Welcome to IGCSE Cambridge Biology 0438
at Red Mountain High School!
Hopefully this school year will be a great time of discovery for us all!
Mrs. Jennifer Klein
Room 157
jnklein@mpsaz.org
(480)472-8064
“Most learning is not the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting.” - I. Illich
This course is part of and regulated by The University of Cambridge where excellence in education is
internationally recognized. The mission is to deliver world-class international education through the provision
of high-quality curricula, assessment, and services.
Cambridge programs and qualifications are designed to support students in becoming:
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confident in working with information and ideas – their own and those of others
responsible for themselves, responsive to and respectful of others
reflective as students, developing their ability to learn
innovative and equipped for new and future challenges
engaged intellectually and socially, ready to make a difference.
The overall goal is to balance knowledge, understanding, and skills in our programs and qualifications to
enable candidates to become effective students and to provide a solid foundation for their continuing
educational journey. As members of the Red Mountain family, we pride ourselves on our dedication to
Courage, Respect, and Influence. Students are expected to meet specific positive behavioral standards both in
and out of the classroom. These behaviors, such as being respectful and practicing academic honesty, are
what make Red Mountain such an amazing place to learn.
To give students the opportunity to become active constructors of knowledge.
Students will not only discover science concepts but also be challenged to develop their
creative and critical thinking skills.
Cambridge IGCSE Biology places considerable emphasis on understanding and use of
scientific ideas and principles in a variety of situations, including those that are wellknown to the candidate and those that are new to them. It is anticipated that programs of
Objectives
study based on this syllabus will feature a variety of learning experiences designed to
enhance the development of skill and comprehension. It will also prepare candidates for
an assessment that will, within familiar and unfamiliar contexts, test expertise,
understanding, and insight.
I.
Assessment Objectives
The three assessment objectives in Cambridge IGCSE Biology are:
A: Knowledge with understanding
B: Handling information and problem solving
C: Experimental skills and investigations
A description of each assessment objective follows.
A: Knowledge with Understanding
Candidates should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
1. scientific phenomena, facts, laws, definitions, concepts, theories
Objectives
2. scientific vocabulary, terminology, conventions (including symbols, quantities,
(continued)
and units)
3. scientific instruments and apparatus, including techniques of operation and
aspects of safety
4. scientific quantities and their determination
5. Scientific and technological applications with their social, economic, and
environmental implications.
Content covered defines the factual material that candidates may be required to recall
and explain. Candidates will also be asked questions that require them to apply this
material to unfamiliar contexts and to apply knowledge from one area of the syllabus to
knowledge of a different syllabus area.
II. Handling Information and Problem Solving
Candidates should be able, using oral, written, symbolic, graphical, and numerical forms
of presentation, to:
1. locate, select, organize, and present information from a variety of sources
2. translate information from one form to another
3. manipulate numerical and other data
4. use information to identify patterns, report trends, and draw inferences
5. present reasoned explanations of phenomena, patterns, and relationships
6. make predictions and propose hypotheses
7. solve problems, including some of a quantitative nature.
Questions testing these skills may be based on information that is unfamiliar to
candidates, requiring them to apply the principles and concepts from the syllabus to a
new situation, in a logical, reasoned, or deductive way.
Materials
EVERY DAY --- Pencils, Separate notebook, Paper, and a GOOD attitude 
Try your best everyday!
Classroom
Expectations
Treat your fellow classmates and your teacher with respect.
Think!
Do your work.
Enjoy yourself!
Conduct yourself in a well behaved manner!
 Follow all school rules outlined in Student Handbook
 Absolutely no bullying or harassing will be tolerated! RESPECT!
 Respect other people’s property.
 Be prepared for class; bring all materials to class every day!!!
 Be polite; listen and do not talk while someone else is addressing the class. Points
will be deducted from the current assignment/lab/project!
 Safety rules are enforced during lab activities. We will go over safety rules/laws in
class. Student and parent/guardian are required to sign the safety contract before a
student can participate in any lab.

Failure to follow safety rules and/or acting inappropriately during lab activities will
result in zero points earned for lab and any assignment attached to the lab.
Classroom
Inappropriate behavior includes but not limited to:
Policies
* Misuse of lab equipment or materials
* Horseplay during lab, or while other groups are performing a lab
* Walking around the room when it is not necessary to do so (part of the lab)
* Intentionally distracting others and/or keeping them from completing work
* Please be aware, in some cases it is necessary on the part of me, the teacher,
to make a judgment call regarding what is considered inappropriate behavior.

Students are responsible for keeping materials clean and in working condition.
Upon the completion of a lab or at the end of class if a student leaves our classroom,
before cleaning and returning all lab materials back to their proper place and/or leaves
their lab table/station not clean and/or materials not returned or not arranged properly,
participation points will be deducted from the current lab(approx. 20%).

The use of electronic devices: cell phones, iPods, laptops, and iPads can be used
but are limited to the current assignment or project, if it is feasible. If I see it being
used for ANYTHING else, I will confiscate it.
Students are expected to review notes, concepts, and key terms on a daily basis; this
Homework
assignment is understood and not necessarily given verbally daily.
Additional homework will be assigned every night over material/labs completed in
class. Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period! Yes two minutes after
the bell is considered late! Many assignments/portion of assignment we will be going
over in class! These assignments will be accepted at -30%.
Students may turn in work late for the current 9-week grading quarter with a 30%
reduction in point value.
Late Work
Major lab reports/write-ups and projects can be turned in late with the sliding
penalty: 10% deduction for 1 day late, 20% deduction for 2 days, 30% for 3 days. Time
restrictions are the same here, only work from the current 9-week grading quarter can be
turned in for credit.
 Once a week there will be a quiz. Quizzes are based on homework and notes. No
prior notice is given for quizzes.
Quizzes,
Tests, and
Final Exams
 There will be a test at the end of each unit, total of 4 or 5 tests per semester.
 Each semester concludes with a final exam that is worth 20% of your total final
semester grade.
If a student earned a grade below 70% on a test he/she can earn opportunity to retake a
Test
test, tests only, no quizzes! Upon retaking the test the student can earn a maximum score
Re-takes
of 70%. Only 1 test can be re-taken per semester. To earn this opportunity the student
must attend lunch tutoring twice, for 30 minutes, before they can complete the re-take.
After an absence, it is the student’s responsibility to:
*find out what was missed *obtain any materials or information missed
*students have 2 days for each day absent to turn in work for full credit.
A binder on a specified table in class contains a calendar of work completed and a
Make-up
Work
sample of any handouts/labs distributed that day. Copies of all handouts are located in
the filing system on that same table for a student to retrieve their copy.
If missing work was not obtained by the student and/or discussed with instructor and
as a consequence not turned in within the allowable days the assignment will then follow
late work policy and the student will only be able to earn up to 70% credit and again must
be turned in during the current 9-week grading quarter to earn any credit.
If a student is absent on a day when we have a test or a quiz it is expected that the
quiz/test will be made up on the day of their return to school. Class time will not be
used to make-up quizzes and tests. Your lunch hour or after school is the time allotted to
complete make up work! I understand that sometimes in specific cases this might be
Make-up
Work
(continued)
difficult. In those special situations students must still schedule a time on the day they
return; the scheduled date to complete the make-up quiz or test must occur within a few
days. If a student does not make up quiz/test upon return, no scheduling occurs, or
make-up does not occur within the allotted time, the score will be recorded as missing
and will be calculated as a zero for the quiz or test until the student makes up the
quiz/test but it will follow late work policy and students will only be able to earn up to
70% credit.
**
Be prompt to class and ready to begin -- in your seat, not talking, and ready to work
when the bell rings, otherwise you will be marked tardy! Plan your 6 minutes of passing
Attendance
and
Tardiness
time carefully! Students who are tardy to class will be issued the following consequences:
A student marked tardy twice in one week, or 3 times in 3 weeks that student will be
asked to serve lunch, before, or after school detention lasting 20 minutes. If a student is
tardy to class 5 times in a single semester a disciplinary referral will be issued per Red
Mountain policy.
All attendance policies and procedures set forth in the student handbook regarding
absences will be strictly adhered to.
Plagiarism and cheating is 100% unacceptable!! Failure to do one’s own work and/or
sharing one’s work with another student(s) will result in a total loss of credit for the
assignment, no matter what it is: quiz, test, or exam.
Plagiarism
No make-up assignment, quiz, or test will be available.
and
Cheating
Many of our labs and activities are completed in groups; working together can be very
beneficial and is encouraged but all work needs to be yours/in your own words!! Each
lab is a small assessment of the content discussed –I look through these grades and
interpret your understanding based on your scores it must be your work!
Appropriate
Dress
Red Mountain’s dress code policy is made clear in the student handbook and will be
supported and adhered to in our classroom.
In the upcoming weeks a website will be available to students where I will post news,
due dates, assignments, a discussion board, our daily board questions, notes, and helpful
links on this site as well. This site will not only be helpful but participation will at times be
Canvas
a requirement and will count as part of the student’s grade. The participation will be in
website
the form of an assignment to be turned in or contributing in an online discussion.
When this site is up and running and available for students we will discuss it in class so
students are aware and questions/concerns can be addressed.
There are 2 separate semesters of Lab Biology. All students must take and pass both
semesters in order to graduate from high school. Below is an overview of the content
covered per semester. Content covered in Cambridge Biology includes all the content
covered in regular biology courses but with more specifics, more vocabulary, and more
detail!
1st Semester
Scientific Method: Reasoning, Experimental Design, Variables/Controls: investigation steps,
designing own experiments, dependent and independent variables, formal lab write up,
graphing and interpretation of graphs, and problem solving.
**this will begin our year BUT we will be consistently practicing this throughout the year!!
Classification: we’ll look at a few ways scientists arrange and organize the living world.
Kingdoms, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. Cladograms and dichotomous
keys. Students will need to know some specific characteristics associated with the
classification of viruses, bacteria, fungi, flowering plants, arthropods, crustaceans,
arachnids, annelids, nematodes, and mollusks.
Ecology:
Levels of organization, movement of energy, populations, biotic/abiotic factors, cycles of
matter: water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Greenhouse effect, hazards: ozone
depletion, chemical/pesticides/clear cutting/fire/water pollution, and biomes.
Evolution:
Geologic timeline, fossil record, vestigial and homologous structures, and natural
selection
Content
to be
Covered
Molecules and Cells:
All components/organelles and their functions will be studied! Some will be covered
during this 1st semester but most of the cell’s specific functions will be covered during 2 nd
semester.
2nd Semester
The specific functions relating to 4 specific organelles will be covered;
chloroplasts -photosynthesis, mitochondria - cellular respiration, and lysosomes -enzymes
activity. The nucleus will be covered throughout genetics.
Genetics:
Mendelian: meiosis, individual traits and characteristics and how they are passed on.
Molecular: mitosis, DNA- replication, structure, and interpretation leading to proteins.
Plants:
Parts and functions of seeds, plants, flowers, and fruit, their reproductive
differences and cycles.
Animals:
Vertebrates/invertebrates, levels of organization, few of the main body systems –
their parts and individual functions including digestive system, circulatory, respiratory,
reproductive systems including methods of birth control and STDs, and the nervous
system including effects of drugs and environment. Nutrition, movement, and sensitivity
are also included.
I am here every day after school until at least 3:30 if you need/want to come in for
extra help. There are some days when I have a previously scheduled meeting, so although
you are welcome to stop by or stay after school for extra help, there is a chance I will be
Tutoring/Extra unavailable. Making arrangements with me first would definitely be beneficial! I am
Help
scheduled for lunch tutoring on Tuesdays and Fridays during 5th hour lunch; but every day
during 4th and 5th hour lunch there is a teacher that can help/tutor you in biology. Please
refer to the tutorials schedule online and also displayed in our classroom.
Grading for this class has can be considered in 2 separate parts. I as a teacher in the
state of Arizona and for Mesa Public Schools will be reporting a grade for each semester in
the subject of biology for each student using the following guidelines:
Grades will be determined by point accumulation. Students will be responsible for
tracking their own progress! A gradesheet will be handed out and reviewed in class for
Grading
students to help keep track of their grades.
A standard grading scale will be used.
98% - 100% = A+
93% - 97% = A
90% - 92% = A-
88% - 89% = B+
83% - 87% = B
80% - 82% = B-
78% - 79% = C+
73% - 77% = C
70% - 72% = C-
68% - 69% = D+
63% - 67% = D
60% - 62% = D-
59% and below = F
Each category of student work is valued at approximately the following percentages:
Homework = 10%
Labs and Activities (hands on assessments) are 25%
Quarter Projects (larger concept assessments) are 10%
Tests and Quizzes 35%
Final Exam 20%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The University of Cambridge also reports a grade for each student based on
the following 3 parts:
Paper 1/Test 1
Which is a multiple-choice question test which students have 45 minutes to complete.
Weighted at 30% of total grade
Paper 3/Test Part 2
Which is a short answer/essay test which students have 1 hour, 15 minutes to complete.
Weighted at 50% of total grade
Paper 4/Coursework
These are samples of student work/labs completed (100% on their own!) which assess 4
skills. Each skill needs to be evaluated a minimum of twice in different labs. These skills
include:

Using and organizing techniques, apparatus, and materials

Observing, measuring and recording

Handling experimental observations and data

Planning and evaluating investigations
Each skill is scored on a scale of 1-6.
Weighted at 20% of total grade
At the end of the school year I send graded student samples along with both completed
and graded tests to the University of Cambridge in England. They evaluate all 3
components and also assign a grade. If the grade given by Cambridge is higher than the
one reported by me from throughout the 2015-2016 school year then the student’s grade
will be changed by the records department here at Red Mountain High School.
My phone number is (480) (480)472-8064
My email address is
jnklein@mpsaz.org
If you have any questions and/or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call or email me. I am looking forward to
a successful and exciting year getting to know and learning with your student(s)
Thank you!
Jennifer Klein
Welcome to Cambridge Biology at Red Mountain High School
Your student’s 2015-16 Cambridge Biology Syllabus is located online.
The directions for locating it are as follows:
1. Begin at Red Mountain High School Website.
2. At the top of the page choose the option labeled Staff
3. Scroll down to the Science department, find and click on my name Jennifer Klein
4. Choose the class your student(s) is/are enrolled in and from there you can find the
syllabus.
Please read through the syllabus. Sign and date in the designated space below and have your student
return this page to class, it is due by Friday August 21, 2015 for credit.
If you have any questions please feel free to call me (480)472-8064 or send me an email
jnklein@mpsaz.org
A copy of the syllabus will remain on my teacher page throughout the school year, please refer back to
it if/when necessary.
Thank you!
Jennifer Klein
We have read, understand, and will adhere to the policies explained on the 2015-2016 syllabus
Student name (please print) ___________________________________________________________
Student signature: _________________________________________________ Date: _____________
Parent/guardian signature: ___________________________________________ Date: _____________