Earth Science Book Project
Objective: To create a book, either novel or children's book, that highlights one of the many facets of Earth Science that we have covered since September (Rocks, Minerals, Weathering, Erosion, Deposition, Mapping, Plate Tectonics)
- To create a story line that is directed to a younger audience written at appropriate levels (Children’s Book – age 2-8, Novel - age 9-16)
Description: In this project, I am asking use every ounce of energy you can muster and focus on the topics that are at hand. You may use any resources you find necessary but each resource must be simply cited (More about that later). Your mission is to create either a 20 page children’s book or a 20 page short novel that helps tell the story of Earth Science. This is a very broad subject so I want to give you some suggestions for each topic we have covered so far this year. This is included with this assignment packet. You are not by any means professional accomplished writers so I do not expect a multimillion dollar book that will be on the NY Times best sellers list next month. What I do expect is that you will do your very best work with this project. Pick partners that have strengths in areas that you have weaknesses in. For example, if you are a strong writer but very poor in your drawing skills, pick a partner that is a good artist. If you are good with writing but poor at design, pick someone who is good with those. You get the idea! Most importantly, have fun with this project. It is not meant to be stressful by any means but will be challenging. Challenging is good. There are a few components that you will need for this midterm project in order to receive full credit.
- Storyboard – a storyboard is a group of small images, clips, and ideas arranged to show the path you are interested in following for the project. A good story board looks almost like a comic strip but with fewer images and more ideas. You should have a small board for each page that you are going to work on. For example, if I want to write a 4 page story about my dog, the story board might look like this
- Book – Whether you chose to write a novel or create a children's book, the requirements are the same: See back for possible formats
- Each book needs to be a minimum of 20 pages long
- There must be a front and back cover, which is not included in the 20 page limit
- The back cover should give a bio of each person involved, as you would see on any standard book
- Pages should be 2 sided.
- The book must focus on one or several topics of Earth Science that have been covered since September
- All artwork must be original, unless otherwise noted in your citations section
- You may have images on every page but only 5 pages of the book may have ONLY images
- All words must be spelled correctly. Take the time to use spell check if you are typing and carefully
- Citations Page
- Citations need to be simply done, as follows
- Book – Give Authors Name, Title of Book, Year Published,
- Website- Give URL
- Magazine – Give Magazine title, article title, and month and year
- Newspapers – Give Title, Article Title, and Date
- Others – Give similar information
- Picture Citations need to the same as the regular citations, except the page number the picture is on must be included.
- If I used a picture of a duck on page 5 of my book and I got the image from
http://www.ducks.org
, then my citation would read:
Picture Page 5 –
http://www.ducks.org
If everything you write or draw is absolutely original, then your citation page will simple be a tag on the back cover that says “All artwork and writing is original works done by (your name)
Grading – The grade you receive on this project will be reflected in your midterm grade on your report card.
Saving Information – If you decide to do anything on the computers, all your information should be saved in the Shares folder that has been great for this class. Use the following steps to complete the saving process.
- Click Save As on your program
- In the drop down box, select the SShares on Euclid
- Find the HS folder and open
- Find Mr. Wojieck’s class and open
- Find your class period and open
- Find your name and save to your name.
If for some reason you are unable to save to the Sshares folder, just save it to your file and we will figure it out when I get back
Book Format
Novel – Should be typed in Microsoft Word format. Computers have been provided for the entire week.
- Children's Book- You can use any of the following formats to create your book
- Microsoft Word
- PowerPoint
- Construction Paper and string to bind book
Due date: This project, including the storyboard, book, and citation, will be due on Tuesday January 25th. Whether you have class or not, that will be the day it is due. You will be given a minimum of 4 class days to work on this project. At that point, it will be up to you to find the time to complete it on your own.
Questions outside of school: You can ask me questions in any of the following methods.
1. Email me at
nwojieck@nrwcs.org
with your questions
2. Text me at 315-573-3852 with a txt that includes your name so I know who it is (After 2:20pm only!)
3. Call me at the number above. If I don’t answer, leave a message
Book Suggestions:
You may pick your own topics for your book but here are just a few suggestions to get your brain working. Of course you can incorporate many different units in one book.
Rocks and Minerals:
-Take on the life of a rock as it goes from an igneous to sedimentary to metamorphic rock
- Have a main character go on a treasure hunt looking for minerals or gems on the beach or area where they live
Mapping
- Take a journey across a foreign land using you mapping skills to guide you through the journey
- Explain the steps of drawing a contour map of the area outside the main characters house
Weathering, Erosion, Deposition
- Travel with a rock as it breaks down and becomes a part of the soil
- Travel through the crust of the earth describing processes that will create the soil that the main character lives in
- Ride on a river on an adventure using some of the river features through out the book
- Describe how our landscape has been changed and formed by the different types of erosion that have come through the area, such as glaciers
Plate Tectonics
- Prepare an earthquake prevention project on ways to prepare for an emergency in case of an earthquake.
- Pick a character that lives near an active plate boundary and create a story around their lives at that location (ex, fish at a divergent boundary in the middle of an ocean)
- Create a natural disaster (volcano, earthquake) and describe how the main character survived the natural disaster
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