Ms. MK Baker  About the Teacher 📧Email: mbaker@wcpss.net , mkbaker@ncsu.edu  📞School Telephone: 919.694.8130 🍎Science SMART Lunch: Thursdays 🌈 GSA: Tuesdays 👩‍🏫 StuCo: Fridays

Mrs. Cass McClellan Email: cmcclellan2@wcpss.net 📞School Telephone: 919.694.8130 🍎English SMART Lunch: Mondays 🧶Crochet Club: 1st and 3rd Fridays, lunch

Resources

Course Information

Expectations:

Assignments will be posted within Canvas. Class time will be dedicated to applied learning activities and higher-order thinking tasks such as case studies, discussions, lab work, field work, and project-based learning.  We do labs and activities on a regular basis that require access to the internet, so you will need to bring a laptop or tablet to class each day. 

Syllabus:

Course Description

In this course we will be combining the principles of AP Biology with the skills of AP Language and Composition, stirring in a bit of AP Research and some AP US History for good measure, and baking for 90 days to produce students who are capable of completing research at  the university level.

Units of Study

1. Virus and Bacteria Disease Prevention 
2. Heredity and Gene Linkage
3. Drugs, Hormones, and Cell Communication Problems
4. Bioethics and Genetic Engineering Technology - GLP
5. Cancer, Gene Expression, and Cell Cycle Regulation
6. Ongoing: Current Events (ongoing padlet?) Scientific Journalism

Midterm

Annotated bibliography and lab proposal for Independent Research (?)

Due March 1

Final Exam

Independent research project in 2 parts:

1. Academic Paper→ 2000 words; due May 3
2. Research Findings Presentation and Defense→ 5 minute presentation with 2-3 follow up questions from a panel of judges. Sign up for a time slot week of May 6

Scientific Journalism Assignment:

Throughout the semester, you will be doing some independent reading on scientific discoveries and advancements, and be thinking about both the content of these findings, as well as the style in which they are presented.  For the semester, you will choose ONE scientific journalist to study.  Every two weeks, you will share an article that they have written from the last 12 months to this padlet.  You will need to:

1. Read the article
2. Summarize the scientific discovery or advancement
3. Explain the significance of the content of the article, and connect it to at least one other concept from class or another article presented by one of your classmates.
4. Analyze the style that the article is written in (SPACE CAT).

At the end of the semester, you will write a cohesive analysis of the overall style of your journalist across all of their writing, and assess what about their style you like or dislike and why you feel that way.