What To Include In Your High School Biology Syllabus

There are approximately 6 million things to prep for back to school, especially as a high school science teacher. You’re counting materials, testing equipment, agonizing over seating charts, and trying to remember how to lesson plan. All of a sudden you’re at the night before the first day and you realize you haven’t written your biology syllabus. Oops.

Why Do I Need a Biology Syllabus Anyway?

Your syllabus is SO important for starting the school year off smoothly. Your syllabus is your opportunity to put down in concrete writing what your students should expect from your course, and what you expect from your students. It’s your chance to be super clear with your class what they’re going to learn and what’s expected of them in order to be successful in your class. Having a thorough syllabus has even been known to save a teacher or two later in the year when a students claims they didn’t know the late work policy or classroom technology rules - you can point right on back to that beautiful syllabus you handed out on the first day of class. Read on for my best tips to putting together a thorough and effective syllabus for your biology course.

Your Name and Contact Information

It may seem obvious to include your name, but I have handed a syllabus out without my name and contact information in the past, so it’s worth mentioning. I make a header at the top of all pages of my syllabus that includes my name, email, classroom phone extension, and room number. It helps students know how to contact you if they need something, but it’s also helpful to be really clear about who you are and how to get in touch with you for family members of your students as well. The

Course Description

After my contact information, I include a little description of what biology is and a one- or two-sentence description of what students can expect to learn in my class - an elevator pitch of my biology class if you will.

Units

In the units section, I give a title for each unit. I do NOT lay out every topic and objective of the year in my syllabus (if you need that, grab my free biology scope and sequence here). I name my 11 units of biology here: Basics of Biology, Biochemistry, Cells, Cellular Respiration, Photosynthesis, Cell Growth and Reproduction, Genetics, DNA & RNA, Evolution, Ecology, and Biotechnology.

Due Dates and Late Work Policy

Trust me - have your due dates and late work policy listed in your assignment, and then model the policy for the first few assignments of the year. Spelling out your policy explicitly now will save you a few headaches later in the quarter.

Required Materials

This section is optional - maybe all your students need to show up with is themselves in your class. I require my students to come to class with a binder, looseleaf, a pen, a pencil, and their school-issues laptop every day. I also suggest that students have their own pack of colored pencils for various activities we complete during the year.

Grade Breakdown

I include a breakdown to show students how “heavy” each type of assignment is. I use my school-friendly headings for these: Notes, Classwork, and Homework (30%), Projects and Papers (20%), Exit Tickets and Quizzes (20%), and Unit Assessments (20%). I try to weigh assignments that students have access to resources for just slightly heavier so that work ethic is rewarded even for students who struggle a little more on exit tickets, quizzes, and exams.

Grading Scale

Your school probably created this for you, but it’s important to list this in your syllabus so that students are aware. I currently do not give plus or minus grades, and I grade on a 10-point scale, i.e., 90-100 is an A, 80-89 is a B, and so on.

Late to Class Policy

They’re high schoolers - just trust me on including this one.

Technology in Class Policy

Oh the ever-popular cell phone battle - maybe it doesn’t bother you, maybe it drives you crazy. Whatever your thoughts on technology (phones, watches, iPads, AirPods), just be sure to decide on one, communicate it here, and stick to it fairly with all students.

Class Rules

Students can probably glean your rules from the rest of the syllabus and from known school-wide rules, but always be crystal clear with what is and is not acceptable in the classroom. Discuss what types of behaviors will receive which consequences, and outline the types of behaviors that will lead to administration or parents getting involved.

Attendance Reminder

While I don’t have any power over school attendance policies, I try to do my due diligence and remind students that science courses are content-heavy and move quickly, and that attendance is important for success in class.

Academic Dishonesty Policy

Your school almost definitely has something of an academic dishonesty policy, so make sure to consult it before outlining yours in your syllabus. Give concrete examples of academic dishonesty, while emphasizing there are many ways to be dishonest and that students’ need to use their best judgement when completing work. Don’t forget to lay out the consequences to anyone violating the academic dishonesty policy.

Letters of Recommendation Policy

As this is a freshman/sophomore class, I still put a little blurb about writing LORs. I love supporting student goals when I can and including this has made students feel a little less nervous about approaching me if they need a recommendation for an application.

Acknowledgement of Class Policies and Expectations

I send home a syllabus with a third page that has all my classroom rules on it. Students and a parent initial each rule and sign the sheet, then return it to me during the first week of class. That way if I run into a problem with a student or parent claiming that they didn’t know a rule or expectation, I can pull it out and show that I did my due diligence with communicating my course expectations.

And that’s it! If you need a little more help putting together your course syllabus for biology, I’ve got you. Check out the exact syllabus I use for my biology class. All you need is a few tweaks like your name and contact info, and you’re ready for day 1 of biology!