| STUDENT EXPECTATIONS, or the course syllabus |
As an IB student, you are expected to keep up with any and all work that is assigned to you, including text readings, internal assessments and the like. You will NOT be reminded that reading must be done, so be aware that reading the assigned chapters on a daily basis is YOUR responsibility. You will be provided with a course calendar detailing assignments and tests…USE it! LAB WORKWe will perform a great many labs. You are expected to come to lab prepared by doing the following:
While in the lab, you are expected to follow lab safety guidelines as outlined in the lab safety contract you signed at the beginning of the school year. LATE WORKLate work is not accepted. Labs are generally due one week from their completion in class unless specified by the teacher. When internal assessments are assigned, due dates will be given at the time of the assignment. Be sure to check the calendars section of your class' site. ABSENCES AND MAKE UP WORKDue to the nature of biology lab work, it is imperative that your attendance to class is near perfect. Things we use in lab are often living, and they don’t stay alive long! It is important that you are in class, especially on days where we are doing labs. Be aware of the 60 hours of lab work required by your Internal Assessment. Because of this requirement, we will be doing labs almost constantly. There are also a great many labs and pre-lab activities that will serve as reinforcement of concepts lectured about in class, so it's best NOT TO MISS CLASS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. Lab materials will not remain set up beyond the last day of the scheduled lab time. If you know ahead of time that you will be absent, email Mrs. Ferguson and let her know so that if a lab is going on that day, arrangements can be made for you to make it up (if a lab make up is possible). Be aware that there are certain labs we will do that cannot be made up due to supply limitations. It is best to miss as few class sessions as possible. Lectures are available on this site, so you can access them at any time. If you know ahead of time that you will miss a class, download your assignments from this site. Should you miss class on a test day, you will have one week from your return to make up the test you missed. After this time, you will not be allowed to make up the test and your grade for that test will be entered as a zero. GRADING POLICY Each six weeks, your grades will be derived as follows: ACADEMIC HONESTY AND INTEGRITYBecause technology has made it so easy to get and disseminate information rapidly through various media (email, text messaging, instant messaging, to name a few), academic honesty has become a topic of importance for all educational institutions, including high schools. Integrity in one's scholastic work is of utmost importance, as it demonstrates diligence on the part of the student and respect for the work that others have done. Increasingly, group work and group projects are becoming commonplace not only in high school, but in college and beyond. For this reason, it is important that students understand the difference between collaboration and collusion. Webster's Dictionary defines collaboration as: to work jointly with others or together, especially in an intellectual endeavor and collusion as: secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose. An example of collaboration in class would be lab partners gathering the same data from a lab, but writing different conclusions about the result. Collusion would be lab partners gathering the same data from a lab and writing identical or very close to identical conclusions about the result. When collusion occurs in an academic setting, it can be considered plagiarism. Students are expected to maintain academic integrity and honesty at all times. Plagiarism of any kind is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to:
Should you choose to engage in any of the behaviors listed above, you will be referred to your House Principal and the appropriate academic consequences will result. ADDITIONAL NOTE FOR IB STUDENTS: Be aware that if any part of your internal assessments are identical to a fellow student's, that assessment may NOT be used in the submission of your IA portfolio. Should you choose to have identical sections, you not only jeopardize your course grade, you also jeopardize your overall IB score for the course by limiting the number of IA's I have to choose from for moderation. TEXTS
We use two textbooks in IB Biology--one as our primary text, and the other as a reference text. Our primary text is Biology for the IB Diploma by C J Clegg. It is a paperback book with a CD which contains the second half of the text. When this book is issued to you, it is your responsibility to keep up with the CD as well. Failure to return the book with its CD will result in your replacement of the text (about $90USD). Our other book is Biology, Campbell and Reece, 6th edition. This text comes with a supplemental CD, which must be returned with the book at the end of the year. Failure to return the CD with the book will result in your replacement of the entire book. Your books will be issued during the first week of class and must be covered per state law. INTERNET ACCESS You will need to have access to a computer with an internet connection. This class will have multiple assignments that must be completed online. There will also be an online learning community which we will use to review for exams and such. All lecture notes and lab handouts will be posted on this website, so you will need to be able to access them and print them off prior to each class period, NOT IN CLASS. Not having internet or printer access is not an excuse to come to class unprepared! There are plenty of places to get internet and printer access:
If this is an issue, then you need to come and talk to me to see if something can be resolved. BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS
REQUIRED SUPPLIESYou will need the following supplies by the end of the first week of class:
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