| Later in the year each student will be assigned a Science Current Event
each month. This assignment is a major assignment worth 5 quiz
grades or half a test grade. Each student is given one full
month to complete this assignment. Do not wait to do it the
night before its due. Procrastination is not an excuse. The
following is a detailed instruction sheet that will help you be
successful. Luck has nothing to do with success.
" 5 P's =
"Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance."
Task: Once a month
you will be expected to locate, reference (work cited-
bibliography), read, summarize, develop a position/opinion,
orally present an article from a publication (newspaper- less
than 2 weeks old/ magazine- less than 1-2 months old,
internet- as current as possible.)
Objective: To write a
brief summary, develop an opinion/reaction and orally present
the information, for one minute to the class. This is an
exercise to strengthen reading, writing and comprehension of
non-fiction material, as well as public speaking skills.
Step by Step to Earn 100% "step
right up"
Step 1.) Find a science
related article that interests you. This can be
difficult and time consuming because some articles are very
technical and beyond your reading level. Newspapers
are the easiest reading unless it says its for youth reader.
The New York Times Tuesday edition has a Huge Science section.
Look on my web page for news
links. (Avoid
natural disasters like earth quakes, hurricanes, tornados etc.
unless they cover the prediction, avoidance, measurement or
science of it and they are not about a more social issue of
Human loss and suffering.)
Step 2.) Make sure you
record the important information of where you got the article,
who wrote it, what page it is on, the date of the article,
etc. This is called referencing the article. Many
newspapers will not seem to have an author but they have
something like "(Chicago) AP"
listed at the beginning of the article. That is the author....
it means a staff writer for the Associated
Press in Chicago wrote the
article. This information needs to
be substituted or recorded in a special format as shown below:
Type of article
Proper format
Newspaper-
Author, "Title of Article", Date,
Title of Newspaper, Section & Page Number
Magazine-
Author, "Title of Article", Date,
Title of Newspaper, Section & Page Number
Internet-
Author. Title of Item. [Online] Available
http://address/filename, Date of document or download.
Step 3. Read
the article...... Read slowly, ask questions in your head
about the article. What did I just read? What is the author
trying to say. How will this effect me? Does the author have an
agenda / reliable? Take notes... Who? what? where? when? why?
How?
Step 4. Summarize
the article. Decide what is the main idea or key points
of the article. The 5 W's. Communicate in complete sentences
what the article was mainly about. You may quote the article....
but do not put your name another person's work. It's the same as
stealing and that would be plagiarism!
Step 5. Write
your reaction to the article. In a closing statement or
paragraph, briefly state your opinion/ reaction to the new
information you learned. (Avoid saying things like it was
cool, interesting, neat, I learned stuff.) Finding an article
where you can take a position is MUCH easier to develop a
position. P.S. you are entitled to your opinion... It is not
important that you figure out what I want to hear but that you
thought it out and can support your position/ opinion/ feelings.
Step 6. Present
to the class an oral summary of the article in 1-3 minutes.
You may read from portions of the article, from note cards or
from memory.
|
