Honors Biology Contract (Leader Biology)
Biology has an honors option. Honors is a semester-long commitment, and factors in as ~12% of the final semester grade.
To earn honors credit for the fall you must do one of the following:
Required Assignment Options (A, B or C)
ALL WORK (FOR A, B and C) TO BE COMPLETED AND HANDED IN NO LATER THAN Friday, August 30th, 2024
A.) Read one of the books connected to learning determined to be outside the project from class and teach 2- 1 hour lessons completed on slides for the lesson in December before December 6th. Check-ins will take place at lunch on Mondays. You will hand a 3/4 draft of the slides to me and complete a short interview in November by Fall Break
(Note that these books are not considered easy reads. It may take rereading and scaffolded reading and discussion):
Science related book 300-600 pgs- See class library and books you find online not directly connected to the project that we can agree upon together (Must be Approved by me by the end of September 8th-You will be given a book if not)
*Please note that books must be purchased (or requested) by September 6th in order to be eligible for full credit.
Or
B.) AP Biology Princeton Review Summary and Lesson. Purchase, read and summarize all communicated topics from the 2020 (or later) AP Book from an approved AP Biology Study Book. This opportunity will give a good breadth of work that would be expected for a comprehensive college biology course. You will be expected to complete short annotations of each page inside the book and complete an interview with me by December 6th to explain topics of your interest and defend the amount of work completed. Examples of summaries, annotations and lessons will be shown the first week of class. You must obtain and begin reading/summarizing the work by September 6th for full credit.
Or
C.) There are a couple of possible options/placements for alternative work to obtain honors credit that will be presented in class during the first week of the project. You must submit a typed and printed proposal (minimum short paragraph) to me by August 30th. I will approve your request for alternative work based on given reasoning and proposed evidence of how you are best for the job. If not accepted and you would still like to choose honors, please choose option A or B. A normal expectation is that Group C work totals ~25 hours of proven work time. With the exception of the teaching assistants a time sheet of work is logged on a shared spreadsheet created by September 6th.
1)Teaching Assistants-1 per class. This role helps with obtaining Media (documenting class work with pictures); Assist with Grading, Project Development, Field Trip Planning and Communication, Lab Prep and Class Animal Care
2.)Garden Director-1 per class
3.)Project Manager and Product Curator: Class Product Curating (THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY)-1 per class
-Serve as the class’ editor (and project product lead) throughout the project. Credit will be given with the publication of work.
4.) Independent Video Project (Related to Fieldwork) This role creates an extra product to be viewed at exhibition. It requires 25 hours of work outside of the class with video editing. Filming can occur during class trips. Grading Benchmarks-Students need to share hourly spreadsheet and plan via email by end of September. Draft 1 to be edited by Fall Break and final video completed by December 6th.
5.) Test Coordinator- Helps coordinate and co-create monthly quizzes based on weekly topics. Communicates with students about test creation and facilitates support.
6.) Edx.org Course (This is a popular one) Enroll in and complete a documented edx.org course in biology. Students must show handwritten notes and documentation of progression using screen shots.
Recommended:
Honors is meant to be a challenge. A student enrolled in Honors is expected to do all of the Honors work in addition to regular coursework. Honors students are expected to work on Honors every week and manage their Honors work wisely (translation: do not procrastinate). Before you sign up for Honors you should consider the benefits and drawbacks:
Benefits
Honors credits adds one full grade point to your final average for the semester, which raises your overall GPA. Colleges like to see Honors credit on your transcript. Honors provides a fun biology challenge for you.
Drawbacks
Honors is a lot of work and may add too much to your workload; this can be overwhelming. Honors assignments are graded and not doing them, and not doing them well, will negatively impact your grade. Honors is very rigorous material, so if you are already struggling with biology, you may find that it is too challenging or that it takes away from time you could spend on regular biology assignments
Honors' Slip
PLEASE DETACH AND HAND INTO MATTHEW LEADER
Please discuss the benefits and drawbacks of Honors with your parent/guardian, and decide if Honors is the right choice for you. Honors assignments will begin the first week of school. You must make a permanent decision about Honors by the add/drop deadline of Friday, August 30th, 2024. After that date, you may not add or drop Honors for any reason.
Please check the box and sign where indicated:
___My student and I have read the above information, and my student wishes to earn Honors credit in Biology. We both understand that this is a permanent decision and cannot be changed after Friday, August 30th, 2024.
My student will take option (please circle) A, B, C
If C is chosen, what option? Please write the # and any details
____________________________________________________
Student Name: ___________________________________
Student Signature: _______________________________
Parent Name: ____________________________________
Parent Signature _________________________________
Date ______________________________________________
I will assume that the Honors status indicated above is correct unless I receive a signed letter from a parent/guardian requesting a change be made. This letter must be received absolutely no later than August 30th, 2024.