Mr. Kish’s MYP BIOLOGY 2015-2016
MYP Biology / DP Biology SL4th hour, room 132 / 2nd hour, room 132
5th hour, room 328 / 3rd hour, room 131
6th hour, room 129
Email:
Messaging: https://www.remind.com/join/akdcb
Webpage: rufuskingscience.wikispaces.com
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:45 – 4:00, room 132
The purpose of this course is to allow to students to being developing a broad, general understanding of the principles of Biology and process of science as a tool to understand the observable world. We will cover six (6) units over the course of the school year in this order:
· Semester One
o The nature of science
o The relationship between structure and function in living things
o Energy in cells and the carbon cycle
o Matter and energy in ecosystems and biodiversity
· Semester Two
o Heredity
o Natural selection and evolution
o Climate change
o Human impact on the Earth
Lab Safety and Labs
Lab safety is very important and will be enforced. Failure to follow lab safety rules will result in a suspension from lab activities immediately. The lab will have to be made up after school. Suspension from labs will continue until a meeting is held with a parent or guardian. Students may not perform labs in the class until lab safety contracts have been turned in.
Required Materials
One (1) writing utensil for classwork and notes
One (1) composition book with graph paper
One (1) folder to keep work
**You will not be required to bring your book every day**
Grading, Absences, Assessments, and Missing Work
Different kinds of work will be assessed in the class including, but not exclusively, homework, classwork, notes, participation, labs, projects, quizzes, and tests. If you are absent you are responsible for understanding the material that you missed!!! Making up work must be done on your own time, not in class.
What if you feel like you could have done better on part of, or a whole, assessment? Come after school! Every student and every assessment involves a very unique situation, but before you come after school review your assessment so that you are aware of where you went wrong.
Your grade will be made up of an average of four different umbrella standards:
· CRIA: Knowing and understanding.
o In this umbrella, you will be asked to explain and apply scientific knowledge and understanding to solve problems set in familiar and unfamiliar situations; and analyze and evaluate information to make scientifically supported judgments.
o These will consist of assessments, or parts of assessments, that evaluate your knowledge of content we learn in class.
o The best way to prepare for these is to take good notes, ask questions as we learn in class, and spend time at home reviewing what we have done. Pay attention to the rubrics to understand what knowledge will be assessed. Come after school for help!
· CRIB: Inquiring and designing.
o In this umbrella you will design scientific investigations; explain a problem or question and formulate a testable hypothesis to be tested by a scientific investigation; explain how to manipulate the variables, and explain how data will be collected.
o This umbrella will be assessed at the times when you design experiments at any level.
o The best way to prepare for these is to pay attention to the rubrics you are given for the assessment and re-read/review what you have done multiple times before turning it in! Come after school for help!
· CRIC: Processing and evaluating.
o In this umbrella you will present collected and transformed data; interpret data and explain results using scientific reasoning; evaluate the validity of a hypothesis based on the outcome of the scientific investigation; evaluate the validity, improvements, and extensions of the method.
o This umbrella will be assessed when you collect and manipulate data or a lab procedure.
o The best way to prepare for this to, once again, pay attention to the rubrics, and refer to your old class work for help on ways data could be used. Come after school for help!
· CRID: Reflecting on the impacts of science.
o In this umbrella you will explain the ways in which science is applied and used to address a specific problem or issue; discuss and evaluate the various implications of using science and its application to solve a specific problem or issue; apply scientific language effectively and document the work of others and sources of information used.
o This umbrella will be assessed when you connect your content knowledge to real-world applications, cite your sources, and using the appropriate scientific language/vocabulary.
o Once again the best way to prepare for this is to pay attention to your rubrics, use your notes to reinforce what you are doing, and double-check that you have cited your work. Come after school for help!
Classroom Expectations
If some of these are common sense to you, then I commend you! These are the expectations that I have of you in the classroom; not meeting these expectations will result in disciplinary action.
· Respect all others; this includes talking, making fun, and other behaviors. If you’re confused about what respect is, ask before you make a mistake and disrespect someone, especially yourself! Misbehaving when a substitute is present shows a lack of respect for you, the substitute, and me.
· BEING ON TIME MEANS BEING IN YOUR SEAT AND STAYING THERE WHEN THE BELL RINGS!
· Use your time in class wisely!!! This is the single largest cause of failure. Arguing about who took who’s pencil is not “doing work” even though a pencil is used to do work.
· I only argue before and after school, please do things when you are asked to do so, and please come to talk to me before or after school if you disagree with me or need to discuss it.
· Do not put trash in drawers, on the floors and/or in sinks, and please do not write on lab benches or desks.
· No FOOD or DRINKS are allowed in the classroom, including gum. Water is the only exception.
· Electronic devices (phones, MP3 players, digital and video cameras) are not allowed to be in use or visible in class unless allowed for educational purposes. They will be confiscated.
· Please stay seated while I am talking to the class. If you need to get up, please raise your hand and ask.
· No passes will be given out during the first and last ten minutes of class and passes are not a guarantee.
· An effective teacher expects academic vocabulary to be spoken in class. A higher-level student uses academic vocabulary in the classroom. Swearing is not a part of this higher-level vocabulary.
The school code of conduct will be enforced. If you are not familiar with it then I suggest you do.
Discipline will be handled in the following manner:
1st offense Private talk with the student outside of the classroom
2nd offense Assigned classroom detention
3rd offense Parent phone call or meeting
4th offense Write-up or CST conference called
Some behaviors will be escalated to a write-up immediately.
Some words of advice
To succeed, you will need to put forth an effort. This means to practice, practice, and practice, and if you don’t’ understand it, find a way to! If you feel that you are very behind, have done poorly on assessments, or are just lost, come and see me. Good things come to those that help themselves.
If you do not want to ask a question in front of class then come and see me afterwards, send me an email or message, write me a note, or see me after school. Remember, I am here to help you with any problems you may have. You are all bright students and have the ability to succeed at anything you choose to do and become anything you want to be!
To fail, you only need to choose to do so. I don’t “give grades”. I only assess the work YOU turn in. Your choices define who you are. Make excellent choices and you will be excellent.
The following graphic is based on a series of editorials written by teachers in the Washington Post.
Hello Parents and Guardians!
My name is John Kish and I am pleased to be your child’s science teacher this year at Rufus King! I love science and its connections to all aspects of our lives and strive to teach it at the highest level possible. I have a degree in Biology with minors in math, chemistry, and general science, as well as a Masters in teaching. I am a lifelong learner and live by the Tony LaRussa quote “All I am is all I know.” If I stop learning, I feel that the strength of my character diminishes.
Please read through the syllabus so you understand what my expectations in the classroom. In return, you can expect me to work as hard to provide a quality education to your child. Too many parents don’t read through the syllabus and just sign the sheet, but I would like to make sure that you understand that I do as much as possible to insure success.
A few notes as the school year starts based on my observations of what student behaviors create the most success.
First and foremost, most students with poor performance tell their parents consistently that they have no homework, that they weren’t assigned any or did it all at school. Students will always need to practice what they learn at home, even if there is no assignment. Check the website for helpful links and resources to practice at home. If there is not an internet connection at home, have your student keep their book at home and find the chapter that we are working from in the book and have the student work on that chapter! Remember, I’m only trying to help students succeed in life, not make life harder! But not practicing at home will make success much harder to attain. I spend a lot of time at school, but I will have set office hours in room 132 on Tuesdays from 2:45-4:30.
Second, many students that are not successful don’t use their time wisely in the classroom and a large portion of my time with these students is spent correcting these off-task behaviors. When an assignment is given, I expect students to work on it and keep the conversations limited to the work. Too many students don’t understand this and it shows in their work. The other problem is that students often respond poorly if I do need to correct their behaviors. I want you to understand that the only behaviors that I correct are ones that hurt a student’s success in class, if a student was doing something that helped them or others around them, why would I “call them out”? Please read the syllabus to understand the behaviors that I expect in class.
Finally, your student will be assessed using standards based grading. This is a system in which the student is given ample practice on a set of standards before being assessed for a grade. The assessment can come in a variety of forms; labs, quizzes, tests, homework problems, classwork, projects, papers, etc…please review the homework and grading section of the syllabus for a detailed description of how your student will be assessed in class.
Please sign and provide the information below after reading the syllabus through. If you ever need to contact me, please send a note with the student, email me, or call the school and leave a message for me. If you have any immediate questions, please leave a note on the bottom of this sheet and I will respond ASAP.
Thank you!
John Kish
By signing below you indicate that you have read the course syllabus and understand the grading policies and student expectations.
Parent signature / DatePrinted parent name
Student signature / Date
Printed student name
I prefer to be called: Date of birth: Place of birth:
Any siblings? What ages? Do they live with you? / Others who live in your household?
Who would you like me to tell when you do something especially well? / What language do you speak at home and/or do you know another language?
Which do you prefer?
Circle one from each pair! / Activities and Interests
Ketchup / Mustard / What do you like to do after school?
Hunger Games / Harry Potter
Reality shows / Documentaries / What are your other interests?
Magazines / Books
Salt / Pepper / See yourself beyond athletics and music. You have gifts that you have to share with the world. What do you imagine yourself doing ten years from now?
Batman / Robin
Iron Man / Batman
Social studies / Math
Football / Futbol/Fuβball
You and the way you learn
Describe the way you learn things best. / Is there anything else about you that you would like me to know?
What type of characteristics do good teachers have? / What would make this class especially hard for you? How can I help you with this?
Now it’s time for me to see your drawing skills, or lack thereof!
Please label the diagram below with where you need to sit in order to be as successful as possible in the class / Draw what a scientist looks like / Draw a liger boxing Abraham Lincoln on the back of a giant turtleFRONT OF ROOM
WINDOWS / DOORS
BACK OF ROOM
Your goals for this class (check ANY that apply)
To pass the class and move on to the next one for graduation. / Any other goals that aren’t listed here?
To understand more about the scientific world because of science fiction, dinosaurs, and potential E.T.’s.
To understand the process of science as a way to explain the observable world.
To understand more about the process of science because I may pursue medicine as a career.
To understand more about the process of science because I may pursue something environmental as a career.
To understand more about the process of science because I may pursue engineering as a career.
To understand more about the process of science because I may pursue some kind of science as a career.
To learn more about critical thinking to be a better voter and purchaser of stuff.
I was just taking it because I had to, but after reading the list above, I think I can and want to get a lot more out of it!