Pre-AP Biology!

The only known place in the universe with biology? Earth

teacher: Mr. Davis email: mark.davis@tuhsd.org class website: use your Schoology login

Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. Thats kinda cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. Its not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us. - Neil deGrasse Tyson (http://www.haydenplanetarium. org/tyson/)

"I like acting for now. But after seeing Apollo 13, what I really want to do is to be an astronaut. I'm dying to go to a space camp next summer!" "I loved school so much that most of my classmates considered me a dork." - Natalie Portman (who is a published research scientist, an actress, and a pretty cool person) (http://goo.gl/yEIjg)

"Real-life research is more like skateboarding than something manufactured in a school curriculumThe persistence and the dedication needed in skateboardingthat's what we need to be teaching. No one says to a toddler, 'You have ten weeks to walk, and if you can't, you get an F and you're not allowed to try to walk anymore.' It's absurd, right?" - Dr. Tae (http://drtae.org) Lessons for skateboarding: learning from

1. Failure is normal. Failure is expected. 2. Nobody knows ahead of time how long it takes anyone to learn anything. 3. Work your a** off until you figure it out. Watch the video at http://goo.gl/DbhM5 **rear-end, posterior, butt.

Details
This class will use iPads as a learning tool. The class Schoology page will be used in class and will be your source for accessing everything from home. Thinking about your learning will be the most important skill for you to develop in this class, and in high school. Take advantage of the tools provided, the teacher, and your classmates to develop your thinking and learning skills.

Circle or highlight any sections of this syllabus that you dont understand. We will be learning these things for a couple weeks, so please know that we will have question and answer sessions over the course of that time.

Prezi presentation about how grading works - http://j.mp/sciencegrades - Heres some main ideas from it: Fail often to succeed sooner. Your grade should be determined by how well you understand content (how proteins are made, how mutations occur, how evolution occurs, how organisms interact, the scientific process, etc.) and nothing else. I worked really hard and my effort should earn me a high score all by itself type of thinking does not work in this class. Scores represent learning, and nothing else. Effort leads to learning, but it should not be included in scores of learning. Homework is practice and is not graded. The best homework is what you create for yourself. It does not matter how long it takes you to learn it, as long as you learn it. If you forget material, it might show up in your grade why wouldnt it? Assessments must guide you on how to improve. Assessments need to provide incentive for you to do the learning required to improve.

GRADES ASSESSMENTS OUT-OF-CLASS ASSESSMENTS

The key to demonstrating your understanding of biology will be demonstrating mastery on the learning objectives. There are two kinds of assessments: in-class assessments chosen by the teacher and out-of-class assessments chosen by you. On all assessments you are given a score of Not Yet, 1, 2, 3, or 4. Anything below a 2 demonstrates poor understanding. When you look at your grade book, you will see the learning objective you assessed on and your score for how well you understand it. Period. You will not see an 83/100 (83%) on a giant unit test because that doesnt tell you exactly where you need practice and help. A score of 1 on Able to describe how mutations occur during protein synthesis tells you that you need help with mutations during protein synthesis. Its very specific. In-class assessments chosen by the teacher: You will be assessed on one or two learning objectives every two weeks on Thursday or Friday and the topics will be chosen by the teacher. One objective will most likely be the most current topic being covered (as long as weve practiced it enough) and the second a REassessment of a topic from the semester. Reassessment? Yes, you will have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate what you have learned, but you might also demonstrate that you have forgotten. If that happens your score on a particular learning objective will fall. One of the goals of this class is to learn to remember, so you cannot expect to cram for a particular assessment, forget everything, and then expect a lasting high grade. Remember, your grade in this class reflects what you learn. If you forget what you learn your grade reflects that too.

You will have the opportunity each week to apply for a reassessment to show off improved skills of your choosing. To qualify you will need to do the following: 1. Record mistakes from old assessments (you will do this every two weeks as a required class assignment). 2. Do extra practice on the objective (in ADDITION to recording your mistakes). 3. Apply for the reassessment by filling out the form found in your Schoology Materials for this course youll see where this is in a couple days heres a peak: http://goo.gl/54A3A Extra practice can include tutoring, marking up your notes, re-writing or re-drawing notes, identifying on your old mistakes where you looked to relearn that material, and more. Ask me if you need help. You can reassess up to two objectives each week. IMPORTANT: you must fill out this application by 6pm on Sunday night so I have time to put an assessment together for you. These reassessments are not extra credit. Instead, they will replace your previous grade on an objective and your score can go up or down, depending on your current understanding. These reassessments will take place Tuesdays right after school. If you have a very good reason for not being able to come on Tuesdays we can work it out. You will need to email me, message me on Schoology, or ask me during an appropriate time during class. You will have (almost) all semester to reassess whatever you want as many times as you want. Reassessments will have to end around the first week of December. The date will be posted far in advance.

(chosen by you)

These are behavior expectations that we will go over in more detail in a few days:

BEHAVIORAL HIERARCHY

Levels of Development
Democracy/Dedication Highest level of development. The expected level of behavior. Develops self-discipline. Demonstrated initiative. Does good because it's the right thing to do. Demonstrates responsibility because it is essential for democracy. Cooperation/Conformity Appropriate and acceptable level of behavior. Considerate. Complies. Conforms to peer pressure. Motivation is external - comes from someone else, like the teacher, parents, or classmates.

Motivation is internal - comes from yourself Bossing/Bullying Anarchy Neither appropriate nor acceptable level of classroom behavior. Bothers others. Bullies others. Breaks laws and makes own rules and standards. Must be bossed to behave. Lowest level of behavior. Absence of order. Aimless and chaotic Absence of recognizing others

Key things to understand for this semester:

iPads & ELECTRONICS

iPads. We will be using iPads in this class as a learning tool. We will use them quite a bit, but not every single day. Texting during class is never okay. I can usually tell if you are just checking the time or just glancing out of habit (it happens and I understand). But if I think youre texting I will take your phone, sometimes without a warning. It will be up to me. If you dont want it to be up to me, keep it out of sight. You are in control of that. Dont give that control to me. School headphone policy. Youre not allowed to have headphones visible anywhere on campus. Its the same as the schools hat policy: if a teacher sees it, he or she can take. I will take your headphones if I see them. Headphone use with the iPads. Sometimes you will do an activity with the iPads that requires sound and I will provide you with headphones so you dont have to worry about getting yours taken away. I will allow you to use your own headphones, but they can only be allowed to be plugged in to the iPad for the specific activity, then they are to be put away. Thats a privilege that I will allow for now, but will take away if its being taken advantage of.

Misc. Information

Required materials
Pencils (pens will not be the best for this class because I encourage mistakes and we will draw a lot). Binder large enough to store notes for the entire year. Much of the content in this course builds upon previous learning, so students will want to keep all their materials. Note because we will be using iPads in class, we will eventually experiment with taking notes on the iPads and storing all notes online. I hope to begin that in the second semester. But please plan on taking notes on paper for the time being. SSR book. The book can be fiction or non-fiction, but magazines are not allowed. I will allow Kindles and other eReaders, but no reading on smart phones.

What you will learn

Semester 1 Nature of science (scientific method and process). Chemistry of life and cells (molecules you get from food and the parts of the cells). Biochemistry (The chemistry that powers life, like photosynthesis and cell metabolism. Metabolism is how your body turns the food you eat into, well, you!). Genetics (how traits like hair color, eye color, flower color, etc. are passed from parents to offspring).

Semester 2 DNA and protein synthesis (DNA is the instructions for life, proteins carry out almost every imaginable job for life and literally make up the parts of an organism bacteria, humans, and everything in between and synthesis means making. So youll learn how the DNA in your cells instructs your body to build and maintain you! This will be the most difficult unit of the year, but you can do it.) Evolution and natural selection (This is how the nature of DNA, proteins, and the chemistry of genetics causes populations to respond to their environment and change over time. Given enough time billions of years they will change A LOT!) Ecology (how living things interact with each other and their environment food webs, energy flow, etc.).

What youll also come away with Technology use and digital citizenship (using technology appropriately for learning and as a professional, protecting the privacy of yourself and others, demonstrating your learning, etc.). Perseverance (This is trying multiple times to demonstrate learning, even though it might be difficult you will see that I have set up my class to encourage many attempts and have made it easy, I hope, to get help and show improvement.) Knowledge of how to learn (the most important skill you could ever develop and something youll get better at over your entire life, if you choose to do so). How to monitor your own behavior and think about outcomes before you act.

Questions for you to answer, present to your parents/guardians, and return with signatures.
First Page 1. Read the lines under each persons photo. What surprised you the most out of all of these?

2. Look over the first page again. If you could ask Mr. Davis one question about it, what would it be?

3. If you could teach the class for a day what would you do as the teacher?

a. What would the students learn?

Grades 4. From the bullet points, what stands out to you the most or what question do you have?

Assessments 5. What are the two types of assessments well have for this class?

6. What will your scores look like?

7. What are the scores that would be considered poor?

8. When will in-class assessments take place and how many will there be? 9. What score goes in the grade book when you reassess your best score or most recent score?

a. Explain why this is.

Out-of-class Assessments 10. What are the steps for applying to reassess?

11. When does this need to be done by?

12. When will the reassessments take place?

13. How many times can you reassess?

14. When will reassessing be over?

Behavioral Hierarchy There will be a separate lesson for how this will work, but answer these today 15. What are the levels of development for behavior? (Just list the titles of the levels)

16. What are the two acceptable levels of behavior?

17. What are the two unacceptable levels of behavior? 18. Theres really only one real difference between levels D and C. What do you think it is? (You may want to discuss this one with your neighbor).

iPads & Electronics

19. Are you allowed to text in class?

20. Are music, headphones, and YouTube videos that are not part of the lesson okay in class?

21. What can happen if you are texting or using your headphones for something other than a class activity?

Other class procedures that you will be expected to know and follow (to be discussed in class more during the first couple weeks of school): 1. Only plain water is allowed in class. No food of any kind is allowed. I follow this procedure too by not drinking coffee in front of you even though I really, really want to. 2. Class starts when the bell rings. You will be expected to follow instructions on the board for the first activity when the bell rings, not minutes after. 3. Wandering farther than your group or row during activities is too far. 4. Pencils are the best in this class because we will draw a lot. 5. You need to have your notebooks and pencils each day obviously. 6. Always ask to leave the room (not during notes, class discussions, content videos, etc.). Write your name, destination, and time on the whiteboard. 7. SSR is for reading, not sleeping, staring at the wall, or doing homework for another class (unless its about the book youre reading). The only exception is making up notes from being absent from this class. 8. Make-up, mirrors, lotions, body spray (boys and girls) are not allowed during class. The only exception is chapstick.

Signatures Parents/guardians: please make sure your student has completed each of these questions and review the syllabus before signing. Please leave your contact information here and ask me any questions you have at this time. Thanks, and I look forward to meeting you during Meet the Teacher Night, Thursday August 16 at 5-7pm.

Student name (printed): Student signature: Parent/guardian name (printed): Parent/guardian signature:

_____________________________ Date of signatures: _____________________________

______________

_____________________________ Relationship to student: ______________ _____________________________