A sound understanding of chemistry is important to almost everyone from poets to paleontologists.  We need chemistry to produce new materials that make our lives better, to develop new sources of energy, to understand and control the many diseases that threaten our lives. Therefore this is an important class to all students and to even students who do not foresee a career in chemistry. This Chemistry class is designed to build upon the concepts already introduced in 8th grade Physical Science. This course will expand on six major concepts: structure of matter, properties of matter, chemical reactions, rates of chemical reactions, thermodynamics and equilibrium. This course is designed to be comprehensive and thorough enough that if a student wishes, the student can take the AP Chemistry Exam. This course has a comprehensive lab component that requires students to develop processes and procedures, take observations, and perform data manipulation.