problems involving heat flow and temperature
changes, using known values of specific heat and latent heat of phase change.
11) HESS’S LAW- Students know how to apply Hess’s law to calculate enthalpy change in a reaction.
12) GIBBS FREE ENERGY - Students know how to use the Gibbs free energy equation to determine
whether a reaction would be spontaneous. Students must able be able to solve problems using
enthalpy related equations.
13) LeCHATELIER’S PRINCIPLE - Students know how to use LeChatelier’s principle to predict the
effect of changes in concentration, temperature, and pressure.
14) EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT - Students know how to write and calculate an equilibrium constant
expression (Keq) for a reaction.
15) NOMENCLATURE of HYDROCARBONS - Students know the system for naming the ten simplest
linear hydrocarbons and isomers that contain single bonds, simple hydrocarbons with double and triple
bonds, and simple molecules that contain a benzene ring.
16) NOMENCLATURE of FUNCTIONAL GROUPS - Students know how to identify the functional
groups that form the basis of alcohols, ketones, ethers, amines, esters, aldehydes, and organic acids.
17) AMINO ACIDS, R-GROUP - Students know the R-group structure of amino acids and know how
they combine to form the polypeptide backbone structure of proteins. Students must memorize at least
half of the amino acids.
18) RADIOACTIVE DECAY - Students know the three most common forms of radioactive decay (alpha,
beta, and gamma) and know how the nucleus changes in each type of decay and how each type of
radiation produces different amounts and kinds of damage in matter and have different penetrations.
19) HALF LIFE- Students know how to calculate the amount of a radioactive substance remaining after
an integral number of half lives have passed. Be able to explain carbon dating.
20) OTHER- If you can think of a reasonable topic that relates to honors level chemistry, please speak to
me about your proposal. But, please know that your proposal may not be acceptable.
TOPICS - The list of topics below comes from the California State Standards for high school chemistry
1) PARTIAL PRESSURES - _______________________________
2) REDOX RXNs - _______________________________
3) REDUCTION POTENTIALS - _______________________________
4) SOLUBILITY TABLES - _______________________________
5) ACID/BASE REACTIONS - _______________________________
6) CALCULATING pH - _______________________________
7) CONCENTRATION - _______________________________
8) COLLIGATIVE PROPERTIES - _______________________________
9) PURIFICATION & ISOLATION- _______________________________
10) THERMO DYNAMICS - _______________________________
11) HESS’S LAW- _______________________________
12) GIBBS FREE ENERGY - _______________________________
13) LeCHATELIER’S PRINCIPLE - _______________________________
14) EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT - _______________________________
15) NOMENCLATURE of HYDROCARBONS - _______________________________
16) NOMENCLATURE of FUNCTIONAL GROUPS - _______________________________
17) AMINO ACIDS, R-GROUP - _______________________________
18) RADIOACTIVE DECAY - _______________________________
19) HALF LIFE- _______________________________
20) OTHER- _______________________________