Thursday, June 15, 2006
The atrocities continue...(especially in D Period)
Get off the beach. Get your heads out of the sand. Get to extra help to review your final. Your average depends on it.
As I continue to labor over your last exam, the majority of which are poorly written and carelessly taken, I am appalled by the generally poor performance of most of the class (though I have yet to grade most of B Period, which has been doing well lately...I'll let them know later; plus, Gilbert almost got a perfect score).
Here are some of the problems with your tests (THESE ARE THE ACTUAL ERRORS VERBATIM; I KNOW THAT MANY OF THEM ARE HARD TO FATHOM!):
how about calling FeBr2, iron II OXIDE !!!
HOW ABOUT CALLING potassium IODIDE, KBr2 !!!!!
how about explaining a decrease in TEMPERATURE stress by ONLY TALKING ABOUT PRESSURE!!!
How about explaining relative boiling points without mentioning how iodine and fluorine have a DIFFERENT NUMBER OF ELECTRONS CAUSING DIFFERENT STRENGTHS OF INDUCED DIPOLE ATTRACTIONS!
When you balance an equation, the COEFFICIENT of each substance is AN EXACT NUMBER!!!! That number has INFINITE SIG FIGS and does not affect ANY sig fig calculation. DO NOT ROUND YOUR ANSWERS TO ONE SIG FIG BASED ON COEFFICIENTS!!!
If you mess up a diagram or illustration, START AGAIN! COMPLETELY RE-DRAW IT! A crossed-out minus sign LOOKS LIKE A PLUS SIGN AND THAT'S WHAT THE READER SEES!
MOST OF YOU do not know the difference between a CONDENSED STRUCTURAL FORMULA and a simple MOLECULAR FORMULA:
For example:
The condensed structural formula shows the functional group of the molecule as in ethanol : C2H5OH
BUT the molecular formula simply gives the ratio of ATOMS in a molecule:
Ethanol: C2H6O
UNBELIEVABLE that people, in answering some questions, NOT ONLY wrote IRRELEVANT INFORMATION but that the IRRELEVANT INFORMATION WAS FALSE!!!! Read each question. Answer the question. READ WHAT YOU JUST WROTE AND THEN READ THE QUESTION AGAIN TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ANSWERED SPECIFICALLY WHAT WAS ASKED FOR!!!
PHASE of a substance at a given temperature is explained by STRENGTH (or lack thereof) of INTERMOLECULAR/INTERPARTICLE ATTRACTIONS …NOT BY THE “REACTIVITY OF THE ELEMENT”!!!
HOW DO FEWER MOLES OF GAS CREATE MORE PRESSURE THAN DO MORE MOLES OF GAS???? YOU ARE NOT READING WHAT YOU WROTE!!!
Do not EVER USE THE TITRATION FORMULA FROM THE DUMBED-DOWN REGENTS TABLE! You MUST PUT IN THE NUMBER OF H+ (from the acid molecule) on the VaMa side of the equation and the NUMBER OF OH- (from the base) on the VbMb side of the equation!!!
The number of DIRECT CONTRADICTIONS IN YOUR ANSWERS is ASTOUNDING. CLEARLY, you do NOT read what you WRITE. YOU MUST analyze EVERY word that you wrote! If you do not know how to SPELL a word, USE A SYNONYM or a PHRASE that means the SAME THING!!! WHY MISSPELL "TEMPORARILY" when you can write "BRIEFLY" or "FOR A SHORT TIME"!
INDUCED DIPOLE ATTRACTIONS INCREASE with INCREASING NUMBER OF ELECTRONS PER MOLECULE, WHICH MAKES THE MOLECULE MORE “POLARIZABLE” LEADING TO STRONGER PARTIAL POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REGIONS (TEMPORARILY) OF THE MOLECULE!!
The UNBELIEVABLE (at this point in the course, after reviewing SIX REGENTS EXAMS, after being schooled on test-taking skills ALL YEAR LONG!!!!) lack of care and effort on this IMPORTANT 150-POINT exam is beyond appalling!!
I am VERY disappointed in MOST OF THE CLASS! It will take a truly excellent Regents performance i.e. score AND clear demonstration of ALL test-taking skills (which I will scrutinize each test for) to COMPENSATE FOR the damage to your average from this test.
As I continue to labor over your last exam, the majority of which are poorly written and carelessly taken, I am appalled by the generally poor performance of most of the class (though I have yet to grade most of B Period, which has been doing well lately...I'll let them know later; plus, Gilbert almost got a perfect score).
Here are some of the problems with your tests (THESE ARE THE ACTUAL ERRORS VERBATIM; I KNOW THAT MANY OF THEM ARE HARD TO FATHOM!):
how about calling FeBr2, iron II OXIDE !!!
HOW ABOUT CALLING potassium IODIDE, KBr2 !!!!!
how about explaining a decrease in TEMPERATURE stress by ONLY TALKING ABOUT PRESSURE!!!
How about explaining relative boiling points without mentioning how iodine and fluorine have a DIFFERENT NUMBER OF ELECTRONS CAUSING DIFFERENT STRENGTHS OF INDUCED DIPOLE ATTRACTIONS!
When you balance an equation, the COEFFICIENT of each substance is AN EXACT NUMBER!!!! That number has INFINITE SIG FIGS and does not affect ANY sig fig calculation. DO NOT ROUND YOUR ANSWERS TO ONE SIG FIG BASED ON COEFFICIENTS!!!
If you mess up a diagram or illustration, START AGAIN! COMPLETELY RE-DRAW IT! A crossed-out minus sign LOOKS LIKE A PLUS SIGN AND THAT'S WHAT THE READER SEES!
MOST OF YOU do not know the difference between a CONDENSED STRUCTURAL FORMULA and a simple MOLECULAR FORMULA:
For example:
The condensed structural formula shows the functional group of the molecule as in ethanol : C2H5OH
BUT the molecular formula simply gives the ratio of ATOMS in a molecule:
Ethanol: C2H6O
UNBELIEVABLE that people, in answering some questions, NOT ONLY wrote IRRELEVANT INFORMATION but that the IRRELEVANT INFORMATION WAS FALSE!!!! Read each question. Answer the question. READ WHAT YOU JUST WROTE AND THEN READ THE QUESTION AGAIN TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ANSWERED SPECIFICALLY WHAT WAS ASKED FOR!!!
PHASE of a substance at a given temperature is explained by STRENGTH (or lack thereof) of INTERMOLECULAR/INTERPARTICLE ATTRACTIONS …NOT BY THE “REACTIVITY OF THE ELEMENT”!!!
HOW DO FEWER MOLES OF GAS CREATE MORE PRESSURE THAN DO MORE MOLES OF GAS???? YOU ARE NOT READING WHAT YOU WROTE!!!
Do not EVER USE THE TITRATION FORMULA FROM THE DUMBED-DOWN REGENTS TABLE! You MUST PUT IN THE NUMBER OF H+ (from the acid molecule) on the VaMa side of the equation and the NUMBER OF OH- (from the base) on the VbMb side of the equation!!!
The number of DIRECT CONTRADICTIONS IN YOUR ANSWERS is ASTOUNDING. CLEARLY, you do NOT read what you WRITE. YOU MUST analyze EVERY word that you wrote! If you do not know how to SPELL a word, USE A SYNONYM or a PHRASE that means the SAME THING!!! WHY MISSPELL "TEMPORARILY" when you can write "BRIEFLY" or "FOR A SHORT TIME"!
INDUCED DIPOLE ATTRACTIONS INCREASE with INCREASING NUMBER OF ELECTRONS PER MOLECULE, WHICH MAKES THE MOLECULE MORE “POLARIZABLE” LEADING TO STRONGER PARTIAL POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REGIONS (TEMPORARILY) OF THE MOLECULE!!
The UNBELIEVABLE (at this point in the course, after reviewing SIX REGENTS EXAMS, after being schooled on test-taking skills ALL YEAR LONG!!!!) lack of care and effort on this IMPORTANT 150-POINT exam is beyond appalling!!
I am VERY disappointed in MOST OF THE CLASS! It will take a truly excellent Regents performance i.e. score AND clear demonstration of ALL test-taking skills (which I will scrutinize each test for) to COMPENSATE FOR the damage to your average from this test.
# posted by C @ 12:28 PM 
