Marine Biology and Marine Biology Honors
Ms. Brown
2017-2018
E-mail: Best method of contact. I will respond within 48 hours.
Victoria Brown
Telephone: 720-424-1795
Call before or after school hours; leave a voicemail if no answer.
Students (only) can call, or text,me on my cell phone. Responses will be as soon as possible:303-***-****New number will be forthcoming. (Please keep texts from 7:00 am- 9:00 pm.)
Parent Conferences:Parents, please contact me at the above e-mail, or office phone number, to schedule a meeting before or after school hours.
Student Tutoring Hours: Student tutoring is available before school on Stripe days, and until 3:20 Tuesday and Thursday. Students can talk with me for other times, I can help at lunch or before school if I am asked ahead of time.
Web Site:The web site will have all assignments posted on it, and will be updated only on a weekly basis. Planners are encouraged as the best way of keeping up with all assignments. Due to the open communication allowed between students and myself on my cell phone (some months I have 3,000+ texts) my web site will be in outline form. Current date and assignment will be easily accessible at the top. Using the ‘search’ tool on my web page can end up in locating older, or unrelated assignments.
Welcome students!
It is going to be another great year in science!We have a lot to learn together and a lot of new exciting experiences to have! You and your group will be responsible for a fish tank and all that lives in it. Everyone paid a lab fee for this class and you will notice all the equipment that you have to work with. We will all learn to use our resources wisely and still have the ability to create unique tanks that fit your personality. I will provide the basic fish for your tank (of your choosing), and all the salt, and chemicals needed to test your tanks. If you decide after that to get a special fish, or a special invertebrate like a ghost shrimp or an octopus, you will have to purchase that yourself. In the spring all the living organisms in the water will need to be adopted out, as the tanks are left empty over the summer. You may take anything from your tank home, but all tanks, equipment and chemicals stay in the classroom. We will learn all we can about the ocean including the ocean floor, the water, chemistry and anything living in it. We will study life from a microcellular level, to an ecological view of how all the living organisms interact with one another. You and your group will be responsible for feeding your fish everyday. This is an integral part of maintaining a salt-water tank.
ThisMarine Biology curriculum is very interesting, with lots of hands on activities, while covering a wide variety of concepts including Earth Science, Chemistry, Zoology and Microbiology.Every class period you will spend almost one half the class working in your tank. In order to protect the health of the fish you cannot use hand sanitizer before this class. It will kill all the bacteria in the tank, and then the fish. I will have lotion on my desk that can be voluntarily used if you wish after cleaning the tanks. If there is a particular marine science topic you are really interested in, or very knowledgeable about, please let meknow, and I will try to incorporate it into the class curriculum.
Study Guide
We willnot be using a Marine Biology textbook. I will provide readings, notes, articlesand power points for information. We will also use a Zoology book that will be provided for you for details about all the organisms in the Seas and Oceans.
Semester One:Semester Two
TanksEchinodermata
Set upAnnelidia
Nitrogen CycleChordata (All mammals in the Ocean)
Bacterial Growth Osteoicthyes
Fish selection Chondroicthyes
Sea Water Cetacea
Chemical and Physical TraitsCnidarians and Coral Reefs
Water in the World—MapsWhaling and Blackfish
Sea Floor and Plate Tectonics Man’s effect on the Oceans
Salinity, Temperature Tsunami
Marine Animal Traits
Microbial World in the Ocean
Algae, Protists and Bacteria
Invertebrates
Sponges
Mollusca
Class Expectations:
- Students and teacher will respect each other at all times in the classroom. If respect is not shown a student can and will be removed from the class.
- Students will be expected to pay attention and be quiet during teacher instructional time.
- Students may have food, drink and gum in the classroom, as long as it is not a distraction for themselves or anyone around them, including the teacher.
- Students are not to open the snake cage at ANY time for ANY reason.
- Students are not to touch anyone else’s Fish Tank at ANY time. (no tapping on tanks)
- During a lab, students are to be on their best behavior and remain in their seat as much as the lab allows. (No one will ever be forced to dissect.)
- Students are to show respect to all organisms that are being dissected.
- Students will not swear and will not use put-downs.
- Students are not to play with the air and gas outlets, or the eye wash station.
- Cell phones can be used as timers or as research tools, but are not to be used for texting or social activities.
- Students are expected to be on time to class. When coming in late students will be asked to sign in with the date. After 3 times of tardiness parents will be contacted, and students will have one lunch detention.
- Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarizing will result inappropriate alteration to the assignment grade, up to no credit given, asdetermined by the student, parent and teacher.
Any disciplinary problems will be dealt with as described on the DPS District discipline ladder.
Not following the above-mentioned rules will result in:
1st time - Teacher-Student Conference
2nd time - Call home to parents, and a lunch detention
3rd time – Meeting with parents, and support staff
4th time - Referral to Ms. Miles
Grading:
100% - 90% = A
89% - 80% = B
79% - 70% = C
69% - 60% = D
59% - 0% = F
Late Papers:
Late papers will be marked 30% off.
Any missing paper can be turned in up
to two weeks after the date the
assignment was given. Late work will
not be accepted after the two weeks.
Students get two days to make up any work missed for every one excused absence as per district attendance policy. Unexcused absences and their make up work are up to the teacher’s discretion. Any student with an extended leave from school should notify the teacher at least 1 month in advance, or as early as is possible. Please refer to the schools 5 excused absence policy. It will be enforced in Marine Biology.
Please refer to the DSA handbook for the definition of excused and unexcused absences. Unexcused absences will be handled based on the DSA handbook, and may or may not allow a student to made up missed work.
If you are going to miss class due to an activity in
your major, please let me know 2 class periods ahead
to get your make up work.
Weighting:
Your grade will be weighted as follows:
65% -- Product (Quizes, tests, and assessments)
25% -- Process work (Daily work)
10% -- Product (Final Exam)
Process work will include any homework, labs, activities, research papers or class work that aids in you mastering the science standards that are taught in class. Although each assignment will have different point values, as a whole they will not be more than 25% of your semester grade.
Assessments will be any culminating activity that allows you to show what you what you have learned, and your level of understanding of the concept. These activities can include tests, quizzes and projects.This category also includes your tank tests that are based on the quality of your aquarium. Since 65% of your grade is based on how well you understand the material, be sure to ask questions and advocate for yourself if you need some help with a topic in class. There are no test or quiz retakes. DSA policy weighs the semester final as 10% of the semester grade.
Honors Credit Option
All students have the option of taking this Marine Biology class for regular credit, or weighted credit. If students choose to have HonorsMarine Biology credit they will need to write 2 additional research papers, one each quarter, a presentation that aligns with your paper’s topic, anda one time poster presentation of a scientist of your choice.A student in Honors is expected to turn in everyday classwork that is complete, thoughtful, shows effort, and is of a high quality. They will be held to an Honor’s standard for the class.The papers will be 20% of the Product weighted category, and will affect the total grade. As a student, you have until August 29th to decide if you want honors credit. A form must be completed by the student confirming their choice. Not completing the form will automatically enroll the student in Honors.Honors students must complete the Honors assignments.Anyone receiving a D or F in Honors is not eligible to take Honors the next semester.
Supplies
Marine Biology is a very hands-on class with a lot of chemicals used everyday to check water quality, and about 100 gallons of salt water made a week. I give the students some money to start their tank with fish, but any additional fish, or exotic choices, are paid by their tank group. If a group purchases a fish that eats live fish they will have to pay part of that cost. If a groups fish die the group will have to replace them at their own cost. We would be very appreciative of any donations. The salt to make the salt water, and all the testing chemicals are expensive, even though I purchase them online at discounted prices. If any parents would like to help with the cost of this class,PetCo, PetSmart, or Walmartgift cards, would be very appreciated. We buy our daily fish food from Todd’s Tropical as well as other tank supplies.
Students must have the following by September 1st.
- Any type of notebook that has lined paper and can hold handouts.
- Pens and/or pencils (which ever you are most comfortable with, but no red ink, or neon color.)
- 2 hand towels to be used for cleaning up water spills. (thrift store towels are fine) You will spill a lot!
I have students each bring 1 item to class to be used by the community. For example, one child may bring paper towels, but they will also be able to use anything anyone else brought to class such as Kleenex, tape, glue, scissors, Clorox wipes etc. If there is an issue with not being able to bring an item please email me or call me or just send a note with your student, I can work with you. Please don’t buy a pitcher before coming to the first day of class.
1 new unused turkey baster(to feed the fish with) (last name A - B)
1 pitcher (must be clear, plastic, no pour spout, ½ or 1 gal. size.) (see class demonstration) (last name C– F)
1 box of Facial tissue (last name G – L)
2 rolls of paper towel (last name M - R)
1 canister of disinfecting wipes (last name S)
1 box Latex or Nitrile Gloves (last name T - Z) (these are medical gloves- not dish washing, usually in pharmacy, in a small square box of 40-50. I can’t accept vinyl gloves- they do not stretch and are very hard to dissect with. If your student has a latex allergy please bring Nitrile gloves.) We will use a lot of gloves during the year!
If you ever see Instant Ocean Sea Salt($52)in a bucket for sale please let me know. Petsmart has 50% off sometimes, and I like to buy as many as I can. We will easily go through 75-100 gallons of salt water a week.
I will assume that every parent has signed up for the Parent Portal to be able to view his or her child’s grade online. Students need to be proactive in looking at the Student Portal to keep up on their grades and missing assignments. I will use the email address given at registration to contact you regarding your child’s behavior and academic performance. If Internet access is difficult, or for any reason does not work, please let me know the best way to contact you about your child. Once an assignment has been collected please allow a few days for grading, and to input the results into the grading program. Any assignment that is not turned in will have an ‘M’ in IC. This means the assignment is missing, and is calculated as a ‘0’. Once the two week period to turn the assignment in has passed the ‘M’ will convert to a ‘0’ and can not be made up. You may email me with any questions you may have about your student’s progress.
This is going to be an awesome year! It is important for you to know that you will have to work to make it successful!What you get out of this class is dependent on what you put into it!
Thank you,
Victoria Brown