Bulletin Board Project

What do I need to do?

Find a current (something from the last year) news article and create a bulletin board that explains the subject and why it is relevant.

How should the bulletin board be set up?

Each news article is unique so there isn't a definite template that will work for every board.  

A starting point for most board would be to include all or some of the following:

• Background - The general information about the subject you are talking about.  Answering questions like "What is it? Where is it found? When was it discovered?"
• Main point of the board - Summary of the article - don't just post a print out of the article.  Summerize the article in your own words and do so using different sized fonts and bolded sections to emphasize important parts.  Also, chunk it into small readable paragraphs that won't take people long to get through (remember most are stopping in a class change or on their way somewhere so they can't stay for 10 minutes).
• QR Code to the article you are pulling from - Use this as a way to cite your source
• Why should it matter to "Me"? - Make sure to put something on your board that makes the reader understand why they should care.  What impact does this have on the United States? North Carolina? Concord? A high school student?
• Other resources - It is nice that if someone is interested you could list other books, articles, blogs, tiktoks - whatever - that people could go to and learn more.  That is the ultimate goal - to get someone interested enough that they want to continue down that path.  This is not always possible for every board but a fun idea if you are looking for something else to put up with your info

What does "Neatness/Asthetically Pleasing" mean?

Asthetically pleasing means that the entire board looks neat and is decorated in an eye catching manner.  Science by itself can be dry so it should look inviting and at the very least make someone stop to look at the design and hopefully read a little bit.  As you can see on the board that I did I added a couple of things to make it more interesting. 

Things you can do to achieve this -

• Frame the article with a different color paper before you post it
• cut the papers you are posting to different shapes and sizes
• Have important information highlighted or in a different color font
• Make the font large enough to read while not getting super close
• Have the background of the board be a scene or integrated into the information
• Have large colorful pertinent graphics/pictures

Things you could have points counted off for

• Incomplete designs
• sloppy work 
• papers curling or falling off the board because they weren't secured down
• lots of empty dead space

You don't have to be inherently artistic to do this but I would say that it is a good idea to think about all the roles needing to be filled before you commit to a group!

What does "current news article in biology" mean?

So for the most part you need to stick with something in the field of Biology.  If you are unsure try to look for articles or events that connect ot the units we cover.  If you find an article that you would like to cover but doesn't fit then check with the teacher first.  

"Current" should be within the last 12 months.  Also, it shouldn't be anything that was only relevant at that point (for example an eclipse article a few months after it happened wouldn't be suggested.) Again - if you are unsure please ask!

Timeline?

You are given a 3 day window (generally from a wednesday to a friday) to take down the previous bulletin board and put yours up.  If possible please take down the previous bulletin board in a way that preserves the artwork, boarders or decorative items they used so that they might be used again if possible.   If you have free time at the end of class or intervention then I will happily give you that time to work on your bulletin boards but please make sure to check with me ahead of time if this is a must (due transportation and inability to stay after school) because I often have activities planned that take up the entire time.  

Turnning in to Canvas  

Once your board is finished you need to create a document for canvas for grading purposes.  The document should contain the following in this order:

• Names of everyone in the group 
• Picture of the entire bulletin board
• summary of the article
• link to the article
• List of involvement of everyone in the group
• Closer pictures of the board or attach the documents used and printed out
• Anything else you would like me to see/consider while grading

Below you will find the Rubric - if you have any questions or concerns about what something on the rubric means then you must ask me AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE TO WHEN YOUR PROJECT IS DUE.  You must complete one board per quarter or you will recieve a 0 quiz grade. You are responsible for keeping up with your dates - I should not have to remind you.  If you are late then 10 points a day will be deducted from the final grade.  

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Bulletin Board Materials