The provincial government requires there to be graded work as a feature of Middle Years assessment. While this may not be ideal, there are a few principles that can be followed in order to make it more valuable and less arbitrary for students. The first of which is to base grades around a standard, wherein students whom meet the standard get good grades, as opposed to simply passing. Graded work that meets the standard for the assignment, as set out in the rubric will receive a grade of about 80 percent, leaving some room for those who exceed standards to receive higher grades and giving some leeway for students who are approaching or struggling with the standards. will be four elements of this unit which will be formally graded projects, with 20% of the unit grade being reserved for the completion of minor assignments. Any student who completes all of the work in the term will receive the full 20% for this. Habitat Project: In this project, students will be creating a functional habitat for a particular species of animal. The most important element of success in this project is functionality- the animal should be able to actually live in the shelter designed, with creativity and a brief about the shelter and how it satisfies the needs of the animal in question also being called for. This project is worth 25% of the total unit grade. Microorganism Research Project: In this project, one or a pair of students will do research on one harmful or helpful role that microorganisms play for us. The primary criteria for evaluation will be the quality of the content in the project, the depth of the research done and the
The provincial government requires there to be graded work as a feature of Middle Years assessment. While this may not be ideal, there are a few principles that can be followed in order to make it more valuable and less arbitrary for students. The first of which is to base grades around a standard, wherein students whom meet the standard get good grades, as opposed to simply passing. Graded work that meets the standard for the assignment, as set out in the rubric will receive a grade of about 80 percent, leaving some room for those who exceed standards to receive higher grades and giving some leeway for students who are approaching or struggling with the standards. will be four elements of this unit which will be formally graded projects, with 20% of the unit grade being reserved for the completion of minor assignments. Any student who completes all of the work in the term will receive the full 20% for this. Habitat Project: In this project, students will be creating a functional habitat for a particular species of animal. The most important element of success in this project is functionality- the animal should be able to actually live in the shelter designed, with creativity and a brief about the shelter and how it satisfies the needs of the animal in question also being called for. This project is worth 25% of the total unit grade. Microorganism Research Project: In this project, one or a pair of students will do research on one harmful or helpful role that microorganisms play for us. The primary criteria for evaluation will be the quality of the content in the project, the depth of the research done and the
science_unit_plan.docx