NHS Course Syllabus:

ADVANCED PLACEMENT BIOLOGY

COURSE OUTLINE

Teacher name: Diane Provenzano

provenzano@norwellschools.org

The mission statement of Norwell High School is to provide an engaging, supportive environment where students strive for excellence, practice respect and contribute to society.

Integrity. Learning. Respect. Responsibility

Course: Advanced Placement Biology

Student work will focus on the following NHS student expectations for learning:

§ Problem solving

§ Being effective readers, writers, and speakers of science concepts

§ Being effective listeners in group work, and in individual instruction

Course expectations:

The AP Biology course is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory biology course usually taken by biology majors during their first year. The two main goals of AP Biology are to help students develop a conceptual framework fro modern biology and to help students gain an appreciation of science as a process. The ongoing information explosion in biology makes these goals even more challenging. The primary emphases and expectations are the following: developing an understanding of concepts while establishing a firm foundation of factual information; personal experience in scientific inquiry; recognition of unifying themes that integrate the major topics in biology; and the application of knowledge and critical thinking to environmental and social concerns. (College Board, 2002)

Attendance is of the utmost importance. The quantity and depth of material, particularly lab material, covered in each class is not often possible to replicate. Therefore, attendance is critical to a student’s success in the course.

Every student is required to take the Advanced Placement Exam given each May.

Course skills/ concepts:

Skills:

Make observations, raise questions, and formulate hypotheses. Design and conduct scientific investigations. Analyze and interpret results of scientific investigations. Communicate and apply the results of scientific investigations. Use all laboratory equipment appropriately and effectively for all 12 AP biology lab investigations.

Concepts: There are 8 major concepts or themes that unify the study of biology. They are the following:

Science as a process Energy Transfer

Evolution Continuity and Change

Relationship of Structure to Function Regulation

Interdependence in Nature Science, Technology, and Society

Major units:

I. Molecules and Cells 25%

II. Heredity and Evolution 25%

III. Organisms and Populations 50%

Text and requirements/ materials:

Campbell and Reece Biology 7th^h edition. Pearson – Benjamin Cummings, 2005, SanFrancisco, CA.

colored pencils for lab work

5 subject spiral notebook, folder, and writing implement

Homework policy/ major projects:

Homework is a significant part of the course. It will be assigned nightly and requires approximately an hour’s worth of work.

§ Homework is due the following day for credit.

No credit will be given for homework that is incomplete, undone, or not present at the time of class.
Every student is required to take the Advanced Placement Exam given each May.

Grading system:

Grades are calculated on a point system. Small assignments are worth a small number of points, larger and more in depth assignments are worth a larger number of points. Students are required to keep track of all their grades for each quarter in the back of their science notebook. This method allows students to know their average at any time during the quarter.

Diane Provenzano

Science Department

ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY

COURSE OUTLINE

Teacher name Diane Provenzano

Email address provenzano@norwellschools.org

The mission statement of Norwell High School is to provide an engaging, supportive environment where students strive for excellence, practice respect and contribute to society.

Integrity. Learning. Respect. Responsibility

Course: Anatomy and Physiology Honors

Student work will focus on the following NHS student expectations for learning:

Problem solving

Being effective readers, writers, and speakers of science concepts

Being effective listeners in group work, and in individual instruction

Being effective participants in laboratory work

Course expectations:

Anatomy and physiology is a full year, upper level science course. Students taking the course need to have successfully completed one year of biology. The course is designed to explore all the major human body systems and their integration. The volume of material is considerable and requires nightly reading and study. Dissection is an integral component of the course. All students are required to participate in the dissection labs. All students will be expected to have a solid understanding of the processes of the human body in order to allow them to make informed decisions related to personal, community and global health issues. Each student is expected to perform class and laboratory work with a high level of maturity.

In order to achieve the course expectations every student is expected to show respect for self, others and property, to bring his/her textbook, notebook, folder, and writing implement to class every day, and to follow all safety rules when working in the laboratory.

Consistent attendance is expected and is necessary in order to be highly successful in the course.

Course skills/concepts:

Science skills:

Make observations, raise questions, and formulate hypotheses.
Perform dissection on preserved specimens
Learn the proper use and the tools of dissection
Analyze and interpret results of scientific investigations.
Communicate and apply the results of scientific investigations.
Evaluate case studies

Major units:

Medical language-Basic Chemistry-Cells and Tissues-Body Systems: skin, skeletal, muscle, nervous, endocrine, blood, cardiovascular, immune, respiratory, digestive, urinary, reproductive

Text : Marieb, Elaine N. Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology 8^th ed., Pearson Education, Inc. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA 2006

Requirements/ materials:

§ a set of colored pencils for lab work

§ 3 subject notebook, folder, and writing implement

Homework policy

§ Homework is a routine part of the course. It will be assigned nightly.

§ Homework is due the following day for credit.

§ No credit will be given for homework that is incomplete, undone, or not present at the time of class.

Grading system: Grades are calculated on a point system. Small assignments are worth a small number of points, larger and more in depth assignments are worth a larger number of points. Students are required to keep track of all their grades for each quarter in the back of their science notebook. This method allows students to know their average at any time during the quarter.

Mrs. Diane Provenzano – Science Department