Biology

Methods

Class Meetings: Two per week

You get to chat sessions by logging into the Moodle, clicking on the course name, and looking for the chat associated with the day's date. Each session has its own link, which will become a link to the log once that chat session is over.

During the each chat session, we will discuss the material in Biology: Concepts and Connections by Neil Campbell et. al and its study guide. This text comes with a CD-ROM set of interactive quizzes and animations which are an excellent supplement to the text. We may use some of the Companion Website materials, and will take Web Tours of other sites with useful graphics and simulations.

You may raise questions about the material from the text, the web readings, the study guide, the CD-ROM, your homework, your labs, or (if we have time) issues in the media which have a biology connection, such as cloning, the discovery of fossils, and the possibility that Earth's water came from comet impacts. At least one evening session will be devoted to the controversy between Creation Science and Evolution. During spring semester, you will be asked to host part of one evening session, which will require you to prepare material and questions for the rest of the class to discuss.

I realize that occasionally you may need to miss our online chat sessions, because of illness or family emergencies, and occasionally because of planned activities. You must have a parent notify me of your absence and the reason, either by email or Moodle Message, if at all possible before the session starts. You are still responsible for posting all homework assignments to the class forums, and for mastering the materials covered in class by reviewing logs of any class sessions you have missed.

Readings

All reading assignments for the semester will be posted in the course calendar at the beginning of the course. Reading assignments include material from the textbook, my online lectures, and on occasion, readings from publically available websites that cover current material. You will be sent the class password to this site during the week prior to the start of classes in September; it will different from the password that you use to access the Moodle, as the two sites are independent. You are expected to read the assigned textbook and web materials before attending the chat session.

Homework

Homework assignments for the next session will be posted by the end of the current discussion session. You should check the web page right after class for the assignment, if you have not already done found it.

Ideally, you should do all the review questions in the text and all the exercises in the student guide and correct them yourself (answers are in the back of each text), or have a parent do it. In practice, you should chose those exercises which you find help you the most, and do them first, completing the rest if you can. These exercises expose you to different ways of learning and using the concepts from the text and in class lectures. Do not simply look up the correct answers in the back of the book! Working through the exercises will require you to think carefully about the details behind the major concepts, which will help you learn and retain them much better than simply memorizing the answers to a specific set of questions. The weekly homework assignments direct your attention to those exercises I think are most interesting, and we will discuss these in class. I will ask each of you to write short answers on specific text, study guide, or CD-ROM exercises, and post these to the class forum to facilitate our discussions.

Otherwise, I generally do not require that you turn in the rest of the text review questions or study guide work to me, since you or your parents can check it yourselves by referring to the answers in the back of the book. Because I'm not checking your work off on a spreadsheet, you may be tempted to skip doing the text and study guide exercises from time to time.

Don't.

Most of the quiz and exam questions I use to evaluate your work will be based on these exercises. The more you do, the more thoroughly you drill yourself and review questions you missed, the better prepared you will be. If you plan to take the SAT II or AP Biology examinations, dedicated and steady preparation throughout the year is essential. If you do not have the time to do all the exercises, select the ones you find most useful, and discipline yourself to get them done.

Labs

Labs are optional; see the labs page for more information.

Quizzes and Exams

One part of the student guide assignment each week is to take the multiple choice questions in Testing Your Knowledge and Applying Your Knowledge as a formal exam (closed book). Check your answers in the back of the book and review any material where you missed the answers. I suggest that you do this after you have finished the readings and most of the study guide exercises.

After we discuss the material in class, you will have one week to take the CD-ROM quiz as a formal, closed-book examination. Your parents should keep track of the scores as number correct/number of questions on quiz (they vary), for example, 28/29.

I will require that you take my online quizzes by the deadlines posted with the quiz. Generally this will be within two week after we complete the material covered by the quiz although it may vary to accommodate holidays. You will need to complete 90% of the quizzes before you will be allowed to take the semester final.

Why so many quizzes?

There is a "pre-chapter quiz" on the CD-ROM. It is useful to take these before you read the chapter so that you can identify and focus on those areas where the material is new, or where you know that you are confused about some aspects of it.

You should read through the study guide multiple choice quizzes to help you prepare for CD-ROM quizzes. This is a check to determine whether you know the material as well as you think you do. Learning to test yourself is an important educational skill. It helps you determine the areas where you are weak.

You take the CD-ROM quiz, which is self-scoring to assess your understanding of the chapter topics before we move on. Good scores on the CD-ROM quiz mean you are getting the material in the text and are passing the course at the high school level, assuming that you retain the material long enough to pass the final!

The student guide and CD-ROM quizzes are, however, closely tied to the presentation methods of this particular text. My online quizzes contain questions similar to those on the SAT II and AP Biology examinations, and though based on the same material, may use different phrasing or ask you to consider different applications from those in the text. Scores on the online quizzes will help you determine how well prepared you are for the standardized tests.

Exams will be given at the end of each term. These must be taken under parental supervision and returned to the teacher by electronic or regular mail for grading. In addition, a paper copy signed by the parent must be returned by regular United States mail to the teacher, verifying that the exam was taken under the specified conditions.

Putting it all together

The Scholars Online Moodle and Biology Course Materials

The Moodle server at Scholars Online will host our chats, the forums for your class assignements, the quizzes, and the schedule for our work. Access will be limited to class members. We also have the ability to create Wiki entries (good for learning terminology), take surveys, and work on group activities. Students performing labs for the lab option, and students taking the AP option will have forums for their work in these areas. Since only members of the class will see your postings, you should feel free to use the class forum to ask questions and contact each other about class business, and to continue discussions for which we may not have time in class, but remember:

I reserve the right to pull any threads or entries which I feel are unsuitable, so keep it clean and charitable.

Goals

Just so we are all headed in the same direction....

• To learn the basic concepts of modern biology
• To learn how to think like a scientist about our everyday observations and experiences
• To understand the limits as well as the advantages of scientific methodology
• To understand how scientific models and theories compete for acceptance
• To prepare those of you planning to take SAT II or Advanced Placement Tests in Biology.

Expectations

You are expected to:

• Attend both class sessions each week.
• Observe the general rules for Chat session classroom behavior.
• Read all the assigned materials before class.
• Complete and evaluate study guide exercises on your own, and ask questions during chat sessions if you still don't understand the material.
• Turn in completed homework assignments on time.
• Treat each other with respect. Some of the topics we discuss will be controversial ones.

You may expect me to:

Cover the material in the text and answer your questions; if I don't know the answer, I will try to find out and get back to you.

Return comments on your homework at regular intervals.

Provide your parents with a quarterly statement of your progress.

Respect your opinions, when they are substantiated with some serious thought, even if I disagree with your conclusions.

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This course is offered through Scholars Online, a non-profit organization supporting classical Christian education through Internet-based courses. Permission to copy course content (lessons and labs) for personal study is granted to students currently enrolled in this course for the Academic Year 2008/2009 or Summer 2008. Reproduction for any other purpose, without the express written consent of the author, is prohibited.