Independent+Study

Everyone is required to complete an exit project. An exit project is a researched based project where a group identifies a question or problem and designs a procedure to collect data in order to find the answer. An exit project is similar to a science fair project however more data collection and research are required. An exit project can cover any area of science (biology, chemistry, ecology, physics, geology, etc); however a GREEN theme should be considered. Your project should correspond to an environmental issue or you should be able to make a connection to an issue that affects our society.
 * EXIT PROJECT **

There are 3 types of projects from which students are able to choose: 1.Controlled Experiment-A controlled experiment is what we have studied in 6 th  and 7 th  grades. A list of possible controlled experiment ideas will be given to you.

2.Fieldwork-In a fieldwork project, students answer a question by making and recording field observations usually about an animal. Examples of fieldwork: Observe animal migration patterns or observe animal behaviors

3.Secondary Research In a secondary research project, students use data obtained online to answer a question. Examples of secondary research: compare weather trends such as hurricanes and/or tornadoes; track the prevalence of diseases in certain geographical regions such as asthma, influenza, or West Nile virus.

__Exit Project Outline __ I.Background Research II.Question or Problem III.Variables and Hypothesis <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">IV.Materials <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">V.Procedure <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">VI.Data Tables and Observations <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">VII.Graphs <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">VIII.Conclusion <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">IX.Bibliography

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You will be allowed to work with fellow students to collect data, however each student must submit their own work to be assessed. It is each student’s responsibility to submit his or her completed work on time.

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Exit Project Kits <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">The following is a list of possible ideas for your exit project. These kits are available for purchase. They contain all materials needed to perform your study. The price of each kit will be divided by the number of students who choose to investigate that topic.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Air Pollution Assay Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Lichens are extremely sensitive to air pollution. Their decreasing numbers in a particular location is an indication of increasing air pollution. You will use these lichens to test how polluted the air is from different locations. $85.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Soil Test Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Students can perform up to 50 safe, easy, hands-on tests for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels using nonhazardous TesTab® testers. Each kit includes the necessary apparatus, simple diagrammed instructions, and laminated color chart.$45.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">GREEN Estuary Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Water quality tests include coliform bacteria, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, pH, phosphate, temperature, and turbidity. If you want to test the Hudson River you should purchase this kit. $65.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Pondwater Tour Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Each student collects water samples and makes measurements of pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, and ammonia using foil-sealed reagent tablets. If you want to test Central Park ponds you should order this kit. $90.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Pollution Effects on Phosphate and Nitrate Kit* <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Students collect water samples from local streams, lakes, and rivers then set up controlled experiments to determine the qualitative and quantitative effects of adding phosphate and nitrate compounds. Over a period of 10 days, students observe the proliferation of algae and bacteria in the test samples.$85.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Decomposition Kit* <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Rates of decomposition of various types of materials and influence of soil type on decomposition are studied. $95.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Natural Recyclers-Study of Decomposition Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">If you buried a newspaper in a landfill today, your students could still read the print in 75 years— unless we teach students how to let nature’s recyclers do their work. This kit lets students observe and compare the biodegradability of various materials in a range of environments over a period of 8–10 weeks.$70.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Acid Indigestion Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Students investigate acids, bases, buffers and the concept of pH. Students determine the neutralizing ability of different antacids and compare the buffering ability of aspirin to buffered aspirin.$65.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Wind Power Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Using kit materials, students construct a wind turbine complete with electric generator, adjustable rotors, and wind speed indicator. They can then conduct more than 20 experiments with the device, including using different numbers of rotor blades, blade angles and profiles, wind speeds, gear ratios, and more. Other experiments demonstrate the ability to use the turbine’s mechanical energy to lift a heavy weight or to generate electrical power to light an LED or charge a battery. During these experiments, students learn about the physics of force and motion as it applies to wind power technology. $70.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Determining Agricultural Resources Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Researching local agricultural products and practices is the first step students take in this investigation of agricultural sustainability. Next, they experiment with several farming methods and consider alternative means of growing food. Finally, they apply their findings and develop plans to meet the agricultural needs for a community.$95.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Conserving Resources Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">To explore the concept of conservation, students calculate the ecological footprint produced from their everyday tasks such as driving and eating. Using a Web site, students estimate a more complete footprint to determine the number of planets needed to sustain the human population. Finally - students follow a set of guidelines as they make decisions that determine how sustainable their island community is from one generation to the next.$105.00

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Climate Patterns and Species Distribution <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Students study the influence of climate patterns on the distribution of species by exposing protist cultures to different temperatures over a period of 3 days. Each day, students make observations and sample the population to calculate the distribution of the different protist species. Using their observations of the protist populations, students then consider real-life scenarios.$95

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">LC50 Aquatic Toxicity Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Students are introduced to static toxicity tests used by the EPA and other health and environmental organizations to set water quality standards. During the lab, students prepare various concentrations of ammonium sulfate, a fertilizer component, and introduce Daphnia magna into their solutions. After 24 hours, students observe the mortality percentage of Daphnia in each concentration and determine the LC50 of ammonium sulfate.$80

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Nitrogen Cycle Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Students will observe the nitrogen cycle at work by growing clover both with and without Rhizobium, a nitrogen-fixing bacterium. They will compare the biomass and nitrogen content of the soil to un-inoculated clover to understand how nitrogenous compounds are cycled through the aid of bacteria.$70

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Population Growth and Carrying Capacity Kit <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">The fast reproduction rate of duckweed makes it a perfect organism for studying population growth. Students first predict what changes will take place within a population in a closed system. After creating a closed-system environment for duckweed, students investigate their predictions by completing regular counts of the population over a 3- to 4-week period. Using the collected data, students graph the population data, calculate growth rate, and determine the carrying capacity of the system.$70 <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">

**<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">TIME LINE OF EXIT PROJECT ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**September-** choose group member and decide on topic <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **Topic due Wednesday, September 26h**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**October-** decide on exit project idea and begin research <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **Money for kits due Wednesday, October 17th** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **Research questions and answers (5) due Friday, October 19th**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**November-** combine research and write research paper with bibliography and start lab report <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **Research paper (typed) due Friday, November 2nd** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **Question, Hypothesis, Materials, and Procedure (all typed) due Friday, November 16th**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**December-** Begin project and collect data <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**December typed data table, observations, and results due Friday, December 14th**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**January**- conduct investigation again and collect more data <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **January typed data table, observations, and results due Friday, January 18th**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**February-** conduct investigation a third time and collect more data
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">February typed data table, observations, and results due Friday, February 15th **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**March-** Examine data, average results, and graph data
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Averaged data, results, and graphs due Friday, March 15th **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**April-** Write conclusion <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **Complete Lab Report due Friday, April 26th**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**May-** edit conclusion and submit final lab report <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> **Exit Project Presentation due Friday, May 24th**

You will be expected to write a research paper about your science topic.
 * == Due Date == || == Assignment == ||
 * || Project Submission via google form ||
 * || Informal Research ||
 * == == || Questions and Research ||
 * == == || === Background research paper and bibliography (easybib or bibme.org) via googledocs. ===

Requirements: 1. Introductory Paragraph a. explain what your project and what you will be investigating b. explain why you choose this topic c. why is this project important d. 4-6 quality sentences

2. Three Body Paragraphs Body paragraphs are to inform the reader about your project, such as what you will be measuring and its importance. a. each body paragraph should explain a component of your project (for example if you are water testing, one of your body paragraphs might include information on the type of tests you will be conducting and some information about what they measure) b. these paragraphs must be organized by topic. c. each paragraph should have a quote from your research and make sure you cite the source. (for example: The American Cancer Society predicts that, “blah blah blah.” d. most of the information for the body paragraphs should come from your summaries of your research  e. 5-7 quality sentence

3. Closing Paragraph a. summaries your project and what you will be studying b. explain what you think will happen with your project c. summarize again why this project is important d. 4-6 quality sentences

4. Bibliography a. must use [|www.easybib.com] b. each source must include the website, author (if one is given), date the webpage was update (if one is listed), and the date you used the website. c. sources should be the same you used for your research, all websites included in your research should be included in your bibliography.

Plagiarism will not be tolerated! If your paper contains plagiarized statements, you will not receive a passing grade and your parents will be notified.*

Grading Each Paragraph will be graded based on the following: 1. Content is relative to the topic 2. Correct grammar and spelling 3. The context flows (hint use transition words such as: and, because, therefore, since, however, etc) 4. Paragraph is written in student’s own language (no plagiarism!) 5. Paragraph is appropriate length

Intro Paragraph 1. Includes 1-5 stated above 2. Fully explains topic and its importance

Body Paragraphs 1. Includes 1-5 stated above 2. Includes a properly written quote

Closing Paragraphs 1. Includes 1-5 stated above 2. Fully summarizes the topic 3. Includes your prediction about the investigation

Bibliography You are expected to write a well formatted bibliography. || Requirements 1. The question states the manipulated variable and the responding variable, and is testable (ex: How does manipulated variable affect responding variable?).
 * || === Question, Hypothesis and variables on googledocs ===

2.The hypothesis predicts the effect that changing the manipulated variable will have on the responding variable, and explains the reason for the prediction using scientific reasoning (“because…”) that is supported by cited background research as noted in the bibliography section.

3. The manipulated, responding and control variables are clearly identified. || Requirements 1. Materials are listed using bullet points 2. A step-by-step procedure including materials is described in enough detail to repeat the investigation, and details seem consistent with the project overall. || Requirements 1. Data table(s) are accurate and include correct labels (titles, correct units of measure), and are relevant to the original question. Data address the hypothesis and the correct tables have been chosen to clearly answer the question of your science fair project. 2. Photos and video(s) are included in this section as evidence. Its visually appealing; nothing underwhelming or overwhelming. Lots of photos. || Requirements Data Analysis 1.Graph(s) are accurate, include correct labels (titles, correct units of measure), and are relevant to the data collected in the experiment. 2.Trends or patterns in the data are identified and summarized.
 * == == || === Experiemental Design-Materials and procedure on googledocs ===
 * == == || === Results/Data on googledocs ===
 * == == || === Data analysis and conclusion on googledocs. Use create a graph website or excel or whatever else works for you. ===

Conclusion 1. Conclusion makes a claim (i.e., states whether or not the hypothesis is supported…), supports the claim with evidence, and uses reasoning--in the form of connections to scientific concepts--to relate claim and evidence. It is important that the conclusion refer to relevant scientific concepts (content knowledge from your background research) to explain why the claim and evidence are related. Scientific sources supporting results should be referred to and cited in the bibliography. 2. Real world connections 3. Further studies/experiments || Follow these instructions carefully 1. Log onto to googledocs and go to CREATE, then choose "from template" 2. Once you are in the template gallery, choose " Presentation Template" 3. Once the template is opened, rename the it with "___ yourname science fair" SHARE IT WITH ME! 4. Start creating your presentation using the information from your lab report. 5. You may change the theme, text, font....Make it creative and interesting. ||
 * == == || === Create a presentation on docs for science fair. ===