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GOALS and
PHILOSOPHY:
All students are inextricably entwined
with the natural world, whether they want to be or not! It is only
human that students will be curious about how the natural world works and
why it works that way. We will build on this curiosity that has been
fostered in the younger years, and look at nature in a more sophisticated
manner than previously encountered in school. Understanding of
the relationships in the environment and how biological systems work is
important as a skill of all citizens in a world that is becoming more
technologically driven and complex, and more affected by the presence of
man. My major goal is to prepare
students for stewardship of this earth by giving them a thorough
understanding of major concepts and their importance.
Honors Biology is therefore designed to introduce students to the
fundamental concepts upon which modern biology is
based. Because students have
an elementary background in life science from their primary years, we will
look beyond the obvious and look at the world of biology. This
will include an introduction to the diversity of microscopic organisms and
their role in the environment as well as molecular biology and the impact
that it has in our modern world. These topics are becoming more and
more important, and may never be addressed again during a student's
education unless they go into the life sciences in college or take AP
Biology. This course will go into more detail than CP Biology, and performance
expectations as well as opportunities will be greater. Students will prepare to take higher level
biology classes, including AP Biology and the opportunity to earn college
credit.
To get the most out of this
course, I expect students to follow a variety of paths to increased understanding
of Biology. Students will take more responsibility for their own
progress, and complete quarterly projects. There will be limited
traditional lecture, class discussion and written assignments as well as
traditional and open-ended laboratory experiences and computer simulations,
group assignments, videos, and anything else I can find that helps students
understand the "whys and ways" of the biological world.
Student experiences and observations will be used to connect the concepts
to the world that they know.
 QUARTERLY ASSIGNMENTS:
I will not necessarily remind you of deadlines....they
will be on the board and on ProgressBook, but you
must be responsible yourself.
1. Each quarter,
students will be required to submit a one to two-paged
summary of an educational nature program that they watched on TV or video. This will be due on the Friday before the last class day of each quarter,
but may be submitted early any time during the quarter.
This video summary should be
of an hour biological science program such as Nature,
National Geographic or Nova that can be
accessed on a TV. Taking notes during the program will make it easier
to finish the summary. The selection is not limited to those, but
needs to be of an educational nature on a biological topic and in the
hour-long format.
 Crocodile
Hunter or ANY Irwin production is
not acceptable in any way, shape, or form. Neither are two half-hour
programs, cartoons, or commercial movies. Nor are EyeWitness videos (they are only 1/2 hour), "Volcanos!", "Hurricanes", “Tornados” and
other natural disaster videos (why do some people think they qualify as a
biological topics?).
 Quarter
3 or 4's summary can be satisfied by a summary of a visit to the Newport
Aquarium. This is especially valuable after students have studied
invertebrates, and the requirement can be satisfied by an informative
student "tour". Sometimes Omnimax has a film
that is appropriate in content and can be summarized, or other opportunities
may be available.
After watching the program, a
summary of about 1.5 pages typed (double spaced,
12 pt. font, the length would be proportionately larger with a larger font)
will be submitted by the due date (about one week before the end of the
quarter) to turnitin.com. All students will have a school email
address and a turnitin.com account assigned at the beginning of the year.
They will be used throughout the year, so be sure that you can access them!
If there is no computer access available at home, please let me know and we
will be sure that there is access through a school computer. Since this is assigned at the first of the quarter, and not
due until near the end, students have ample time to complete the assignment
therefore, LATER PAPERS WILL NOT BE
ACCEPTED.
The heading should include: the title of the program, the date viewed, the time, and the
channel viewed on. That is:
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"Goats
of the Andes"
8/30/06,
10 PM: WCET
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Not
so hard-if planned ahead, and it will be easy!
2. Students will also be
assigned to make models or projects at appropriate times during the year as
homework. They will be given a description
and instructions for the requirements of the project so that you will know
the parameters. Parents are invited
to give advice and support, and review requirements with your student, but
it is the student's project!
Quarter 3, a major project is
the scope and sequence project required in all classes each year.
Students will be expected to write an in depth research paper from
information from reading and the internet on a current controversial
biological topic. This will be a
formal research paper with internal citations and in a given typed format.
More information for these
quarterly projects is given under the
page or through the links below.
Quarter 1: Cell Project
Quarter 2: DNA Project
Quarter 3:
Bioethics Research Paper (Scope and
Sequence requirement)
Quarter 4: Build a Virtual Biome Project
3. Honor students will be
responsible for taking care of the lab biota. Each person will be
required to participate in lab care of animals. Students will sign up
for a cage or tank at the beginning of the year. A care and
feeding plan must be submitted and approved before being allowed to care
for the chosen animals. More information can be found on the
page.
4. Honor students may
earn extra credit (one of the only opportunities) for the display case
in the hall during the year. More information can be found on the
page.
5. Lastly, Honors students
will be responsible for changing the poster display on the classroom walls
each quarter. This is actually also a minor extra credit
opportunity. Students will carefully take down the posters of the
past quarter and put them in storage, then replace them by the posters
appropriate for the next quarter. At the end of the year, posters
will be placed for the Fall quarter. Students may sign up for the
quarter they want to work on at the beginning of the year. The
opportunity will exist the first week of quarters 2, 3, or 4, and expire
thereafter.
TEXTBOOKS:
Students have been requested to keep their Biology books at home so that
they are at hand for nightly homework assignments. Loaner books are available in the classroom
on an honor/quick return basis so that students can do homework in study
hall during the day. The text book
is used mainly as a reference to familiarize students with the topics we
will be addressing during class.
Questions from the text are used to help students check their
understanding of the concepts we are discussing and let me know the
confusions or misunderstandings they have of those concept. Occasional supplementary readings will be
required. Some quizzes, a digital
textbook, and study material will be accessible on-line.
HANDS-ON
EXPERIENCES:
 Laboratory experiences are essential
to develop in depth understanding of the material, and confidence in their
laboratory skills. Labs will include
microscopic observations, biological methods and assays, biotechnology,
microbiology, live animal observations, and dissections. Dissections are valuable in aiding
understanding of body systems, diversity of organisms, and comparison of
adaptations. We do not use live
specimens for dissection, nor do we do frivolous dissections. Any student with an ethical or religious
objection to dissection will be excused from dissection ahead of time with
a note from a parent, and will be given academically equivalent written
assignment
Safety in the lab and classroom are paramount considerations in this
class. Goggles, aprons, gloves and
lab coats have been supplied for use in the lab, and safety procedures have
been emphasized. Each student has
passed a safety test and has signed a safety contract before being allowed
to participate in laboratory experiences.
A student violating safety rules will be removed from the lab, given
a grade of zero for the lab, and I will contact a parent to discuss and
remedy the problem if it continues. Horseplay or immature behavior (the two main
violations) cannot be tolerated, and, as with unproductive work habits,
will definitely affect your student's grade.
Be sure to look over your classroom Rights and Responsibilities as a biology
student. This, of course, leads to unwritten rules that we all know
and understand from years of practice! I will hold you to supporting
the rights and responsibilities in the classroom, so be familiar with
them!!
GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS:
Keep a neat, organized binder  (an organized binder
reflects an organized mind....) of all papers done in and for class. The binder will be their evidence of
accomplishment in this course, and students will be tested on the materials
therein.
Students are required to
write in black or blue ink ONLY (I will not grade papers in other colors of ink. They will be returned and redone if a
student would like the paper graded). Pencils are for drawings, data
collection, tests, and graphs, not for narrative work. I have found that students do not need
much notebook paper, since many notes and activities will be copied for
them, but some paper will certainly be necessary. A highlighter and notebook dividers are
also needed. Colored pencils are
optional (students may share the class sets).
The binder needs to have a
"TO KEEP" section at the front. Paper
that need to be kept for the whole year will be on gold paper.
The rest of the binder is up to the student to organize. I expect to
see it organized in a way that students can recover
specific papers. It may be organized by date, or by chapter, or by
category (HW, Labs, Handouts, Tests, etc.). Whatever method is chosen
will need to be consistent and continuous.
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suggested supplies:
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1.
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2", 3-ring binder
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2.
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notebook dividers
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3.
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blue or black pens
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4.
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#2 pencils
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5.
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highlighter
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6.
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colored pencils
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7.
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notebook
paper
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 GRADING:
Class and lab work will
be graded and points will be assigned.
Labs and class work have varying point values, depending on
complexity.
Tests are usually 80-100
points each. "Quests" are
small tests of approximately 50 points. These usually ask for
application of concepts, but are based on factual information that must be
memorized.
Quizzes may or may not be
announced, and pop quizzes may not be made up.  They are over specific assigned
material from the previous day and the homework from the week. They
are worth from 5 to 20 points. The
lowest pop quiz grade will be dropped in calculating the quarter grade. If a
quiz is missed, the lowest grade will be the zero for that quiz.
 Homework
is due when the bell rings. It will be reviewed or collected randomly for
grading. Since there will be weekly
homework pop quizzes, it is important that the student completes and understand
the homework to do well on the quizzes. Regular, complete homework is
essential to doing well in this class. These homework quizzes are not
optional and cannot be made up. Therefore, regular attendance is
essential to a good homework grade, as it is essential to doing well in any
class.
If a student is absent, the
student has as many days as (s)he was absent to
make up labs and class work. It is the student's responsibility to
schedule lab work and make it up, or no credit will be granted. Please
se the student handbook for details.
The standard Mariemont grade scale is used. Grades will be based on
total points, but will generally reflect these guidelines.
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homework
quizzes
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10%
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tests and
quizzes
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40%
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labs and
class work
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40%
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quarter and
special projects
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10%
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No
extra credit work will be given to replace assigned work, or homework and
pop quizzes. Extra credit is rare,
and when given, will only be accepted if the student has no "0"s
for quizzes, tests, lab, or class work.
My goal is to help the students become responsible for their own
learning so that they will succeed in more difficult classes and become
proactive in their educations. For
some, this will be a more difficult lesson than for others.
CONTACT:
Parents: Please feel
free to contact me about any concerns you have about your student's
progress. I am available on
voice-mail (272-7600, ex 5024) or by
email  and
will give you a return response as quickly as I can. You are also invited to visit the
classroom. Please call ahead so that
I can tell you if we are having a test that day so that you do not waste
your time by observing non-instructional time.
Organization is the key to success.
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