Grant High
School
Honors Biology Syllabus
Mr. Stephen Liddle
H. Bio Teacher Room 277
(847) 973-3751
[email protected]
CONTACT INFORMATION: I am available before and after school in room 277
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This accelerated course is designed for scientifically talented students. This course includes the
following topics: cellular processes, life functions, a survey of organisms (plants, animals, bacteria,
etc.), and a survey of the human body systems and ecology. This course will prepare students for
Advanced Placement Biology and Honors Human Anatomy and Physiology.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
The following materials are required for this course:
 (1) 2-3” 3-Ring Binder for Unit Notes & Biology Notebook
 Black or Blue Pen for Daily Class Work
 #2 Lead Pencil for Course Assessments, Lab Sketches, Graphs
 Student Planner
LEARNER OUTCOMES
Biology is divided into eight units that are presented with a clear understanding of ideas and concepts,
how these concepts work and why these concepts are important to students.
The focus of this course is to help students both develop and apply critical thinking process skills.
Process skills are those skills usually associated with gathering, recording, organizing, interpreting, and
analyzing to obtain information about the natural world. While the process skills are often claimed as
science process skills, many are used in the real world to make decisions and assess situations
throughout life.
As students use process skills, they also will use critical thinking skills and a pattern may emerge linking
these two types of skills.
The process skills that will be used in this course are: classifying, measuring, predicting, modeling,
observing, estimating, inferring, hypothesizing, collecting, and recording data and organizing and
analyzing data.
GRADE CATEGORIES
40% Major Assessments (Test and Lab Reports)
10% Quizzes
30% Laboratory (Laboratory Activities)
20% Classwork (In-Class Work, Homework, Notebook)
80% Semester Points + 20% Final Exam = Semester Final Grade (100%)
GRADING SCALE
100% – 90%
89%-80%
79%-70%
69%-60%
59%-0
A
B
C
D
F
REQUEST FOR ABSENT WORK
If you are absent from class, you must contact your teacher via the e-mail address at the top of the
syllabus to obtain the materials and assignments during your absence.
LATE WORK POLICY
Refer to student handbook regarding late work.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
All students deserve a healthy learning environment and evaluations that are based on their
honest independent efforts. A clear sense of academic honesty and responsibility is fundamental
to good scholarship and learning. You are encouraged to form study groups and to problem solve
together. The normal expectation is that the work on quizzes and exams is your own and that
homework and lab reports, while discussed with other students, is of your own creation.
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Please refer to your student handbook.
STUDENT BEHAVIOR
In addition to all Grant High School rules outlined in the Student Handbook, students are expected
to:
G – Get to class on time and prepared.
R – Respect yourself and others.
A – Actively participate.
N – Never give less than your best.
T – Take responsibility.
OTHER
Further specific course information is available on the Addendum for this class.