Ninth Grade Biology

2015-2016
Room 100
Ms. Bergh
bergh.biology@gmail.com
Rationale

The goal of this course is to introduce ninth graders to the scientific process
in the context of the study of life. Students will learn how new scientific
information is discovered and evaluated by designing and carrying out
experiments and interpreting and communicating their results. They will
also practice applying biological concepts by finding or designing solutions
to real-world problems, from figuring out why a citys water has become
unsafe to drink to deciding if a health products claims are trustworthy.

Overview

Learning Goals
After completing this course, students will be able to describe
-How matter and energy are neither created nor destroyed, and how
they move through an ecosystem or a living thing
-How the structure of a cell or body part is related to its purpose
-How all living things are similar on a basic level, despite how different
they appear at first glance
To achieve these goals, this course will follow the Next Generation Science
Standards, and the topics covered will be organized into five overarching
units. Each unit will also include a real-world problem that will serve as the
guiding question of the unit. These are:
First Semester
1) Matter and Energy in the Ecosystem Why is the earths
climate changing?
Students will discover how different living things, including humans, get the
energy they need to survive and the raw materials they use to build and
maintain their bodies. Students will track energy and matter as it cycles
through the environment, and how humans can affect those cycles.
2) Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems How can we
feed everyone as the earths population gets bigger?
We will explore factors that limit how large a population can grow, and
students will learn about different ways living things can affect each other.

We will also continue to explore the ways we can influence the earths
ability to continue to support a growing human population.
3) Structure and Function --- What is cancer?
Students will learn about the cells the building blocks of all life. We will
explore how different types of cells in our bodies are have special structures
that allow them to carry out different functions. We will also discover the
roles of DNA and proteins in keeping our bodies healthy and organized, and
what happens when cells grow uncontrollably.
Second Semester
4) Inheritance and Variability of Traits Why do children look like
their parents?
We will discover how traits are passed from one generation to the next, and
why children appear to have traits from both of their parents but will
sometimes show a trait neither has. We will also learn were new traits can
come from.
5) Natural Selection and Evolution Why do some antibiotic
medicines no longer work?
Students will learn how life on earth originated from a single common
ancestor, and how the process of natural selection causes living things to
adapt to changing conditions over many generations and can lead to the
appearance of new species.
Scientific and Engineering Practices
Throughout the school year, students will use scientific practices to answer
questions by designing and carrying out experiments, looking for patterns
in data, and explaining their results to their classmates. In addition,
students will use apply what theyve learned by identifying problems,
designing solutions, and testing and evaluating their effectiveness.

Expectations and Rules

Beginning Class:
Students should enter the room quietly, find their assigned seat, get out
their homework assignment and place it on their desk, then immediately
start working on the days warm-up question. All electronic devices should
be put away before entering the classroom. If a student is tardy, they are
expected to sign in before quietly making their way to their seat.
Lecture/Discussion:
Students are expected to listen actively to the instructor or their classmates
and take notes. If they have a question or something to contribute, they
should raise their hand and wait to be called on.

Classwork:
Students will remain on-task, in their seats, and keep the noise level low.
When completing in-class assignments, students are encouraged to ask
their classmates for help. However, copying is unacceptable, and students
found to by copying will split the points for the assignment between them.
Students may ask the instructor for help by raising their hand.
Labs/Group Projects:
Students are expected to follow the lab safety contract they signed at the
beginning of the year, and the instructor will remove any student engaging
in unsafe behavior from the class with no chance to make up the
assignment. While groups will receive one grade for the assignments, all
students are expected to contribute and fulfill the role they were given.
Students will rate each other at the end of the project, which will contribute
to their final grade.
Cell Phone Use:
Students should check the card at the front of the classroom to see when
they are allowed to take out their cell phones or other electronic devices.
Cell phones seen at other times will be confiscated and can be picked up in
the main office at the end of the day. When cell phone use is permitted, it is
expected students will remain on task. Students caught texting, playing
games, etc. will have their device confiscated.
Ending Class:
Before leaving the classroom, students are expected to clean their area, put
away any materials, and push their stools under their desks. Students are
to wait by their stools for dismissal. Any classwork for the day must be put
in that hours bin before the class period is over.
Late Work:
Students will receive two coupons at the beginning of the semester that
they may use to turn in a late assignment during the next class period for
no penalty. Unused coupons may be redeemed for extra credit at the end of
the semester. Otherwise no late work is accepted.
Absences:
Students should check the class website for the work they missed and/or
ask their classmates for notes. Absent work will only be accepted up to the
number of days missed, and only for excused absences.
Tardiness:
After three tardies per semester, students will lose their participation points
for each day they arrive late.
Bathroom Policy:

Students will receive four bathroom passes per semester. Students are
expected to ask before leaving to go to the bathroom, and are expected to
return in a timely manner. If unused, bathroom passes can be turned in for
extra credit at the end of the semester.
Behavioral Expectations:
1) Students will respect others personal space and belongings.
2) Students will listen when the instructor and their classmates are
speaking and use respectful language.
3) Students will keep electronic devices turned off and stored out of sight
unless the card at the front of the room is flipped to show that cell
phones may be used.
4) Students will participate fully in the days activities per the
instructors directions.

Grading Procedures
Participation 10%
Homework 15%
Individual Classwork 15%
Lab Reports/Group Projects 30%
Tests/Quizzes 30%
Five participation points will be assigned daily. Students will earn
their points by actively participating in class (answering/asking
questions, participating in lab, etc.) and lose points for sleeping,
using a cell phone at an inappropriate time, tardiness, or
disrespectful behavior.
Schedule of Topics
Timeline
9/1 9/11

9/149/18

Topics

NGSS
Connections

Classroom procedures, lab safety, and

community building

What are matter and energy?

Crosscutting
concepts:
Matter and
energy

9/21
10/16

How do plants and animals get what they need

to grow? (photosynthesis and cellular
respiration)

HS-LS1-5
HS-LS1-6
HS-LS1-7

10/19
10/30

How do matter and energy cycle through an

ecosystem? How do humans affect that cycle?

HS-LS2-3
HS-LS2-4
HS-LS2-5

Can a population grow forever?

HS-LS2-1
HS-LS2-2

11/16
11/27

How are humans impacting the environment?

HS-LS2-6
HS-LS2-7

11/30
12/18

What are cells? In humans, how is a cells

structure related to its function?

HS-LS1-2

How do we grow, maintain, and repair our

bodies? What happens when cells grow out of
control? (DNA replication and mitosis; protein
synthesis)
How are traits passed from parents to children?
(heredity and genetics; meiosis)

HS-LS1-1
HS-LS1-4

3/21 4/1

How can environmental factors affect heredity?

What happens when meiosis goes wrong?

HS-LS3-2

4/3 4/29

Why are species so well adapted to their

environments? (Natural selection)

HS-LS4-3
HS-LS4-4

5/2 5/20

Where did the species we see today come

from? (Evolution and the history of life)

HS-LS4-1

11/2
11/13

1/11 2/12

2/15 3/18

HS-LS3-1
HS-LS3-2