DAVIDSON 2014-2015 CLASS SYLLABUS
COURSE: BIOLOGY
INSTRUCTOR: CHRISTA DAVIDSON
CONTACT INFORMATION: e-mail:
TUTORING HOURS: TUESDAY and THURSDAY 3 - 4 p.m. after school
TEST and MAKEUP WORK HOURS: M,TH after school 3-4 p.m AND before school
at 7:00 a.m. Please make an appointment so that work will be prepared and ready.
REQUIRED MATERIALS FOR CLASS:
2 inch 3-ring binder with 4 dividers and a way to keep track of pens and pencils.
Lined notebook paper
Pencils and blue or black pens
70 page (or larger) spiral notebook to be used ONLY for this class.
GRADING: All of the following will be included in the final grade
1. Students will be required to keep a 3-ring binder with 4 divisions and all handouts and work kept in it. This will be checked for a grade 2-4 times in the semester.
2. Students will keep their class notes and vocabulary in a 70 page spiral notebook.
3. Daily Bell work will be checked for completion and corrections.
5. Classwork will include group work, individual work, quizzes and tests.
6. Reading and writing in science is required and will be graded.
7. Mid-term Benchmark Exams count 10% of the 9 week grade
8. End of term state EOC testing is 25% of final grade (18 weeks)
NOTABLE CLASS RULES:
Tardy - Referrals are written after a student is tardy to class three times. A tardy is defined as coming to class late OR unprepared: without a pencil or without paper, without their needed textbook or notebook. Students who leave needed class materials in their locker receive a tardy.
Behavior - Back-talk or rude behavior is not tolerated in the classroom. The student will simply be asked to stop. If the behavior continues, the student will be asked to go to a time-out area to cool off and a referral will be written for disruptive or disrespectful behavior as it applies.
The same applies to inappropriate, destructive or “play” behavior in laboratory settings. Absolutely NO dangerous behavior will be tolerated. A misbehaving student will be removed from the lab activity if he/she engages in such behavior. If this occurs, the student may be given an appropriate reading / research or writing assignment to replace the learning objective missed through the lab activity, if an alternative is possible. If a student refuses to complete the assignment, the student will receive a zero.
LEARNING PACE (approximate)Weeks 1-4 / Sci Method, Writing in Science,
Chemistry in Biology / Ch.1,2,3, 4
Weeks 5-8 / Cell Biology, Protein Synthesis
DNA / Ch. 4,5,6, 7
Mid - Term Exam (10%)
Weeks 9-12 / DNA mutations
Genetics / Ch 8, 9, 10, 11
Weeks 13-16 / Modern issues in DNA, Evolution, Classification, Animals / Ch.12,13,18, others
Weeks 17-18 / Ecology, EOC review / EOC test (25%)
LABORATORY EXPERIENCES:
TEN major labs are done in class, along with other minor labs and demonstrations. If you would like to see a list of the labs and a supply list for them, please e-mail me and I will send you a fact sheet about them. The lab fee is $20.00 per student. Please send the fee ASAP so that materials can be purchased immediately.
SKYWARD GRADE ACCESS 24/7
PARENTS and students can access grades on SKYWARD.
The site is password protected. Please visit the site often. You can communicate with all teachers through the site.
Mrs. Davidson’s teacher website: - this website has all class notes, powerpoints and links to other study sites.
ABSENT STUDENTS CAN GET WORK THERE!
STUDENTS are ALSO encouraged to use:
VOCABULARY FLASH CARDS –
TUTORIALS in BIOLOGY –
MAKEUP WORK -3 DAY RULE - THIS INCLUDES FIELD TRIP ABSENCES
All students are encouraged to attend school every day. One day on block schedule is equal to two days on a regular year-long school schedule. Students have easy access to all missed work in the classroom via a class bulletin board posting, notebooks of handouts in class, the on-line skyward site and contact with their classmates. Students need to make up work so that they can catch up what they missed. The sooner they do the work, the more valid the work is. Therefore, if the student makes up the work within 3 days, it will usually help them. If they make it up 3 weeks later, there is little reason to do it, as the class and they have moved on, and they should have caught up in other ways (tutoring) by now. Therefore, all missed work needs to be turned in within 3 days of missing it. Any missing work after 3 days will only receive a max. grade of 70 when completed correctly. A totally different assignment will be given after one week.
TEST and MAKEUP WORK HOURS: M,W,TH after school 3-4 p.m AND before school
at 7:00 a.m. Please make an appointment so that work will be prepared and ready.
**CHAPTER TESTS CAN BE TAKEN AGAIN FOR A HIGHER GRADE . THIS will NOT be the same test and the second try counts as the final grade**