Instructor: Behrouz Pounaki

Email: pounakib@lamarpa.edu

Phone: (409) 984-6330

Office Hours: Online by appointment on Microsoft Teams. 

Additional Contact Information: Please contact through your LSCPA-assigned email only. Email your instructor and leave him your

messages in the Microsoft Teams room.

Course designed for non-science majors that surveys topics from physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy,

and meteorology. May or may not include a laboratory.

Conceptual Physical Science by Paul Hewitt, ed.6, Pearson Addison Wesley. ISBN-13: 9780134060484.

Other versions of the textbook are accepted.

The instructor will provide other supplemental information:

Textbook Purchasing Statement: A student attending Lamar State College Port Arthur is not under any obligation to purchase a textbook from the college-affiliated bookstore. The same textbook may also be available from an independent retailer, including an online retailer.

Additional Materials supplied by your instructor.

Learn how to use Blackboard and Microsoft Teams, computers, and the internet.

Recommended corequisite: PHYS 1115.

Basic skill competency in reading, writing, and math.

Upon successful completion of the course, you will:

1-  Determine the components of linear motion like displacement, velocity, and acceleration. Understand

different types of equilibrium.

2-  Apply Newton's laws to physical problems like gravity.

3-  Use principles of impulse and linear momentum.

4-  Solve problems by using principles of energy.

5-  Solve problems of the universal law of gravity.

6-  Understand and solve problems of projectile motion and satellites.

7-  Solve fluid mechanics problems.

8-  Solve problems using the principles of heat and thermodynamics.

9-  Understand heat transfer, change of phase, and climate change.

10- Understanding atoms, fundamental particles, their interactions, and the periodic table.

11-  Learning models and the inter-relationship of fundamental charged particles.

12- Understand radioactivity, forces inside the nucleus of an atom, nuclear fusion, and fission.

13-  Learn about the elements and compounds and know how to name them.

14-  Understand Ions and types of bonds and molecules.

* Communication skills: Students will demonstrate effective written, oral, and visual communication.

* Critical Thinking Skills: Students will engage in creative and/or innovative thinking, and/or inquiry,

analysis, evaluation, synthesis of information, organizing concepts, and constructing solutions.

* Empirical and Quantitative Skills: Students will demonstrate applications of scientific and mathematical

concepts.

* Teamwork: Students will demonstrate the ability to work effectively with others to support a shared

purpose or goal and consider different points of view.

Chapter(s) Contents

CH. 1 Patterns of Motion & Equilibrium:

CH. 2 Newton's Laws of Motion:

CH. 3 Momentum & Energy

CH. 4 Gravity, Projectiles, and Satellites

CH. 5 Fluid Mechanics

CH. 6 Thermal Energy and Thermodynamics

CH. 7 Heat Transfer and Change of Phase

CH. 12 Atoms and the Periodic Table

CH. 13 The Atomic Nucleus and Radioactivity

CH. 14 Elements of Chemistry

CH. 15 How Atomic Bond and Molecules Attract

This schedule is an idealized guide for the course. Depending on the situation, changes may be made by the

instructor. The instructor reserves the right to modify the syllabus. Any changes will be announced in class

and on the content folder of Blackboard, Microsoft Teams, and/ or through email.

Exam 1  Due September 28, 2026

Exam 2 Due Saturday, by midnight, October 31, 2026

Exam 3 Due Saturday, by midnight, November 21, 2026

Academic Assessment Due December 4, 2026.

Sunday, December 6, 2026 - morning, through December 7, 2026 - 11:59 PM

90 - 100=A 80 - 89=B 70 - 79=C 60 - 69=D Equal to, or below 59 = F

Round up for decimals.

Homework: About 10 HW assignments, 30%. We usually have about ten to twelve HWs, and one HW with

the lowest grade will be omitted. Meaning, a student may miss one HW with no penalty.

The Academic Assessment Project is considered as one HW assignment and MUST BE submitted.

Quiz: About 4 Quizzes 20%. The lowest quiz grade will be omitted. Meaning, the student may miss

one quiz with no penalty.

Exams: About 3 Tests 20%. One exam with the lowest grade will be omitted. Meaning, the student may miss

one exam with no penalty.

Comprehensive Final Exam 30%. You must take the Final Exam.

No makeup exams, no makeup homework, and no makeup quizzes are given, and there are NO

retake/resubmission on any exam, quiz, or homework. There is no late quiz or late exam, or late HW

assignments.

Compulsory Exams, Quizzes, and homework that are not taken/submitted before the due date, as scheduled

will receive a grade of zero. 

The instructor may regrade all previous work at any time throughout the semester.

The instructor may regrade all previous work at any time throughout the semester.

Only students enrolled in the online class may access the online classroom.

All assignments, tests, homework, etc., should be typed and submitted/posted on Blackboard.

NO submission or posting of any type via email or as hard copy or printed version will be accepted.

We are expected to be courteous towards the instructor, students, and your classmates.

Students are responsible for having a reliable computer and internet access for the duration of this course.

Exams and quizzes can only be taken on a laptop or desktop computer. If your laptop/desktop computer

breaks for any reason during the semester, it does not excuse you from the requirements and deadlines of the

course. It is your responsibility to make sure all exams and assignments are completed by their due date and

according to the instructions given. If uncertain about the reliability of your internet access during the exams,

then use the computers at school and the library.

The student's responsible for ensuring the posted assignment is readable by the SafeAssign app.

The SafeAssign app on Blackboard checks all assignments for plagiarism. Matching of 20% or more

can lead to a zero “0” grade ( 1st offense) and failure of the course (2nd offense) for all the parties involved.

It is the student’s responsibility to prevent any failure of this kind by all means.

College-assigned email accounts will be used to deliver official college correspondence. Each individual is

responsible for information sent and received via the email account. The instructor will not answer any email

with no course and section number as the subject of the letter, with no further notice. Your instructor will not

accept any correspondence by any other person via your college email account. This includes your

parents/guardians. Parents/guardians of early college or dual credit students are requested, please, to contact

their relevant office at Lamar State College Port Arthur. Faculty should not communicate with parents.

This is institute policy.

This course is an Online Asynchronous course. When needed, there are online discussion meetings through

Microsoft Teams that will be recorded and posted for students' review. Attending the live meetings is highly

recommended, but not mandatory.

Recommendation: Your instructor usually responds to your inquiries when posted on Microsoft Teams, 7/24,

over the weekends, late through the night, and on holidays when available.

Be sure to check your campus email and Course Homepage using MyLSCPA campus web portal. You can also access your grades, transcripts, academic advisors, degree progress, and other services through MyLSCPA.

Academic honesty is expected from all students, and dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. Please consult the LSCPA policies (Academic Dishonesty section in the Student Handbook) for consequences of academic dishonesty.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Accessibility Services Coordinator, Room 119, in the Ruby Fuller Building. The phone number is (409) 984-6241.

No food or tobacco products are allowed in the classroom. Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom, except by special instructor permission. Use of electronic devices is prohibited.

This syllabus is part of LSCPA's efforts to comply with Texas House Bill 2504.

As per Texas law and LSCPA policy, all LSCPA employees, including faculty, are required to report allegations or disclosures of child abuse or neglect to the designated authorities, which may include a local or state law enforcement agency or the Texas Department of Family Protective Services. For more information about mandatory reporting requirements, see LSCPA's Policy and Procedure Manual.

LSCPA is committed to establishing and maintaining an environment that is free from all forms of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual violence, and other forms of sexual misconduct. All LSCPA employees, including faculty, have the responsibility to report disclosures of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment, sexual assault (including rape and acquaintance rape), domestic violence, dating violence, relationship violence, or stalking, to LSCPA's Title IX Coordinator, whose role is to coordinate the college's response to sexual misconduct. For more information about Title IX protections, faculty reporting responsibilities, options for confidential reporting, and the resources available for support visit LSCPA's Title IX website.

For more information about the Clery Act and crime reporting, see the Annual Security & Fire Safety Report and the Campus Security website.

If you have a grievance, complaint, or concern about this course that has not been resolved through discussion with the Instructor, please consult the Department Chair.