Timeline:
What is to be Done and When
This project will take the whole school year to accomplish.
It will take a lot of discipline on the part of you, the students, but the
results should be something you can be proud of beyond just this year.
You will also be making your own timeline for the work you
will do with your team
Final
Product: The Bottom Line
What you are to accomplish: A presentation to the school,
public officials, the community, and your parents sharing what you learned
about flooding on local rivers in a formal presentation.
A
Map: What Has to Happen
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To get to our goal you will need to know about flooding
on rivers, watershed, hydrology, ecology, and the urbanization of a watershed.
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You will need to learn specifics about the river you are
studying and that means real experiments to determine the parameters of
the river that we see.
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You will need to know the quality of the water in the
river so you can determine the problems beyond the hydrology (water) that
flooding causes.
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You will have to understand what can be done and what
is desired to be done to prevent property damage along the river.
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You will have to collaborate with another school and with
experts in the fields of hydrology, ecology, and government policy to
see what is possible to solve these problems.
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You will have to learn about the scientific method and
about technology to collect, analyze, and present the findings of your
science.
Collaboration:
Working with another School
You will be working with another school too far to call
or visit often. This means using electronic mail and other electronic methods
(faxes, video-conferencing, posting to bulletin boards, and web page presentation).
This will mean learning new skills but also being honest and responsible
so that this is meaningful collaboration and isn't abused. You will need
to understand and sign the acceptable use form from your school to be allowed
to participate in this collaboration.
Grades:
The "G" Word
Does this replace grades? No and we are sorry about that,
but grades are given and we as teachers will need to have some form of assessment
to make sure you are learning the science you need to learn for the next
grade. Your parents will also need to be informed about your progress towards
meeting those standards that the next grade requires. If you participate
in this project there is no doubt that you will learn not only all the science
you need to learn, but also learn about yourself and the importance of an
individual in a team to help the world around them.
Grading:
The Rubric Rests with You
Some of the rubric (the way we determine the grade) for
assessing you has been established by your teachers based on certain requirements
of the school.. This rubric can be changed by you, added or edited it to
better fit exactly what we want to have accomplished. At Kingswood we need
benchmarks for each of the trimesters and at Lawton we need to have benchmarks
for the quarters. A benchmark will be where we think we should be with our
project at that point. It should include some assessment of what has been
done by each individual, and what has been learned by each individual. What
you are tested on is what you are learning. What you are judged on is what
you are working on. We need to set these early each grading period so we
are all clear on how grades are to be assigned for the work done.
Journal
or Notebook: Keeping Track of What You Do
This is a scientist tool and one your teacher and team will
use to see what you are doing and what you need to do. This is a bound book
with numbered pages that you write in every day you work.
Homework:
Not to Worry
Homework is what you do at home to learn and finish tasks
that you can't finish at work. Twenty to thirty minutes of homework per
night in science would be best. Sometime there will be little or none but
you will make up for it at other times. Homework will be set by your group
and your project and to get ready for some assessment tests to see how much
science you are learning.
Nothing
Will Be Left Out: All will be Covered
All of the key concepts for science at your grade level
will be found in the projects as you do them. Your teachers will see that
you know what you are to learn to be prepared for science next year and
will assess your progress towards learning those concepts.