MONTBELLO HIGH SCHOOL
BIOLOGY SYLLABUS 2007-2008
INSTRUCTOR: Mr. Bartley – Room 118
Credits per semester: 5
TEXTBOOK: BSCS Biology – A Human Approach, 3rd Edition
This curriculum is a standards-based introductory program for
students of all abilities. The thematic approach encourages depth
of coverage rather than breadth and, with its emphasis on humans,
the text presents biology in a context that will be relevant to
students’ lifelong learning.
Course Description: The six unifying principles (organized into units) that will be taught during this course are: Evolution; Homeostasis; Energy, Matter, and Organization; Continuity; Development; and Ecology. Students will be exploring these topics through the “5E” instructional model: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. This instructional model allows students and teachers to experience common activities, to use and build on prior knowledge and experience, to construct meaning, and to access their understanding of a concept continually. Cooperative and collaborative learning are used as strategies to decrease students’ dependence on the teacher as the sole repository of information and to increase their responsibility for their own learning. Students will keep a journal throughout the course as a key piece of developing conceptual continuity.
Materials Needed: textbook, journal, writing utensils, colored pencils (recommended)
Grading Policy: Grades will be based on a point system. No grades are weighted. The percentage grade will be determined by dividing the total points earned by the student by the total points possible. The student should keep all of his or her graded work as a record in case of any discrepancy concerning their grade. Assessments will consist of participation (cooperative learning), journal checks, lab reports, activities, projects, quizzes, unit tests and the mid-term and final exams. Both students and parents are encouraged to use their online access portal to “Infinite Campus” (IC) on a regular basis to check the status of the student’s progress in the course and their current grade. Grades are updated every one to two weeks. Progress reports are issued every week during fifth period, usually on Fridays. The following breakdown of percentages will be used to calculate the letter grade:
Expectations: Students are expected to be on time, prepared for class, and willing to participate every day. Students who miss class due to an excused absence or unexcused are to have all make-up work completed and turned in by the due date given to them by the instructor. Generally, students will be given two days for every excused day of absence. It is the student’s responsibility to find out what work was missed and to schedule time to make-up the work with the instructor. The classroom environment is based on respect: respect for yourself, for your fellow classmates, for the teacher, and for the learning materials. Education is a privilege and a gift. Therefore, students are expected to take advantage of this opportunity towards developing as intelligent, dedicated and well-rounded individuals.
Classroom procedures and policies: Students are to be responsible for their own learning! Students should follow the following procedures every day of class unless otherwise instructed by the teacher:
1. Sign in. (Sign name on attendance sheet)
2. Get their science journal out (folder and/or notebook).
3. Write down the date, agenda, and objectives for the day.
4. Complete Bellwork.
5. Wait for further instructions.
- All work and notes are to be kept in the journal and folder unless otherwise instructed by the teacher!!!
- Three late arrivals to class (tardies) is equivalent to one absence!!!
- Participation points are earned by demonstrating respectful and mature behavior while actively participating in all classroom discussions and activities. Points are lost when students do the opposite.
How do I find out what I missed in class due to an absence or tardy?
- The student will either come see the teacher, go to a fellow classmate, or go online to the instructor’s school webpage to find all missing work.
Course focus: This course is rigorous in its nature and uses an inquiry based approach to learning science. This means that students are constantly making inquiries (formulating questions) that are relevant to their lives. These inquiries are followed by the collection of data through readings, videos, lectures, activities and experiments. After the collection of data, students then interpret, discuss, and analyze this data to formulate their own opinions and beliefs about the world they live in. Students are expected to be able to support their conclusions with sound scientific evidence. In addition to inquiry, this course focuses on the following skill sets:
- Reading Comprehension
- Cooperative Learning
- Critical Thinking
- The Scientific Method
- Experimental Design
- Creation, Interpretation and Analysis of Data presented visually through Tables, Charts, and Graphs.
Additional focuses and concerns for ELLs (English Language Learners):
- Increasing Vocabulary.
- Improved written expression: Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation, Development of main ideas and supporting details, Summaries, and Note-Taking.
- Increasing Cultural Literacy.
- Increasing Scientific Literacy.
- Increasing Mathematical Literacy.
Important Web Links:
- Colorado Model Content Standards for Science: http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/documents/standards/sci.htm
- Instructor’s school webpage: http://montbelloteachers.dpsk12.org/stories/storyReader$2417
- BSCS “A Human Approach” http://www.bscs.org/curriculumdevelopment/highschool/comprehensive/human/
Colorado Board of Education Science Standards addressed throughout the Course
Standard 1: Students understand the processes of scientific investigation and design, conduct, communicate about, and evaluate such investigations.
Standard 2.2: Students know that energy appears in different forms, and can move (be transferred) and change (be transformed).
Standard 3.1: Students know and understand the characteristics of living things, the diversity of life, and how living things interact with each other and the environment.
Standard 3.2: Students know and understand interrelationships of matter and energy in living systems.
Standard 3.3: Students know and understand how the human body functions in health and in disease, factors that influence its structures and functions, and how these compare with those of other organisms.
Standard 3.4: Students know and understand how organisms change over time in terms of biological evolution and genetics.
Standard 5: Students know and understand interrelationships among science, technology, and human activity and how they can affect the world.
Standard 6: Students understand that science involves a particular way of knowing and understand common connections among the scientific disciplines.
BSCS BIOLOGY “BIG IDEAS”
UNIT 1 – EVOLUTION: “Patterns and Products of Change in Living Systems”
1) What does it mean to be human?
2) How are humans both like and different from other living things?
3) How did the diversity and unity of life on Earth come to be how it is today?
UNIT 2 – HOMEOSTASIS: “Maintaining Dynamic Equilibrium in Living Systems”
1) How do living things maintain a controlled internal environment?
2) How do health and disease affect the balance of living things?
UNIT 3 – ENERGY, MATTER, and ORGANIZATION: “Relationships in Living Systems”
1) Performance and Fitness
2) The cellular basis of activity
3) How do matter and energy cycle and flow through communities?
UNIT 4 – CONTINUITY: “Reproduction and Inheritance in Living Systems”
1) Reproduction in humans and other organisms
2) Rules of Inheritance
3) Genes/DNA
UNIT 5 – DEVELOPMENT: “Growth and Differentiation in Living Systems”
1) Processes and Patterns of Development
2) The Human Life Span
UNIT 6 – ECOLOGY: “Interaction and Interdependence in Living Systems”
1) Interdependence among organisms in the biosphere
2) Decision making in a complex world