High School Biology - Honors: Full Year -Part 1 of 2 [Ongoing]
What's included
1 live meeting
1 in-class hours per weekHomework
1 hour per week. Depending on the learners and the pace of each session, there may be some amount of homework in this class in order to reinforce what we learn in each class.Assessment
Assessments are given as a self-check for students to check for comprehension. Students can take them as open-note or closed-note quizzes. They can also retake the quizzes as many times as they want. Therefore, they are not official assessments like official quizzes and tests in traditional school systems.Grading
Students can see their own quiz grades after each attempt. I do not keep a gradebook. I can provide the highest and the lowest grades from the attempts for each quiz upon request from parents. Please keep in mind that they are not official grades since students can use their notes and can retake them an unlimited number of times.Class Experience
US Grade 8 - 11
Intermediate Level
In this course, students will learn various fundamental concepts covered in high school biology level 1 (US curriculum). A comprehensive overview of the topics will be provided in each class before addressing the finer details. Foundational topics may be introduced at a high level initially, with deeper dives into specific areas in subsequent lessons. We will start by exploring the intriguing question of what defines something as a living organism. From there, we will examine the steps of scientific method and engage in meaningful discussions as we apply these steps to hypothetical experiments. Afterwards, our lessons move progressively from studying the smallest unit of non-living things -an atom- to the smallest unit of living things -a cell. Next, we will transition into topics from genetics and molecular biology. Upon successfully completing this course, students will have acquired a thorough understanding of diverse cellular and molecular processes that occur within living organisms. I will be using a combination of presentations, worksheets, videos and simulations to teach this course. I will utilize online assessments to check for student understanding. Worksheet packets that go along with the presentations will be provided. Students are expected to take some notes as they fill in the blanks on the handouts. This class is an interactive class; when in doubt, students are encouraged to ask questions. I will be assisting students while they work. Depending on the pace of the class, students may have some amount of homework. The recording of each session will be available to enrolled students after attending one live session (as long as there are students present in each session). This is meant to help learners review or catch up if they miss anything during class as the class may have diverse learners. Both regular and honors student are welcome to join. Students at both levels typically learn the same topics in high school; the main difference is in how they are tested and how much detail they are expected to know. Honors students are tested on more details and at a more difficult level than regular students. Therefore, some of my online quizzes will be optional for regular level students. This is a suitable course for home-schooled students and for students who are currently enrolled in high school biology. If your child prefers a 1:1 learning environment, I would be happy to set up 1:1 sessions that cover the topics from this course. Please reach out if you prefer 1:1 tutoring sessions as opposed to group sessions. ⚠️Please check the meeting dates around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year times as we won't have meetings on and around the holidays. Meeting dates may vary around the following time periods: ***Winter Break: Christmas to New Year's day ***Spring Break: second week of April ⚠️No classes during the week of March 10th =>Students are welcome to join for just one week, a few weeks or the whole course as the class is an ongoing class. Please make sure that the learner is comfortable with earlier topics within a single unit either from school or from self learning. You can reach out to me if you plan on signing up after a specific unit has started. I can set up a private tutoring session to help you catch up. 🌲 ➡️SECTION 1 Began: 🍇➡️SECTION 2 Begins: 🍄➡️SECTION 3 Begins: 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 1 🌲SECTION 1: 📚UNIT 1- Characteristics of Life? (1) =>Online Quiz 📚UNIT 2- Scientific Method (2) =>Online Quiz 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 2 🌲SECTION 1: Week of 📚UNIT 3- Chemistry of Life 1: Periodic Table and Atoms (3) =>Online Quiz 📚UNIT 3- Chemistry of Life 2: Chemical Bonds (4) =>Online Quiz 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 3 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Nov. 5- Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 3- Chemistry of Life 3: Properties of water (5) =>Online Quiz 📚UNIT 3- Chemistry of Life 4: Structure and function of macromolecules 1 (6) =>Carbohydrates & Lipids 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 4 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Nov. 12- Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 3- Chemistry of Life 5: Structure and function of macromolecules 2 (7) =>Nucleic Acids & Protein =>Online Quiz: Macromolecules 📚UNIT 4: Cell Structures & Functions 1 (8) =>Cell theory =>Common parts of all cells =>Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Cells =>Online Quiz =>assignment: at home lab [materials for lab: salt, water, carrot or gummy bears or both] 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 5 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Nov. 26- Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 4: Cell Structures & Functions 2 (9) =>discussion about the lab =>Cell boundaries =>Organelles 1 📚UNIT 4- Cell Structures & Functions 3 (10) =>Organelles 2 =>Online Quiz 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 6 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Dec. 3- Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 4- Cell Structures & Functions 3 (11) =>Cell Transport: Passive vs. active transport =>Pause & Review Cell =>Online Quiz 📚UNIT 5- Cellular Processes: making and using food (12) =>Autotrophs vs. Heterotrophs =>Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration (Introduction ONLY, no detailed biochemical steps) 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 7 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Dec. 10- Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 6- Cell Cycle & Cell Division (13) =>Genes and chromosomes =>Mitosis 📚UNIT 7- Reproduction (14) =>Asexual vs. sexual reproduction =>Meiosis =>Online Quiz 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 8 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Dec. 31- Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 8- Genetics 1 (15) =>Mendelian inheritance =>Introduction to Punnett square 📚UNIT 8- Genetics 2 (16) =>non-mendelian inheritance =>Punnett square practice problems 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 9 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Jan. 7- Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 8- Genetics 3 (17) =>Genetic disorders =>Pedigree Analysis =>Practice problems 📚UNIT 8- Pause and Review day (18) =>Pause & Review Genetics =>Q & A =>Online quiz 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 10 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Jan. 14- Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 9- Molecular Biology 1 (19) =>Central Dogma of molecular biology =>DNA Structure: major discoveries =>DNA Replication =>practice problems 📚UNIT 9- Molecular Biology 2 (20) =>RNA structure =>Transcription =>mRNA processing =>practice problems 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Week 11 🌲SECTION 1: Week of Jan. 21 - Tuesday & Thursday 📚UNIT 9- Molecular Biology 3 (21) =>Protein structure =>Translation =>Genetic code & mutations =>practice problems 📚UNIT 9- Pause and Review day (22) =>Pause & Review Molecular Biology =>Q & A =>Online quiz ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: =>class may run over the allotted time (by 5 to 10 minutes) at times depending on the class constitution and student needs =>earlier topics may continue to the subsequent class depending on the pace of the learners; please contact the teacher about the topic if you are joining in the middle of the course. =>I will leave the zoom session if nobody shows up within the first 5 minutes of each session Refund Policy: All classes running week after week have a standard refund policy: "Cancel anytime. No refunds for past payments. Most recent payment can be refunded within 24 hours of purchase and prior to the first meeting of the payment period."
Other Details
Parental Guidance
We may or may not use all the external resources listed under materials. Students will not need to make an account for accessing the external resources. Some of the resources are used only on the teacher's side to teach while sharing the screen.
Supply List
Materials to bring to class: -a pencil, an eraser -a printed copy of the handout I provide Prerequisites: -ability to follow instructions and take notes
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Teacher expertise and credentials
New Jersey Teaching Certificate in Science
=>Grades 5-12 Certified (2015) Chemistry and Biology Teacher with experience in teaching various science courses to middle school and high school students in the school and online
=>ETS Recognition of Excellence in General Sciences and in Biological Sciences
=>Experienced in tutoring various science subjects & in teaching students from age 4 to 40+
=>B.A in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
=>Ph.D. and 3 years of Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences
Reviews
Live Group Class
$34
weekly1x per week
60 min
Completed by 7 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 13-18
5-10 learners per class