Moravian Academy
Dr. Lawlis
This is a college course focusing on problems in Newtonian Mechanics, including motion, forces, torque, energy, momentum, angular momentum, center of mass, gravity, orbital mechanics, and oscillations of springs and pendulums. The laboratory component is a central feature of the course, and one that is required by the College Board. The AP exam will be taken in early May. Homework may be done as a group effort; however, each student must present work in his or her own handwriting. Also, EVERY student should contribute to the solution!
Scoring rubric
| Homework | 10% | |
| Labs | 25% | |
| Participation | 5% | |
| Tests | 40% | |
| Semester Exams | 20% |
Required Materials
A computer, writing utensil, notebook or scratch paper, and graphing calculator will be required. Most labs will be submitted via Google Classroom, but there are a couple labs that will require you to submit paper documents. Rulers and compasses are suggested but not required. Forgetting any materials may affect the participation grade.
Homework Policy
In AP Mechanics, homework is critical to achieving a full understanding of the material. For this reason, assignments are graded rather rigorously. In college you will often have a study group where you work on homework assignments together; for this reason, I encourage you to work together on homework assignments, divide the problems to reduce the workload and share strategies and problem solving techniques. It is ok if students have the same answers on homework, as long as each student can understand and explain the solution.
Homework assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class. They will be graded and returned to you, whereby you will have an opportunity to submit a “redo.” A redo gives you a chance to correct your mistakes made on the first draft and earn full credit for the homework assignment. Corrections must be done at the end of your homework assignment or on a fresh sheet of paper and stapled to the back of the original homework, with the letters “REDO” appearing at the top. Only one redo is allowed per homework set. If you submit an incomplete homework assignment, you may only make corrections on problems that you have attempted; unanswered questions will earn no credit, unless you come to Office Hours and work through the problem with me. You will have two weeks from the due date of the original homework to complete your corrections. No extensions will be given if you are absent on the date that a correction is due. I encourage you to complete corrections immediately so you never run into this issue.
Homework solutions that show incomplete, incorrect or no work will be marked wrong. You will be able to drop the five lowest homework scores in the first semester, and the three lowest homework scores in the second semester. The summer work grade may not be dropped.
Test Policy
Tests will be given every two chapters in the first semester, and every chapter in the second semester. There will not be an option to retake a test, so please do not ask. Labs, homework and participation are worth 40% of the grade, and these can go a long way in making up for poor test grades. Chapter tests provide an opportunity to experience what tests are like at the college level. They are graded using a weighted shift, which adds a greater number of points to lower test scores (some people may think of this as a curve). I will share the formula that I use for this in class.
Lab Activities
Some laboratory data collection will be done as a group effort, especially when dealing with large or expensive equipment where supplies are limited. Everyone should participate equally, which means nobody should be standing around and watching without offering to help. Conversely, students should not monopolize the data collection activities. We will usually spend two days on labs, so you should be able to complete all of the data analysis during this time.
Students are welcome to discuss data analysis techniques and share data, but they must write the laboratory reports themselves. I don't recommend that students from different lab groups work together, because the way they discuss the data will end up sounding similar. Each group lab report should be written independently from other groups. All formatting of data tables, figures and graphs must be done independently. In particular, no sharing of Excel files is allowed.
If a student misses a lab due to a scheduled absence, the lab must be made up during a free period or after school. See me to arrange a time.
Textbook reading assignments
Reading assignments will be taken from Halliday, Resnick and Walker and supplemented by other sources.
Food policy
No food or drink is allowed in the classroom, except for water bottles. You may ask permission to finish your food outside or in the back of the classroom if you are coming late from lunch.
Late/Absence policy
Students who miss class or labs are responsible for making up the work that they missed. This may mean that you need to schedule time with me to make up the missing work. Students who are sick will have an extension on homework assignments equal to the number of days absent. It is the student's responsibility to make up missed work, including exams, in a timely manner. The participation grade may be lowered if students miss class without coming to Office Hours (15 minutes should be enough to catch up). All tests must be made up during the next available Office Hours, unless the student is available during a free period.
I am willing to give extensions on homework assignments if there is a good excuse (away sports games, dance recital, etc.), but you must let me know in advance (a simple email the night before a due date is sufficient). I am unlikely to grant an extension on the day that an assignment is due. In general, I don't grant extensions on lab reports because you will have at least two weeks to complete them, if not longer.
Plagiarism
Students may not consult, copy or use lab reports or homework from previous years. If you get caught doing this after multiple offenses, you will receive a zero for that lab assignment or homework assignment, with no opportunity to drop it or perform corrections to raise the grade. Students may not work together on the written portions of a lab if they are in different lab groups. Similar written passages will result in a consultation and may result in a lowered lab grade. Students who need to make up a test due to absence will receive a different test than the rest of the class, so plagiarism shouldn't be an issue here. Gemini, or any equivalent AI may not be used to complete homework assignments or lab reports. A link to Moravian Academy's Academic Integrity Policy can be found here.