Zoology Introduction Notes

Instructor: Mark Fontenot mfontenot@hbsd.net

I can be found for extra help before school from about 8:00-8:25 am, during my prep period, after school until about 4:00 pm, and other times by appointment. Or drop me an email and I will eventually reply. Face to face will work much better with me than Facebook! I encourage you to seek one-on-one help whenever you feel a little lost. It is something that most successful science students do frequently.

Course Description

Zoology is an elective science course devoted to the study of the animal kingdom. A year of regular biology is a prerequisite for the course. The evolution, classification, ecology and anatomy of the major groups of animals will be studied in some detail. Lecture/discussion, lab work, field work, reading will all be used. There will be a weekly individual research presentation made by each student and scored by classmates. There will be a weekly matching quiz covering the animal species that were presented about that week.

Grading

The approximate breakdown of your grade in this course will be as follows: • Labs and other activities- 25% of overall grade • Weekly presentations, participation and homework-45% of overall grade. • Tests and quizzes-30% of overall grade.

There will be a final exam given at the end of the semester that makes up a significant portion of the test part of your grade.

Materials

You will need the following materials with you when the bell rings to start class EVERY DAY: • Notebook dedicated to this course alone, so that it can be handed-in (not containing stuff you need for other classes). Laptop can substitute for notetaking. • Pocket folder dedicated to this course alone, so you always know where your in-progress work is, and have a place to keep handed-back work for later reference. • Scoring guide for presentations. • A writing utensil of your very own.

Rules

The school rules are spelled-out in detail in your student handbook. My classroom rules are much simpler, but I do want to emphasize that it takes a constant effort on everyone’s part to maintain an environment where learning is possible for us all, and where much valuable time is not wasted.

• Be on time and prepared for this class. • Be respectful. • Be nice or go away.

Late Work Policy:

Simple. Work turned in later than the due date will be accepted only when a student is returning from an excused or pre-arranged absence. If there is no excused absence, work received one day late will be graded for half credit. Later than that, it’s a zero. Basically, if you want credit for your work, then do it and hand it in on time.