MR. DANS' PAGE:
COURSE EXPECTATIONS
MR.DANS
BIOLOGY
Course Description: (One Year, One Credit) The study of biology in both human and non-human organisms. Biology focuses on a variety of areas, including the cell, biochemistry, animal and plant physiology, genetics, evolution and ecology. The laboratory experience is an important component of the course. Students are given the opportunity to do microscope work, chromatography, nutrition tests, genetic experiments, classification, diffusion experiments and dissections. The course terminates with a Regents examination in June. Students are also encouraged to take the SAT II test in biology at the end of the year. The course is taught with emphasis placed on an evolutionary/molecular approach which corresponds with the requirements for taking the E/M specialized area SAT II test.
Prerequisite: Sequential Math IR
Corequisite: Sequential Math
IIR
Supplies:
It is recommended that the student purchase a five subject spiral
notebook which will be entirely devoted to this class, an assignment book with a
calendar, 4 folders (one for each quarter), pencils, a calculator, a metric
ruler ,pens and pencils. It is also
advisable to purchase multi-colored pens to use while taking notes or making
drawings.
Safety:
Every student is required to follow all safety rules at all times.
A Safety Rules sheet will be distributed during the first laboratory
session. Any behavior which endangers anyone’s safety (including
your own) will not be tolerated.
Classroom Behavior: There is no talking during class unless the teacher
calls on you. Behavior that
disrupts the class will not be tolerated. Behavior
affects the participation grade (see participation section).
Bathroom:
Only one student is allowed at any given time out of the classroom (male
or female). Passes to leave the
room will be made clearly available to students.
If there is a pass available, the student does not need to disrupt the
class by asking for permission. The
student will then take the pass and exit the room. Abuse of this rule will not be tolerated.
It is recommended that you take care of your bathroom needs before coming
to class.
Homework: The majority of homework assignments come from your SECTION REVIEW questions found at the end of each section in your textbook. Expect almost all SECTION REVIEWS pertaining to all the chapters listed on your TESTS AND CHAPTER READINGS sheet to be assigned as homeworks during the year. These SECTION REVIEWS may be assigned prior to covering the material in class in order to prepare students to comprehend the material while it is being presented.
All homeworks must be neat. Any homeworks that were either incomplete or had any incorrect answers will be marked with an “I”. It is the student’s responsibility to complete and/or correct it by the following day. If more than 50% of the homework is left incomplete, then no credit will be given for that homework. Students will be allowed to not hand in one homework per quarter without any grade reduction. If all homeworks are submitted and corrected of any mistakes, the student will have two points added to that quarter grade. It is highly recommended that homeworks be handed in before the due date in order to correct any problems before the topic is covered in class and to allow the student to be prepared for a possible SECTION REVIEW quiz (see next section). Receiving an “NC” mark on your homework (it will be written on the homework sheet itself) designates that this homework was recorded as complete but it was not checked for content. Please be careful because there may be an incorrect answer. It is the student’s responsibility to seek the correct answer(s).
Homeworks must be submitted before the late
bell rings for class. Late homeworks and homeworks never submitted will result
in a student receiving a deduction of ten
points off their grand total of points (see Grading section).
Homeworks receiving an “I” and not corrected and resubmitted by the
following day will result in a student receiving a deduction of 5 points off
their grand total of points (see Grading section).
Section Review Quizzes:
Unannounced quizzes directly from your SECTION REVIEW homeworks may be
given on any date that a particular SECTION REVIEW is due.
The quiz will consist of two questions from the homework.
These are 10 point quizzes.
Plagiarism:
It is considered plagiarism when copying work from someone else.
The only time that you are to share information is when taking data from
an experiment that you have worked on with a lab partner.
Copying homeworks, laboratory reports (except data) or any other document
or parts of that document may result in the loss of credit for that assignment
and further disciplinary action.
Participation: All students
are expected to act in an appropriate manner during class and laboratory
sessions. Participation for biology
includes; safe behavior, non-disruptive behavior, completing assignments in a
timely manner, positive involvement in class discussions or work, not being
excessively absent or late. Students
are reminded that there is a penalty for not handing in homeworks or for not
completing or correcting homeworks and a reward for a perfect homework record
(see Homework section).
Extra Help:
Extra help is available at the student’s request.
The student must ask the teacher for extra help, in order for the teacher
to schedule a time and place to meet. Students
may e-mail teacher (see e-mail address at the end of this document) at any time
with any questions pertaining to biology. The
teacher may also be available at certain pre-designated times, the night before
a major exam using instant messaging for extra help.
Make-Ups: It is expected that a student make up a quiz or test upon returning to school due to an absence. There are no make-up exams or quizzes for any other reason(s). Please be aware that the make-up exams or quizzes for those that were absent may be different from the ones given in class.
There will usually be a designated time and
date scheduled for making up laboratory sessions.
Students absent from laboratory sessions will be the only ones given this
opportunity.
Laboratory Reports and Requirements: The New York State Education Department requires that a student have 1,200 minutes of laboratory experience. Students are required at the end of the year to have a minimum number of laboratory reports reflecting these 1,200 minutes. It is impossible to designate that a particular number of laboratory reports is required, since some laboratory reports consist of multiple laboratory sessions.
Credit will not be given if a student
submits a laboratory report without having physically done the lab.
Progress Reports: Progress reports are mailed periodically to parents.
Please be aware that any information on progress reports may have been
prepared at least a week before receiving and may not reflect the current
progress. Parents are encouraged to
communicate with the teacher via e-mail or telephone (see end of document for
address and telephone numbers).
Textbook(s):
Students will be given a textbook(s) during the first week of class.
Textbooks must be covered and well kept throughout the school year.
Please bring textbook(s) to class daily unless otherwise advised.
Classroom Care: Please be careful not to scratch or write on the lab tables.
Upon sitting down at your lab table, please note if there is any new
writing or markings and report them immediately to your teacher.
Please be careful of putting fingers or objects in your mouth or eyes
while sitting at these tables, since the tops are black and absorptive and may
conceal any spills.
Laboratory Reports: Each lab report counts as ten points. Any errors will produce a subtraction of 2 points from that ten. Laboratory reports are always scheduled for submission many days after the actual lab is performed in class. This gives the student the opportunity to submit these reports early and have them returned so that the student is able to fix any mistakes and obtain full credit for that lab.. If lab reports are submitted on the day or the day before they are due, they will not be returned to the students for correction. Lab reports that are returned to students for correction must still be submitted by the due date.
Due dates to laboratory reports may be found
adjacent to the main door in the classroom.
Sample Grade Calculation:
It is important that students keep track of their grades in
order to verify that the grade reported on their report card is accurate.
Exams are worth 100 points each (there are roughly 20 exams for the year, about 5 per quarter). Examination dates are announced well in advance.
Quizzes come in two varieties. SECTION REVIEW quizzes are worth 10 points each and are unannounced, meaning students should expect a SECTION REVIEW quiz each time a SECTION REVIEW homework is due. Regular quizzes are worth 20 points and their dates are posted well in advance.
Lab reports are worth 10 points each.
Homeworks left incomplete or incorrect will result in a 5 point subtraction from their grand total of points each.
Homeworks not submitted or submitted late will result in a 10 point subtraction from their grand total of points.
A perfect homework record will produce 2
points to be added into a student’s average.
Sample Computation Of A Student’s Grade:
Tests(100 points maximum each): 76,83,61,78
SECTION REVIEW quizzes(10 points maximum each): 10,5,10,10,10,10
Regular quizzes(20 point maximum each): 20,16,18,20
Laboratory reports(10 points maximum each): 10,10,10,8,0,6
Homeworks (-10 off grand total each if late
or not-submitted, -5 off grand
total each if left uncorrected or incomplete, +2 on average grade if perfect
homework record): 2 uncorrected and 3 missing homeworks.
- Add all tests, quizzes and laboratory report points: 471 points.
- Subtract or add points accordingly for homeworks: 2 uncorrected means –10, and 3 missing means –20 (students are allowed to miss one homework per quarter). Subtract 30 from 471. This equals 441 points. This is considered the GRAND TOTAL.
- Determine how many 100 point sets there are. There are four exams (100 points each) for four 100 point sets, there are twelve 10 point items (SECTION REVIEW quizzes and laboratory reports) and there are four 20 point items (regular quizzes) for a total of 2 additional sets (200 points in total).
- This adds up to a total of 6 sets.
- Divide the GRAND TOTAL by the number of sets: 441 divided by 6 = 73.5.
- The student’s quarter average would be 73.5%.
- Add 2 points if there is a perfect homework record. No points added in this example.
If the student had a perfect homework record
(no missing or uncorrected), then step # 2 would have been 471-0=471, step 5
would have been 471 divided by 6 = 78.5 and step 7 would have added 2 points to
make the average a 80.5% which would be rounded-off to an 81% !
It is my wish to see each student enjoy and benefit from the study of
science. Not everyone will go into
the many fields of science as a profession but those that do not will have with
them a greater knowledge and appreciation of the natural and physical world and
will also have greater skills to help them in life’s many journeys. Those that due choose science as a profession will have the
foundations from this class towards their road to success.
Wishing You A Great Year !
Ed Dans
(914)- 741-1428 or 1463