General Information

Helpful Links:

Instagrok!  - a search engine that helps organize your thoughts, shows relationships between concepts, offers quizzes and so much more!

Study Skills Handouts 

The Experimental Method, from Colby College

General Lab Report Rubric

Biology Glossary 

Lab Bench

Make your own crossword puzzle 

Various Flash Animations

Syllabus Information

Academic Honesty In Science

Science is, by definition, a collaborative endeavor.  Therefore, many of the assignments you hand in will be the products of working with other students.  This is especially true of homework and lab reports.  However, all work you hand in must be produced individually and represent your own personal comprehension.  Simply rewording or paraphrasing another person's work is the same as copying verbatim.  The science department will consider such work to be plagiarized.

Quizzes, tests, and final exams:  Your signature on the test or exam certifies that you have neither given nor received aid for such assignments.  This is true for in-class, take-home, and electronic quizzes and tests.

Lab reports:  By putting your name on the lab report, you agree to the following statement.  “I certify that the work that I have submitted in this lab report is entirely my own.  While my lab group and I worked together to collect the data and may have discussed what conclusions could be drawn, I produced all of the work included here.  All graphs, tables, and written explanations that were produced outside the lab were done on my own.  I have provided a reference for any ideas or information that I got from another source.”

Homework: When your teachers collect homework, they expect that the work on the paper is your own and represents your own comprehension.  While it is acceptable to ask questions of another student for a homework assignment, simply copying another student's work is not only a waste of time, but is also plagiarism.

Research papers:   Research papers require that you seek information from outside sources.  You must cite your sources by using either footnotes or some other acceptable “references cited” method.  Do not make the mistake of citing only direct quotes.  You must cite references for information obtained from other sources even if you paraphrase or reword the information.

Extra Help: I am available for consultation on Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as by appointment.  If you give yourself a one or a zero score for your daily assessment, you must come to consultation. 

Grading: The fall semester is pass / fail, instead of seeing a grade ( B+, 8.5/10 etc) you will see three categories: meets expectations (ME), needs improvement (NI), falls serious short of expectations (FS).  You will be expected to continually reflect on your performance throughout the term.

Homework: Homework will be incorporated into the following day’s class.  A late assignment defeats the purpose of completing it.  Therefore, late homework will not be accepted and will be graded as a zero. 

Make-up Work: You are responsible for obtaining missed assignments. If you know in advance you will be missing class for co-curriculars, an appointment etc. you should notify me in advance.

Late Work Policy: As previously stated, late homework is not accepted.  Late projects will be accepted up to three calendar days after the due date, with a loss in credit.  After the third day the project will no longer be accepted. 

Extensions: Extensions will not be given except in the event of extenuating circumstances, so plan your time wisely.

Attendance:  Attendance is mandatory at all class meetings.  Additionally, if you are 10 minutes late to class you will receive a absence.

Class participation: In order to make the most progress in this class you will need to participate actively.  Participating in class not only means sharing your ideas but also coming prepared and on time. 

Notebook: Must be a binder that contains a table of contents.  All pages must be numbered.