PROJECTS
FOR THE BIOLOGY I CLASS
Biological Review
Mr. Pagani, S.
All these articles will be submitted to the
teacher in these three different formats: 1) printed on letter size paper, 2)
in a word processing format like Word or Rich Text Format, and 3) as a Power
Point Presentation.
Every article (or project) must have:
- A cover page with an attractive title, date,
student's name, student's number, class, teacher, type of project (ex. Project
C-7), and period number.
- A small introductory paragraph with a summary
of what the article is about.
- A page with a table of content. All the subtitles
or sections of the paper must be orderly listed there with the corresponding
page numbers.
- Pictures and/or graphs (properly labeled) that
illustrate and help explain the content of the article.
- Name of the discoverer(s)/inventor(s)/scientist(s)
involved in the article.
- Background of the scientist(s).
- Other work made by the
scientist(s).
- Name of the discovery/invention/event.
- How it was discovered/developed/invented.
- How
it works including pictures, diagrams, and graphs.
- How can it be applied
and which are the major applications.
- How the applications
work. (Use graphics and graphs to support this part).
- Benefits and consequences
of all the applications.
- An analysis made by the
student including comparison/contrast with similar discoveries/inventions/applications
(if it applies).
- The student's comments
at an evaluation level about this discovery/invention/application and the
implications of it.
- Some predictions.
- An interview about the
topic (if applicable and pertinent).
- A well designed advertising
campaign to help reduce the problem. For example: If you want to reduce the
Global Warming problem, you will plan your TV commercial (story board), Radio
Jingle and Voice Over, posters, and school education campaigns in order to
persuade people to actively participate in the reduction and/or elimination
of this serious problem.
- All the different sections of
the paper will be separated by one space and all will have subtitles.
- The references will be
cited according to an established format (visit the website: http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Memorial/citing.htm#APA
and use the APA Style)
- Suggested Internet
addresses to visit about the topic.
- People or organizations
to contact about the topic including name, address, phone number, fax number,
e-mail, and webpages.
- The paper must have a
minimum of 8-10 pages letter size, single spaced and a font not bigger than
12. The margins (top, bottom, right, and left) must be a maximum of 1 inch
each.
- Every paper represents
only one article. This means that if your paper (article) is for the section
"Recent Discoveries", it must be a paper about only one recent
discovery. If it is for the section "Interesting Inventions", then
it must be about only one invention. If it is about "Women in
Biology", then, it must be about only one woman in Biology. It
must specify what was her invention, contribution, or discovery, and then
go over all the requirements mentioned above about that particular invention,
contribution or discovery that she made. This is a Biology class, and a Biological
newspaper, then, the content must always provide biological knowledge, and
principles to the reader. This applies to any other paper (article) of any
section mentioned below. It is going to be about: only one
person appertaining to a minority group for section 4, only one
invention (and the biological principles behind it) that helps preserve the
environment for section 5, only one Biology related professional
(example: Virologist) for section 6, only one way in which
Biology or any other related science (example: Molecular Biology) using biological
principles has developed something useful in medicine (for example: artificial
production of insulin) for section 7, only one source of energy
for section 8, only one device for section 9, only
one book for section 12, only one particular research
in Biology for section 13, only one experiment for section
14, only one experiment for section 15, and, of course, only
one device for section 16.
- The Power Point presentations
must start with a cover slide with an attractive title, date, student's name,
student's number, class, teacher, and period number. The second slide must
be an index slide indicating all the subtitles or parts of the presentation.
From slide three on, the slides must be outlines with the content of the different
parts of the paper. These slides must contain graphs, graphics, tables, diagrams
and pictures supporting the outline. A slide presentation is supposed to be
a strong visual support to guide, facilitate, illustrate and complete the
talk of the presenter. The ending slides must include conclusions, predictions,
suggestions or possible solutions. After, follows the slide with suggested
websites and sources of information on the topic. For instance: Departments,
Institutions, organizations, etc. Finally, follows the slide with the references
used for the paper and the presentation. The references must follow the APA
style in this website: http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Memorial/citing.htm#APA
After, if you desire to do it, you may include a slide with a quote or
a message that summarizes a truth implicit in the content of the paper, and
therefore, the presentation.
- The diskette should have
only two files: One for the paper (in Word or rtf format) and one for the
presentation. No other files are supposed to be in there. Do not make separate
files for references, or for the cover. Follow the instructions given above.
Save the files under a name composed by your last name followed by the topic
of the paper. For example: Global Warming by Mr. Pagani could be called something
like Paganiglobwarm. It is not necessary to name the two files differently
because they are already being saved specifying the format used (doc for Microsoft
Word Document or rtf for rich text format document, and ppt for Microsoft
Power Point Presentation). Always keep a copy in your hard drive and another
diskette. This way, if something happens to the diskette submitted, you always
have a back-up copy of it. The files will appear in drive a:/ like Paganiglobwarm.doc
or Paganiglobwarm.rtf (for the text one), and Paganiglobwarm.ppt
- Pieces of text that evidently
show they have been copied and pasted from the Internet will reduce the grade
of the project. The project must include your own input. Your opinions, comments,
interviews, analysis, comparisons, analogies, constructive criticism, evaluations,
inferences, predictions, suggested solutions, conclusions, and advertising
campaign are more important than the rest of the article which is basically
informational and it is a compendium of different pieces of text coming from
different sources.
SECTIONS OF THE NEWSPAPER
- Recent Discoveries: This section will
be about recent discoveries in Biology or any other applied related science.
- Interesting Inventions: This section
will be about inventions in the Biological field or any other related science.
They may use some chemical or physics principles but in combination with biological
ones.
- Women in Biology: This section will be
about women who have played an important role in Biology or any other related
science.
- Minorities in Biology: This section will
be about people appertaining to minority groups in the US or their ethnic
groups overseas that have played an important role in the Biological field
or any other applied related science.
- Biology for a better world: This section
will be about ways in which Biology has been applied to help preserve the
environment.
- A Day in the life of a …: This section
will be about a career in Biology or any other applied related science. It
will specify all of the following: starting salary, average salary, top salary,
minimum education requirements, job duties, responsibilities, benefits, schedule,
list of major employers, list of all the job opportunities, list of renown
employees, list of colleges or universities that offer studies in that profession
(specify all the ones in Florida), competition in the profession, available
opportunities, compare/contrast this profession with other similar professions,
state and national need for professionals of this type, future perspective
for professionals of this type, major inconveniences of the profession, interest
and attitude needed to succeed in that profession, interview to a professional
in this career that will include: what an average day in his/her life looks
like, reasons why he/she selected this profession, major satisfactions, complaints,
suggestions to the high school student interested in pursuing this career,
etc.
- Health with Biology: this section will
be about different ways in which Biology or any other related science have
developed something useful in the medicine field.
- Biological sources of energy?: this section
will search for different biological sources of energy that will be less harmful
to the environment (and probably to our pocket too) than the ones in use today
for a particular item, for example, a car or a house. It will specify things
like: costs of using this type of energy, production costs, ways of production,
availability, effectiveness, comparison/contrast with sources of energy in
actual use today, benefits, consequences, limitations, feasibility, examples,
descriptions of how it works including diagrams, pictures, graphs, etc., biological
principles behind it, predictions, analysis, evaluation.
- How does this work?: this section will
be about how different devices (machines, sophisticated instruments, etc.)
used in the biological field work.
- Biological War: this section will be
about all of the details of this part of technology that represents a terrible
menace to our world and us. It will specify: which microorganisms have been
used as biological weapons, how do they work, which are the possible defenses,
which restrictions do we have for working with any of these microorganisms,
which are the international laws and agreements for the control of these weapons,
consequences of their use, which incidents have happened in the past with
this type of weapons, what is happening now, what do you predict is going
to happen, what must be done immediately, how. The articles will also provide
an advertising campaign to stop the problem and/or induce the good changes
that people/governments/organizations must make to reduce the problem.
- Global Warming: this section will be
about this world problem that is affecting all of us. It will answer among
many questions to: What is it about, which are the major causes, why, how
can we stop the problem, which Biological solutions can we find to reduce
the problem, how, when, where, which changes must be done in our way of living,
how would you induce these changes, which predictions do you make about our
future in respect to this problem, what is finally going to happen. It will
include interviews to experts in the field and analysis of the answers. It
will also provide an advertising campaign to stop the problem and/or induce
the good changes that people must make to reduce the problem.
- Sci-fi Reading: This section will be
about interesting books based on Biology or a biological related problem or
story. The articles will make a full analysis of the books that will go over
the most specific details. The analysis will include comments to every single
scientific event mentioned in the book. It will describe the Biological principles
involved in detail. It will specify how true or possible these events are.
It will study the consequences of these events in our world and provide the
readers with possible applications of the book content, predictions, analysis,
evaluations, etc.
- Research in Biology: This section will
be about actual research currently being performed in Biology at NASA, Silicon
Valley, MIT, and any other major University or Biology related Laboratory
in the world.
- Hands-on Biology: This section will provide
the reader with all the instructions to put hands-on a Biology related experiment
at home. It will explain all the Biological principles behind it, applications,
and provide the study of at least one real situation where that same principle
is involved, etc.
- Aerospace Biology: This section will
provide at least one full study of a biological experiment done out in space,
the devices/materials/specimens used for that, background of the problem,
purpose, applications, performance, results, future trials, etc. The articles
will include predictions about what can we expect as goals of the aerospace
biological industry.
- Bioremediation: This section will provide
full study of the different situations in which a biological solution was
found or proposed for certain science, technology and society problems like:
1) pollution (air, water, land), 2) lack of water resources, 3) wrong use
of the land, 4) solid waste, 5) ecological and human diseases, 6) world food
resources, 7) overpopulation, 8) extinction of living things, 9) bad air quality,
etc. The articles will explain which are the causes for those problems. It
will describe the biological solutions and suggest ways in which the reader
can contribute to solve the problem. It will also provide an advertising campaign
to stop or reduce the problem through a change in people's behavior.
- Genetic disorders: This section will
provide full study about different genetic disorders that affect humans and
other living things. The articles will describe possible solutions or ways
to prevent the problem.
- Biotechnology: This section will specify
different ways in which the human beings use microorganisms and/or the work
performed by them to make an industry.
- Plants in South Florida: This section
will provide details about important plant specimens (edibles or industrially
beneficial ones) in South Florida: characteristics, importance (use, agricultural
applications, medicinal and/or nutritional value), ways to promote the growing,
ways to keep them safe, irrigation, fertilization, etc.
- Endangered Species of South Florida:
This section will provide all the information about the species in danger
in our area. The articles will indicate which measures are being taken to
solve the problems and which cooperation is demanded from the entire community.
They will include an advertising campaign for this purpose.
- The Everglades: This section will present
the past, present, and future of our Everglades. The articles will inform
about problems, solutions, and finally provide an advertising campaign to
preserve it.
VERY IMPORTANT
- PROJECT A has different options:
19, 20, and 21.
- PROJECT B has different options:
3, 4, 6, and 12.
- PROJECT C has different options:
1, 2, 7, 9, 13, 14, 17, and 18.
- PROJECT D has different options:
5, 8, 10, 11, 15, and 16.
- Other options may be added
during the school year. Check this page for possible updates.
- All students will do a total
of 4 projects (A, B, C, and D) during the school year.
- Every 9-week period the students
will turn in one of a kind. The type of project that the students will work
on for the first term has been chosen at random and assigned in class. The
next projects will follow this order: A-B-C-D-A-B-C. Example: Students that
will work on project type C for the first term, will work on project D for
the second term, then A for the third term, and finally on project B for the
4th term.
- The Power Point Presentation
file should be done following these instructions: Make an outline of your
paper. Prepare a story board indicating which information is going to be shown
in which slide and how (graphs, clip art, text, picture, flow chart, etc.).
Then, convert that story board in a wonderful sequence of very well presented
and organized slides. Add all the features and effects that you want to it.
A series of eight to ten slides should be enough for what is needed. Extra
work is always welcome and rewarded.
- The best articles will be selected,
edited, and finally published on the Internet as the "BIOLOGICAL
REVIEW". The author's name will be published too. Make sure your work is original,
interesting, catching, complete, and impressive. Panther, show your pride!
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