J.H. PHILLIPS ACADEMY
Written Curriculum/Syllabus
2016/2017
1ST SEMESTER
Course Title: Project Lead the Way Gateway STEM Teacher: Mrs. Fambro
Phone: (205) 231-9500 E-mail:
Planning periods: 10:10-11:05 a.m.
Design
MOTTO: An IB World School of Excellence
MISSION STATEMENT:
The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
This International Baccalaureate Primary Years/Middle Years (IB MYP) course covers the ACS/CCSR curriculum and is taught and assessed using IB methodology. The IB’s student-centered philosophy, with its focus on inquiry, action and reflection, empowers students for a lifetime of learning, both independently and in collaboration with others. An IB education centers on learners, develops effective approaches to teaching and learning, and explores significant content within global contexts.
Course Overview: Project Lead The Way Gateway STEM provides engineering, biomedical, and computer science curriculum for middle school students that challenges, inspires, and offers schools variety and flexibility. Students get rigorous and relevant experiences through activity-, project-, and problem-based learning. They use industry-leading technology to solve problems while gaining skills in communication, collaboration, critical-thinking, and creativity. The PLTW Gateway Program is organized as a cohort-based program. Groups of students admitted each year will take courses together. This course is a year long divided into two semesters: fall semester students will complete the Medical Detectives Unit and spring semester students will complete the Design and Modeling Unit.
Key Concept: Medical Detectives-Fall Semester :Students play the role of real-life medical detectives as they analyze genetic testing results to diagnose disease and study DNA evidence found at a “crime scene.” They solve medical mysteries through hands-on projects and labs, investigate how to measure and interpret vital signs, and learn how the systems of the human body work together to maintain health. The IB MYP programme provides a framework of learning that emphasizes intellectual challenge and encourages connections between studies in traditional subjects and the real world. The MYP focuses on “learning how to learn” through the systematic development of approaches to learning (ATL) skills for communication, collaboration, organization, self-management, reflection, research, informational literacy, media literacy, creative and critical thinking, and transfer of learning.
.Activities: Students will learn how to read vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. Students will research pathogens in foodborne illness and become medical detectives to treat mystery illnesses. Students will also explore how various body systems work together and how these connections help determine diagnoses. We will also explore genetics and how genetic diseases are passed through families..
Field Trip, Speaker, Lab., etc: Labs for this semester include DNA extraction lab, virus lab, and sheep brain dissection. Students will visit the McWane Science in December to participate in the lab activity “ Isn’t That a Crime?” DISCIPLINE: Life and Forensic Science: Students will analyze a crime scene, look for evidence and perform a variety of techniques used in real crime labs. Techniques include analyzing hair and fiber samples under a microscope, examining for fingerprints, blood typing and separating DNA fragments using agarose gel electrophoresis. There will also be speakers in the medical and criminal justice field.
Make up Policy: Students may make up work missed during excused absences from school. Students must make up work equivalent to the number of days absent. For example: If a student is absent for three (3) days; then he/she will three (3) days to turn in the missed assignments. This period begins the day the student returns to school and includes weekends. It is the responsibility of the student or his/her parent to arrange with the teacher for this makeup work. A teacher may require the student to make up the work outside of regular school hours. In which case, advance notice will be required to allow the student to arrange necessary transportation. Absences due to family trips are not excused. However, students will be allowed to make up the work if arrangements are made with the teacher in advance and the student has not been absent excessively. Teachers may set the guidelines for turning in this makeup work.
IB MYP Course Aims / Alabama Course of Study/CriteriaAims:
The aims of MYP design are to encourage and enable students to: / The course standards outlined below are the copyrighted property of Project Lead the Way. Teachers must participate in Project Lead the Way training in order to be able to teach this course.
enjoy the design process, and develop an appreciation of its elegance and power / It is expected that students will:
Measure vital signs including heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature.
Demonstrate the use of technology as an important tool in the Biomedical Sciences.
Explain the different ways a virus spreads through a population.
Describe the spread of a viral illness after inoculation is introduced.
Evaluate patient case files to diagnose the pathogen responsible for the patient’s mystery illness.
Describe the steps that a medical professional will take to diagnose and treat a patient.
Provide examples how medical professionals contribute to the health and wellness of individuals.
develop knowledge, understanding and skills from different disciplines to design and create solutions to problems using the design cycle / Describe how the brain collects and interprets input.
Compare and contrast the senses of hearing and sight, taste and smell and how they are collected and processed by the human body.
Identify major regions of the human brain.
Dissect a sheep’s brain, accurately identifying and describing the function of the specified structures.
Compare and contrast the brains of a human and sheep.
Evaluate patient family history as part of a medical exam and create a pedigree.
Determine the probability of a child inheriting a genetic disease.
Use appropriate laboratory methods to isolate DNA from cheek cells. (Ex)
Analyze how changes in the huntingtin gene affect the resulting protein and nerve cell function.
use and apply technology effectively as a means to access, process and communicate information, model and create solutions, and to solve problems / Know how to use patient and ambient temperature to identify the time of death.
Know how to use the time of death information to identify suspects.
List the steps of an autopsy.
Analyze a portion of an autopsy report to determine the cause of death for a murder victim.
Use DNA gel electrophoresis to compare DNA samples.
Defend identification of suspect using physical evidence including time of death, cause of death, and DNA crime scene analysis
Intercultural Understanding: MYP design challenges students to apply practical and creative-thinking skills to solve design problems; encourages students to explore the role of design in historical and contemporary contexts; and raises students’ awareness of their responsibilities when making design decisions and taking action. IB STEM/DESIGN students will collaborate with drama, art, and music on the medical detectives IB Unit. STEM students will analyze DNA from the crime scene, drama students will act out the crime scence, and band/choir students will provide music related to murder mysteries.
Assessment: Formative assessments are ongoing throughout the semester which will include quizzes, exit slips, class discussions, and observations. The summative assessment will be a Murder Mystery which consists of a murder mystery where students will explore multiple facets of a realistic case. Students will take on roles assumed by crime scene investigators, medical examiners, and pathologists in the process.
Required materials: 2 inch binder with 5-tab dividers, pencil, pen
Textbooks and Resources: Textbooks are not required for this course. Videos and PLTW course modules are the resources used in this course.
Grading/Assessment:
Assessments (Quizzes) 40%
Classwork (Performance Tasks etc.) 45%
Homework (Current Events, etc.) 15%
Parent Notification: Please check the teacher website for parent notifications. The website will be updated on a weekly basis for announcements, field trips, and homework reminders. School website: http://bcs.schoolwires.net/Domain/31 or www.bhamcityschools.org
Attendance/Tardiness: Students will sign the tardy sheet on the clipboard upon entering the classroom and give the teacher the tardy slip.
Academic Integrity: Academic honesty in the International Baccalaureate (IB) is a principle informed by the attributes of the IB learner profile. In teaching, learning and assessment, academic honesty serves to promote personal integrity and engender respect for others and the integrity of their work. Upholding academic honesty also helps to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they acquire during their studies. Academic honesty is an essential principle of the IB’s academic programmes that enhances the organization’s credibility and position as a leader in international education. As stated in the IB learner profile, all members of the IB community strive to be “principled”, acting with “integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities”.
Behavioral and Classroom Expectations:
J.H. PHILLIPS ACADEMY
Written Curriculum/Syllabus
2016/2017
1ST SEMESTER
1. Respect your teacher and peers.
2. Stay in your seat unless given permission by the teacher.
3. Raise your hand and wait to be called on when participating in class discussions.
4. No cell phones allowed in class.
Students are expected to:
1. Arrive on time to class.
2. Come to class prepared. You will not be allowed to go to your lockers.
3. Complete assignments by the due date.
Homework Policy:
1. Sixth grade students will be given three reading comprehensions assignments a semester as well as word wall vocabulary assignments.
2. Seventh and Eighth grade students will be given three current event assignments a semester. Students will find an article related to STEM and type and/or write a report.
3. Points will be deducted for late assignments 15 points off each day it is late.
We have read the course syllabus for Subject Area: ______and understand the expectations and policies.
Student Name:______Date:______
Student Signature:______
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Parent/Guardian Signature:______
Phone number: ______
Email: ______
If applicable, please include a second parent/guardian’s contact information:
Name:______
Phone number: ______
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Is there any particular information that would be helpful for me to know as we begin the year to support your student’s success this semester?
Do you have any questions or comments?