APAC Conference 2014
Writing Research Paper Made Easy:
Fact or Fiction Project
Presenters:
Andrew Goldenkranz, Kavita Gupta
Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, CA 95014
Contact Information: http://web.fuhsd.org/kavita_gupta
email: kavita_gupta@fuhsd.org, andrew_goldenkranz@fuhsd.org
Who We Are
Andrew Goldenkranz
Kavita Gupta
►
AP Bio/AP ES/Science and
Math teacher for 25 years.
►
AP Chemistry/Chemistry
H/chemistry teacher for over
16 years
►
(former) Director, WWNLF
CORE summer institute in
biology
►
NSTA STEM Forum Steering
Committee member
►
Three times NSTA presenter
►
Teacher leader, Professional
development committee
member
►
►
Author of two related study
guides: Jurassic Park, The
Hot Zone
SRI research project on Al
based interactive textbooks
Why emphasize research writing at high school level?
NGSS
Colllege
Board
Redesign
Common
Core
College
Readiness
Employment
Data
Alumni
Survey
Alumni Data Supporting the Need for
Developing Research Skills in High School
Total Sample Size= 131, 2012-2013
The science classes that you How well do you
have taken so far in college believe AP Chemistry
at MVHS prepared you
fulfill:
for the following in
college? - Content
general education
35
Knowledge
requirement
very well
26
requirement for
good
9
77
major
somewhat
1
I have not taken any
poorly
0
science class in
19
hard to gauge 11
college
How well do you
believe AP Chemistry
at MVHS prepared you
for the following in
college? - Criticalthinking
How well do you
believe AP Chemistry at
MVHS prepared you for
the following in college?
- Technical Writing
very well
25
very well
16
good
10
good
11
somewhat
6
poorly
2
hard to
gauge
12
somewhat 2
poorly
hard to
gauge
1
9
So, we agree that it is important to teach
research and technical writing skills. But
HOW?
Formation of Research PLC (Professional
Learning Community)
Examined student
work from
different content
areas with the
idea of identifying
overlaps, so
common research
and writing skills
can be carried
over across the
content area
Identified
Common Research
Process
Working on a
schoolwide
scaffolded model
of expectations for
all 9-12 students
FACT OR FICTION PROJECT:
AP Chemistry and Environmental Science
Objective
The objective of this year-end project is to emphasize
research and technical writing skills by finding a related
concept in a movie/media clip and testing the validity of its
claim by doing extensive research.
Expected Products
1. Oral Presentation on Research Findings: Power point or
movie with the media clip (under 2 minutes) inserted (7
minutes total)
2. A scientific research paper (with the five components of
research) evaluating the validity of the concept through
academic research.
Fulminated Mercury
The Next Frontier of Explosives?
•
In Breaking
Bad, Walt is a high school
Video
Background
chemistry teacher turned criminal producing
metamphetamine (crystal meth) to sell on the
black market.
•At one point his partner, Jesse, gets swindled
and beaten up by a psychopathic gangster
called Tuco.
•The following video shows Walt's
confrontation with Tuco and subsequent
explosion using Mercury Fulminate.
Research Problem
Could a small crystal of mercury
fulminate really do so much damage?
-It is prepared
by reacting
mercury with nitric
Properties
of Mercury
Fulminate
acid and then adding ethanol.
-The crystals are usually brown to grey (due to
colloidal mercury) and large crystals are
extremely unstable
-Pressure changes, vibrations and shock can
lead to detonation. The explosive properties
can be demonstrated in the lab by hitting a
very small crystal with a hammer.
Properties of Mercury Fulminate
•insoluble in water
•exists as white powder
Mercury (II) fulminate comprises two fulminate ions (CNO-)
bonded to a central mercury atom.
Mercury (II) fulminate is very sensitive because of the
instability of the fulminate ion.
•
•
Reasons
for Instability
single bond
is unstable-->immediately break in
most reactions
nitrogen will most likely bond with other nitrogen
atoms, forming nitrogen gas.
Detonation of Mercury Fulminate
• Detonation produces mercury vapour, carbon
•
monoxide and nitrogen.
One explosion pathway could be:
2Hg(CNO)2 → 2CO2+N2+Hg+Hg(CN)2
The explosion
▪-Ultimately only .9-1.8 kJ of energy
received by windows which is not
enough to shatter them
-Our Verdict based on the research:
FICTION!!
“All Drains Lead to the Ocean,
Kid”-Fact or Fiction?
How accurately does Finding Nemo portray
Sydney’s sewage treatment system? Would
Nemo have been able to enter the ocean
unscathed? And if it was accurate, what would
that mean for the water around Sydney’s
harbor?
We’ve all seen this scene...
http://youtu.be/68QpAAH4_VM?t=2m
So what should have happened to Nemo in those pipes?
The video seemed to skim by that part really quickly...
The REAL Sydney Water Treatment Process
Preliminary Treatment
Nemo = large solid
object
He should have been
removed at this stage
Primary Treatment Screens
Screens that are used to filter out solid waste
before treatment have openings anywhere
between 6mm wide and 0.2 mm wide.
Nemo, an Ocellaris clownfish, would be about
10 cm if he was fully grown. Since he was not,
we can assume that he was 2-5 cm big and still
would not have passed through the screens…
… unless the screen had a hole in it
Secondary Treatment
Phosphates- commonly found in
fertilisers and washing detergents
Nitrates- commonly found in
fertilisers, causes eutrophication in
excess
Clarification- physical water
treatment process settles out
suspended solids through gravity
Tertiary Treatment
The physical and
biological parts are
done, this is the
chemical process. Even
if Nemo made it this far,
the chemicals would kill
him
In the movie this happens...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3DLxR2fOdM
If solid waste really could escape pipes so easily, would
Sydney Harbour look like...
“All drains lead to the oceanFact!
Fact
Water going down a drain will eventually
reach the ocean; it’s just that there’s a lot
more that has to happen before that
Nemo would have survived
going down the drain- FACT!
It is entirely possible that Nemo would have
survived until he reached the primary stage of
treatment, assuming that the drain in the sink
had a large enough opening
So, what’s the rest of the story?
A factual version of this would presume Nemo escaping
through a broken or failed screen during preliminary
treatment. . .
So, next step would be to find out the durability and
failure rate of the mechanical separators and screens
installed in large municipal plants.
Process of Research
Identify an
area of
interest
Search sources for
relevant
information
No valid resources
found
Evaluate
Resources
Can not answer the
question, invalid
resources
Process of Research
Begin Research
Research Resources:
http://www.lib.uci.edu/how/tutorials/BeginResearch/public/
MV Library:
http://www.montavista.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1314006552580
Choosing a Topic
http://library.ucsc.edu/help/research/start-your-research
Choosing a Research Question
Good Resourhttp://library.ucsc.edu/help/research/start-your-research
Example of too
broad a topic: Is
there a material
that can pull the
weight of an
average sized
human without
breaking?
Or too
narrow
…
Example of too
narrow a topic:
What is the
numerical value of
the tensile strength
of a nylon-based
material?
Databases: Primary Sources
http://library.pdx.edu/tutorials/knowledgecycle/10
Primary Sources: Academic Journals with original research
Jstor
(www.jstor.org)Screencast
on using jstore
•Choose Advanced Search
•Combine keywords with
“AND” (already displayed)
•When you open a record,
click on the “Summary” tab
to help decide if an article
is useful.
•Create your own log-in to
save searches.
EBSCO Electronic
Database
•Limit your search to “Full
Text”
•Check off “Scholarly (Peer
Reviewed) Journals to limit
your search to primary
sources.
•Try narrowing your search
by combining keywords by
“AND”
•Create your own log-in to
save searches.
Google Scholar
•Go to:
http://scholar.google.com
•Choose Advanced Search.
•Use a combination of
keywords and/or phrases.
•Choose Subject Area for
search > Chemistry and
Materials Science
Databases: Secondary Sources
http://library.pdx.edu/tutorials/knowledgecycle/10
Secondary Sources: Articles reporting on various research
EBSCO Electronic Database
•www.mvhs.fuhsd.org/research
resources
•Choose “Science Reference
Center”
•Expand your search by
adding databases:
TopicSearch, Newspaper
Source, Health Source, and
Mas Ultra
Scientific American Magazine:
http://www.scientificamerican.co
m/
Popular Science Magazine:
http://www.popsci.com/
ChemMatters Magazine Online
(type into Google to find link);
published by ACS
•Use Google wisely:
•Use effective search
strategies to find relevant
results.
•Evaluate each website to
make sure that it is
reliable.
•Fill out an evaluation
form for each website
used. Find the form in the
lower right hand side of:
www.mvhs.fuhsd.org/rese
archresources
Synthesis Document
Finding Fact or Fiction
Supporting
Argument
#1
Supporting
Argument
#2
Supporting
Argument
#3
Include
intext
citation
Include
intext
citation
Include
intext
citation
Conclusion
Limitations
What are your next steps?
What
further
research
and
evidence do
you need?
Credit: Adapted from
document created by
Susan Marks
Google Doc for Collaboration and Writing
the Research Paper
Video on Google Docs:
http://learn.googleapps.com/gmailvids
Good Resource on Google Docs:
http://shs.bellinghamschools.libguides.com/c
ontent.php?pid=317319&sid=2721663
Lessons Learned
▪ Start small and jump in, jump out
▪ “Chunk”ing the research paper or break them into smaller
activities:
▪ Read literature- teacher models and students create research
questions
▪ Evaluate Resources- activity on what is primary, secondary or
tertiary resource or use annotated bibliography
▪ Synthesis- organizing ideas using Google docs or synthesis
document
▪ Optimizing group size for size of task
▪ Research Product- oral presentation with power point
(minimizes writing)
Lessons Learned Contd.
•Pre-approval Form: Helps students be organized and fights
procrastination
• Use benchmarks to organize time
•For Skill/Content
-Teacher Check-Ins
-Revision
•Procrastination Avoidance/Stress Management
-Completion Check
•Seek help and collaborate with the other teachers since research
is done in EVERY discipline.
Overwhelmed….don’t be, because it can be
done!
►
An email from a fellow teacher who used this project FOR THE FIRST TIME from
the AP listserv :
Thank you for sharing the project with me. My students enjoyed it although they said it was
a lot of work. Here is a link to one of my students projects.
►
Chem Final Project Paper- Breaking Bad.docx https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gNGz9u_6PeCC9IzaqNtHeLFM_c0g7iwrtlAanIV0
gFw/edit?usp=sharing
►
And the accompanying video
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vZwGVANjAMjy5VrRVemFm86JEfeVW5WCWAZmCTVGTA/edit?usp=sharing
►
Have a great summer we still have one more week.
Dame Forbes
Huntington HS
DAME FORBES [DFORBES@HUFSD.EDU]