Biology Syllabus

Mr. Nicholas Gaetano, F109

email: Nicholas.gaetano@ucps.k12.nc.us

Phone: (704) 292-7662 

County website: https://www.ucps.k12.nc.us/domain/2917 

Course Description: Biology is the study of Life. High school biology is an introduction to life science. Like any introductory course, we will cover the key areas in biology such as Biomolecules, cell, and genetics, to name a few. 

                  What to Expect:

1. Nightly review/study of the notes from class is a necessity to be successful in the course.
2. Tutoring will be available, as needed.
3. I send home progress reports to every student every three weeks. 

End-of-Course Exam: Biology is required to graduate and receive a diploma from the state of North Carolina. ALL students are expected to complete their work, study nightly(~10minutes), attend tutoring when needed, and develop strong study habits in Biology from day #1. The Biology EOC exam will count as 25% of your final grade. The remaining 75% of your grade will come from your three six-week grades.

Goals and Objectives

You can follow the links below for a detailed outline of the state standards in biology and the county pacing guide.

 NC State Standards in Biology (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)

Supply List:

• #2 Pencils & Blue/black pens
• Colored Pencils (not mandatory, but helpful)
• Large 3-Ring Binder to hold notes, worksheets, and activities(not mandatory)
• Chromebook every day

Grade Calculation:

Tests and quizzes are worth 60% of your total grade. All other work makes up the remaining 40%.

Homework: 10pts

Quizzes: 15-20pts

Projects & labs: 20-30 pts

Test: 40- 50pts

Resources: My canvas page, biology textbook & virtual book, EmpowerED Family Portal” link https://www.ucps.k12.nc.us/domain/2917 (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.), Powerschool parent portal and student portal for grades. 

Office hours: After school Tuesday & Thursday from 3-3:30. Please let me know if you need any additional help outside of school.

Late assignments:

 If a student is absent, they will have three days to make up the assignment, after the three days it will be considered late. All Late assignments will have 30 points taken off. Late assignments will not be excepted after the unit test.

Attendance:

Attendance is crucial, as success in topics is built on an understanding of previous topics! Any makeup work is your responsibility, there are too many students to keep track of missing assignments. This course has a lot of content that must be covered in a short period. If a student has excessive absences, they will fall behind very quickly.  

Rules:

• RESPECT!! Respect is an encompassing term that includes being on time, paying attention in class, the discretion of when to talk throughout the period, and treating your teacher, classmates, and yourself in a respectful manner.
• Disrespect will not be tolerated in my classroom
• NO electronic devices. If I see any electronic devices, I will collect them. We use great technology in our course, but students may only use the technology provided by the teacher.
• Follow all policies and procedures as outlined by the PRHS handbook.

Not following the rules?

1. Warning
2. Call home
3. Disciplinary Referral

Online Learning Platform: “Canvas: The majority of assignments not completed on paper must be submitted on our learning platform, Canvas. Assignments can be submitted in a variety of ways including, uploading files, typing into text boxes, and sharing Google documents/presentations. Students will be shown how to submit assignments on Canvas as needed. Individual assignments will indicate which method of submission on Canvas is expected. If students need a refresher or have questions, they can access the Canvas Student guidelines to an external site. Links to an external site. for specific instructions. It is the student's responsibility to ensure assignments are submitted on time and to contact the instructor if there is a problem. Please note that student activity is logged while in Canvas so instructors will be able to see if the student opened the assignment if there was any activity including a log of student activities during online tests and quizzes. Students are not allowed to leave the testing window during assessments. Doing so is considered cheating and will be handled as outlined in the Porter Ridge HS handbook.

NOTICE: Although many assignments are submitted and graded in our learning platform, Canvas, the "final" grades shown may not be properly weighted and do not contain assignments that were not graded in Canvas. For the student's official grades, please continue to access the parent portal through Powerschool. Login information should be the same as last year. If you need assistance accessing the parent portal, please contact the school.”

Honors Courses in North Carolina: Honors Biology Course Code 3020

Honors Biology is designed to give the student a more challenging and in-depth

experience of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study in Biology. In Honors

Biology, students are expected to work independently on a variety of assignments

and accept greater responsibility for their learning. In addition to the SCS goals and

objectives, students are expected to:

• Design and carry out several independent investigations of biological

questions.

• Read and report on recent research in biology
• Demonstrate a more in-depth conceptual understanding of all biology

objectives.

Suggested ways to develop this more in-depth understanding are embedded in

the suggested content for Honors Biology which will be available as part of the

support documents for the 2004 revision of the Standard Course of Study.

Honors biology is intended as a ninth or tenth-grade course for highly motivated

students who have demonstrated an interest in science. The Biology EOC exam is

required to receive credit for this class. Students may not take Honors Biology in

addition to standard level Standard Course of Study Biology.

1.02-1 H Design and conduct independent scientific investigations to answer

biological questions

• Perform inquiry activities that extend over time
• Relate the investigation(s) to recent research
• Use statistical techniques such as chi-square to analyze data
• Communicate findings in a formal written laboratory report
• Evaluate possible sources of error and ways to improve the

investigation(s)

• Present findings to members of the community

Rather than creating additional objectives for honors biology, the honors

guidelines committee has suggested that each existing objective be studied in

greater depth. Students should demonstrate understanding by giving more

detailed, quantitative and molecular explanations of biological phenomena and

be able in more cases to explain the key experiments and insights behind current

knowledge.