Final assignments:

Book Essay and Synthesis Project-- descriptions below:

Writing about Reading: the Final Essay

So you’ve done it! You’ve finished your evolution book (or at least a good chunk of it). Now is your opportunity to share with us, your teachers, the rich thinking you’ve done while reading and reflecting on your book. Below you will find several options for essay topics. Please choose one on which to write a skillful and thoughtful paper. Feel free to quote text from your book, but it should make up only a small portion of your total writing.

CRITICAL INFORMATION!!

No matter which questions you choose to respond to, your paper should meet the following expectations:

Typed, at least 2-3 pages in length (using the equivalent of 12 point font)
grammatically correct, free of spelling errors (remember, spell check only checks if a group of letters is a word, not if it is the right word!)
be labeled with your name and a descriptive title

An OUTLINE of your essay is due this Wednesday, May 24. Your outline should be detailed enough to show an outside viewer (like your parent or teacher) what you want to say in response to the questions, why you have organized the essay as you have, and connections between your ideas (logical flow). If you would like help getting started on your outline or organizing your thoughts, please talk to one of the teachers.

The ESSAY is due Wednesday, May 31.

ESSAY TOPICS

How has your understanding of the world changed in a major way this trimester because of what you read and what we learned in Evolution class?

What idea in evolutionary theory (discussed in your book) does not seem right to you? What flaws do you find in it? What makes sense about it? What alternate explanations make more sense to you?

If you were to place the book on an evolutionary tree, what ideas would come before and after it? What ideas allowed it to evolve into what it is? Where could the ideas/author/book go in the future? (Another way of thinking of it… If this book were a species, describe its evolutionary path.)

IN ORDER TO LEAVE CLASS TODAY, YOU MUST ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

When is the outline due? When is the essay due?

When should you turn in a rough draft of your essay for feedback (optional)?

When should you get started on your outline?

How long should your essay be?

How many of the topics do you need to respond to?

Do you know what topic you want to do already? If so, what?

If not, when are you going to decide?

Evolution Synthesis Project 9th-10th Grade Science

synYtheYsis \(snth-ss)\ n. the composition or combination of often diverse parts or elements so as to form a coherent whole

Your challenge is to create a synthesis of your learning from our study of evolution. Using one of the formats listed below, your goal is to effectively communicate your understanding of evolution, putting together as many concepts as you can into a coherent, connected presentation. Projects will be displayed at the final exhibition at the end of project week.

Think of all that we learned this trimester… cosmology, the solar system, origin of life, history of life on earth, classification of life, evolutionary theory, genetics, human evolution, biotechnology… How could you tie it all together into a creative visual format?

Due Date: Wednesday May 31st (At the beginning of class!)

Possible formats for your project:

Web site
Detailed graphic organizer
Poster
Painting
Children’s book
Comic Book
Short play

Animation
Powerpoint
Science Fiction Story
3-Dimensional Concept Sculpture
Video (minimally-edited)
Research paper on an advanced evolutionary topic

Here’s how your project will be evaluated:

	Outstanding	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor
Used class time productivelyà	In addition to consistently making productive use of class time, the student also put in extra time outside of normal class hours.	Consistently used the entire class time to work efficiently on the project.	Used class time to work efficiently on the project, with only minor exceptions.	Often used class time well, but had periods of inaction where teacher had to intervene to encourage student to get to work.	Substantial periods of inaction during class. Teacher often had to intervene to encourage student to work.
Included many different conceptsà	Incorporated more than 25 separate concepts that we studied this spring.	Incorporated more than 20 separate concepts that we studied this spring.	Incorporated more than 15 separate concepts that we studied this spring.	Incorporated more than 10 separate concepts that we studied this spring.	Incorporated less than 10 separate concepts that we studied this spring.
Effectively tied together concepts, showing connections and relationshipsà	Connected and related ideas so deeply that the project illuminates the science of evolution in new, exciting ways.	Connected ideas with coherent theme(s) and unifying structure in a way that shows excellent analysis and understanding.	Connected ideas with coherent theme(s) and unifying structure.	Connected some of the ideas to each other, but lacked coherent theme(s) and unifying structure.	No attempt to connect ideas and show relationships.
Presentation shows neatness, clarity, creativity, craftsmanshipà	Presentation is professionally crafted—of a quality and level of creativity rarely seen in high school.	Presentation is exceptionally well crafted and highly creative, leading to effective communication of ideas.	Presentation is neat and clear, showing solid craftsmanship that supports effective communication.	Presentation includes some elements of good craftsmanship, but is lacking in others.	Presentation is clearly deficient in terms of craftsmanship.

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Project proposal—

On a separate sheet of paper, submit a plan for your synthesis project. You need to get this approved before you can proceed. Include the following in your proposal:

Your name(s)
Format— What will your project look like?
Content—Chart out your ideas for what information will be included in your presentation, and how it will be organized.
Key elements—List some of the key elements you have to do well in order to make this a high quality presentation.
Collaboration—If you are working with partner(s), describe how you will utilize all members of the group, keep everyone busy, and divide up tasks.