Course Syllabus

SYLLABUS:  EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Semester 2 (January - June 2021)

Ms. Stacie Makous

Email:  Stacie.Makous@ucps.k12.nc.us  /  Voicemail:  704-296-0105 x5916

 

LINK:
PARENT CONTACT
INFO FORM

LINK:
CREATE A CANVAS
"PARENT OBSERVER" ACCOUNT
(PDF download)

LINK:
MAKOUS CANVAS
"HOME PAGE"
(This link only works for my current students
and their parents who have a Canvas Observer account.)

 

Earth and Environmental Science is a one-semester course which includes three six-week grading periods and a final exam.  Due to our current Remote Learning situation, most assignments will be completed digitally on the student's Chromebook.  (Please contact our school's Help Desk if you cannot access Canvas from home or if your computer is having other technical difficulties.)

 

 

ATTENDANCE

All students must fill-out the “DAILY ATTENDANCE CHECK-IN FORM” every school day (including days that they attend school in-person).  The link to this form is on my Canvas HOME page.  Information gathered from this form is what I use when posting daily attendance to PowerSchool.  If no form has been submitted, the student will be marked “Absent” from class for that particular day. 

 

 

LIVE STREAM

Using Microsoft TEAMS, my lessons are live-streamed for students Monday through Thursday.  All students are expected to attend the live stream for their assigned class period (including Virtual Academy students).  If you cannot attend your own class period, you are welcome to attend the live stream for another period.  (I teach during Blocks 2, 3, and 4.  My 3rd block has the 1st lunch rotation, so that class does not start until 12:00 noon.)

 

 

COMMUNICATION

Considering our remote-learning format, my main methods of communication with students are via my Canvas Page and UCPS Email.  At the minimum, students are expected to check their Email and my Canvas Page daily.  Practically everything will be posted to Canvas, including day-to-day instructions, special announcements, and assignments.  Students, if I am absent (or you are absent), please check my Canvas "Today in Science Class" page for the day’s instructions.

My main method of communication with parents tends to be through email.  (However, I am happy to schedule a phone conference or Google "Meet" conference with you as needed.)  Please remember that our volume of email messages has grown significantly with this remote-learning format.  Also, please note that I am interacting with students almost constantly from 10:00am until 3:05pm; it is difficult (and sometimes impossible) to focus on email correspondence during class time.  I strive to respond to all email messages with a meaningful reply as promptly as possible.  

When appropriate, I do sometimes send parents a copy of "mass emails" that I send to all of my students (always as a "BCC" for your privacy).  Please make sure that your current email address is listed in PowerSchool as "Guardian" in your student's account.  Also, please be sure that I have all email addresses where you would like to receive my updates.  You can send your contact information to me using this Google Form:  PARENT CONTACT INFO FORM.

 

 

CURRICULUM

This course addresses each main "sphere" of Earth and how each sphere impacts/connects with the others:  ATMOSPHERE, HYDROSPHERE, LITHOSPHERE/GEOSPHERE, BIOSPHERE.  After a brief Introductory Skills unit, we begin our curriculum with the “Earth in the Universe” (Space) unit, which focuses mostly on the Earth-Sun-Moon system.  Then we continue into the “Earth Systems, Structures, and Processes” units.  Each unit is designed to cover the main NCDPI Essential Standards, which include:

  ●   Earth’s role as a body in SPACE (EEN.1.1)
  ●   Processes and forces that affect Earth’s LITHOSPHERE (EEN.2.1)
  ●   How human influences impact Earth’s LITHOSPHERE (EEN.2.2)
  ●   The structure and processes within Earth’s HYDROSPHERE (EEN.2.3)
  ●   How humans use WATER (EEN.2.4)

 

  ●   The structure and processes of Earth’s ATMOSPHERE (EEN.2.5)
  ●   Patterns of global CLIMATE CHANGE over time (EEN.2.6)
  ●   How the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere individually and collectively affect the BIOSPHERE (EEN.2.7)
  ●   Human behavior and EARTH'S ABILITY TO SUSTAIN LIFE (EEN.2.8)

  

  

GRADING PLAN

 

The final (F2) grade is calculated as the average of the four main components of this course:  The final grades for Term 4, Term 5, Term 6, and the Final Exam grade at the end of the semester.  UCPS uses the following scale for report cards:

A = 90-100

B = 80-89

C = 70-79

D = 60-69

F = 59 and below

 

I generally grade assignments and assessments with a point system.  Most assignments and quizzes are graded with a 100-point scale (as shown above).  (Quizzes might or might not be announced, so be ready each day to “show what you know!”)  Smaller assignments and quizzes are worth fewer points, as appropriate.  Unit tests and special projects are worth more (up to 200 points).  Students will be notified in advance when a test or assignment falls into this higher-point category.  All UNIT TESTS are worth 200 points.  (It will show in PowerSchool on a 100-point scale but it is weighted x2 in the term grade.)

In Canvas, Quiz scores are shown as “raw points” and are usually NOT what you will see posted to PowerSchool.  (After I grade a Canvas "Quiz" assignment, I convert the raw score into the appropriate point scale for PowerSchool -- usually a 100-point scale.)

    • Use CANVAS to see what Assignments are due to and make sure you have a raw score showing for each.  This is the best place to see if you are missing any Canvas Assignments (anything that Canvas auto-grades). 
    • Use POWERSCHOOL to see what your current Term Grade is in my class.  This is where you will see the final converted points posted for graded assignments and tests.  If I had to give you a report card grade "today," it would be whatever is currently showing in PowerSchool.*

*Please remember, the term grade average changes every time a new assignment or test is completed/posted.  A student’s overall term grade rarely stays the same week to week because there are usually newly-graded assignments being added until my final grades are due at the end of each term.  (One zero can knock the average down a whole letter grade!)  I post graded work as promptly as I can after the assignment's due date.  Assignments that include essay or short-answer responses must be graded manually and therefore take a little longer to grade and post.

 

 

LATE WORK POLICY

I expect this policy to be revised for Semester 2.  More information about late assignments will be posted soon.  (I will send an Announcement when I have confirmed and posted the latest policies.   STM, Jan 3)

Our units are fast-paced with a final Unit Test given about every two weeks.  Assignments are designed to be either instructional or reinforcement for instruction that has already occurred.  Students who wait to do an assignment "late" risk missing material that will be on a quiz or unit test.  It is in the student's best interest to do assignments soon after they are initially assigned.

 

 

REQUIRED DAILY SUPPLIES/MATERIALS

Students should bring the following with them to class each day:

      • Cloth face mask, worn according to UCPS policy
      • Charged student computer (and charger)*
      • Headphones/Earbuds*
      • Pens and Pencils (typical writing utensils)
      • Looseleaf Paper
      • There is hand sanitizer in the classroom, but you are welcome to bring your own if preferred.

*NOTE:  Students who do not bring Headphones/Earbuds to class might not be able to participate in the day's lessons.  I do not allow students to turn computer volume on during class because it disrupts the concentration of other students.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, students should NOT share supplies (unless the supplies are sanitized between uses).

 

 

EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENT CONDUCT

Basically, do your best each day to be a good person and a responsible student.  Make an effort to follow all school rules.  Show kindness and respect to others (and to yourself); we are all doing our best to find our way in the world.  Strive to practice honor, integrity, compassion, tolerance, patience.  Complete work that you are proud of with the knowledge that you did your best.  Take responsibility for your own actions.

    • We do have a dress code; please dress appropriately for our learning environment.  
    • Your personal energy is contagious.  Come to class with a smile, ready to participate, and let your positive attitude shine for others to enjoy! 
    • Celebrate our similarities; respect our differences.  Be curious.     
    • Have a sense of humor.  Remember, “Pobody’s Nerfect!”  Forgive yourself when you make a mistake; see it as a learning experience, accept the consequences with grace, reflect, and then put it behind you.  Try to forgive others for their mistakes, too.
    • Make life at school easy for yourself:  Read the STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT for UCPS and CHS and then comply with it.  It is not worth the trouble it brings if you decide to break school rules (plus it annoys the people around you).   Be cool at school. 

       

       

HONORS (H) AND COLLEGE PREP (CP) ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

At CHS, Earth and Environmental Science blends the Honors and College Prep students into the same classes.  Honors students are responsible for mastering the same curriculum goals and objectives as the College Prep students.  However, Honors students are expected perform at an advanced level in day-to-day lessons and assessments.  They can expect to have higher level extension assignments when appropriate beyond (or in addition to) the College Prep program.  The GPA is calculated differently for Honors and CP students in accordance with UCPS policy.  More information about the College Prep and Honors programs can be found in the 2020-2021 UCPS High School Handbook.