Mr. Medrano

Life Science: 2024-2025

Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Mr. Daniel Medrano

he/him

Email: dmedrano@ecfs.org

Welcome to 7th Grade Life Science!

I am very excited to have each of you in class this year.  We are going to have a great year and you will learn a lot about the living things in the world around you.  In order to get the year off to a great start, I’ve listed a few important policies that I expect you to know and follow.  The following policies do not cover every possible situation, but they will apply in most cases.

Textbooks:                                                

Science Explorer From Bacteria to Plants (Prentice Hall, Inc.) 2009 

Science Explorer Cells and Heredity (Prentice Hall, Inc.) 2009
Science Explorer Human Body and Health (Prentice Hall, Inc.) 2009  

You’ll be lent a copy and also have access to a digital copy.

Material covered this year:

Essential Questions: Units of Study:

• How are all living things similar and different -    What is the nature of science?

• What are living things made of? -     What are living things?

• How do living things maintain homeostasis? -     How do we heal?

• How are traits passed from one generation to the next? -    Why are living things different from one another?

• Why is there so much diversity among organisms? -     How did living things develop on Earth

• How do organisms change over time? -     How are living things connected?

• Human body system

Classroom  Expectations:
Be Prepared and Organized 

You should arrive to class on time and prepared to work and discuss.  

• Students are expected to arrive at class prepared and on time.  Materials needed DAILY are: science lab notebook, folder, binder (optional), planner, pencil, and pen (ONLY blue or black ink).     

Your folder (or binder) will hold very important material.  Please note, we’ll clear it out together at the end of each quarter. 

(Handouts will include: safety contract, class expectations, handouts, articles, lab sheets, study guides, etc.)

Organization is important for success! 

You are expected to keep your folders / binders neat and in chronological order. 

Absences/Make-up Work:
When a student misses a class (for WHATEVER reason) it is THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STUDENT to check my Google Classroom to obtain missed notes and work.  Students will be given 2 days for every day they have been gone to make up their work.  If you know you are going to be absent, let me know ahead of time.

Behavior:
RESPECT is the key to appropriate behavior.  Students will respect each other’s ideas and opinions, questions, personal space, personal property, etc.  Students will respect school property including lab equipment, tables, chairs, etc.

GRADING:
Graded work will include: worksheets, study guides, quizzes, tests, class/lab notes, lab work, and class projects.  Assignments that are not given a numerical grade will be evaluated with the below scale.

√+  Work is complete, accurate, and neat.  

√  Work is complete and shows good effort.
√-  Work is partially complete and lacks effort.
0 Work is less than half complete or not done at all.

Projects = 25%
Quizzes/Tests = 25%
Homework = 15%
Labs and Experiments = 25%
Class Work and Engagement= 10%

i expect all work to be complete and on time.

If you turn in work late, points will be automatically taken off the top for each day it is late.
Assignments will not be accepted after the 3rd day of being late.

TEXTBOOK POLICY:

The textbooks that will be checked out to your child are the property of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. It is your child's privilege to use the books while they are a 7th grade science student.  All textbooks must be returned in good, usable condition at the end of the school year.   Students please…

- Do not write, underline, or highlight in textbooks (use sticky notes instead).

Academic Integrity: 

Students are expected to submit individual work that reflects their own ideas and words. Copying, pasting and using images and text without acknowledging the source is plagiarism. As students are developing research and citation skills, they will be taught to cite their sources using the American Psychological Association (APA) format that is used in the sciences. Instances of academic dishonesty and/or plagiarism will be disciplined according to the Fieldston School policy that can be found and reviewed in the middle school student planner.