6th grade HONORS Earth Science

4th Term Project, Environmental Issues

I. Introduction:
a. You have been studying environmental issues and their impacts since the beginning of
the fourth term. Up until now, there are many environmental issues that have surfaced.
The purpose of this project is to explore the question, “How do environmental issues
impact our lives (ourselves, our families, our school, and our community)?” Similar to
the science fair projects, you will have the opportunity to become an expert on a
topic/environmental issue by exploring a topic more in-depth and you will teach your
peers about your topic.

II. Project Standards:

a. S6E6. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the uses and conservation
of various natural resources and how they impact the Earth.
b. S6E6b. Evaluate solutions for sustaining the quality and supply of natural resources such
as water, soil, and air.
III. Project Tasks:
a. The first task is to choose an environmental issue that is interesting to you or it could be
one that affects you (your family, community, etc) on a daily basis. If you are at a loss for
issues, I am providing you with a list that you can choose from. The issue you select does
not have to come from this list. The deadline for selecting an issue is this Wednesday,
April 25th, 2018. I will take a homework grade for this task.
b. Once you have selected an issue, you task is now to become the expert on this issue. In
order to become an expert, you must use outside resources in order to find information
about your issue. I will provide a few resources for you. Feel free to use other resources.
c. Here is what you need to find:
i. The Issue: What is the issue? Why is this an issue? What causes the issue?
ii. Evidence: How do you know this is an issue? This will more than likely be some
type of data.
iii. Impact: What impact does this issue have on you? Your
community/environment? Other environments/ecosystems? Other organisms?
iv. Solutions: Can this issue be solved? If so, how? If not, why not? If your issue is
energy related, you may want to consider the different alternative energy
resources. Present several possible solutions.
v. Evaluating Solutions: Among the solution(s) found, what solution(s) are
practical? What solutions could actually work? Examples will be given in class.
d. The Product:
i. You will submit two items for this project.
1. The first item will be a one page handout containing all of the
information in section C. This will be due on Friday, May 4th, 2018.
2. The second item will be a PowerPoint presentation (or some sort of
short presentation) containing no more than five slides. The slides need
to include information in section C. The presentation needs to be ready
by Monday, May 7th, 2018.
3. Please see rubric for more details on grades.
IV. Resources:
a. https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/top-25-environmental-concerns.php
b. http://www.globalissues.org/issue/168/environmental-issues
c. https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/frontiers-2017-emerging-issues-
environmental-concern
d. https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics

V. Possible Environmental Issues

Food and Plants and Waste Natural Land, Air and People
Farming Animals Resources Water
Pesticides Deforestation Landfills Mining-Coal Ozone World
Depletion Population
Growth
Fertilizers Invasive Medical Waste Mining- Acid Rain Urban Sprawl
Species Minerals and
Gems
Farming Endangered Recycling Mining-Rare Air Pollution
Methods Species Earth Minerals
Animal Waste Polar Ice Melt Incineration Natural Gas Light Pollution
and Fracking
Overfishing Wetlands Hazardous Oil Drilling and Noise
Waste Use Pollution
Disposal
Soil Erosion Electronic Refineries Waste Water
Waster Management
Space Junk Water
Pollution
Superfund Water Quality
sites
(especially in
NJ)
Name:
4—Excellent
Handout: Required • Includes all of the required
Elements elements as stated in the directions.
• Issue, Evidence, Impact, Solutions,
Evaluating Solutions.
Handout: Mechanics • Little to no problems with
grammar, spelling, and mechanics.
• Handout was clearly proofread.
Presentation: Delivery • Holds attention of entire audience
with the use of direct eye contact,
seldom looking at notes
• Speaks with fluctuation in volume
and inflection to maintain audience
interest and emphasize key points
Presentation: • Demonstrates full knowledge by
Content/ answering all class questions
Organization with explanations and
elaboration
• Provides clear purpose and subject;
pertinent examples, facts, and/or
statistics; supports conclusions/ideas
with evidence
Presentation: • Demonstrates strong enthusiasm
Enthusiasm/ about topic during entire
Audience
Awareness
presentation
• Significantly increases audience
understanding and knowledge of
topic; convinces an audience to
recognize the validity and
importance of the subject
Conduct: • Is fully engaged/attentive to other
Attention to other students’ presentations with no
Presentations distractions or interruptions.
Dr. Spurley’s
Comments:
Score:
Rubric
3—Good
• Includes all but one or two of the
required elements as stated in the
directions
• A few problems with grammar,
spelling, or mechanics. Errors are
minor and do not distract from the
project.
• Consistent use of direct eye contact
with audience, but still returns to
notes
• Speaks with satisfactory variation
of volume and inflection
• Is at ease with expected answers
to all questions, without
elaboration
• Has somewhat clear purpose and
subject; some examples, facts,
and/or statistics that support the
subject; includes some data or
evidence that supports conclusions
• Shows some enthusiastic feelings
about topic
• Raises audience understanding and
awareness of most points
2—Fair
• Missing 3 or 4 of the required
elements as stated in the directions.
• Several problems with grammar,
spelling, or mechanics. Errors ae
distracting.
• Displays minimal eye contact with
audience, while reading mostly from
the notes
• Speaks in uneven volume with
little or no inflection
• Is uncomfortable with information
and is able to answer only
rudimentary questions
• Attempts to define purpose and
subject; provides
weak examples, facts, and/ or
statistics, which do not adequately
support the subject; includes very
thin data or evidence
• Shows little or mixed feelings
about the topic being presented
• Raises audience understanding and
knowledge of some points
1—Needs Improvement
• Missing more than 4 of the
required elements as stated in the
directions.
• Many problems with grammar,
spelling, or mechanics.
• Mistakes clearly show project was
not proofread.
• Holds no eye contact with audience,
as entire report is read from notes
• Speaks in low volume and/ or
monotonous tone, which causes
audience to disengage
• Does not have grasp of
information and cannot answer
questions about subject
• Does not clearly define subject and
purpose; provides weak or no support
of subject; gives insufficient support for
ideas or conclusions
• Shows no interest in topic
presented
• Fails to increase audience
understanding of knowledge of
topic
• Fails to remain attentive/engaged
in other presentations and/or
distracts/interrupts the
presentation.