Code of Behavior Conduct of Class Preparation for Class Group Work

Attendance Extra Help Opportunities Missed Class Make-Up Late Work

Lab Safety Lab Equipment Fines Hall Pass Electronics Use

Textbook Cheating Grading Policy Internet Use

Welcome to IB Biology!  Committing yourself to this course is one of the best decisions you have made.  As part of your daily life you will be hearing about a wide variety of biology related topics in the news.  Some recent stories involve national security (is bio-terrorism a reality?), emerging diseases (what damage could a pandemic bird flu cause?), environmental ills (are humans impacting global temperatures?), genetic discoveries (will human cloning become a reality), and so on.  IB biology is designed to give you the analytical tools and content knowledge which will aid you as you grapple with these issues and others as you continue your scientific endeavors and fulfill your role as a citizen and future law maker. 

Like it or not, biology will always be a part of your life.  Even if this is the last science class you ever take, you will be forced to make decisions rooted in biology on a regular basis.  This class will provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand scientific issues, and be able to make educated decisions about our society’s policies toward how science will continue to improve and affect our lives.  I challenge you to appreciate science as a “process” by which we develop a better understanding of our world.  You need to understand the fundamentals and basic significance of individual discoveries to understand and appreciate the changes, advances and improvements in science and technology. To this end I have established several goals.  In this IB biology course, I hope you will:

	Develop an understanding of basic biological concepts
	Acquire scientific vocabulary to communicate and understand scientific concepts
	Apply the scientific process to solve problems
	Become better prepared for college level study
	Think critically, challenge assumptions, and ask questions

IB Biology is a very challenging and demanding course.  It requires a commitment of both time and personal energy to be successful.  It is imperative that you prepare for class each day by spending time reviewing the previous day’s lesson.  Also, do not procrastinate on your assignments.  The IB course is prepared with the goal of working at the college level.  Remember that the challenge is good for you!

Throughout this course, I will guide you through a combination of discussions, demonstrations, lab activities, and lectures to explore the topics of biology and science.  I particularly enjoy having discussions about the “whys and how’s” of biology.  It is critical that you keep up with your expected readings and homework so that you can be an active part of these discussions.  My primary job is to help your learning.  Ask questions.  Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.  If you have any suggestions on how I can help enhance your learning experience, please talk to me.

Code of Behavior. 

You can do as you like in this class, provided it doesn’t affect your learning or the learning of others in the class.  I trust that you will be responsible for your own learning and will not engage in any activity that will take away from your own learning or from your classmate’s ability to learn.  Nothing infuriates me as much as a student who disrespects another’s right to learn.  I have very high expectations of all my students.

Conduct of Class. 

I expect attention (and talking/socializing to cease) as soon as we begin class.  I reserve the right to assign seats to students, and to change assigned seats as needed.  When I am lecturing, please give me the courtesy of listening (and hopefully, taking notes).  Do the same for presentations and explanations by your peers.  When it is your turn to speak, I and everyone else will return the courtesy.

	At least two colors of pens for taking notes (i.e. one blue pen and one black pen)
	Pencil and eraser
	Red pen
	Loose-leaf paper
	Calculator
	Small ruler for lab drawings
	An appointment/assignment calendar

	A three inch, 3-ring binder dedicated solely to IB Biology
	Tape
	Quad-ruled lab composition notebook and flagging tabs

Group Work. 

We will frequently work in pairs and teams, particularly in the laboratory.  Sometimes I will allow you to choose your own partner, at other times I will assign students to work together.  I expect you to accept these assignments without complaint/whining.  Although we will do lab work in teams, each student will write up his/her own lab report.  During group work, answers and solutions may be freely shared, but all members are expected to contribute.  Simply copying answers from another lab report, homework, etc. without having helped to produce the product is plagiarism and will be treated as such.

Attendance. 

Regular attendance is very important if you plan on succeeding in IB biology.  The attendance policy corresponds with the school-wide policy; see the student handbook.  Most of the labs, presentations, videos and other assignments are difficult, if not impossible, to completely make up. 

Extra Help Opportunities. 

There are weekly study group sessions scheduled for every Monday after school.  I will be available on those days for lab make up and extra help.  I hold evening review sessions prior to major tests so that people with after school commitments can attend.  In addition, please feel free to email me or call me with questions or to set up a one-on-one study session.  Although I am a very busy person, I will do my best to help you learn biology at your convenience. 

Missed Class Make Up.

If you miss an assignment due to an absence, it is YOUR responsibility to seek and schedule a make-up, not my responsibility to seek you out.  If you are absent, visit the class web to see what you missed.  If the work we did in class is not linked on the site, upon your return to class check the “Today in IB Bio” binder to pick up any assignments or handouts you missed.  You have one week to make up any assignments missed due to your excused absence.  If you missed a lab due to an excused absence, it is YOUR responsibility to schedule a lab make up session within two weeks of your absence.  Missed labs may require actual lab make-up or completion of an alternative assignment. You may not make up assignments, activities or labs missed due to an unexcused absence. 

Late Work. 

Late work due to an excused absence will be accepted without penalty if it is turned in on the day you return to school.  All other late work will be accepted with a 20% penalty up to five school days late.  Work more than five days late will be accepted and earn 30% of the total possible score, scored for completion only.  Late work must have a late work admit slip attached prior to handing it in.

Lab Safety. 

Each student must have returned a lab safety contract, signed by student and parent before being allowed to do lab work.  See the Issaquah School District lab safety rules.

Laboratory Equipment Fines. 

If you damage, brake or misuse laboratory equipment during class, you are responsible for paying a replacement fee for the item.  A fine slip will be written, and you will be required to pay your fee directly to the ASB book keeper. 

Hall Pass. 

One person may leave the classroom at a time with a hall pass.  You may not leave the classroom during direct instruction (i.e. lecture or giving directions).  Before you leave the classroom you must fill out the hall pass sign-out sheet.  To sign out, legibly sign your name, list the time you are leaving class, and where you are going.  When you return to class, mark the time you returned to class.  Although there is no set limit to the number of times you may leave the classroom, if you choose to abuse this privilege you should expect disciplinary action.

Electronics Use. 

Listening to music is not permitted during direct instruction, group work, or lab experiments.  You may listen to music during individual work time.  You may not use a calculator for game play at any time during class.  Except for use as calculators, timers and cameras during labs, use of cell phones is not permitted (including text messaging).  Turn off all cell phones prior to coming to class.  If you choose to violate these guidelines, your calculator, cell phone, or headset will be confiscated for the remainder of the class period. 

Textbook. 

The textbook for the course is the sixth edition of Neil A. Campbell and Jane B. Reece’s Biology.   To access the book on-line, go to http://www.aw-bc.com/campbell/.  Click the green book entitled “Biology”. Sign in as an established user using the user name “skylinespartans” and the password “watsoncrick53”.   In addition, if you click the link for the E-book, you can access the entire text of the book on line (you will be asked to re-enter the user name and password). Once you have logged in, you are able to access the full content of the most amazing biology textbook ever written on the face of the planet.  Now, whenever you want to see what the textbook would say, you can check on-line.  There are cool animations and self quizzes that you can access. 

Cheating. 

Cheating will not be tolerated and is clearly a violation of course and school policy.  The following acts of cheating are examples of behavior that will result in disciplinary actions as outlined in the student handbook. 

• Passing calculators during a test, quiz, or other assessment

• Copying someone else’s test, quiz, homework, assignment, or report

• Letting someone copy from a test, quiz, homework, assignment, or report

• Looking at notes during a test, quiz, or other assessment

• Sharing questions from a test with students who have yet to take the test

• Listing someone else’s data with out giving credit, or worse, making up data to fit the expected answer.  It is acceptable to present your own data, to state the reasons that you feel the results should be disregarded, and then to present another student’s data (making sure the source is acknowledged)

• Using opinions, facts, ideas, charts, data and direct quotes from research papers, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, websites, or another person without citing the source.

It is assumed that Skyline students are honorable people.  Only those lacking in intelligence believe that cheating on academic work is profitable.  Students are here to learn; cheating makes learning impossible. 

Grading Policy. 

You earn your grade; I do not “give” grades.  Grades will be updated and posted on-line on a regular basis.  The final grade for the class will not be a surprise to you.  I DO NOT ROUND GRADES (I feel I give ample opportunity for you to earn extra credit to raise your grade).  The following grading scale will be used in IB Biology:

     You will earn points in this course based upon scores in the following categories:

Tests (30% of course grade).  Tests are given once per quarter and will be patterned after the end-of-course examinations.  They will be detailed and comprehensive, including multiple-choice, calculation problems, and essay/discussion questions.  The "points out of" value of a test is determined by averaging the five highest scores on the test.  I do this because the tests are hard and are all cumulative in nature.

Laboratory Work (25% of course grade).  See the details about lab work here.

Quizzes (25% of course grade).  Quizzes are re based on the syllabus statements assigned in class and will usually occur once per unit of study.  Quizzes will be either individual or completed in a group.  Upon occasion, you will be allowed to use your “syllabus statement” book on the quizzes. Quizzes are based on past IB test exam questions.

Class Work and Notebook Checks (20% of course grade).  Notebook checks and all assignments completed throughout the course are considered class work.  The supplemental reading assignment and all extra credit points are added into the class work category of the grade.

Internet Use. 

I will be publishing information for students and parents on the class web site on a regular basis. Many homework assignments will include activities which must be done on Internet. Not having Internet at home is not an excuse for not being able to do the homework. There are other ways to access the World Wide Web (at school in the library, at a friend's house, at public libraries).  When I do give a homework assignment on Internet, be sure to start it early.  Computers have a way of not working when you absolutely must finish something for the next day!