I)  CHOOSING A TOPIC:

 Write a paragraph stating what you plan to measure, how you plan to measure it or from where you will get your information, the times you plan to make the measurements, to whom you will address your report, and why this topic is important to you.

 Your project must satisfy the following conditions:

1)         You must write a paragraph stating what you plan to measure, and it must measure something that changes over time.

 2)         You must measure the same thing at least 5 times.  You must tell me exactly how you plan to measure the change including what equipment you need or from where you will get your information, and the change you detect must be measurable or countable with numbers.

3)         You must give me a relevant reason for predicting future changes.

4)         You must tell me an audience for whom the predictions you make will be relevant.  This is the person or group to whom you will address your report.  This audience should not be me, this class, or some generic group such as “all stockholders”.

5)         Your project must use the math from this course for organizing and presenting data and for making predictions.

6)         Your project must be based on real data you either find or collect yourself.  Your topic paragraph needs to include a statement concerning why this topic is important to you.

Comments about your Topic                            Name:  ____________________________

_____ did not write a paragraph

_____ did not clearly define what you plan to measure

_____not likely you can measure or count this with numbers

_____ not likely this topic will change over time

_____ topic does not “important”, relevant or “do”able

_____ did not make it clear how you will get the necessary information

_____ inappropriate (or unlikely that you can obtain info from) source

_____  did not specify when you plan to make the measurements

_____  unclear that you will have AT LEAST 5 measurements

_____ unclear to whom you plan to address your report

_____ inappropriate person or agency to receive your report

_____ unclear why this person or agency should receive this report

_____ unclear why you are interested in doing this topic

            Wonderful: topic has potential for change over time, is appropriate for student's study, potentially relevant, "do"-able

            OK:     minor problems may or may not cause problems fulfilling the conditions of the assignment; some revision should probably be considered

            Revise: major problems make it unlikely that a student can finish the assignment; conference requested before any further work is done

            Restart: Conference with teacher required before continuing.

II) GATHERING DATA:

             Report the numbers you plan to graph and where they came from.

 a)         What are the times or time periods (at least 5) you measured and what are the numbers (scores) you recorded?  [for example, 8:00 am -- 53 kg, 9:00 am -- 57 kg, 10:00 am -- 54 kg, etc.  or 2/15/94 -- $153, 2/16/94 -- $56, 2/17/94 -- $423, etc.]

 b)         If you measured things yourself, exactly what and how did you measure?  Did you use any tools or references?  How did you decide on a scale to use to measure?  [for example, I weighed the baby every morning at 8:00 am after his bath while he was still undressed.  I chose to use a Sunbeam electronic scale marked in grams.  I decided to use grams as my measure since I could detect smaller amounts of weight gain by using grams since grams are smaller units than ounces.] 

 c)         If you got your numbers from someone or somewhere else, exactly where did you get your information?  [for example, "I got my information from the Department of Health and Environmental Control office on Bull Street.  Kathy Cramer, Director of Public Information, was the person who helped me."  or "My source was The complete guide to human anatomy and physiology, ScienceEd Publishers, pp. 35-42, 1991."

            Wonderful:            appropriate choice of where (or from whom) to collect information,

 appropriate measuring device and scale used, indication given that student strived for accuracy in collecting, measuring, and recording   information collected, sufficient number of measurements (minimum of 5) collected over an appropriate amount of time for the report to be convincing

            OK:     minor flaws exist in the accuracy or the   appropriateness of data source used or measurements collected, or the number of measurements taken/time interval allotted meets the minimum of 5 but is inadequate to draw a conclusion

            Revise: major flaws exist with the design of this study--data source is not the most reliable that is available, measurements inaccurate, inadequate, or inappropriate but "fix"-able with some additional effort

            Redo:  data is not measurable with numbers, source is questionable, measurements are inadequate, inaccurate, or inappropriate, results are not believable (by the teacher)

III)  ORGANIZING DATA/PREDICTION:     

Calculate the mean, median, and mode for your data.  Turn in two different types of graphs and make a prediction about what would happen if you measured again.

  Wonderful:    Presents statistics calculated and presented accurately, data graphed at least two different ways,   graphs are well-organized, accurate, readable, "pretty", prediction made is reasonable and convincing from the data presented, sureness and factors affecting student's prediction are discussed in report and factors that could cause prediction to be wrong are also discussed

OK:     statistics calculated and presented accurately, data is presented in two ways, graphs are neat, clear, and accurate, prediction made is reasonable and convincing, but student fails to adequately discuss one of the following:  how sure s/he is of this prediction, the implications of the prediction, or the factors that could make the prediction wrong, report delivered on time but there are minor flaws in organization, clarity, or completeness of report  (If delivered sufficiently ahead of time, may be revised to get a "wonderful" instead)  

Revise:    Data is presented in only one way, and/or representation is messy, hard to read, or hard to understand, (charts and/or graphs that are not titled, are not scaled properly, or are labeled inappropriately are hard to understand), prediction report delayed or inadequate, prediction made is unreasonable or unconvincing or student fails to do or adequately discuss two or more of the following:  how sure s/he is of this prediction, the implications of the prediction, or the factors that could make the prediction wrong  

Redo: Data presentation is inadequate, inaccurate, hard-to-read, or messy

IV)  REPORTING DATA:

  Turn in your written report (in the form of a letter) with your graphs and predictions included.

             Wonderful: written report well written, well-organized, neat, on time, and complete

             OK:     written report is delivered on time, but it is not well-written or not professional in some     respect (hand-written, misspellings, poor grammar, etc.)

             Revise: written report is delivered on time, but parts of the report need major revision 

            Redo: student fails to deliver written report on time, student fails to include graphs or prediction or makes an unreasonable prediction based on the data presented (whether or not the data is adequate), student fails to do all three of the following:  discuss how sure s/he is of this prediction, the implications of the prediction, or the factors that could make the prediction wrong

V) PRESENTING DATA:

                        (Give an oral report to the class)

            Wonderful: student gives a complete and interesting report of the topic with "something extra" to make it special

             OK:     student gives a complete and interesting report

             Revise: student makes an effort to give a report

             Redo:              student does not give an oral report