Roadkill Project

2010 Requirements

 

Telecommunications Roadkill Project – INDIVIDUAL Requirements        2010 Web

 

Individual Requirements:      #1, #2 must be completed first.

 

Rye/New Castle Study

 

c 1. Individual predictions for Rye and New Castle. This is a separate worksheet (RDKL-1).

 

c 2. Hypothesis - Choose one variable to study and build a hypothesis about Rye and New Castle’s roadkill. You may study previous year's data also. Check the list of variables to make your choice.

           

Complete RDKL –2 worksheet.

 

c 3. A roadkill table for Rye/New Castle must be filled out for each week of the project. This is to be turned in with a grand total of all animals killed by motor vehicles. (Do not include animals that had zero for a count for the whole time period.) A template is available for this or you can create a spreadsheet for this.

 

c 4. A graph for Rye/New Castle’s roadkill. You may choose a graph showing the total killed each week or the total of each animal killed. Make sure your graph has all the appropriate headings and labels. (Use the graphing rubric.)

 

c 5. Was this year any different than other years? Create a graph that compares some aspect of this year with at least 5 other (consecutive) years of roadkill.

• Consider ‘total number of roadkill’ over the years or ‘two types of animals’ over the years, or your idea.
• You may use more than 5 years of data to demonstrate extra effort.

 

c 5a. Write a conclusion that describes what you noticed with the data and explain possible reasons why it happened the way it did.

            - The final product should be a word processing document with the graph pasted into it and the conclusion below it. You will print this out (once). You may use Google Docs or Open Office. (Ask for help if you can’t figure out how to do this.)

 

c 6. Testing your hypothesis (from #2). Create a table of the data that relates to your hypothesis. (You can decide which information needs to be included to best reflect your data. Don't forget labels and title.) If you need data from other years and can’t find it, see Ms. Adams.

 

c 6a. Create a graph that best summarizes your data. Include a brief summary about the graph with it; what type of graph did you choose and why? What kind of data does it show? (Example: change over time, parts of a whole? . . . )

c 7. Analysis of your hypothesis (from #2). This should be a narrative. Remember paragraphs for main ideas. You will begin this with the teacher. Make sure to include the following information:

• Restate your hypothesis so others will know your purpose of this research.
• What effect did the variable/factor have on roadkill this year? Was it what you expected?
• Explain why this effect happened as best you can.
• What other variables (factors) affected your hypothesis that may have been related? Explain.
• What would you predict for next year? If it depends, state what variables you would examine instead or in addition. What other information would you need to re-examine or redo your predictions for next year? Explain.

 

c  8. Sharing your research. You will share (a minimum of) your graph and analysis (#6, 7). You are welcome to share more. You will share it in a class voicethread that will be embedded into your blog.

 

            Steps for the voicethread.

• Practice your reading your analysis (#7).
• Record it using Audacity. Save the ‘project’ to the desktop using rdkl and your 4-letter code name. (This will be deleted later.)
• Export your voice recording as an mp3.
• Save using the same filename and save to the Whipperwill > 2015 > 7th grade share folder > Science > Roadkill > your class color
• Use these settings
• Title: <what did you study?>
• Artist: 4 letter code name
• Album: Roadkill2010
• Year: 2010
• Genre: Other or Speech
• Comments: leave blank
• Take a screenshot of your graph using Gimp to make a .jpg file, save it as “rdkl + 4 letter code name” and save it to the Whipperwill > 2015 > 7th grade share folder > Science > Roadkill > your class color.
• When audio and .jpg are ready, you may upload both parts to the voicethread. The teacher will have the computer set up to do this.

 

Once the voicethread is complete, go to Ms. Adams’ web page for the embed code for your class’ voicethread. Log into your blog and make sure you are in the ‘text’ layout. Paste the code. Request publishing.

 

c 9. You may also post other parts of this project to your blog.