Welcome to Vigil
Science!!
* PLEASE READ THROUGH THE ITEMS IN THIS PACKET
WITH YOUR PARENTS.
* THESE PAGES SHOULD BE PERMANENTLY GLUED
OR TAPED (NO STAPLES!) IN YOUR BIOLOGY
NOTEBOOK ACCORDING TO THE TABLE OF
CONTENTS.
* THE LAST PAGE, THE “COMMUNICATIONS LOG”
AND SIGNATURE PAGE SHOULD BE COMPLETED AND
SIGNED BY BOTH STUDENT AND PARENT BY:
TUESDAY SEPT 2 (2ND PERIOD) OR
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 3 (8TH PERIOD)
Legacy Early College High School
Vigil Science Policies and Expectations
2015-2016
MATERIALS
WELCOME!!
Welcome to an exciting year! I believe that you will
find this class to be both interesting and
challenging. I am happy to have you in this class
and I want to do everything I can to help you
succeed. I have, therefore developed the following
procedures and policies to ensure your success and
enjoyment of the course.
Just as you have responsibilities and expectations,
in class, so do I as the teacher.
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Provide instructional leadership.
2. Return tests, quizzes and assignments in a
timely manner.
3. Provide tutorials to help ensure student
success.
4. Provide a safe and welcoming classroom
environment for the students.
GRADING POLICIES
Daily Grades
Labs, Notebook, Quizzes
Projects, Tests
Biology and Chemistry

3 Ring Binder

Pen AND Pencil! Every Day!

Biology Text Book – Leave safely at home
STUDENT RESPONSBILITIES
Your success this year in biology and in high school
requires active participation and a desire to
achieve.
1.

BE HERE EVERY DAY!
You simply cannot learn if you are not here.
Unexcused absences (SKIPPING, TRUANCY,
SLEEPING IN, ETC.) will cause you to lose
important instruction.

When you miss a day, it is your responsibility to
make up your work.
2. BE ON TIME! Tardy students are extremely
disruptive to the learning environment. I
understand things happen, but please do
everything possible to be here on time.
20%
30%
50%
BATHROOM POLICY
Please do your business before and after class. If
you must go during class, please do not ask to go
during these times:

10 minutes after & before the bell

During classroom instruction
Only go after teacher gives you permission.
Re-Test Policy
There will be an opportunity for all students to
complete a retest to improve a failing test grade.
In order to take the retest, the student must first
correct each question that he/she missed before
retaking a similar test to the one originally failed.
Quizzes
There will be a quiz weekly, unless I announce
otherwise. I may also give unannounced quizzes,
but as a rule these are rare. Quizzes are short and
related to the material covered the day before.
Keep up with your homework assignments and you
shall do well.
Tardies: A student is tardy once the teacher
has entered the classroom from outside to
begin class.
3.
DO EVERY ASSIGNMENT AND BRING ALL
SUPPLIES! It is essential that you complete
ALL assignments to the best of your ability and
bring the necessary supplies every day.
4.
RESPECT ALL TEACHERS, CLASSMATES,
AND EQUIPMENT.
It is my responsibility to provide a safe
environment for you to learn. Sometimes this
requires letting you know when you are not
being respectful of another person in the room.
It is easy to get back on track with a simple
“yes sir” or “Okay.” This also includes keeping
all food and drink out of the lab and handling
all equipment with care.
PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY!
 Ask questions when you don’t understand!
 Sleep at home!
 Groom yourself in the bathroom!
 Write notes at lunch!
 Text after school! (Visible phones will be
collected!)
 No work from another class shall be done in
another teacher’s classroom during their class
time.
5.
Interactive Science
Notebook Guidelines
Your INTERACTIVE BIOLOGY NOTEBOOK will increase your understanding of biology by:
 Using writing as a process for discovery and synthesis of inquiry.
 Modeling many enduring functions of scientists – recording information, data, and experimental
diagrams.
 Improving your ability to organize ideas and information to provide a study reference for each unit, as
well as a resource to consult as review for the AP or IB test.
 Demonstrating to your teacher and parents your developing organizational skills, understanding of
science concepts and ability to express thoughts and feelings in a variety of ways.
Think as a scientist…record as a scientist… & reflect as a scientist!
Required:








1 3 ring binder. Bring your notebook to class EVERY day!
Handouts and other teacher provided pages.
Organized in the same manner: Each student should have the same things on each page of the notebook.
Pages should be numbered consecutively on the bottom right had corner; each page titled and dated.
A Table of Contents will be kept in the front of the notebook and will be updated each week. Mr. Vigil will keep
a master book in his room with pages titled and numbered etc.
This Handout Guide will be glued into the notebook after signing by you and your parents/ guardians
There will be a notebook quiz or collection of notebooks at least twice per six weeks. Grades will be assigned
following the general rubric. In addition, a detailed rubric for each Notebook Check will be provided to guide in
assessments. Notebook quizzes can occur at anytime so make sure the notebook is updated daily. The
Notebook will be a major percent of your six week grade.
A weekly Tutorial will be held for students wishing to work on updating or completion of activities. This is
particularly valuable if there has been an absence. Staying current with all entries is vital to your success this
year in science.
STUDENT: I understand the purpose of the Interactive Science Notebook and will try my best to keep
my notebook up-to-date and complete. If I fall behind I will quickly seek out Notebook time either
before school or on a designated tutorial day after-school.
STUDENT NAME: _____________________________________ (Print)
STUDENT SIGNATURE: ___________________________________
DATE: _______________
PARENTS: I have read the above information. I understand the purposes of the Interactive Biology
Notebook up-to-date and will encourage and monitor my student’s completion of all notebook work. I
will support make-up time either before school or after school if necessary. I understand that Mr. Vigil
will notify me by email or phone if my student has not turned in his/her notebook on time.
PARENT/GUARDIAN NAME: ____________________________(Print)
PARENT/GUARDIAN SIGNATURE: _______________________
DATE: _______________
Adult Input Page
To the Adult – this page will allow your son or daughter to better learn. It is often said that you
don’t truly understand something until you can teach it to someone else. The task of your son or
daughter is to discuss and teach a concept covered in class to you. You should write down one
or two sentences explaining what YOU learned from the discussion and tutoring…Not just that it
took place. Without your writing what you learned, full credit for the “teaching will not be
earned by the student.
Due
Date
What was learned? Explain.
Adult Signature
All About ME!
My name
is:_______________________________________________
Some people also call me: ______________________________________________
Before living here, I lived in: ____________________________________
My birthday is on: ____________________________________________________
My family is made up of: _______________________________________________
I am interested in: ____________________________________________________
Extracurricular activities: _______________________________________________
I do not like: _________________________________________________________
I have a friend and his/her name is: ______________________________________
My pets: ____________________________________________________________
Musical Instruments: __________________________________________________
Languages that I speak: _______________________________________________
I am very good at: ____________________________________________________
I am not so got at: ____________________________________________________
I spend a lot of time: __________________________________________________
I would like to learn about: _____________________________________________
I have a few good and bad habits: ________________________________________
If it was possible to change one thing about myself it would:
___________________________________________________________________
If I was allowed to help in class I would: ___________________________________
This was the proudest moment of my life:
___________________________________________________________________
I have a job at: ______________________________________________________
Someday I will: ______________________________________________________
My favorite television show: ____________________________________________
The very best movie that I have ever seen: ________________________________
If I could change anything in the world I would:
___________________________________________________________________
My feelings about school: _______________________________________________
I always learn best if: __________________________________________________
I find it difficult to learn when: __________________________________________
My biggest role model is: _______________________________________________
My accomplishments: __________________________________________________
I enjoy: ____________________________________________________________
I am very happy when: ________________________________________________
The most important person in my life is: ___________________________________
I have an important goal to accomplish which is: ____________________________
My favorite subjects: __________________________________________________
The subjects I don’t like: _______________________________________________
I read: rarely
sometimes
often
all the time
(pick one)
My favorite book: _____________________________________________________
My favorite music: ___________________________________________________
My question for the teacher:
Science Lab Grading Rubric
**ALL formal labs must be hand written to receive any credit.
I. Name- Write your name (5pts)
II. Date- Include complete date and day of the week (2pts)
III. Investigator(s)- Include first and last names of your lab partners (3pts)
IV. Title- Reflects your purpose, Check for capitalization (5pts)
V. Purpose- - The purpose should explain what you are doing and what are you trying to determine.(5pts)
VI. Hypothesis- States the prediction for the experiment outcome. (5pts)
Should be written in an if ______ then _______ format.
VII. Materials- Lists all materials used to conduct the experiment (10pts)
VIII. Procedure- I will provide you with a step by step handout describing how to complete the lab (5pts)
 State how you varied from the directions in the handout.
IX. Data Table- (10pts)
Use a ruler to show data in a professional manner
 Be sure all information is labeled with proper units!!!
 Include a title with your data table.
X. Data Analysis section (10pts)
If your lab requires you to complete data analysis, unit conversions, or any “number crunching” you must
show an example calculation for each one.
Display the final results of each calculation in a tabular format.
XI. Graph- (15pts)
 Use a ruler to display the graph accurately
 Include a proper regression curve with equation
 Include axis labels, title, and units
XII. Conclusion and Error Analysis (25pts)- the conclusions are the most important part of a lab experiment.
Your conclusions describe the what, how, and why of your lab experiment. They must be descriptive and, at
the very least, they must cover the following.
 A brief summary of the purpose and how the lab was conducted.
 State whether the hypothesis was or was not supported (if applicable)
 Restate the end results of the calculations and how they support the hypothesis. (don’t forget units)
 State at least three sources of error that could have occurred and how they affected the outcome of the
experiment.
 Answer assigned questions pertaining to the lab activity.
Communications Log
2013-2014
Student: __________________________________________
Period: ___________
Home address: ________________________ Email address_______________________
Home phone: __________________________ Cell phone:________________________
Mom’s Name (or guardian): _____________________ Work Phone: _________________
Cell: ____________Email_________________________ Speaks English? YES
NO
Dad’s Name: (or guardian): ______________________Work Phone: _________________
Cell: _____________Email:________________________ Speaks English? YES
NO
1. What was the first language that you learned? What other languages do you speak?
3. On a scale from 1-10 how well do you speak English? (10 is fluent)
4. On a scale from 1-10 how well do you read and write English? (10 is college level)
5. What grade do you wish to make in this course? What actions should you and your teacher take
to make sure this happens?
6. What are your college or career goals? If you could do anything you wanted with your life, what
would it be? (Winning the lottery doesn’t count!)
7. OPTIONAL! - Are there any learning disabilities or other situations that I should know about so
as to better serve you as your teacher?
Signature Page – Return next class
Policies and Procedures/ Interactive Science Notebooks/ Parent letter
The policies and procedures in this packet are designed to ensure our students success and enjoyment of this course.
Please read them through and let us know if you have any questions.
By signing here you are indicating that you have read and understand all of the information written in the policies and
procedures, agree to bring your Interactive Science Notebook each day to class, and are agreeing to live up to these
expectations and face the consequences when you do not.
Student Signature: _______________________________________________________________ Date:_______
Parent Signature: _________________________________________________________________ Date: _______