Purpose and Nature of Activity

This activity calls for the students to do some research on their own. You may assign students to work individually or in groups. A list of suggested topics is given below. Each topic has a link to small amounts of information on the topic for you to use in evaluating the student projects. On the student page, the topics are listed, each with a link from which the students can begin their research.

Each student or group of students is to be assigned a topic from the list. You may choose to issue the topics or let the students pick. If you choose to have students work in groups, we offer this suggestion: divide the class into groups of three. From the fruits of their research, one student in each group will prepare a short paper (1-2 pages typewritten), one will give a short (1-2 minutes) presentation to the class, and one will prepare a poster to be displayed in the classroom or other suitable place. Assigning each group member a specific task can help ensure that each student does a fair share of the work involved. If you choose to have the students work individually, you may assign them to write a paper, give a presentation, prepare a poster, or any combination of the above.

Resources

Suggested Web sites are given for the students to begin their investigation, but these are only starting places. It is recommended that you require your students to keep a record of all their sources. This is important when they are using online resources, since cyberspace is home to many reputable information sources, and many unreliable sources as well. Encourage students to use good judgment in discerning reliable resources from unreliable ones. You may even require the students to cite a minimum number of print sources to ensure credibility.

Assessment

It is left to your discretion as how best to grade the students' work in this activity. An objective rubric for assessment is difficult to create as each team will be researching a different topic. To best assess student performance, it is recommended that you research the topics on your own using the links shown on the student page to give yourself adequate knowledge against which to gauge the students' work.

Relevant National Science Education Standards

Unifying Concepts and Processes — Many of the topics deal with complicated chemical and biological system interactions.

Physical Science — Chemical reactions, molecular structure, and interactions of energy and matter figure throughout the research topics.

Science and Technology — Many technologies are dealt with in the research topic. Some currently exist, and some are still experimental or hypothetical.

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives — Several of the research topics deal with the use of science and technology to meet challenges in the past, present, and future.