REQUIRED PROJECT DIRECTIONS
Every Regents Earth Science student will be required to complete an Earth Science related project this year. It will count as 10 points on your Regents Final Exam and also as five classwork assignments in the last marking period.
There are three options from which you may choose to meet this 10 point requirement. The options are listed below with a brief description. More complete descriptions are included later in this packet.
1. Experimental: The student must be involved in the collection of experimental data.
2. Field Trip: The student must visit an Earth Science related location.
3. Career: The student must research an Earth Science related career and interview at least one person in that field.
The project will begin no later than January. All options will include certain mandatory parts to be completed by specific deadlines.
Listed below are the mandatory parts:
1. STATEMENT OF INTENT:
It must:
1) identify which of the three options you have chosen.
2) include a statement of purpose or a specific goal of the project.
3) be typed.
due date: January 21.
point value: 1.0 points credit for completion on time
2. PARENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT FORM:
After your teacher accepts your statement of intent, your parent or guardian must sign it indicating that she/he is aware of your project.
3. ROUGH DRAFT:
It must:
1) include all parts listed under specific option you have chosen.
2) be on time.
3) be written in complete sentence/paragraph form, using correct sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
4) be a minimum of 2 full pages double spaced and a maximum of 8 pages of text, not counting graphs, charts, diagrams, etc.
5) be typed, double spaced in a 12 font size and not Bold face..
4. FINAL DRAFT:
This should be a revision of the rough draft based on suggestions by your teacher.
You must also do at least one of the following in your project:
1) create a display
2) attend Science Congress*
* Note: if you choose to attend Science Congress, you must:
1) do the experimental option
2) be completed with project by March 15, 2000
3) submit an application in February
OPTION 1: EXPERIMENTAL
In this option for the project, the student must be involved in the collection of experimental data. The following steps should be included. Specific point values for each step are noted.
1) Purpose and Hypothesis:
The purpose should be a description of what you will investigate. The hypothesis should be an educated explanation as to what you think will happen. A hypothesis describes the relationship between variables. For example:
1) General: x will effect y.
2) Directional: As x increases/decreases, y will increase/decrease.
3) Null: A change in x will have no effect on y.
2) Procedure:
The procedure should be a description of how you did your investigation and a list of the materials you used.
3) Observations and Results:
This section should include a record of all the data you collected. Information may be presented in graphs, charts or as a daily log.
4) Conclusion:
The conclusion should involve an interpretation of your results which will help to indicate if your findings supported your hypothesis.
5) Experimental Analysis:
This part should include a list of problems encountered, and possible changes you would make if you were to repeat this experiment in the future.
OPTION 2: FIELD TRIP
The student must visit an Earth Science related location. The following steps should be included. Specific point values for each step are noted.
1) Introduction:
The introduction should answer the following questions:
- Where did you go? Give correct name.2) Background:
This part of your report should answer the following questions:
- Why is the area you visited significant to Earth Science?
- Why were you interested in studying this location?
- Include any other information necessary to understand your field trip.
3) Itinerary:
In this section, describe specifically what you did on your field trip. Be sure to include the order in which events occurred.
4) Observations:
In this section you should:
- Tell what you learned.
- If you had a guide, give the person’s name and list the questions you asked and the information that you received.
5) Conclusion:
In this section of your report you should give a personal evaluation of your field trip. Identify to whom you would or would not recommend this field trip.
OPTION 3: CAREER
The student must research an Earth Science related career and interview at least one person in that field. The following steps should be included. Specific point values for each step are noted.
1) Introduction:
In this first section of your report you should state the career and identify what area of Earth Science it involves. Explain why you chose this particular career. If you knew someone in the field ahead of time, identify that person.
Background:
In this section be sure to include the following:
- Identify the education that is required.
- List any special requirement(s) in addition to education
- Give the approximate salary range a person in this career should expect.
- Identify area(s) of the United States or world where job opportunities in this career could occur.
- Identify other careers this could lead to.
3) Interview:
This part of your report should be a summary of your contact(s). It should answer the following questions:
- Who did you contact and where does s/he work?
- How did you make the contact? (personal meeting, phone, letter, etc.)
- Does your contact person have a specific job title?
- List each question you asked followed by the answer. Need a minimum of 10 questions.
- If you shadowed someone in this career, describe the experience.
4) Evaluation/Conclusion:
In this section the student should:
- summarize what you learned from your experience.
- identify both the positives and the negatives of the career.
- describe how you feel about the career after you have researched it.
- explain why you would or would not choose this career.
- identify other career opportunities that you have discovered from your experience.
- state if your contact(s) would be willing to serve as a contact again in the future.
