Course Information
Course title: General Chemistry I: Structure, Change, and Energy
Course number: CHEM 121-01
Credits: 4
Institution: North Valley University, a fictional sample institution
Format: Self-paced, online — no fixed term, meeting time, or location
Instructor: Dr. Maya Chen, she/her
Email: maya.chen@example.edu
Course site: https://chemistry.example.edu/chem121
LMS help: helpdesk@example.edu or 555-010-2000
Getting help
- Async support through the course site; no fixed office-hour schedule to work around.
- Appointments may be booked through the course site when live help is wanted. No explanation is required to request one.
- Automatic grading and structured course administration are on the platform roadmap but not built yet — today, self-check against the answer keys and rubrics in each document.
The recommended pace, milestone rhythm, and week-by-week plan appear in Part III.
Catalog Description
An algebra-based introduction to the composition, structure, properties, and transformations of matter. Topics include measurement, atomic and molecular theory, chemical nomenclature, the mole, stoichiometry, aqueous reactions, thermochemistry, quantum theory, electron configurations, periodic trends, bonding, molecular geometry, gases, and intermolecular forces. Laboratory work develops safe practice, measurement, uncertainty analysis, experimental reasoning, and scientific communication.
Where This Course Leads
Finishing Module 14 completes this course's own outcomes — measurement through intermolecular forces — but it isn't the edge of the subject. The glossary keeps going past the module sequence: equilibrium, acids and bases, kinetics, electrochemistry, nuclear chemistry, and organic chemistry all have entries, at the vocabulary-and-orientation level rather than as graded coursework. See what's next for how that's organized, and the readings and sources page for free material that goes further on any of those topics.
Prerequisites
- Placement into college algebra or successful completion of intermediate algebra.
- Ability to rearrange equations, use exponents and scientific notation, interpret graphs, and solve proportions.
- No prior college chemistry is assumed. A high-school chemistry course is helpful but not required.
Students who score below 70% on the ungraded readiness check should complete Module 0 and attend a mathematics support session during Week 1.
Essential Question
How do measurements and particle-level models allow us to explain and predict the composition, structure, energy, and transformations of matter?
Course Learning Outcomes
After successful completion, students will be able to:
- Classify matter and distinguish physical from chemical properties and changes.
- Perform dimensional analysis and communicate measured results using correct units, significant figures, accuracy, precision, and uncertainty.
- Use atomic number, mass number, isotopic abundance, ionic charge, and periodic position to describe atoms and ions.
- Name common inorganic compounds and write formulas from names.
- Convert among particles, moles, mass, elemental composition, empirical formulas, molecular formulas, molarity, and solution volume.
- Balance chemical equations and classify common reaction patterns.
- Determine limiting reactants, theoretical yield, percent yield, and quantities involved in solution reactions.
- Write complete ionic and net ionic equations and apply solubility and electrolyte concepts.
- Apply conservation of energy, calorimetry, enthalpy, and Hess's law to chemical and physical processes.
- Relate electromagnetic radiation, quantized energy, orbitals, electron configurations, and periodic trends.
- Construct Lewis structures, evaluate formal charge and resonance, and predict geometry, hybridization, bond polarity, and molecular polarity.
- Apply kinetic molecular theory and gas laws to pure gases, mixtures, and reactions.
- Explain phase behavior and selected physical properties using intermolecular forces.
- Apply the RAMP safety framework, maintain a laboratory record, analyze experimental data, and communicate evidence-based conclusions.
Required and Recommended Materials
Required
- Reliable access to the course website and institution LMS.
- Scientific calculator capable of logarithms, exponents, and scientific notation. Phones may not be permitted during assessments.
- Bound or institution-approved electronic laboratory notebook.
- Splash goggles meeting the institution's standard, laboratory coat or apron if required, clothing that covers the legs, and fully closed shoes.
- Periodic table and formula sheet supplied by the course.
Free primary reading
OpenStax, _Chemistry 2e_, Chapters 1–10. The web and PDF editions are free. Assigned sections appear in the schedule. Link to the book rather than copying it into the course shell:
https://openstax.org/details/books/chemistry-2e
Authoritative reference resources
- IUPAC Periodic Table: https://iupac.org/what-we-do/periodic-table-of-elements/
- NIST Chemistry WebBook: https://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/
- NIST SI units: https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metric-si/si-units
- PubChem chemical information: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
- ACS laboratory safety: https://institute.acs.org/acs-center/lab-safety.html
- OSHA Safety Data Sheet guide: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3514.html
- PhET chemistry simulations: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/filter?subjects=chemistry&type=html
- ChemCollective virtual laboratories: https://chemcollective.org/vlabs
Learning Design and Weekly Rhythm
Each week normally includes:
- Before class: 45–90 minutes of reading, a short orientation video or lesson, and a five-question readiness quiz.
- Class meeting 1: Concept development, demonstrations, and structured notes.
- Class meeting 2: Worked examples and collaborative problem solving.
- Class meeting 3: Mixed practice, retrieval, applications, and exam preparation.
- Laboratory: Pre-lab safety gate, investigation, notebook check, data analysis, and post-lab submission.
- End of week: Homework set, reflection, and mastery check.
Expected Time Commitment
Plan for approximately 9–12 hours each week:
| Activity | Typical weekly time |
|---|---|
| Lecture/discussion meetings | 3 hours |
| Laboratory | 3 hours |
| Reading and lesson preparation | 1.5–2 hours |
| Problem sets and retrieval practice | 2–3 hours |
| Lab preparation/reporting | 1–2 hours |
Assessment and Grading
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Three unit exams | 30% |
| Cumulative final examination | 18% |
| Laboratory program | 22% |
| Weekly problem sets | 12% |
| Readiness quizzes and mastery checks | 8% |
| Data-story capstone project | 6% |
| Participation, group problem solving, and reflections | 4% |
| Total | 100% |
Suggested grade scale
| Grade | Percentage |
|---|---|
| A | 93–100 |
| A− | 90–92.99 |
| B+ | 87–89.99 |
| B | 83–86.99 |
| B− | 80–82.99 |
| C+ | 77–79.99 |
| C | 73–76.99 |
| C− | 70–72.99 |
| D | 60–69.99 |
| F | Below 60 |
The institution may replace this scale. Avoid curving individual assessments in a way that hides outcome-level weaknesses; review flawed items and adjust transparently.
Assessment Rules
Problem sets
Problem sets emphasize deliberate practice. Students may discuss strategies, but each student must submit an independent solution that shows units, setup, reasoning, and a final result. A correct number without an interpretable path may receive limited credit.
Quizzes
Readiness quizzes are low stakes and may be attempted twice before the deadline. The purpose is retrieval and preparation, not ranking. Mastery checks mix conceptual, representational, and quantitative questions.
Exams
Unit exams are closed-resource except for the course periodic table and formula sheet. Each exam includes approximately 30% conceptual reasoning, 50% quantitative work, and 20% interpretation or explanation. The final is cumulative.
Laboratory
Students must pass the safety gate before beginning physical work. Major safety violations may require a student to stop work. Missed laboratories follow the institution's make-up policy because some experiences cannot safely be recreated outside scheduled supervision.
Capstone
Students select a documented chemical claim involving energy, environment, materials, food, consumer products, or atmospheric chemistry. They use a trusted dataset or published values to explain the claim at macroscopic, particle, and symbolic levels. The deliverable is a two-page data story or a five-minute accessible presentation with sources, calculation, uncertainty, and limitations.
Feedback and Revision
- Homework feedback should appear within seven days.
- Laboratory feedback should appear before the next major report.
- Each unit exam receives an outcome analysis and a structured correction opportunity.
- Exam corrections may recover up to 25% of lost points when students explain the original error, solve the item correctly, and complete a related transfer problem. Recommended: within a week of each unit exam, so the material is still fresh.
Engagement
Chemistry builds cumulatively — each module leans on the ones before it, so working the sequence in order matters more than working it on any particular date. When you fall behind, the recommended pace in Part III is a place to re-anchor, not a deadline you've missed. Physical laboratory work still requires qualified supervision and safety review regardless of pace.
Pace, Not Deadlines
There is no calendar printing an official due date — the "dates" in Part III are a recommended pace, useful for planning roughly 9–12 hours a week, not an enforced schedule. Readiness quizzes, safety gates, and pre-labs should still come before the work they gate, in order, because they exist to prepare you for what follows — that's a sequencing rule, not a timing one. Automatic grading and progress tracking that could actually enforce or extend deadlines are on the platform roadmap but not built yet.
Academic Integrity
Students may collaborate at the level authorized for each task. Submitted work must represent the student's reasoning and must identify outside assistance. Fabricated measurements, altered data, copied calculations, unauthorized exam resources, and misrepresented sources violate academic integrity. Preserve unexpected results; analyze them rather than replacing them with expected values.
Generative AI Policy
AI tools may be used for brainstorming study questions, requesting alternative explanations, checking grammar, or creating additional practice when the instructor permits. Students may not use AI to generate answers for quizzes or exams, invent laboratory data, write laboratory analysis they do not understand, or replace required calculations and reasoning. Any submitted work materially assisted by AI should include the tool, date, purpose, and a brief verification statement. AI output is not a scientific source. Students remain responsible for accuracy, citations, and compliance with privacy rules.
Accessibility and Accommodations
Students who need disability-related accommodations should contact the fictional sample Accessibility Services office, Student Success Center 120, at accessibility@example.edu or https://accessibility.example.edu. Accommodations apply without penalty. Course materials should meet WCAG 2.2 AA where feasible, use meaningful headings, keyboard-accessible controls, high contrast, captions, transcripts, accessible mathematics, and descriptions of visual models. Provide tactile, sonified, enlarged, or text-based alternatives for visual chemistry activities when appropriate.
Inclusive Learning Environment
Scientific ability is developed, not fixed. The course welcomes questions, incomplete ideas, multiple problem-solving approaches, and correction. Use names and pronouns accurately. Explain cultural references. Do not rely on color vision, speed, prior laboratory exposure, or informal access to expensive technology as proxies for understanding.
Laboratory Safety Contract Summary
Students agree to:
- follow the instructor and approved written procedure;
- apply RAMP: recognize hazards, assess risks, minimize risks, and prepare for emergencies;
- read labels and safety data before use;
- wear assigned personal protective equipment;
- keep aisles, exits, eyewashes, showers, and controls accessible;
- tie back long hair and secure loose clothing;
- never eat, drink, vape, apply cosmetics, or work alone in the laboratory;
- label every prepared container;
- dispose of materials only in designated streams;
- report spills, exposures, injuries, broken glass, and unsafe conditions immediately;
- avoid unsanctioned substitutions, scale-ups, or experiments.
The full institutional safety agreement, chemical hygiene plan, emergency numbers, evacuation routes, and accessibility procedures must accompany this summary.
Communication
Use chem121@example.edu or the LMS Questions forum for course questions. Expect a response within two business days. Questions that reveal private grades, accommodations, health information, or conduct concerns should use email or an approved private LMS channel. Include CHEM 121 and a descriptive subject line.
Course Change Statement
The instructor may adjust dates or activities for safety, weather, institutional closure, or learning needs. Material changes will be announced through the official course channel and updated in the course calendar.