What's New in Science?

It is important to give students chances to explore topics that they are interested in.  It allows them to take greater ownership of their own learning while learning something new and nurturing a passion for science.  Each semester I tasked chemistry students with selecting a  natural science topic that they are interested in and developing their own 5-10 minute presentation about it.   The process is scaffolded so that students get feedback on their research efforts, initial slide deck, and final presentation.  They are also challenged with asking relevant scientific questions of each other at the end of each presentation giving them the opportunity to hone the skills of both asking and answering questions.

 Rubrics (click to open):

• Part 1: Annotated Bibliography

• Part 2: Presentation File

• Part 3: Presentation

• Part 4: Scientific Community