Name of Course: Biology IA/IIA Name of Instructor: Ms. Van Ryswyk

COURSE SYLLABUS Name of Course: Biology IA/IIA Name of Instructor: Ms. Van Ryswyk Room 105 Phone Number: 494-7073 (Science Office) Course description: This class is aligned to the District Core Objectives and the Michigan Curriculum Framework Science Benchmarks. These objectives include: Cells, Heredity, Organization of Living Things, Evolution, Ecosystems, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Weather, Matter and Energy, and Changes in Matter.

Students will be required to design and create Power Point presentations, brochures, build models that represent various structures, and design and construct concept maps. The anticipated course of study is as follow: First Semester: Ecosystems, Cells Second Semester: Photosynthesis and Respiration, Mitosis/Meiosis, Heredity, Organization of Living Things, Evolution Required textbook: Biology: The Dynamics of Life, Glencoe-McGraw Hill (2004). Books will not be issued if there are outstanding book fees. Grading Scale A 90.0-100% B 80.0-89.9% C 70.0-79.9% D 58.0-69.9% F 00.0-58.0% Lecture notes will be given. These notes will not be graded and while it is recommended that you have a notebook for these notes, it is not required. Assume that you will need a pen or pencil and paper every class day. The teacher will not supply these. Bellwork will be given several times per week. Students will have approximately five minutes following the start of class to complete the work. There is no make-up for missed bellwork, though students with an excused absence will be exempted from the points. Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and will be treated as such. Both will result in grades of zero for all persons involved and may involve additional work and/or punishment. Each student will be required to do research reports, projects, or lab reports each cardmarking. These will also provide information for required oral presentations. Grades are kept in a computer grade book. Grade sheets will be posted each Tues. Keep all returned work until you have verified the grade on the grade sheet. This is your only insurance against mistakes. Make up work will be accepted until Friday following the posting of a grade sheet. Late work will not receive full credit. An absence excuse is required for make-up work to be issued. Tests missed due to absence can only be made up if the absence is excused. All make-up work and/or tests must be completed within three days of return to school. There is no make-up for bonus points. Permission slips must be shown to the teacher at least 24 hours in advance to be signed. No slips will be signed the day of an activity. Further, no slips will be signed for students who are not passing or that have excessive absences. Class rules 1. Treat everyone with respect. 2. Be on time, prepared to learn and have all necessary supplies. (Be prepared). 3. Stay on task. 4. Clean up after yourself. 5. No food or drinks are allowed in the classroom. Consequences 1. Verbal warning noted in written record. 2. Parent phone call. 3. Referral to 111 or 102 for possible suspension. Review of Biology Course Syllabus

I appreciate this syllabus for several reasons. I believe that it covers many of the items that students initially wonder about when they come into a new classroom with a new teacher. These strong points include: 1. discussion of the subjects that will be covered 2. the grading scale. 3. the student work expected to be done (designing power point presentations,

brochures, concept maps, etc.) 4. that plagiarism will be taken seriously 5. the credit that late work will receive 6. the class rules 7. the consequences for not following the rules

I believe these to be the ‘burning’ questions that students have when they begin a new course. The discussion of the subjects that will be covered helps give them a reference for what the course entails and what they will be learning about. Students are also interested in what the teacher will expect them to produce during the class, so I found it helpful that this syllabus includes the types of assignments that the students will receive. This syllabus also details what the teacher considers to be acceptable and unacceptable behavior and the consequences she will enforce. Although plagiarism is universally considered to be an unacceptable behavior it is helpful for the teacher to explicitly give her policy on the behavior so that students understand consequences associated with specific actions.

I would change some parts of this syllabus if it were mine. The first is its layout and readability. All of the information is contained on one page through little line spacing and small font. This makes it difficult to read and easy to miss important parts. Secondly, the textbook information is given in detail, but I do not find this especially pertinent to the students, as they are all issued a book free of charge, so there is no need for them to know the publisher and year of the book. Thirdly, I would include more detailed information about the content that would be covered making sure to include parts of biology that many students enjoy such as the study of the human body. This may help them to become more interested in coming to the class. Finally, in a syllabus for my class I would like to include a little of my teaching philosophy and let students know that they will be expected to think creatively, actively engage in activities, and use critical thinking while performing experiments. I would like students to know it is a student- centered classroom and that their input/prior knowledge will be important in the activities we will do. I have not seen this approach modeled when going over the syllabus, so I am unsure how it would be received by students. However, I would like to experiment with it in my classroom to see if some interest for the subject could be peaked and be utilized later when the science content was being explored.