IB Biology Course Information

Metro HS, Mrs. Selimovic-Milo

[email protected] 8/15/2018

The 2017 Group 4 IB Biology Guide

It is suggested that you read and become familiar with the content outlined within
this course syllabus. It contains all of the information about the IB Biology course
in great detail.

A copy of the PDF file is attached to be downloaded below/above this Syllabus.

Composition Notebook
Each student should have one composition notebook that will be used solely
for this class. In this notebook you will keep all of your textbook work as well
as your assessment statements and pertinent drawings. All work in this
notebook should be done by hand and turned in at each assessment.

Three Ring Binder

In your three ring binders you will keep a copy of your group 4 PSOW. This
document will serve as your daily log for Internal Assessments. For each
assessment you need to keep evidence of each assessment as well as points
awarded for each. Your three ring binders will be turned in at the
completion of your one or two year sequence. From this binder your
evidence will be obtained for submission to the IB Program for moderation.

Code of Conduct:
Students enrolled in International Baccalaureate classes are to adhere to the
highest standards of ethics when completing any work. When enrolling in
this class you have made a conscious decision to work hard and be rewarded
for this work. Since you are representing SLPS High School, Metro High
School, on an international stage you must represent everything that it
means to be a student here at Metro HS. All work that you present and turn
in must be your own. Copying any work will not be tolerated and may result
in failure of the course and removal from the program. This also includes
copying of data from a lab which tends to be one of the larger issues in the
area of science. You are no longer considered a student of biology but you
are now considered a biologist and you must act as a professional.
Plagiarism:
Any infraction that falls within the schools guidelines of plagiarisms will be
dealt with conforming to the student handbook on the School Code of
Conduct.

If caught cheating, automatic zero will be entered in the grade book

for the assignment/assessment without the opportunity to make up
the work.

Preparation:
It is assumed that you will come to class prepared on a daily basis. This
includes assigned readings that are generated to help you develop a solid
foundation of the concepts that we will examine in class. Because of time
constraints in the IB Biology curriculum we can not possibly cover every
assessment topic specifically but will be working towards supporting the
general concepts outlined in each of the assessment statements.
• Three ring binder dedicated to your IB Biology course to organize your
daily work.
• Ruled notebook for submission of IB Assessment statements/notes.
• Graph paper notebook for labs.
• Writing utensils including pen, pencil, and eraser
• Calculator: Make sure that the calculator you are using and have
practiced on meets the guidelines for acceptable use on external
assessments.
• Appointment calendar-to keep track of deadlines for the work assigned

Group Work:
Because this is a lab class you will be expected to work in groups. I do not
make it a practice to assign groups or lab partners. However, if there are
personal issues that arise due to lab partner selection I will intercede and
assign lab partners and groups. While you will be working in a group you
are expected to do your own lab write ups. You will have the same data as
your partner since you will have to pull the data (which will most likely be
collected separately) but the rest of your report must be unique and not
represent somebody else's thoughts and ideas.

Make Up Work:
If you have missed class due to unforeseen circumstances it is your
responsibility to make up the missed work. It is not acceptable to just copy a
classmate’s work to appear as you had completed the work yourself. This
class is externally assessed and by copying your classmates work you are
putting yourself and the IB Program in jeopardy. General activities must be
made up in a timely manner. (Read section on late work). Lab work must be
made up within the same week it took place. Lab work often requires extra
set up and sometimes the consumables will not last more than a few days.
Make sure to talk to Mrs.Selimovic about day and time for the lab make up.

Electronics Use:
The use of electronics is not permitted while in class. You will be expected to
leave your phones in designated Cell Phone Lot daily unless told otherwise.
The use of texting and playing games on any electronic device is prohibited
while in class. You are not to listen to music during lecture, group work or
lab work.
You will be asked to bring your laptops/tablets for class use on
occasions as well.

Textbook:
For this course you will use Pearson Textbook IB Biology. It is very
important that you take good care of this resource (do not write in it, tear or
mark pages) since it needs to serve other generations too. You will be
responsible to obtain a new one in case of loss.

Other handouts will mostly be given to you by me, as I will try to make
copies from more rare resource. You are expected to keep all handouts and
packets in your binder. I may be able to replace misplace/lost handout once,
but do not expect second, third, … copy.
Portfolio
Your portfolio will represent a compilation of all of your work throughout the
one or two year sequence. This is entire content of your binder(s). You
should never throw anything away and keep all of your work organized in a
logical manner. Below are general guidelines for you to follow when
compiling and presenting your body of work. This will serve as your best
study tool for your assessments and should be maintained to best utilize
your study time.

Format
Understandings
It is suggested that you keep a hand written log that demonstrates your
knowledge on each understanding outlined for each unit of study. This
should be completed in a composition notebook that is stored in the front of
your 3 ring binder. Each understanding should be defined and written by
hand to show the depth of your knowledge on each topic.

Example
2.1 Molecules of metabolism
Molecular biology explains living processes in terms of the chemical
substances involved.
The most common components of molecular biology are carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen and nitrogen. Together these substances can create the compounds
of sugars, lipids, and proteins. Trace elements, S, Fe, Ph, Mg, are fund in
small quantities throughout living organisms aiding in the structure of
biomolecules.

Carbon atoms can form four covalent bonds allowing a diversity of stable
compounds to exist.
The ability of the carbon atom to form four covalent bonds allows it to form
numerous structures vital to living organisms. The carbon atom is the
backbone of sugars, proteins and lipids. Its ability to bond to itself is vital in
the creation of ribose and deoxyribose, perhaps the most important sugars
found in the living world.

Evidence
To organize your evidence you should have a 3 ring binder to save all of
your practical work. This should be arranged in an organized manner with
tabs in your binder for ease of navigation. It is imperative that you keep
this work together in an organized fashion. It is suggested that you keep
tabs in a notebook to best organize your compiled work displaying your
practical work and how it relates to each topic of study. I will give
suggestion on how to organize your binder(s).
Following is example of evidences to be found in your binder in regard to
specific understanding statement.

2.1 Molecules of metabolism evidence

- Matching shapes of biomolecules.
- Identifying biomolecules lab simulation
- Identifying biomolecules lab practicum
- Amylase and starch lab
Labs
Rationale for practical work
Although the requirements for IA are centered on the investigation, the
different types of practical activities that a student may engage in, serve
other purposes, including:
* Illustrating, teaching and reinforcing theoretical concepts
* developing an appreciation of the essential hands-on nature of much
scientific work
* developing an appreciation of scientists’ use of secondary data from
databases
* developing an appreciation of scientists’ use of modeling
* developing an appreciation of the benefits and limitations of scientific
methodology.
SL: 40 hours of the Practical Scheme of Work, PSOW
20 hours PSOW
10 hours Group 4 Project
10 hours Group 4 Individual Investigation

HL: 60 hours of the PSOW

40 hours PSOW
10 hours Group 4 Project
10 hours Individual Investigation

Practicums/Labs

There are six required practicums that must be completed throughout the
year. Lab experiences will not be limited to these alone though and you
should expect to have hands on lab experiences in every unit of study.
Labs and activities are important to the learning and thinking process. Lab
activities are key to critical thinking. Lab activities represent 40 hours of
instructional time for SL students and 60 hours for HL students. The time is
set up for students to develop labs, set up, collect data and critically analyze
that data. Students will develop labs to answer critical issues within the
global community. Given a set amount of materials each student must
develop an experiment to help answer critical components of the issue. You
will analyze the data in the lab by a written or oral discussion of the impacts
the issue has on the living world.

Academic dishonesty/Cheating
During lab work you will be working with partners. This is due to limited lab
space as well as limited supplies. This does create a tough situation when it
comes to the issue of cheating. You will have the same data as many
students in class but must have unique reports. Sharing of ideas about
outcomes and interpretations are acceptable but you must formulate your
own written responses. The process of writing and presenting yourself in an
effective manner is of the utmost importance for IB classes.

If you complete a lab and do not have adequate data it is appropriate to

present your data and explain why it is insufficient. Then you may use
another classmate’s data but must credit that student scientist
appropriately. Simply copying data is not acceptable. It is also not
acceptable to skew data to fit your desired outcome.

Assessment
Grades for your IB course grade that will be reported to Universities and the
World IB School are based on two types of assessments. These assessments
will be graded on a standardized form of grading outline by IB in mark
schemes. These guidelines are standardized for all IB classes worldwide to
maintain a specific level at which all students are expected to achieve. The
standards are enforced with the submission of papers from every class to
determine if grades are awarded appropriately. If a teacher grades too hard
the grades are then altered by the IB to reflect an appropriate grade as
determined by senior teachers within the IB Program. This is also true if a
teacher grades to easy the IB will adjust the grades to reflect the
appropriate grade as outlined by the IB Program.

The grade you earn for your Metro transcript will reflect more of the body of
work completed throughout your enrollment in IB Biology class. Internal
assessments will be divided into two groups, formative and summative
assessments. Formative assessments (quizzes and tests) will be developed
for you to gain an understanding of the work you complete in class. These
assignments will be graded for your Metro grade but will not be reported for
your IB grade Formative activities will help you develop a better
understanding of things that need to be worked on in order to succeed in
your summative assessments. Summative assessments will be administered
later in the semester once numerous formative assessments have been
given to help develop your lab skills and techniques. These will be reported
as your IB grade and will reflect the Internal Assessment portion of your IB
grade.
Study Skills
In paper 2 section B, you are required to answer one (SL) or two (HL)
extended response questions. These are worth usually 20 marks. Content
makes up 18 of those marks, with ‘quality of answer’ making up the other
two. The questions are normally broken into three or four parts, with the
first parts just a few marks each. There will be at least one which is 8 or 9
marks.

Tips:
Practice. Ask your teacher for example Paper 2 questions and the mark
schemes so you can get used to them. Complete them by yourself and check
them as a group.
Use the 5-minutes reading time at the start of the exam to go through each
option and decide which will give you the best outcome.
Highlight the command terms, pay attention to the number of marks
available.
Practice. Look for caveats in the question such as ‘…using a named
example…‘ – without addressing these you will not get full marks.
Use scientific language appropriately. If you look on the mark schemes,
these are often underlined, meaning that you cannot be awarded a certain
mark without the correct terminology.
Practice. You might not have written a block of text for a while, so
strengthen those writing muscles!
Use English appropriately. It is expected that two parts of the question are
answered in prose style, but do not confuse this with flowery writing. Don’t
overstretch your language abilities, or you may confuse the examiner. Write
simply and clearly. Address the command terms.
Write logically and check your work. One quality mark is simply for the
completeness of the answer and the readability of the work – does the
examiner need to skip backward and forward to understand your idea or can
they read it once and get your meaning?
If you use diagrams or charts, make sure they are clearly labeled and that
you refer to them in the text. You can use pencil for these, but you must
NOT use colors.
Practice. The more you do, the more likely you are to spot patterns and go
into the exam feeling confident.
Read the question options carefully and select which you will answer. Your
"gut instinct" for which questions to answer might not be the best. Take a
few minutes to think of answers to EACH question before selecting the one
you feel like you can best respond. Remember, you want to select the
question in which you know the most overall about parts A, B and C. Be sure
you know what the question is asking. For example, don't answer a question
about speciation with a response about the limitations of the term species.

Once you have selected which question you will respond to, begin writing
an outline to your response to each part. Pay attention to the command
terms, so you actually address what the question is asking. The command
term "discuss" is one in which students often mistakenly "explain." When
asked to discuss, be sure you address alternative hypothesis and/or give
arguments for and against a claim. If you are asked to "compare", be sure
to include both similarities and differences and to include differences for both
items. For example, if asked to compare spermatogenesis and oogenesis,
you would not get a point for saying, "spermatogenesis creates 4
sperm." You would get a point for saying, "spermatogenesis creates 4
sperm, whereas oogenesis forms only 1 egg."

As you are drafting your response, predict how points will be awarded on the
mark scheme. If a question is worth 5 points, aim for AT LEAST 5 ideas. Use
the following as a guide:

- Define any key terms in the question.

- Where does the process happen? In what type of cell? In what
system? Where in the ecosystem?
- What happens? What is the outcome of the process?
- How does the process happen? Think of drafting a flow chart to show the
process. (Picture is worth 1000 words!)
- When does the process happen? What triggers the event?
- Why is this process important? What are the reasons, purpose,
and/or benefit?
- Given an example.
- Draw a labeled diagram.
- Are there any pros/cons? Alternatives? Limitations?
Write your final response using your outline as a guide. Be sure to use
legible handwriting that is dark enough to read from a scanned image. If
your response is illegible or not visible, you will not earn points.

Lastly, include a sentence for each prompt (A, B and C) that ties the prompt
to the others in the question. You can earn two "quality of construction"
points for a response that connects the parts of the question together.

The action verbs indicate the depth of treatment required for a given
syllabus statement. These verbs will be used in examination questions
and so it is important that students familiarize themselves with the
following definitions. This will be your first quiz in our class!

Analyze: to interpret data to reach conclusions.

Annotate: to add brief notes to a diagram or graph.
Apply: to use an idea, equation, principle, theory or law in a new situation.
Calculate: to find a numerical answer showing the relevant stages in the
working (unless instructed not to do so).
Comment: to give a judgment based on a given statement or result
of a calculation.
Compare: to give an account of similarities and differences between two (or
more) items, referring to both (all) of them
throughout.
Construct: to represent or develop in graphical form.
Deduce: to reach a conclusion from the information given.
Define: to give the precise meaning of a word, phrase or physical quantity.
Derive: to manipulate a mathematical relationship(s) to give a new equation
or relationship.
Describe: to give a detailed account.
Design: to produce a plan, simulation or model.
Determine: to find the only possible answer.
Discuss: to give an account including, where possible, a range of arguments
for and against the relative importance of various factors, or comparisons
of alternative hypotheses.
Distinguish: to give the differences between two or more different items.
Draw: to represent by means of pencil lines.
Estimate: to find an approximate value for an unknown quantity.
Evaluate: to assess the implications and limitations.
Explain: to give a detailed account of uses, reasons or mechanisms.
Identify: to find an answer from a given number of possibilities.
Label: to add labels to a diagram.
List: to give a sequence of names or other brief answers with
no explanation.
Measure: to find a value for a quantity.
Outline: to give a brief account or summary.
Predict: to give an expected result.
Show: to give the steps in a calculation or derivation.
Sketch: to represent by means of a graph showing a line and labeled but
unscaled axes but with important features (for 
example, intercept)
clearly indicated.
Solve: to obtain an answer using algebraic and/or numerical methods.
State: to give a specific name, value or other brief answer without
explanation or calculation.
Suggest: to propose a hypothesis or other possible answer

AP Biology Test Prep

Quantitative skills: This PDF will give you an idea of the analysis skills
stressed by the AP College Board. This is not much different than what we
do through lab work in IB but will give you an understanding of the concepts
they stress.
Varsity Tutors: This web site offers some practice tests for sub sets within
the AP Biology exam.
Practice Test Questions: This website offers practice questions for all of the
subject areas covered in the AP Biology course.
Grade Boundaries

Table above represent IB scores and grade boundaries.

GRADE IN CLASS

Your grade is in % and is built using a formula. All assignments, regardless

of points they are worth, will be converted to % and % grade will be entered
in the grade book.
Formula to be applied will be composed of following:

• Homework: 10% (readings, notes, packets, practice sheets,

questions from the textbook…)
• Classwork: 10% (what we do in class)
• Labs: 20% (completed, authentic work, write up in notebook plus
typed report following required lab format, to include full statistical
analysis)
• Quizzes: 25% (each section within the topic will be quizzed;
vocabulary; essential contents; IB style questions)
Everyone is expected to make quiz corrections. If you scored less
than 70% on the quiz, you will have one opportunity to re-quiz.
Additional quiz grade will be entered to serve as a buffer grade for
 initial low score. There is no re-quiz offered for scores higher than
70%.
• Unit Tests: 35% (detailed assessment of entire covered topic/unit;
composed of multiple choice section/constructive response and or
data section/essay portion)
Everyone is expected to make test corrections. If you scored less
than 70% on the Unit test, you may earn half lost points back and a
second test grade may be entered to buffer initial low score.
(Example: You score 58/100 on the test; obviously you have lost 42
points; with corrections you may gain back half of 42 which means
that your second test grade entered in the grade book would be
58+21= 79/100=79%)

On the end of each quarter I will check/grade your binder which must be
organized and must contain all required paperwork.

Late work

If you have excused absence (due to illness or family emergency, for which
a doctor/parent must provide an evidence such as note/email explaining the
circumstance and have informed the teacher about missing class in timely
manner), you will be able to turn in your late work within 24 hours of
homework being assigned and you missing a class without penalty points. All
other late work will be accepted within the 48 hour time window from the
original due date, with loss of 10% (24 hours late) or 20% loss (48% late).
After 48 hours are passed, late work will still be accepted until unit is
assessed and tested, however only PARTIAL CREDIT (up to 50%) will be
given.
If you notice that your graded paper is marked wrong for some reason, do
not yell, demanding instant change, wait until class is over and talk
to me about suspicious score.

If you are not sure why certain answer was marked as wrong, again, wait
until the end of the class and then talk to me.

If you have ANY concerns about IB Biology class you are in, you are
encouraged to set up an appointment with me after school or during
lunch time to discuss potential concern.

TUTORING

If struggling with particular concept, you need to arrange tutoring session

with me which will take place after school, day we agree on.
Additional option for tutoring might be during study hall, if you have it with
me or during my planning period (TBD).
You must come with clear expectation of the tutoring session, and be able to
articulate what exactly you need help with.
Tutoring sessions are not study session where your teacher is your study
buddy. Studying has to happen independently. Tutoring aims to additionally
explain the concept so that you understand the principal behind the content.

I will provide additional resources for you to utilize while studying at home.
These resources will be lecture power points, and various packets: U
(understandings) S ( skills) A (assessment) ’s for each lesson; student
workbook packets ; class handouts;

Should you have ant further questions for me, please don’t hesitate, ask me!

Have a great academically successful year!

Mrs. Selimovic-Milo
Tutoring Services
University of Michigan LSA Tutoring Services
Online Resources
Click for Biology
Excellent resource for review of each of the units of study. I would advise you to use
this tool to check your understanding of key concepts for each unit.
Past Exams with Answer keys
Study Guides
Set of study guides for all subject groups outline in the
2009 exams handbook.
Shmoop
Good website with thorough explanation of basic biology concepts. This does not go into
enough depth for many IB assessment statements but does give good information for
basic biological concepts.
Excel Error Bars
The link above outlines how to add error bars of different values for your data points.
Molecular Biology
Foldit
Protein folding game.
eteRNA
Protein building game.
Bioinformics
Clustal
Gene sequencing and protein sequence alignment tools
Ensembl
Genome database for eukaryotic organisms
National Center for Biotechnology Information
Biomedical and genomic database
SeaView
SeaView is a multiplatform, graphical user interface for multiple sequence alignment and
molecular phylogeny.

Lab Simulations
Glencoe Virtual Laboratory Investigation