Home

Is Life Getting Better?



Welcome to the ECHS 10th Grade Intersession Website. Here you can find out information about the different topics in intersession and pick up homework assignments and rubrics.

The 10th Grade intersession centers around the question "Is Life Getting Better"? Each of the seven classes looks at this topic through a different lens and together they help to give students a fuller picture of the topic.

Click here for 1st Day Discussion Posts

[|History Classwork] **__10th Grade Intersession Prompt__**

Is Life Getting Better? 10 th Grade Intersession Project 2012

__Project Overview:__

**Part I: ** **Students will work in groups of 4 to create a wikispace that answers essential questions by addressing each topic’s effect on the three pillars of sustainability: **


 * 1) Economy
 * 2) Society
 * 3) Environment

__Format__ **Each wikispace will have a main page that includes the following: **


 * 1) Group members’ names
 * 2) Index of Topics in Alphabetical Order (with hyperlinks)
 * 3) Each member’s proposed final project (3 sentence synopsis)

**Each topic will have its own page within the wikispace (there must be a hyperlink on the main page that leads to the topic pages): **


 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Title of Page:
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline;">Has (fill in blank with topic) made life better? **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline;">**-or-**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline;">Would__(fill in blank with topic) make life better? **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; text-align: center; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline;">(topics include: Official Language, Biological Technology (BioTech), Industrial Revolution, European Imperialism, & Energy Technology)


 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Introduction:
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Definition of topic and explanation of topic
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Summary of status quo
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Decision (__taking into account BOTH pros and cons__) for each of the following lens
 * 5) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Environmental
 * 6) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Social
 * 7) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Economic
 * 8) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Visuals:
 * 9) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Graph: 1 per page minimum
 * 10) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2 relevant Images that reflect the topic (at least ONE of which must be an original work)
 * 11) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Conclusion:
 * 12) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Has this topic made life better? (With all lenses considered)
 * 13) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Have we made too little progress or too much progress in this area?

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">* ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Groups will receive a group grade for the wikispace. ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Part I will be graded according to the following rubric: **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 21px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Part II: Individual Final Project **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Each individual student will create a final project and presentation to show his/her understanding of all the topics and then predict what the future will be like based on what they have learned throughout intersession. The final project and presentation should address the question, include specific examples from intersession classes and show the impact of their choices on the economy, environment and society in a clear and logical way. Final project presentations should be 3 to 5 minutes and answer the question selected for the project. Think of the presentation as a way to really explain how your Final Project clearly explains all the amazing things learned in intersession. **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Possible Final Project Choices: ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Video ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Graphic Novel ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Powerpoint ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3D Model or Sculpture ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One Act Play or Puppet Show ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Music ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Essay or Short Story ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Childrens Book ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Board Game ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Newspaper ** **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Visual Art (painting or mural) **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(choose one of the following prompts): **


 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Using the lessons from intersession, what do you think the future is going to look like economically, socially, and environmentally? Does this future demonstrate that life is getting better or not, and why?
 * 2) Based on your perspective and using the lessons from intersession, what does society need for life to get better economically, environmentally, and socially?

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">*Part II will be graded according to the attached rubric. Students will receive an individual grade for Part II assignment. ** Part II will be orally presented in front of a panel of teachers, peers and community members on Community Day **

A Demonstration Wikispaces Page can be found here.

Links:



Research Links: [|Gapminder] This is a great link to a ton of statistics that can help you with creating your graphs. [|Nationmaster] A link to statistics broken down by nation. [|ProCon.org] This is a website dedicated to looking at both sides of controversial issues.