Quarter Projects

Please note: starting in the fall of 2014, I will no longer be teaching Chemistry, so while these resources will remain available on my blog, they will not be updated until I teach Chemistry again. Feel free to email me if you have any questions at ccarman *at* kentschools *dot* net!

This page contains information about CP Chemistry quarter projects, which were worth 20% of each quarter's grade.

1st Quarter Project

Introduction

Each quarter, you will be required to complete a project outside of class that demonstrates your detailed understanding of a topic of your choice. Since 1st Quarter is all about the nature of Chemistry and science itself, your topic will be from that general subject area. Your project must be completed individually, will be due on Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013, and will be worth 50 points. You will also be required to participate in a "gallery walk" in class during the last week of the quarter; the write-up for your gallery walk will be worth 10 points.

Topics

You may choose a topic from one of the following three subject areas:

Your specific topic must be unique for your class period – first come, first served – and you must decide on your topic by Friday, October 4th. Your 1st Quarter Project Exploration assignment will also be due the same day through Google Drive, and it is worth 10 points. Your 1st Quarter Project Outline assignment will be due on Tuesday, October 15th and it is worth 10 points.

Project products

For this project, in order to demonstrate your understanding of your topic, you will create a poster (at least 22" x 28") that you will present to the class. All posters will be graded primarily for their information, but also for how well they explain your topic and how easy they are to understand. At minimum, your poster must include at least five images and at least five blocks of information. Exemplary posters will fully cover their topic using clean design, a well-organized layout, and lots of facts and information.

References/citations

All projects must include a reference sheet of citations to original source material using the APA style guidelines. Your project must reference at least three different sources, one of which must be a print source (i.e., not an Internet source). You may NOT use WikiPedia as a primary source. Using source material without referencing is plagiarism and will severely affect your grade.


2nd Quarter Project

Introduction

Each quarter, you will be required to complete a project outside of class that demonstrates your detailed understanding of a topic of your choice. Since 2nd Quarter is about chemical quantities and measurements, your topic will be from that general subject area. Your project must be completed individually, will be due on Thursday, January 9th, 2014 by 7:25am and will be worth 50 points. You will also be required to give a short (3-5 minute) presentation on your topic in class during the last week of the quarter; this presentation will be worth 15 points. Finally, you will write a short reflection on your classmates' presentations on Google Drive; this reflection will be worth 10 points.

Topics

You may choose a topic from one of the following three subject areas:

Your specific topic must be unique for your class period – first come, first served – and you must decide on your topic by Friday, December 6th. Your 2nd Quarter Project Exploration assignment will also be due the same day through Google Drive and it is worth 10 points.

Project products

For this project, in order to demonstrate your understanding of your topic, you will create a Google Slides presentation that you will present to the class. All presentations will be graded primarily for their information, but also for how well they explain your topic and how easy they are to understand. At minimum, your presentation must include the following:

Exemplary presentations will fully cover their topic using clean design, a well-organized layout, and lots of facts and information. You may also use similar presentation programs for your project such as Apple Keynote or OpenOffice Impress, but you must upload your presentation to Google Drive. Your presentation file must be turned in electronically on Google Drive by 7:25am on Thursday, January 9th, 2014. After everyone has presented, you will complete a reflection assignment via Google Drive by Tuesday, January 14th.

References/citations

All projects must include a reference slide of citations to original source material using the APA style guidelines. Your project must reference at least three different sources, one of which must be a print source (i.e., not an Internet source). You may NOT use WikiPedia as a primary source. Using source material without referencing is plagiarism and will severely affect your grade.


3rd Quarter Project

Introduction

Each quarter, you are required to complete a project outside of class that demonstrates your detailed understanding of a topic of your choice. Since 3rd Quarter is about heat and energy, your topic will be from that general subject area. Your project must be completed individually, will be due on Tuesday, March 18th, 2014 by 7:30am and will be worth 50 points. You will also be required to do a short summary of three other students' projects; these summaries will be worth 10 points total.

Topics

You may choose a topic from one of the following four subject areas:

Your specific topic must be unique for your class period – first come, first served – and you must decide on your topic by Friday, February 28th. Your 3rd Quarter Project Exploration assignment will also be due the same day through Google Drive, and it is worth 10 points. Your 3rd Quarter Project Outline assignment will be due on Tuesday, March 11th and it is worth 10 points.

Project products

For this project, in order to demonstrate your understanding of your topic, you will create a multimedia project that you will then share in a small group setting. All projects will be graded primarily for their information, but also for how well they explain your topic, how easy they are to understand and how neatly they are arranged. It is expected that you will present your topic in an informative, third-person voice, but you are encouraged to consider other ways (such as a narrative, a semi-fictional journal entry, a conversation between two scientists, etc.). Your project must include a links/references page with at least four references in the APA style.

References/citations

All projects must include citations to original source material using the APA style guidelines. Your project must reference at least five different sources, all of which may be Internet sources. You may NOT use WikiPedia as a primary source. Using source material without referencing is plagiarism; projects submitted without references will not be graded.


4th Quarter Project

Introduction

Each quarter, you are required to complete a project outside of class that demonstrates your detailed understanding of a topic of your choice. Since 4th Quarter is about water, acids & bases and organic chemistry, your topic will be from that general subject area. Your project, which must be completed individually, will be due Tuesday, May 20th, 2014 by 7:30am and will be worth 50 points. You will create your paper on or upload it to Google Drive as a Microsoft Word document (.doc) or OpenOffice Writer document (.odp). There will be no follow-up assignment this quarter.

Topics

You may choose a topic from one of the following four general subject areas:

Your specific topic must be unique for your class period – first come, first served – and you must decide on your topic by Friday, May 2nd. Your 4th Quarter Project Outline assignment will be due on Friday, May 9th through Google Drive, and is worth 10 points. Your 4th Quarter Project Rough Draft assignment will be due on Wednesday, May 14th through Google Drive, and is worth 10 points.

Project products

For this project, in order to demonstrate your understanding of your topic, you will write a short research paper. All papers will be graded primarily for their information, but also for how well they explain your topic, how easy they are to understand, and for correct grammar and formatting. It is expected that you will write your paper in an informative, third-person voice, but you are encouraged to consider other ways of presenting your topic (such as a narrative, a semi-fictional journal entry, a conversation between two scientists, etc.). At minimum, your paper must include the following:

Papers not meeting these criteria will lose points and, as a result, will receive a lower grade.

References/citations

All papers must include citations to original source material using the APA style guidelines. Your paper must reference at least four different sources, one of which must be from a print source or electronic journal. You may NOT use WikiPedia as a primary source.

Using source material without referencing is plagiarism; papers submitted without references will not be graded. The APA citation style is explained and demonstrated here: APA Style References Handout

All papers will be scanned electronically for plagiarism – DO NOT "COPY & PASTE" YOUR PAPER FROM OTHER SOURCES.