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 I 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 conducted a research investigation that examined an issue in the natural sciences. You identified
appropriate resources for investigating the issue you selected, used these resources to develop a question related to the issue, and applied natural science
principles to the issue and question. In addition, you identified 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. Provide a brief overview of the scientific background of your issue and question. How does the issue relate to the natural sciences?
II. 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.
III. 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.
IV. Explain why this issue is important to you personally. In other words, why did you select this issue to investigate?
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V. 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.
VI. 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
to include your speaker notes so that your instructor knows what you would say if you were actually giving the presentation. Note: If using Prezi, include a
separate Word document with notes. If using PowerPoint, include speaker notes.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Scientific
Background
[SCI-200-04]
Meets “Proficient” criteria,
and response expertly
balances necessary detail
with brevity
Provides brief overview of
scientific background of issue
and question, and explains
how issue relates to natural
sciences
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
Does not provide brief
overview of scientific
background of issue and
question, and does not
explain how issue relates to
natural sciences
15.8
Audience
[SCI-200-04]
Meets “Proficient” criteria,
and explanation
demonstrates sophisticated
understanding of
relationship between issue
and audience
Explains how issue impacts
audience, supporting
response with examples
from research investigation
Explains how issue impacts
audience but with gaps in
clarity, detail, or support
Does not explain how issue
impacts audience
15.8
Empirical Evidence
[SCI-200-04]
Meets “Proficient” criteria,
and response demonstrates
strong understanding of how
to use empirical evidence in
drawing conclusions about
the impact of contemporary
scientific issues
Describes empirical evidence
that supports conclusions
about impact of issues on
self and audience,
supporting response with
examples from research
investigation
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
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Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Personally
[SCI-200-01]
Meets “Proficient” criteria,
and explanation
demonstrates keen insight
into impact of natural
sciences on personal
experiences
Explains why issue is
important personally
Explains why issue is
important personally but
with gaps in clarity or detail
Does not explain why issue is
important personally
15.8
Investigation
[SCI-200-01]
Meets “Proficient” criteria,
and response demonstrates
insight into relationship
between issue and scientific
thinking
Illustrates how investigation
of issue impacted thinking on
the issue, supporting
response with examples
from research investigation
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
Message
[SCI-200-03]
Meets “Proficient” criteria,
and presentation
demonstrates understanding
of effectively communicating
with specific audiences by
tailoring message
Communicates message
effectively in a way that is
tailored to specific audience
Communicates message to
audience, but
communication is not
effective or is not tailored to
specific audience
Does not communicate
message to audience
15.8
Articulation of
Response
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
5.2
Total 100%
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