Year+Kick-Off+Project

Each year we begin with a research project that you probably had some warning about at the end of last year. This year we are going to start with the National Park Project. Click the links below to be taken to the appropriate section of the page for information about the project. Have fun learning about this great country we live in!

National Parks Project
=Welcome to the State-In-A-Can Project= This is your first project for your eighth grade year. You will select one of the 50 states, Maine is not available to choose, to become or class expert. You will work on several activities as you go through the project which will help you learn more about your state. You will also decorate and fill a can with information about your state and design and create an interesting lid for your can which will represent your state.

//**Remember that all of the work on all parts of this project it to be your own. Simply copying information from books or copy and pasting from the Internet is plagiarism and a grade of zero will be given.**//

State Can - Due:
For this activity you will receive a can to use for your project. It is you job to decorate your can to represent the state you selected. Your can should have only the name of the state on the can, the rest of the decorations are to be graphics. You will notice that your can does not include a lid. You will need to design a creative cover for you can.Your name should be written in permanent marker on the bottom of the can. Your grade for this part of the project will be based on the the creativity of your can and lid, how well it represents your state, and the overall quality of your work.

State Map - Due:
You will need to got to The US50 site to download and print an outline map of your state. On your map you are to identify and label major physical features of your state including mountains and bodies of water, cultural features including the state capital, and the borders of your state. Your grade will be based on the accuracy, completeness, and quality of your map.

State Research - Due:
You are to complete the state research sheet attached below about your state. Find as much of the information as possible but do not limit yourself to the things listed on the sheet. You may find other interesting information that you would like to include as well. You will also need to keep an accurate bibliography of your sources of information that you use for your research. Your bibliography is to be done in MLA format using EasyBib. Your grade will be based on your research and you bibliography.

State Trivia - Due:
You are going to create 25 Trivia Cards about your state. These cards are to be information about your state that visitors might find interesting. These cards are to be things that are not included in your brochure, at least not in detail. The trivia is to be on one side of the card and if at all possible a graphic to illustrate the fact should be on the other side.

State Brochure - Due:
Now you are going to use the information you learned in your research to create a brochure to inform people about your state. Your brochure is to be no more than one double sided sheet of paper when printed. Your brochure should include information about the state's history, symbols, government, industry and recreation. It should be colorful and attractive to make people want to look at it and visit your state. Your grade will be based on the accuracy and completeness of the requirements and the quality of your brochure.

State Tour - Due:
You are going to plan a 14-day tour through your state. You will need to create a detailed itinerary for your trip including attractions you will visit, admission costs, hotels and their cost, rental car and the cost to travel. You will also need to keep a detailed expense report of your 14-day adventure

Bibliography - Due:
You are to keep a complete bibliography of all of the sources that you use for your project. This includes graphics as well as information. Your bibliography is to be completed using EasyBib or Citation Machine and in MLA format.

Peer Evaluations - Due:
You are responsible for evaluating the state cans of 4 of your classmates. Your are to complete the evaluation form, attached below, for each can. You will select the states you will evaluate by drawing the state names from a box. The only two reason you ca have for changing a state to evaluate is if you draw a duplicate state name or you draw your own state. Remember that you are to evaluate the state can honestly. Please make only constructive criticism and not hurtful comment.

[[image:acadia-bass-harbor-590.jpg width="413" height="280" align="left"]]The National Parks Project
2016 marks the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. Today more than 20,000 employees care for more than 400 parks, natural, historic, and recreational areas in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam,Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. Their territory covers about 84 million acres of territory! According to a press release in January 2016, more than 305 million people visited America's national parks in 2015. We are fortunate to live fairly close to Acadia National Park. I'm sure most of us have been there several times. Since we cannot visit all of these parks, you are going to become the class expert on one of the parks in the system. The goal for this project is to get you excited about these national treasures we have called the National Parks. You job as the class expert on one of the parks it to share your knowledge of the park with the rest of your class. Selection of the park you will learn about will be the result of a random draw of a park name.

//**Please remember that all of the work on this project must be your own and your own words. Simply copying and pasting information from books or the Internet is plagiarism and will result in a grade of zero being**// **given.**

** National Park Kahoot! - Due: Tuesday, September 20 **
You are going to create 25 questions about your national park. Make sure that your questions will teach people about your park. Your questions must include 4 multiple choice answers. Make sure you mark the correct answer! Once you have your questions, you are going to create a Kahoot! with it and we will play it together as a class. //(Don’t worry about this. If you don’t know how to make a Kahoot!, I will show you how in class.)//

** National Park Brochure - Due: Tuesday, September 27 **
For this part of our project we are going to create a colorful and attractive brochure for your park. Your brochure must include information about when the park is open, fees for entering and using the park, some information about the history of the park, how people should prepare for visiting the park, and if there’s room, some fun facts about the park. Your brochure must be a trifold and only the front and back on one piece of paper. You also need to keep a complete bibliography of all of the sources you use.

** media type="youtube" key="MQTA8HU07zc" height="219" width="392" align="left"National Park Infomercial - Due: Tuesday, October 11 **
The final part of your National Park Project will be a 2-3 minute information video about your park. This part of the project will take your brochure and trivia and make it into a movie that could be shown on TV. You will need to carefully choose pictures and music to use in your video. You will need to keep a complete bibliography of all of the sources you use. //(We will be learning how to use Movie Maker in class. You will share your video with your class.)//