• Gateway STEM High School

    Learners Today, Leaders Tomorrow!

    Biology

    COURSE SYLLABUS

    2025-2026

    INSTRUCTOR: Jennifer Rice                                   PLANNING PERIODS: 4th period, 7th period, 8th period

    E-Mail:jennifer.rice@slps.org                                 Room: 312W

    COURSE FRAMEWORK:

    Welcome to Biology at Gateway STEM High School! I am Mrs. Rice, and I am very excited to engage my students in biology – the study of life! The general biology framework has undergone some changes this year. SLPS will be using an entirely new curriculum where content is taught through a series of storylines rather than the traditional Unit/Chapter format. Student activities will primarily consist of investigations, discussions and other student-centered learning. In order to get the most of this course students will need to be active participants and engaged daily during lessons.

     

    LEARNING OUTCOMES:

    By the end of the course, Biology Students will be able to:

     

    • Ask questions (science) to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.
    • Use and develop a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms, the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms, that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy, to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
    • Analyze and interpret data
    • Plan and carry out investigations to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis
    • Use mathematical and computational thinking to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales, to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population, to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales, to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
    • Construct explanations (science) based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins, which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells, for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules, that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment, for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
    • Design solutions (engineering) for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity and to mitigate adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.
    • Engage in an argument from evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors, that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species
    • Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how common ancestry and bio evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.

     

     

    COURSE OUTLINE:

    First Semester

    • Unit 1
      • How do ecosystems work, and how can understanding them help us protect them?
    • Unit 2
      • What causes fires in ecosystems to burn, and how should we manage them?
    • Unit 3
      • Who gets cancer and why? What can we do about it?

    Second Semester

    • Unit 4
      • How does urbanization affect nonhuman populations, and how can we minimize harmful effects?
    • Unit 5
      • What will happen to Arctic bear populations as their environment changes?

     

    REQUIRED MATERIALS:

    • School Laptop (you MUST have your laptop every day)
    • Plastic folder
    • Notebook
    • Pencil

     

    STUDENT EXPECTATIONS:

     

    1. Be in your assigned seat, ready to work when class begins.

    2. Come to class prepared to learn with a charged laptop, paper, and a writing utensil.

    3. Use positive language at all times (i.e. no put downs).

    4. Cell phones are only permitted when given permission by the teacher.

    5. Take charge of your learning and ask for help when you need it!

    6. No eating in class.

     

    TEACHER EXPECTATIONS:

     

    1. Provide a rigorous and standards based curriculum.

    2. Provide a safe, positive & healthy learning environment.

    3. Communicate with parents about student progress.

    4. Correct and return work in a timely manner.

    5. Always be fair, logical, and empathetic.

     

    CONSEQUENCES

    • Verbal Warning
    • Written Warning
    • Loss of Participation Points
    • Phone Call Home to Parents/Guardians
    • Referral

    GRADING POLICY/SCALE:

    Assignments                                 Descriptions                                                     Value

    Formative           homework, lab activities, quizzes, participation, lab reports        =   40%

    Summative         exams, final exams and projects                                                    =   60%

                                                                                                              TOTAL = 100%

     

    Semester Grade Policy:          

    Grading Policy:  Students will follow the grading scale issued by the district which is as follows:

    Grade                                          Grading Scale

    A                                                       100 – 90

    B                                                        89 – 80

    C                                                        79 – 70

    D                                                        69 – 60

    F                                                         59 and below

     

     

    ACADEMIC INTEGRITY/ PLAGIARISM:

    Students must complete and turn in their own work. Plagiarizing and other forms of cheating will not be tolerated and will be reported to both parents and administration.