SCI 200 Project Part Two Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
Basic scientific literacy is essential for understanding real-world applications of the natural sciences. As a consumer and voter, you will be faced with issues that
require a basic understanding of science. For example, you might ask yourself the following questions: How can genetically modified foods affect my health?
Should scientists be held liable for not predicting earthquakes that led to human casualties, as they were in Italy in 2012? Is anthropogenic climate change real?
Is fracking a concern where you live? Because of the prevalence of natural science issues such as these, it is important to understand basic natural science
concepts and how they impact our daily lives.
The project for this course has two parts. In part one, you will conduct a research investigation that examines an issue in the natural sciences. You will identify
appropriate resources for investigating the issue you select, use these resources to develop a question related to the issue, and apply natural science principles
to the issue and question. In addition, you will identify an audience who would be interested in the selected issue. In Part Two, you will develop a presentation
for the audience you identified in part one. In your presentation, you will explain how scientific thinking has impacted you and your audience, supporting your
claims with evidence.
Part two of this project addresses the following course outcomes:
●
●
●
Illustrate the impact of scientific thinking on personal and professional experiences
Communicate effectively to specific audiences in examining fundamental aspects of the natural world
Utilize empirical evidence in drawing conclusions about the impact of contemporary scientific issues on individuals and society
Prompt
Referring to your research investigation, create a presentation that explains how scientific thinking has impacted you and discusses the impact of your selected
issue on your audience.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Provide a brief overview of the scientific background of your issue and question. How does the issue relate to the natural sciences?
Explain how the issue impacts the audience. In other words, how is the issue relevant to members of the audience? Why should the audience care about
the response to your question or the outcome of your hypothesis? Support your response with specific examples from your research investigation.
Describe the empirical evidence you have to support your conclusions about the impact of the issue on you personally and on your audience. Support
your response with specific examples from your research investigation.
Explain why this issue is important to you personally. In other words, why did you select this issue to investigate?
V.
VI.
Illustrate how your investigation of the issue impacted the way you thought about the issue. In other words, how did thinking like a scientist to research,
develop a question, and formulate a hypothesis affect what you thought about the issue you selected? How did scientific thinking change the lens
through which you viewed the issue? Support your response with specific examples from your research investigation.
Communicate your message in a way that is tailored to your specific audience. For instance, you could consider your vocabulary, your audience’s
potential knowledge of current natural science (or lack thereof), and what is specifically important to the audience.
Project Part Two Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your presentation should have approximately 5–7 slides in Prezi, PowerPoint, or another comparable presentation tool. Make sure
that you include speaker notes so that your instructor knows what you would say if you were actually giving the presentation. Note: If using Prezi, be sure to
include a Word document with notes. If using PowerPoint, be sure to include speaker notes.
Critical Elements
Scientific Background
[SCI-200-04]
Exemplary (100%)
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
response expertly balances
necessary detail with brevity
Proficient (85%)
Provides brief overview of
scientific background of issue
and question, and explains how
issue relates to natural sciences
Audience
[SCI-200-04]
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
explanation demonstrates
sophisticated understanding of
relationship between issue and
audience
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
response demonstrates strong
understanding of how to use
empirical evidence in drawing
conclusions about the impact of
contemporary scientific issues
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
explanation demonstrates keen
insight into impact of natural
sciences on personal
experiences
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
response demonstrates insight
into relationship between issue
and scientific thinking
Explains how issue impacts
audience, supporting response
with examples from research
investigation
Empirical Evidence
[SCI-200-04]
Personally
[SCI-200-01]
Investigation
[SCI-200-01]
Message
[SCI-200-03]
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
presentation demonstrates
understanding of effectively
Needs Improvement (55%)
Provides brief overview of
scientific background of issue
and question, and explains how
issue relates to natural sciences,
but with gaps in detail or clarity
Explains how issue impacts
audience but with gaps in clarity,
detail, or support
Not Evident (0%)
Does not provide brief overview of
scientific background of issue and
question, and does not explain
how issue relates to natural
sciences
Does not explain how issue
impacts audience
Value
15.8
Describes empirical evidence
that supports conclusions about
impact of issues on self and
audience, supporting response
with examples from research
investigation
Explains why issue is important
personally
Describes empirical evidence
that supports conclusions about
impact of issues on self and
audience, but with gaps in
clarity, detail, or support
Does not describe empirical
evidence that supports conclusions
about impact of issues on self and
audience
15.8
Explains why issue is important
personally but with gaps in
clarity or detail
Does not explain why issue is
important personally
15.8
Illustrates how investigation of
issue impacted thinking on the
issue, supporting response with
examples from research
investigation
Communicates message
effectively in a way that is
tailored to specific audience
Illustrates how investigation of
issue impacted thinking on the
issue but with gaps in clarity,
detail, or support
Does not illustrate how
investigation of issue impacted
thinking on the issue
15.8
Communicates message to
Does not communicate message to
audience, but communication is audience
not effective or is not tailored to
specific audience
15.8
15.8
Articulation of
Response
communicating with specific
audiences by tailoring message
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and
organization and is presented in
a professional and easy-to-read
format
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
Total
5.2
100%
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