Syllabus

Communication

Communication for course related problems and concerns should first be directed to your instructor. In case of an IUPUI excused emergency, contact the Lead Instructor via Oncourse immediately. All course paperwork (i.e. drop-slip signatures) should be directed to the Lead Instructor.

Course Description & Objectives

C125 is designed to introduce you to chemical principles and concepts by a hands-on approach as prospective science practitioners. This course provides an integrative view of science that potentially apply to many fields of science, and covers a variety of general chemistry principles. C125 builds the foundations that you will use for future science courses and interdisciplinary situations requiring experimental expertise. While this course is associated with the C105 lecture course, the pace and topics covered are independent of that in the lecture course, but will be achieved through your previous chemistry work and that accumulated through C105. It is your responsibility to become familiar with the current topics explored in lab each week. Experiments will be performed in teams fostering small group discussion and allowing students to improve their collaborative capabilities. Nevertheless, students will be expected to be thoroughly versed on all dimensions of the experimental work.

The experiments are designed to expand and improve your awareness and understanding of chemical reactions and stoichiometry, thermodynamics and energy flow, molecular structure and its interactions with light, and states of matter. The course is intended to develop analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills as you progress through the course. The report sheets, quizzes, final experiment, and final exam are designed for the student to take concepts, apply them to hands-on experience, and then extrapolate the information to real scenarios.

Course Objectives

• • Gain an understanding of the key concepts and principles of chemistry using a hands-on approach with direct observation and applied to real-world situations;
  • Understand and apply laboratory techniques crucial to effective scientific practices and to expand observational capabilities of students;
  • Use laboratory instrumentation to generate data, interpret its meaning, and evaluate errors in its collection;
  • Use computational techniques and computer software to enhance the interpretation and analysis of data, including the graphical display of results and observations;
  • Develop a better understanding of scientific methodology and practice;
  • Progress from prescriptive and directive laboratory procedures to more advanced inferential and narrative interpretations;
  • Develop the skill of recording data into a laboratory notebook and to incorporate ideas and conclusions into a properly constructed and coherent laboratory reports; and
  • Demonstrate effective collaboration with others to achieve experimental objectives and expectations for an experiment.

Pre- or Co-requisite

Two years of high school algebra, one year of high school chemistry, and completion of the Chemistry C105 Placement Examination prior to the beginning of class. If course credit has been received in either C101 or C105, you are exempt from taking the Placement Examination. See http://www.assessment.iupui.edu/testing for additional information. C105 is a mandatory pre- or co-requisite for participation in C125.

Required Materials

• Anliker, K., et al., Experimental Chemistry I: Laboratory Manual, 9th Ed., Hayden-McNeil, 2007.
• Approved safety goggles are available at university bookstores and the Chemistry Club.
• Laboratory Research Notebook: 8.5x11 inch, quad-ruled, duplicate pages. Approved notebooks are available at University Bookstores and from the Chemistry Club.
• A padlock.
• A calculator that includes logarithms, trigonometric functions, and scientific notation. Alphanumeric calculators, graphing calculators, microcomputers, or cell phones may not be used for completion of in-lab quizzes or exams. Calculators may not contain any stored programs or data during quizzes or examinations.
• Optional Reference: Silberberg, M. Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change, 4th Ed., McGraw-Hill, 2006 or any similar general chemistry book.

Course Organization

• Prelaboratory Lectures

Lecture is an essential part of the chemistry learning experience, and therefore is mandatory. The lectures provide an overview of the subject, important concepts and illustrative problems and applications. The lecture indicates relative importance of the various topics in the course. Lectures are able to synthesize and expand ideas in ways that a text cannot. Experimental procedures, set-ups, and safety warnings will be explained. All prelab lectures are available online via Oncourse or the course website. You should view the current prelab lecture prior to your arrival to class.

• Online Quizzes

Five short quizzes will be given online throughout the term. Usually the quizzes will focus on a current conceptual idea, algorithm, problem-solving technique, or prelab lecture concept. Quizzes are open book and lecture notes. You may also consult with other students in the class during the quiz. Please see the schedule to determine when these quizzes are due.

• Experimental Activity

Each experimental activity planned requires at least 3 hours, in which students will perform collectively with their lab partner(s). Each week, you will take the knowledge learned from pre-lab lectures and C105 materials, and apply those concepts to the hands-on experimentation. You will analyze and evaluate your data during and outside of class, and then report the results in your lab notebook and report sheets. Some experiments will require you to extrapolate knowledge learned and practiced in the experiment to future experiments and real life experiences.

• Report Sheets & Notebook Pages

Before coming to laboratory, you must prepare a statement of objectives, take pre-lab notes, compose a brief outline of experimental pro­cedures, and transfer data tables into your lab notebook. An example of how the lab notebook should be organized is located in your lab manual. These items must be approved and initialed by your instructor before beginning laboratory work. You will not be allowed to enter the lab room until your lab manual is prepared. Consequently you may miss quiz time.  Notebook pages will be graded for:

Each experiment, except the formal report, has an appropriate report sheet to work on with your partner for submission. Prior to attending class, you should download the report sheet for the experiment to be performed. The report sheet templates are found on the C125 Website and on IUPUI Oncourse. Report sheets are designed to help the student move from collecting data and performing calculations, to applying the current and previous concepts to this experiment and real world experiences.  The report sheet, along with notebook pages from each partner, should be turned in together as noted in the course schedule.

• Formal Report

Formal Lab Reports will be submitted individually and need to be prepared and printed using a word processor. Please see the course website for more detailed information and examples.

• In-Laboratory Quizzes & Final Exam

 

Your Responsibilities

• It is your responsibility to come to the laboratory prepared to carry out the scheduled experiment by reading and understanding the instructions in the Laboratory Manual and the on-line materials.
• Be sure to check the Oncourse weekly for announcements and updates.
• Attendance in laboratory is mandatory.
• Credit will not be given for missed experiments.
• The only exceptions granted will be for documented, extreme emergencies, or officially sanctioned university business, such as travel as a student athlete with an IUPUI team.
• An extreme emergency would be hospitalization of yourself, your child or spouse, or a snow emergency in your county.
• Job –related travel, traffic jams, car trouble and the like are not extreme emergencies.
• Exceptions for missed experiments must be documented in writing to the course administrator within 1 week of the absence.
• The course administrator will make the final determination of excusing the absence and give the student written notice of the procedure to make up the missed work.
• Students must perform the “Iron in Total Cereal” and “Coordination Compound” experiments to receive a passing grade in the course.
• Prepare REPORT SHEETS and FORMAL REPORTS as required. Be certain you have the proper materials to compile lab reports before leaving lab and allow appropriate time to complete the lab reports.
• One report sheet is to be submitted per lab partners. Meet with your lab partner outside of class time as needed.
• Lab reports and correlating notebook pages will be collected as indicated on the C125 Laboratory schedule.
• Lab reports may be submitted late but, for up to 50% credit, must be submitted before 5:00 p.m. on the day following the due date. Computer failure or transportation issues will NOT be considered an acceptable excuse for late lab reports.
• Keep graded material in your possession until the end of the semester and you are certain your scores have been recorded correctly. Scores will be posted on the on-line grade book provided by IUPUI Oncourse.
• Be aware of policies and procedures regarding safety in the laboratory (p 7-8) and student ethics (p 6-7).
• This class relies on computers to work up data and to prepare laboratory reports. Computers are available for student use on campus. 
• Microsoft Excel is used extensively for collecting, organizing and treating chemical data and is the principle software used in this class. Software packages may be purchased (at a reduced student rate with your student ID) at the IUPUI bookstore. Assistance with using excel is available through workshops offered by UITS (http://ittraining.iu.edu/workshops/files/).

Grades

Report Sheets (including lab notebook pages) and Formal Reports are due on the dates indicated in the laboratory schedule. All assignments are due within 15 minutes of stated due time (see C125 Laboratory Schedule). If an assignment is turned in after this time, and no later than 5:00 PM on the following day, the assignment will be will be deemed late and will receive at most 50% credit.  After this period, no credit will be received.  Grades will be determined by adding points earned for the work assigned in course  The approximate grade scale for this course is as follows:

A = 90-100%    B = 80 – 89%       C = 70 – 79%       D = 60 – 69%

Grades may be renormalized to minimize significant section-to-section differences. The grade will not be increased, but other modifications may be made.

Last day to withdraw with grade of W/P is Tuesday, October 16th, 2007.
(see Schedule for Schedule of Experiments and due dates)

Dropping Procedures

C105 is a pre- or co-requisite for participation in C125. Therefore, if you drop C105 you must also drop the C125 lab. If you drop the lab you must check out of your drawer or you may incur a charge from the Bursar’s office.

Campus Resources

• Chemistry Resource Center (CRC), LD 201

The CRC is available for students to meet with instructors for extra assistance with 100 level courses.  The schedule will be posted.

IUPUI and Departmental Policies

From the Code of Student Ethics, Indiana University, August 15, 1990.

Part III: Student Misconduct
Preamble
Indiana University, like all academic institutions, exists for the advancement of knowledge, the pur­suit of truth, the development of students, and the promotion of the general well-being of society. Free inquiry and free expression are indispensable to the attainment of these goals. Students are expected to exercise their freedom to learn with responsibility and to respect the general conditions which maintain such freedom. The university has developed the following general regulations concerning student conduct which safeguard the right of every individual student to exercise fully the freedom to learn without interference.
A. Academic Misconduct.
The university may discipline a student for academic misconduct which is defined as any activity which tends to compromise the academic integrity of the institution and undermine the educational process. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1.    Cheating.
A student must not use or attempt to use unauthorized assistance, materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise including, but not limited to, the following:
 a.   A student must not use external assistance on any “in-class” or “take-home” examination, unless the instructor specifically has authorized such assistance. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, the use of tutors, books, notes, and calculators.
b.   A student must not use another person as a substitute in the taking of an examination or quiz.
c.    A student must not steal examinations or other course materials.
d.   A student must not allow others to conduct research or to prepare any work for him or her without advance authorization from the instructor to whom the work is being submitted. Under this prohibition, a student must not make any unauthorized use of materials obtained from commercial term paper companies or from files of papers prepared by other persons.
e.    A student must not collaborate with other persons on a particular project and submit a copy of a written report which is represented explicitly or implicitly as the student’s own individ­ual work.
f.    A student must not use any unauthorized assistance in a laboratory, at a computer terminal, or on field work.
g.    A student must not submit substantial portions of the same academic work for credit or honors more than once without permission of the instructor to whom the work is being submitted.

2.   Fabrication.
A student must not falsify or invent any information or data in an academic exercise including, but not limited to, records or reports, laboratory results, and citations to the sources of information.
3.  Plagiarism.
A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without an appropriate acknowledgement. A student must give due credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever he or she does any of the following:
a.    Quotes another person’s actual words, either oral or written;
b.   Paraphrases another person’s words, either oral or written;
c.    Uses another person’s idea, opinion, or theory; or
d.   Borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative material, unless the information is common knowledge.
4.   Interference.
a.    A student must not steal, change, destroy, or impede another student’s work. Impeding another student’s work includes, but is not limited to, the theft, defacement, or mutilation of resources so as to deprive others of the information they contain.
b.   A student must not give or offer a bribe, promise favors, or make threats with the intention of affecting a grade or the evaluation of academic performance.
5.   Violation of Course Rules.
A student must not violate course rules as contained in a course syllabus or other information provided to the student.
6.   Facilitating Academic Dishonesty. A student must not intentionally or knowingly help or attempt to help another student to commit an act of academic misconduct.

Safety in the Laboratory

• Wear approved eye protection in the laboratory continuously. This means eye covering which will protect both against impact and splashes. (If you get chemicals in your eye, wash with flowing water from an eye wash station for 15-20 minutes.)
• Perform no unauthorized experiments.
• In case of fire or accident, call the instructor at once. (Note location of fire extinguisher and safety shower now so that you can use it if needed. Wet towels are sufficient for smothering fires.)
• If an injury occurs, no matter how minor, report it to your instructor immediately. You must seek medi­cal aid for treatment of cuts, burns, or inhalation of fumes. (Your instructor will arrange for transpor­tation if needed.)
• Do not taste anything in the laboratory. (This applies to food as well as chemicals. Do not use the laboratory as an eating place and do not eat or drink from laboratory glassware.)
• Exercise great care in noting the odor of fumes and avoid breathing fumes of any kind.
• Do not use mouth suction in filling pipettes with chemical reagents. (Use a suction bulb.)
• Confine long hair when in the laboratory. (Also, a laboratory apron is essential when you are wearing easily combustible clothing. Such an apron affords desirable protection on all occasions.)
• Never work in the laboratory alone.
• If you are unsure of yourself, or your equipment, or if you do not understand something, do not proceed with the experiment: consult the instructor.
• You are obligated to use common sense at all times. This dictates that no horseplay be permitted in the laboratory.
• Do not place clothing or materials other than your laboratory manual on the laboratory tables or in the aisles.
• You are not permitted to use a cell phone inside the lab. Cell phones must be silenced or turned off during lab. If you must make or receive a call, you must step out into the hallway.
• Never use an open flame near any flammable solvent. It is the duty of the person lighting a flame to see that no hazard exists.
• Never pour water into acids.
• Clean up spilled materials promptly. Consult with your instructor for proper cleanup and disposal procedures.
• In case of chemical contact flush the exposed area immediately with water and report the incident to your instructor. Delays or inadequate flushing can make the difference between minor and severe injuries.
• Wash hands frequently during the lab and when leaving the lab. Avoid touching your eyes or face.
• Broken thermometers or other mercury spills must be reported immediately to your instructor. All students must stay clear of the spill area to avoid spreading the mercury until cleanup is complete.
• Shoes must provide protection from spills and broken glass. Sandals, flip-flops, open-toe shoes, open-heel shoes, or any type of footwear that leaves any part of your foot exposed below the ankle are not permitted. If you do not have proper footwear, you cannot work in the lab. You will not be allowed to make up time lost in lab due to improper footwear.
• Clothing that leaves your legs exposed (shorts, skirts, etc.) is not recommended lab attire. Be aware that such clothing leaves your legs exposed in the event of an accidental chemical spill or splash. Though not required, jeans, slacks, sweat pants, and the like are recommended to afford the most protection when working in the lab.
• If you are pregnant you should discuss your participation in a chemistry laboratory with your physician. The Chemistry Department can make available a list of chemicals used in the laboratory.
• If you have known chemical sensitivities or drug allergies you should discuss your participation in a chemistry laboratory with your physician. The Chemistry Department can make available a list of chemicals used in the laboratory.

Assignment Expectations

In C125, scores will be recorded for:  experiment report sheet write-ups, a formal laboratory report, notebook pages per each experiment, open laboratory notebook quizzes, and a
closed-book final exam.

Attendance in lab is MANDATORY!  At the beginning of each class, you should have a prelab completed in your laboratory notebook and you should be prepared to submit any report and correlating notebook pages due.  Assignments are considered late fifteen minutes after the designated time of collection for that report.  You should also be prepared to take a short open lab notebook quiz. 

PRELAB AND NOTEBOOK PAGES
The prelab should be prepared by reviewing the materials for the experiment in the C125 Experimental Chemistry I Laboratory Manual, Anliker, et. al, and by visiting the C125 online lecture on ‘IUPUI Oncourse’.   Prepare your notebook for each experiment prior to attending the laboratory session as detailed below.  Always use ink to record information in the notebook.  Make corrections by drawing a single line through unwanted entries.  Do NOT erase or use white out, please.  Sections I and II (except for “Observations” and “In-Lab Questions”) should be completed before coming to class.

Please label all sections of the laboratory notebook as follows:         
SECTION I:  Prelab
            1.  Heading – include your name, your partner’s name, date of experimentation, title and number of the experiment
            2.  Purpose – A one to two sentence statement of purpose is entered into the lab notebook beneath the heading. 
            3.  Materials – compile a list of reagents, equipment, and glassware to be used.  When listing a reagent, include its name, chemical formula, and concentration (if a solution).
            4.  Prelab notes – Make notations in this section when reviewing the Lab Manual and the on-line lecture.  All experimental hazards must be included in this section.  HAZARDS may be completed during your instructor’s explanation of safety at the beginning of the laboratory session.

SECTION II:  Procedure and Observations
            Divide the notebook in half vertically.  Paraphrased procedural steps are numbered and entered into the left-hand column.  Observations will be recorded in the right hand column during lab time.   If there are any “In-lab Questions”, space for the answers should be left after the procedure and may extend the width of a notebook page.  “In-lab Questions are answered as the experiment is performed and should be completed before exiting the laboratory.
SECTION III:  Data Tables
            Data tables are needed for all experiments to organize the recorded experimental measurements and calculated results.  Compose a data table which includes a title, clear labels on the columns with proper units, and room for all measurements to be collected.  Data tables may extend the width of a notebook page.

SECTION IV:  Calculations
            1.  Mathematical Calculations - One example calculation for each computation needs to be recorded using collected laboratory data.  Include any mathematical formulae used. 
2.  Balanced Chemical Equations - Any chemical equations describing experimental procedures or results should be documented and balanced in this section.
3. Graphical Interpretation – copies of graphically generated results and statistics may be stapled into the notebook.

SECTION V:  References

A bibliography should be composed.   The Lab Manual should always be referenced as well as the use of any handbooks, textbooks or websites.

C125 REPORTS
Reports are collected during the first or last fifteen minutes of class as indicated on the C125 Laboratory Schedule.   Reports submitted after this date/time for any reason are considered LATE. Late lab reports will be accepted within 24 hours of the due date and time with a 50% penalty imposed.

Report Sheets

Report Sheet Exercises will be the most common assignment regarding the experiments performed in this course. 

Formal Reports

Please note:  Formal report expectations are clearly delineated on the “On-Line Lecture” regarding formal report expectations.  The following are some general expectations regarding these reports:

Quizzes

There will be quizzes administered as stated in the C125 Laboratory Schedule. These quizzes will test your understanding of calculations performed and observations recorded during the experiments. You will be allowed to use your laboratory notebook (but NOT the Laboratory Manual), a non-graphing, scientific calculator, and a Periodic Table.  The questions are open-ended (i.e., “show your work”).

Final Exam

The final exam will check your understanding of the specific experiments performed in C125.  Questions will include calculations similar to those learned by completing C125 experiments and theoretical questions about the experiments and techniques mastered.  Sample exam questions are provided in the Appendix of the C125 Laboratory Manual, Anliker, et. al.

Supplemental Materials