Dear Parents and/or Guardians,

I hope everyone enjoyed their summer and welcome to this new school year! I am Mrs.

Lamp and I will be guiding your children in learning about life science. This is a freshman course,

designed to engage future scientists in observation, data collection, critical thinking,

development, and revisions of various scientific ideas from individual cells to our entire planet.

This course will be adapted as we progress, with the students giving input into what and how

we learn scientific ideas. The ideas that we collectively develop will stem from the Next

Generation Science Standards for making objectives and lesson plans that holds various science

and engineering practices, biological core ideas,

and concepts that crosscut among the major life

units. Please read though the rest of this

document to find out a little bit more about

myself, what exactly biology is, an overview of the

order of units for the school year, daily routines

for our class, the rules and expectations for this

class, and finally the class policies.

Thank you and I can’t wait to see everyone soon!

Mrs. Lamp

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 Who am I?
Hello everyone! I'm Mrs. Lamp and I graduated with a degree in biology from CSU, Fullerton in
the spring of 2020, focusing specifically in marine biology. I've always loved working with youth
and having two daughters myself, I especially love teaching my girls about the interactions in
our local tidepools. Some strengths that I will bring to the classroom as your teacher are my
creativity, patience, enthusiasm, organization, problem solving, and empathy. I'm always
looking on the bring side of life, keeping a positive attitude, and I feel that science is fun,
creative, and engaging when you begin with an open mind.

What is biological science?

Biology is the study of life, derived from the Greek words' logos meaning study and bios
meaning life. It is a natural science that examines everything living from the tiniest single-celled
microorganisms to the entire planet as a biosphere. There are many occupations that utilize
knowledge in biology to perform everyday tasks, such as doctors working on their patients,
researchers studying organisms or populations or communities or species, hair dressers mixing
chemicals to apply on another person, engineers designing new systems or medicines,
veterinarians taking care of animals, and many others that are both inside and outside of the
realm of science. It is important to learn about biology because we are living organisms that
share this planet with trillions of other living organisms, and it is important to learn these
certain aspects of life to help keep other organisms safe, to understand the reasoning behind a
phenomenon, and to develop new and improved ways that can potentially benefit life for all.
Throughout this year, and if you weren't already, you will all become scientists. You will be
observing, predicting, experimenting, modeling, describing, and evaluating scientific arguments
that may be given to you or that you may get to come up with on your own. All living organisms
have some major characteristics in common that we will learn as the school year progresses,
including cellular organization, metabolism to regulate energy needs, maintenance of
homeostasis, inheritance of genetic material, physical development, reproduction, interaction
with the environment, as well as have the ability to adapt leading to evolution of the species.

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 Semester Overview
Semester 1
Unit 1: The Chemistry of Life
Unit 2: Cellular Biology

Semester 2
Unit 3: Genetics
Unit 4: Evolution
Unit 5: Ecology
Unit 6: Human Impacts to Earth

Daily Routines
At the start of each class, we will either have a few warm-up questions on material from the last lesson
in which you may discuss with your peers and each student will be called on to answer random
questions, or we will highlight a scientist/scientific breakthrough for the day. This will also be the time to
overview the activities planned for the day and for bringing up any questions or concerns you may have.

At the end of each class, we will recap the lesson objectives and how this relates to other scientific
ideas. You will be turning in an exit ticket for each class that tells me what topic or idea you
like/understand the most, what topic you dislike/don’t understand, and one good thing that happened
in your life recently (this can be as big as making a spot in band, on a sports team, showcase, etc. or
even as simple as getting to eat your favorite meal/dessert recently).

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 Class Rules and Expectations
1. Be respectful towards others as well as towards yourself
2. Arrive to class on time and prepared for the day accordingly
3. Follow the classroom lab rules on days when we conduct lab activities
4. If you have something to say, then raise your hand and wait to be called on
5. Keep your phones put away unless otherwise asked to use your devices
6. Keep your food and drinks stored away in your bags (water is an exception)
7. Ask questions often, know that mistakes are allowed, and just try to do your best
8. Remember to always look on the bright side of life : D

Class Policies
 Grading Scale:

100% A+
93-99% A
90-92% A-
87-89% B+
83-86% B
80-82% B-
77-79% C+
73-76% C
70-72% C-
65-69% D+
60-64% D
56-59% D-
55% and below F

 Percent Distribution:

Classwork 20%
Labs/Projects 40%
Quizzes/Tests 30%
Participation 10%
**some extra credit may be available in various forms throughout the school year**

 Collecting and Returning Work:

o All classwork from the past lesson should be completed and turned in at the start of
following class period. If an assignment or project has a specific due date, then it will
be written on the directions and scoring guide as well as explicitly stated during class
as the due date approaches. I will try to return things back as soon as possible, though
to be fair I will not return anything until I have graded that specific work for all my

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 classes. Classwork and quizzes will most likely be returned within the same week
whereas certain labs, projects, and tests may take over a week for grading.
 Late or Missing Work:
o Everyone will be given one time to turn in any late classwork (no projects, quizzes, or
tests) for possibly up to full credit during each semester. This means that the assignment
will still be graded as if it were due on time, but it also has to be turned in during the
same semester, it cannot be something from the first semester that you are trying to
turn in during the second semester. I will always encourage you to turn in anything that
is late as you can still receive partial credit once your freebie has been used up (and this
will depend on both the circumstance and tardiness). Students that have late or missing
work from class time when they had an excused absence or tardy will be given a week
from the due date to make things up. Whether you have an excused absence or not
though, please talk to me about what is going on and I will do what I can to help you
succeed in my class.
 Absences and Tardiness:
o Following an absence, a student is required to bring a written excuse form home when
returning to school, or the school must have received a phone call from a
parent/guardian. Illnesses, doctor, dental appointments, and the passing of an
immediate family member are all considered excused absences. Absences without a
written excuse or phone call from home are recorded as unexcused. Students are
expected to be at school on time. If a student is late, the student should bring an
excuse from home to the school office. Frequent tardiness without a valid excuse is
considered truancy under state law.
 Restroom Policy:
o Only one student may go to the restroom at a time and you must sign both in and out
on your way through the door. Please raise your hand to ask before you just get up and
go. Please wait to do this in between lectures/discussions so you do not miss any
important information.
 Disciplinary Action:
o Breaking Rules and Failure to Meet Expectations
 1st offense – you will receive a private verbal warning
 2nd offense – you will not receive participation for the day
 3rd offense – you will not receive participation for the day, you will have a lunch
detention in my room where we discuss the rule/expectation that was broken,
and your parents/guardians will receive a phone call
 4th offense – you will receive a referral to the principal and your
parents/guardians will be contacted for a parent conference
o Academic Dishonesty
 Academic dishonesty is any form of sharing work, fabricating work, plagiarizing
work, or any type of cheating in which one student takes the ideas or workings
of another and claims it to be their own. If caught doing this, you will
automatically receive a 0 on the assignment or test. This will also be noted on
your academic file and your parents/guardians will be notified. Continued acts

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of academic dishonesty could potentially result in suspension or expulsion
depending on the frequency and severity.