PHYSICAL SCIENCE 1419
PHYSICAL SCIENCE
SPRING 2010
Required Text: Conceptual Integrated Sciences, by Paul Hewitt, Suzanne Lyons, John Suchoki and Jennifer Yeh, Addison Wesley, 2007.
W-106
(325) 646-2502 ext. 5407 gclarkson@hputx.edu
Class: MWF
Office Hours: Office hours will be posted on my office door. A tentative list of office hours for this semester is
M 4:00-5:00 PM Th 8:30-9:30 AM, 11:00-11:59 AM
T 8:30-9:30 AM, 11:00-11:59 AM F 1:00-2:00 PM
W 2:00-3:00 PM
I will be available immediately after class if you wish to talk to me briefly on an individual basis. If you wish to talk to me at some time other than office hours, please feel free to talk to me about an appointment for another time.
Content and Objectives
Physical Science for
Elementary Education (PSC 1419) in one of the designated natural science
courses for elementary education majors.
In general this course should help you in developing scientific literacy
through an appreciation of the contributions of science to modern life, a
development of awareness and measures necessary for personal safety and
ecological responsibility, and a development of a background of information in
the physical sciences. This course is
designed to survey the basic areas of the physical sciences, particularly
physics and astronomy. From this course
you should obtain an appreciation of the fundamental principles of these
disciplines and the thought processes which are used in the physical
sciences. I hope that you will obtain a
level of scientific literacy that will allow you to learn more about these
fields on your own and to be able to be a more effective teacher of science in
the future.
This section is reserved for elementary education majors. Our format will be somewhat different than the traditional lecture and lab. This section has no lab time. Instead we will incorporate hands-on activities within the class time. Guided discovery and inquiry-based activities will be employed to help you better understand the basic concepts which we will be studying. We will also use small group discussions to help you practice with these concepts. Due to the participatory nature of the class it will be very important that you attend class. Please keep in mind that the primary purpose of this class is to convey content. Although I hope some of the techniques and activities are either directly or indirectly useful to you in your future teaching, this is not a class in elementary science teaching methods.
Students will be assessed by tests, quizzes, in-class exercises, participation, and homework exercises.
.
Math 1321 or above
You are expected to read
the assigned reading before class. This
will enable us to use class time to answer questions, discuss the material and
concentrate on the more difficult material.
You are responsible for all assigned reading whether it is discussed in
class or not. I will try to indicate
what material you should be reading for each class, however if you are coming
to class it should usually be obvious what material you should be reading.
I plan to have tests at the
following intervals
Test
1 Chapter 1, App. A
Test
2 Chapters 2-3
Test
3 Chapters 4-5
Test
4 Chapters 6-8
Test
5 Chapters 9-10
Test
6 Chapters 27-28
Final comprehensive
SAFETY
Students are expected to conduct themselves in a safe manner at all times in the class. There should be no horseplay or unauthorized experiments performed. Any question concerning safety should be answered before continuing with an exercise.
Course grades will be based
on tests, class exercises, homework, and a comprehensive final. These components will be weighted as
follows: tests-50%, quizzes, homework
and in-class exercises-35%, final exam-15%.
Final Exam
The final exam will be comprehensive. The final will be given at its scheduled time during the final exam period (Thursday, May 6, from 8:00-10:00 AM).
Extra Credit
Articles: one percentage point of extra credit may earned by preparing a brief (about 1 page) summary of an article from a current newspaper or magazine which relates to material we are discussing in class. Along with the written summary you may be asked to briefly describe the article to the class. You may summarize two articles during the semester (for a possible 2.0 percentage points total of extra credit); however only one summary per student per week is permitted.
Problems: Extra credit towards the homework/in-class exercise portion of your grade may be obtained by working the end of chapter problems. Up to 3 points per chapter (equivalent to one class day) may be earned for the problem solutions. Your solutions will be graded for process and accuracy. I am available to discuss the problems with you during office hours or other times if you would like some help. Please make sure that your work is your own and not just a copy of someone else’s (see plagiarism comments below).
Attendance
Please note that the Howard Payne attendance policy states that a student cannot receive a passing grade in a course unless they have attended at least 75% of the scheduled classes. Due to the in-class activities and participatory nature of the class, it will be very important that you attend each class.
Cheating
The first incident of copying, plagiarism, or other form of academic dishonesty will result in a score of 0 for that part of the assignment. The second incident will result in a score of 0 for the entire assignment. The third incident will result in a grade of F for the course.
Assignment of Grades
It is my intention to assign grades according to the following scale:
90-100% A 60-70% D
80-90% B 0-60% F
70-80% C
Final grades may be curved slightly in your favor, but do not count of that.
SUGGESTIONS
1. Attend class. For most students regular, active attendance is an extremely important key to mastering the material. Due to the class format, it will be essential that you attend class.
2. Read the assigned material before class. This will allow you t better appreciate class discussion, ask questions and contribute your insights to the rest of the class.
3. Think of class as an active exercise on your part. Ask questions about things you do not understand from the reading, from previous discussions or from assignments. Asking questions will not only benefit you, but it will likely benefit others in the class and will also benefit me in that I will not have to guess at what I should by trying to explain better. Also feel free to raise questions on related topics of interest to you, even if they are not directly mentioned in the reading or class discussion.
4. If you would like to discuss something in more detail than time permits in class, please feel free to see me on an individual basis.
5. Do the assigned homework. It is designed to help you better understand the material. If you have questions, ask me.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Other textbooks which may be of additional interest for this class are Physical Science, by Bill Tillery, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1993. Fundamentals of Physical Science, by James T. Shipman and Jerry D. Wilson, D.C. Heath and Company, 1992.
Journals which will also have articles relating to subjects discussed in this class are American Scientist, Geotimes, Scientific American, and The Physics Teacher.