XCR Project

1. XCR Project It’s totally extra credit. Unless you’re already getting a C- (70%) or higher, you’re not even eligible to do an FSN project. The topic you pick must be directly related to the science course you’re taking right now. No one else in one of Mr. Barnes’ classes can be already doing that topic. If someone is, the topic is “taken” and you can’t do it too. The project is due Monday 6/18/2012, but sooner would be better! The effect on your grade is that if you do an AMAZING and THOROUGH job, you MIGHT get as high as +10% to your grade in the class. (Best-case scenario = 1 letter grade bonus.) To get full credit, you have to do an amazing job on all four parts of the project, as detailed in the next slide . . .

2. XCR Project I. Written Report II. 2D Component: Poster Board and/or Power Point Presentation III. 3D Component: Model and/or Experiment IV. Oral Report

3. XCR Project I. Written Report A. Show Mr. Barnes your sources in the flesh B. Properly list your sources in a formal bibliography C. Take notes from your sources by hand D. Make an outline to show how your report will be structured E. Write a rough draft by hand F. Type final draft on a computer/typewriter. It should be somewhere between 3-5 pages, font size 12, double-spaced, one-inch margins. More is probably better, but better is even better than more. (Quality is more important than quantity.) G. You better remember what you wrote. I’m probably going to ask you about stuff at the end of your oral report to see if you really learned the stuff or not.

4. XCR Project II. 2D Component: Poster Board (and/or Power Point Presentation) A. Title must be big & eye-catching B. There must be at least one, large, central visual image – something that, along with your title can catch a person’s eye from across a large room C. Ideally, there should be at least one graph or chart of some kind D. There should be writing on the board to explain the visual images, but avoid fine print. Writing should be easy to read. Save the fine print for your written report. DO NOT paste your written report to the poster board. E. If it looks like your whole poster board is just stuff you printed out from the Internet, don’t expect maximum points. If it looks like you did it by hand, you’ll actually get more points.

5. XCR Project III. 3D Component: Model and/or Experiment A. If the model is so nice I want to put it on my wall forever, you get maximum points. B. If the experiment is so great that I make it part of my curriculum, you get maximum points. C. The experiment must be safe and legal. Ideally, you’ll be demonstrating some or all of the experiment when you do your oral report, and we don’t want anybody hurt or arrested. D. The more evidence there is that YOU did all the work, the more points you’ll get. Take pictures of yourself doing the experiment/building the model to increase your credibility.

6. XCR Project IV. Oral Report A. Dressing nicely will get you bonus points. Business attire is great, but a special costume related to the topic is even better. If you have a costume related to your topic, it will even count toward 3D points. B. For maximum credit, you must deliver your report in front of your class. For reduced credit, you can deliver it to Mr. Barnes after school or at lunch. C. Address the audience, not your poster board. Make lots of eye contact. This proves that you really know your topic, that you don’t have to keep staring at notes/your poster board. D. Don’t say “um” or “uh” too much. E. Try not to spit when you talk. The people in the front row will thank you for your restraint. F. You don’t need to know everything about your topic, but you better make it obvious that you are the class expert on the topic.