Biology

Mr.Ellis

Room30

CourseGuidelines

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Biology: This is a high school course designed to prepare students to meet the California
Common Core state standards for life science and the national Next Generation Science
standards for life science. Maintopicstobecoveredincludebiochemistry,moleculesandcells,
heredityandgenetics,chromosomaland molecularbasis of inheritance,geneexpression,unity
anddiversityoforganisms,changeinorganismsovertime,andbiotechnologyapplications.

Conduct in Science: Students are expected to come to classprepared, toparticipatein class

activities, to treat everyone with respect and to use class materials and laboratory equipment
appropriately. Irresponsible behavior will not be tolerated in the laboratory because it
jeopardizes the safety of others and it could damage laboratory equipment. Studentsthat act
irresponsiblewill beasked toleavethelaboratoryimmediatelyandmaynotmakeuptheirwork.
Disruptive classroom behavior is also not acceptable because it interferes withother students
right to learn. Thisincludesdisturbancesduetoelectronicdevices. Consequencesforthistype
ofbehaviorcanbefoundinthestudenthandbookunderschoolpoliciesandprocedures.

Materials: Students areexpectedtobring a notebook inorder totakeclassnotes,asupplyof

paper that can be removed from a notebook without damage for homework and class work
assignments, a composition notebookforlaboratorywork,apen,andapencilwithaneraser
toclasseachday.

Assignments: Papers that are not handouts must have a heading and should be done on
undamaged paper. To earn full credit on atypical homework or classwork assignment every
problem must be seriously attempted in pencil and corrected with a pen. If papers (or any
work) are suspected of being involved in cheating, it will result in loss of credit for that

assignmentfor thoseindividuals involved. Lateassignments arenotacceptedunlessyouhave

anexcusedabsenceorhavemadearrangementswithmeinadvance.

MakeUp Work: You should make every effort to be in class, especially on laboratory days.
Whenever you are absent it is your responsibility to ask for, to correct, andto turnin all work
thatyou have missed. Thetime allowancetohaveworkturnedinisthenumberofdaysabsent
plus one. Studentswho know ofan absence in advance are to gettheirassignmentsfromme
before they miss class andareto turnin their work onthe dayof their return. Missed quizzes
are not made up and are excluded from a students grade. However, it is recommendedthat
studentsaskforthequizzesthattheymissedandtakethemontheirowntime.
Tardies: Students are expected to be in theirassignedseats andreadyto learnwhenthe bell
rings. Whenastudent islateitis disruptiveto others in the class. Therefore,studentswhoare
tardy without a satisfactory excuse will be assigned consequences consistent with the school
policy.

SubstitutePolicy: Substitutes are considered guests in the classroom, and as such, it is

expected that students treat them that way. If, for any reason, a substitute tells me that a
particularstudent wasdisrespectful, thatstudent will receive aconductreferralwhenIreturnto
class.

Grading System: Your grade in this course will be based on Homework/Classwork 35%,
Laboratory Activities 15%, Quizzes 5%, Tests/Unit Assessments 35% and a Final
Exam/Assessment10%.
Lettergradeswillbeawardedaccordingtothefollowingscale:A=90100%,
B = 8089%, C = 7079%, D = 6069%, F = 059%. Pluses and minuses will be affixed
respectively togradesin the toptwoandbottomtwopointofeachrange. Astudentwhosefinal
exam and homework score are higher than theirtrimesterscore will havetheir trimester score
raisedtohisfinalexamscore,butnothigherthanhishomeworkscore.

HelpfulHints:
Setagoalforyourselfinthiscoursebelow.

My goalis to helpyoube successful in this course. Ifyoueverfindthatyoudonotunderstand

something in class, please dont hesitate to ask for help. I encourageyoutoaskquestions in
class, and I am also available for extra help outsideclass. I really hope we bothcan achieve
ourgoalsinthiscourse.

Sincerely,

Mr.DanielEllis