Science Course Guidelines
Ms. DeCosta, Mustang Team
Materials Needed for Class Every Day
> A Positive Attitude
> Pencil or Erasable Blue or Black Pen
> Basic Function Calculator
> Science Binder
> Highlighter
Science notebook Expectations
It is extremely important to be organized in science class. Organization of
class materials is a life-long skill that will help you to get a better
grade in class and be a better student forever! This year all students will
be required to keep an organized science notebook and we will learn new ways
to do this all year! Your notebook will have a section for:
*Each Item in Bold is a Tab Label*
References
Handouts- to be kept chronologically by units.
Bell work-
Grades and progress - Quizzes, Tests, and Project grades
CID
You will have a cover page with Science, Your Name and your class period.
There are "start of class expectations" that you must follow
according to directions given. Each day there will be some type of bell
work that is done at the beginning of class. Please come to class prepared
to get started and follow the directions given each day.
Agenda books must be signed if you leave class for any reason. Do not leave
class without permission.
Classroom Expectations
Students are expected to be professional and involved in class at all
times. The classroom rules are designed to maintain a positive learning
environment and foster a focused learning environment. My rules are
consistent with both team and school expectations. Any off-task or
inappropriate behavior will be dealt with swiftly in order to maintain the
momentum of the lesson. Consequences will follow the team and school
guidelines, depending on the offense.
Expectations of Workload
Students will most likely have some sort of home assignment every night
except for Fridays. On average the assignment should not take more than 20
minutes. Students will have some opportunity to work on this homework in
class, if they finish assigned class work early. Home assignments will
consist of some sort of reading and writing activity, finishing a lab
report, completing a class assignment, or studying for tests and quizzes.
Students will be assigned 2 vocabulary words per day and a quiz on those
words and the major concepts of the week will be given every Friday.
Grading Policy
Assignments are weighted by points. Test and projects have the most points.
Lab work and quizzes are in the middle. Classwork has the least points.
Homework most often will not have points, but will be checked for completion.
Your grade will be a percentage of your number of points divided by the total
number of points possible.
General Work Expectations Rubric:
Exceeds the Standard = 100%
Above and beyond expectations for the assignment and quality work. Goes
beyond your personal best.
Highly Meets the Standard = 95%
Shows detailed thinking with complete sentences and/or thoughts. All work is
completed accurately. Work is legible and neatly presented.
Meets the Standard = 85%
Shows some detail in thinking with complete thoughts. Attempts to answer all
questions with some mistakes. Work is legible and neatly presented.
Partially Meets the Standard = 75%
Shows partial understanding due to incomplete answers or many mistakes. Some
parts of work are not done. Work may hard to read due to sloppy writing or
messiness.
Does not Meet the Standard = 50%
(This is not passing and must be redone)
Shows minimal or no understanding of the material. Work is inaccurate or
many parts are incomplete. Work is unreadable or very messy.
Late Work
Late work is allowed within a reasonable timeframe, but work that is more
than 4 days late can only receive a maximum grade of 70%. Work not done will
earn a zero grade.
Late work will not be accepted after the unit ends, unless there is a
conference with the parent.
Make Up Work
Make up work can be found in the "While you were out" folder in the
classroom.
A sheet explaining the descriptions of the assignments, including notes,
class work, handouts and homework will be there for you each day that you
are out. All make up work should be placed in the late/make-up work folder.
This work is also posted on my Web page. It is the student's responsibility
to get their make up work, do it in a timely fashion and turn it back into
me.
My Contact Information:
Please call or e-mail me with your questions or concerns.
School Phone: (941) 361-6464 and leave a message- I will call you
back.
E-mail: susan_decosta@sarasota.k12.fl.us (there is an under_score
between my first and last names).
