Course Guidelines

Name ________________

Date __________

Student Number _______

Biology: This is a high school course designed to prepare students to meet the
California Common Core state standards for life science and the national Next
Generation Science standards for life science. Main topics to be covered
include biochemistry, molecules and cells, heredity and genetics, chromosomal
and molecular basis of inheritance, gene expression, unity and diversity of
organisms, change in organisms over time, and biothechnology applications.
Conduct in Science: Students are expected to come to class prepared, to
participate in class activities, to treat everyone with respect and to use class
materials and laboratory equipment appropriately. Irresponsible behavior will
not be tolerated in the laboratory because it jeopardizes the safety of others and
it could damage laboratory equipment. Students that act irresponsibly will be
asked to leave the laboratory immediately and may not make up their work.
Disruptive classroom behavior is also not acceptable because it interferes with
other students right to learn. This includes disturbances due to electronic
devices. Consequences for this type of behavior can be found in the student
handbook under school policies and procedures.
Materials: Students are expected to bring a notebook in order to take class
notes, a supply of paper that can be removed from a notebook without damage
for homework and classwork assignments, a composition notebook for
laboratory work, a blue ball-point pen, and a pencil with an eraser to class each
day.
Assignments: Papers that are not handouts must have a heading and should be
done on undamaged paper. To earn full credit on a typical homework or
classwork assignment every problem must be seriously attempted in pencil and
corrected with a blue pen. If papers (or any work) are suspected of being
involved in cheating, it will result in loss of credit for that assignment for those
individuals involved. Late assignments are not accepted unless you have an
excused absence or have made arrangements with me in advance.
Make-Up Work: You should make every effort to be in class, especially on
laboratory days. Whenever you are absent it is your responsibility to ask for, to
correct, and to turn in all work that you have missed. The time allowance to
have work turned in is the number of days absent plus one. Students who know
of an absence in advance are to get their assignments from me before they miss
class and are to turn in their work on the day of their return. Missed quizzes are
not made up and are excluded from a students grade. However, it is
recommended that students ask for the quizzes that they missed and take them
on their own time.

Tardies: Students are expected to be in their assigned seats and ready to learn
when the bell rings. When a student is late it is disruptive to others in the class.
Therefore, students who are tardy without a satisfactory excuse will be assigned
consequences consistent with the school policy.

Substitute Policy: Substitutes are considered guests in the classroom, and as

such, it is expected that students treat them that way. If, for any reason, a
substitute tells me that a particular student was disrespectful, that student will
receive a conduct referral when I return to class.

Grading System: Your grade in this course will be based on Homework

_20__%, Classwork and Laboratory Activities _20__%, Quizzes _5__%,
Tests/Unit Assessments _40__% and a Final Exam/Assessment _15__%.
Letter grades will be awarded according to the following scale: A = 90-100%,
B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%, F = 0-59%. Pluses and minuses will be
affixed respectively to grades in the top two and bottom two point of each range.
A student whose final exam and homework score are higher than his/her
semester score will have his/her semester score raised to his/her final exam
score, but not higher than his/her homework score.

Helpful Hints:
Set a goal for yourself in this course below.

My goal is to help you be successful in this course. If you ever find that you do
not understand something in class, please dont hesitate to ask for help. I
encourage you to ask questions in class, and I am also available for extra help
outside class at brunch and lunch. I really hope we both can achieve our goals
in this course.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kudela