EARTH SCIENCE COURSE SYLLABUS

STUBBOLO/BALDWIN 210

“Everett Meredith Middle School’s mission is to provide all students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need to succeed in high school.”

GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS:

It is expected that students will strive to succeed and treat themselves and others with respect.

Students will learn that the Earth is system of interacting cycles of which humans are a small part. Although humans are a part of cycles on the planet, our decisions have consequences.

MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR COURSE:

• •1.5” three ring binder, •7 notebook dividers, Colored Pencils

SPECIAL PROJECTS:

• Extensive use of the computer and the internet is used in this course. It is imperative that the acceptable use policy statement distributed at the beginning of the year be signed and returned ASAP!!

If you do not have a computer at home, arrangements can be made to use school computers, they are also available free of charge, at any public library. There will be a few assignments throughout the year that will require the students to access a safe site designed and monitored by me. If this poses an ethical or other problem, please contact me as soon as possible to make arrangements for alternative lessons.

• • Middletown Middle School Weather Station - We have acquired a computerized Weather Station at MMS! Our School will be part of a nationwide network of schools, universities and television weather centers. Students will have the opportunity to report on conditions in our corner of the world to the rest of the country and the World! Students will conduct measurements of daily weather conditions, record their data, compare to national statistics and learn the basics of weather forecasting.

NOTEBOOKS:

Everyone is expected to keep a notebook. The student should purchase a one and one half inch three ring binder for use in Science. This notebook is not to be used for other classes! This will be collected on a variable schedule. When the notebook is collected, it can count up to 20% of the marking period grade.

Your notebook should contain a Table of Contents, List of Assignments and the grade received on them, ALL handouts, Labs, Notes, Tests, Quizzes, basically everything we do in class!!

Spot checks will be made randomly throughout the marking period to ensure that students are keeping their notebook up to date!

• Notebooks should include sections with a divider for the following:

-Class notes

-Class Work

-Vocabulary

-Tests And Quizzes

-Labs

-Writing Assignments

-Handouts

They should be kept in chronological order in each section. Everything should have the date of completion on it.

CLASSWORK/ LABS/ PROJECTS/ TESTS/ ETC.:

Generally unit tests account for between 30% and 50% of a marking period grade. Quizzes account for approximately 25%, homework can count up to 25%. Class projects, research papers and labs carry similar weight as tests.

Generally the workload increases throughout the school year. As students learn and mature, the responsibility placed upon them increases and the expectations of the course rise.

HOMEWORK:

Homework is assigned on an “as needed” basis. Some units may require more homework than others. We will post homework assignments in the classroom and on our web site. It is the student’s responsibility to record assignments and due dates in the agenda book they will receive from the school. Please check the agenda book on a regular basis, it is a great way of knowing what your student is doing in school!

Some assignments will be collected on a variable schedule, meaning an assignment made on Monday may be collected on Tuesday or may not be collected for several weeks, or may not even be collected! Therefore, ALL assignments should be treated as though they WILL be collected and kept in your notebook for future reference.

MAKE-UP WORK:

It is the STUDENT’S responsibility to find out what they missed during an excused absence.

EXTRA CREDIT:

Extra credit may be earned by students for projects they propose. All work must be discussed with me prior to initiation of the project! Point values awarded will vary with the complexity of student projects. ALL extra credit is due one week before the end of a marking period at the latest. Any extra credit work received later than one week prior to the end will be counted on the next marking period. If a student has not completed homework during the marking period, extra credit WILL NOT be accepted

SHARING RESULTS:

Work will be returned to students in as timely a manner as possible. All work is to be kept in the student’s notebook as indicated above. Research Papers and Summaries of group work will be kept on file at the school and may be reviewed by parents upon request.

PARENTAL CONTACT:

Visit our web page on the MMS web site! www.mmscrusaders.com When you arrive, click on “Science Rocks” (because it does!) On the opening page you will find e-mail hot buttons. We generally check e-mail at least once per day during the school year and have found it a terrific way of keeping in contact with parents. If you prefer, you may e-mail us directly at garth.stubbolo@appo.k12.de.us or janae.baldwin@appo.k12.de.us

On our page you will find a schedule of events for your student including homework assignments, projects, testing dates and due dates. You and your student will also find notes from class, sample quizzes and tests and links to cool sites dealing with the material we are covering in class. Since this site was put up, many students have seen dramatic and immediate improvement in grades and comprehension of the course material! The Science Rocks! Website is accessed and average of 400 times a week during the school year, hopefully you will find it useful too!

Interim progress reports are compiled quarterly in mid-term to apprise parents of their student’s academic progress. Occasionally we may need to contact parents of a student at other times to discuss the level of a student’s success, to that end we will request that each student furnish us with a home phone number, emergency phone number, mailing address, and e-mail address if available.

If a parent wishes to contact us at any time during the year we are usually available during our planning period or after school 2:15 - 3:00 PM. The school phone numbers are 302-378-5001, 02, 03, and 04. If we cannot be reached during these hours, please leave a message including a phone number and the best time during the working day when we may reach you.

If a parent should desire a conference please feel free to contact us at the school or by e-mail to arrange an appointment. We are always happy to meet with parents!

EXTRA HELP FOR STUDENTS:

We encourage students to make use of the website! A LOT of time and effort has put into the content of the page and it continues to evolve! Sometimes the web alone is not enough. We are more than happy to give additional help to students! It is the student’s responsibility to request aid.

GRADING PROCEDURES:

Grades will be calculated on a percentage basis. According to District policy, grades will correspond to letter grades as follows:

90-100=A

80-90=B

70-80=C

60-70=D

< 60=F

EXAMPLE: If an assignment is worth 50 points and you receive a grade of 48, divide 48 by 50. This gives you 0.96. Multiply 0.96 by 100 to obtain your percentage.

48 ÷ 50 = 0.96

0.96 X 100 = 96%

You would have earned a 96%, "A" on your assignment.

FINAL YEAR GRADE:

We are working on a trimester schedule, meaning we have three marking periods. Each marking period grade counts as 33.3% of the total grade. A total year grade would be calculated as follows:

MARKING PERIOD GRADE

1 92

2 85

3 85

(TOTAL) 262

262 ÷ 3= 86.3%

LETTER GRADE FOR YEAR = B

Please sign and return to Mr. Stubbolo or Mrs. Baldwin

I have received, read and understand the course syllabus for Mr. Stubbolo and Mrs. Baldwin’s Earth Science Course.

Student name __________________________ science class period _______

(please print)

Student Signature

_______________________________ date _________________

Parent/Guardian Signature

_______________________________ date _________________

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