Sheboygan South High School

Sheboygan South High School ELL SCIENCE 2 Spring 2012

I. INSTRUCTOR

Class and Laboratory: Ms. Nicole Schumacher, Room 171; 920-803-7859 [email protected]

Office Hours: Mornings: 7:30-7:55 Afternoons: 3:05-3:30 (other times by appointment)

Please try to make arrangements for a visit, although drop-in visits are welcome if your instructor is free to work with you at that time. It is suggested that you first seek your own instructor for help with any part of the course material. If your instructor is not available, feel free to get help from any of the biology or ELL faculty. *If you have scheduled a time to meet with me and I am not there when you arrive, please wait for a few minutes until I arrive or return. This semester I have prep 1st hour and 3rd hour.

II. MATERIALS

Required: Text: Concepts and Challenges in Physical Science Notebook just for science Binder: Three-ring binder, at least 2” in diameter (student must provide) Calculator, pencils, and pens Goggles: Safety goggles are required whenever work is done in the laboratory. State law requires that goggles be worn at all times during the lab. Goggles will be provided by the school system, or may by purchased provided they are approved safety goggles for a biology laboratory.

III. GRADING SYSTEM

A. Attendance Regular attendance in all parts of the course is essential to achieve the course objectives. Excuses for an absence from a class period, test, quiz, or laboratory session must be presented to your instructor in advance, if possible. Assignments and tests missed for a valid reason will not be counted against you, but you will be responsible for material covered in your absence. Make-up for all absences will be required. When an absence is unexcused you will still be able to make up missed work but you will not receive full credit for assignments. If you fail to show up when you are supposed to make up time, it automatically doubles. Time must be made up within a week of your tardy. If not, a referral will be written per school policy for failure to make up time.

B. Late Assignments Assignments turned in after the scheduled due date will drop two points for each day they are late. Assignments one week past the scheduled due date will only be given one-half credit. If absent on the day an assignment is due, it will be accepted without penalty upon return if the absence was excused. If unexcused, the regular late penalty will apply. If an assignment is corrected in class and not complete, it will only earn half-credit when turned in. C. Grade Distribution - Quarter Daily work 5% Students are expected to complete and hand in work completed in class.

Tests 25% Tests will be given at the end of each chapter. All test scores will be counted.

Quizzes 15% Quizzes will be given periodically throughout the chapter. The lowest quiz grade per quarter will be dropped.

Labs 30% Laboratory reports will be assigned based on lab work that is done while studying each chapter. All lab report scores will be counted. Two formal lab reports are required of the student each semester.

Attendance/Professionalism/Participation 5% Students are expected to come to class prepared, participate in class, and follow the basic classroom rules.

Homework 20% Students are expected to complete their homework and daily work that arises in and out of class.

Grade Distribution - Semester First Quarter 45% of Semester Grade

Second Quarter 45% of Semester Grade

Final Exam 10% of Semester Grade

D. Grading Scale

A 99-91 B+ 88 C+ 78 D+ 68 F Below 59 A- 90-89 B 87-81 C 77-71 D 67-61 B- 80-79 C- 70-69 D- 60-59

E. Laboratory Grade Students who miss a lab experiment due to an absence must make arrangements to make-up the lab within one week of their return. Every day late I take 2 points off. If it is over one week late, only half-credit will be given. Students are expected to make other arrangements for band lessons, meetings, practices and the like when a laboratory experience has been scheduled.

F. Laboratory Safety Students and their parents/guardians will be required to read and sign a Lab Safety Contract prior to the student’s first lab exercise. Safety will be review the first few days of school.

G. Class Participation Students are expected to attend all class sessions. Any long-range schedule conflicts must be resolved with the course instructor.

Quizzes will be given on a regular basis. They will focus on the subject matter included in the content and assignments for that week, but will tend to be cumulative since that is the nature of the subject of biology.

H. Grading Grades will be updated weekly at the minimum online via the grading program (www.webgrader.com).

I. Additional Support In addition to homework assignments, the homework website will post links to a variety of interesting, informative, and helpful sites for many of the units that are covered throughout the year. Visit them for added insight and help.

IV. COURSE POLICIES

It is YOUR responsibility to double-check the exam score, quiz score, and attendance records to determine that your posted score was entered properly and attendance records are accurate. All graded work that is handed back should be kept in your portfolio/binder until you are certain that you have been given credit for it.

A WORD TO THE WISE: The most common reason for a poor grade in this course is the failure to keep up with the work on a daily or weekly basis. In general, if you attend all parts of the course, read the assigned text, complete AND understand the daily homework assignments and lab experiments, you will pass the course. If you study in addition to that, you should do even better. If you experience difficulty with any part of the course, seek help immediately. If you let it slide, it becomes more difficult to catch up because the subject matter tends to be cumulative.

*If you need to leave the room for various reasons, you will use a pass in your planner at my discretion. I may or may not honor that request based on your tardiness, absenteeism, behavior, completion of assignments, etc. V. COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is intended to introduce the student to the language of the elementary theories of science, to provide training and experience in problem solving, and to serve as the basis for further studies in biology or science. The laboratory portion is designed to provide training in the experimental techniques of biology, and to reinforce text material with concrete experience.

Specific areas in which the student is expected to achieve minimal competency by the end of the semester are the following during first semester:

What we study in physical science (physics and chemistry), graphing, forces & motion, and some earth science.

Please keep this syllabus in your portfolio to use as a reference for the semester. If you have any questions, please come and talk to me.