Grade 3 Project Challenges

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Theme Option #1: Weather
Theme Option #2: Your Choice
Rules

 

OPTION #1 Theme: Weather

Project Challenge: Preparing for Weather Hazards

  • What are weather hazards that you may experience in your part of the country (hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, blizzards, drought...)?
  • Working in small groups of 2-4 students, students are to decide how people can become more aware of how to prepare for these hazards and how they can reduce injuries and damage.

Note to Teachers: To incorporate the observe, analyze, and interpret segments, students could find data from a former storm or tornado via online records. Use that as the data collection part and write about it. These could be recommended resources:
http://www.noaa.gov/wx.html
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/

Key Steps:

  • Conduct background research on the specific weather hazards
  • Construct a plan/procedure for how to prepare for them
  • Observe and gather information
  • Analyze your data
  • Interpret your data
  • Using words and original student drawings/artwork, tell the story of your project in a PowerPoint presentation.
  • Suggested Presentation Elements:
    • Beginning Section: Cover & Introduction to project challenge questions/topic
    • Second Section: Introduction to project challenge questions/topic and description of your plan
    • Third Section: What did you observe?
    • Final Section: Draw a conclusion of what you have learned. Why is it important?

NGSS correlation:
Earth's Systems:
  • Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.
  • Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.

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OPTION #2 Theme: Your Choice

Project Challenge: Choose a community-oriented science challenge for your class to study.

  • Conduct background research
  • Construct a plan/procedure for how to test or explore your challenge
  • Observe and gather information
  • Analyze your data
  • Interpret your data
  • Using words and original student drawings/artwork, tell the story of your project in a PowerPoint presentation.
  • Suggested Presentation Elements:
    • Beginning Section: Cover & Introduction to project challenge questions/topic
    • Second Section: Introduction to project challenge questions/topic and description of your plan
    • Third Section: What did you observe?
    • Final Section: Draw a conclusion of what you have learned. Why is it important?

Examples of the types of concepts you might want to choose from:

  • The human body
  • Light and vision
  • Astronomy and space
  • Forces and motion
  • Ecosystems
  • Geology

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Rules for Grade 3

Project submission consists of the creation of a PowerPoint presentation. Each presentation is comprised of visuals and text used to showcase the students' original work in The DuPont Challenge.

Submission Format Options
Besides text, acceptable materials for PowerPoint presentations are the following: visual aids (e.g. photos, images, student drawings, etc.) highlighted on a Microsoft PowerPoint and uploaded as a PPT, PPTX, JPG, or PDF file on the official online entry form.

Guidelines for Using Microsoft PowerPoint Submission Format
The PowerPoint is used as a tool to highlight the team's original work and should be comprised of the following: hand-drawn images, pictures, or drawings compiled to organize the team's information. Teachers are strongly encouraged to allow the students to contribute to the file as needed and use of text within slides should be minimal. Diagrams and labels should be included in the team's images.

Page requirement for project submissions: Up to 8 pages + cover title slide.

Team Composition: Teams are comprised of groups of 2-4 students per team. Each student can only participate in one project submission.

Submissions in formats other than a PowerPoint will result in competition disqualification. Please see the Frequently Asked Questions page for more information.

SPECIAL NOTE: Every team must be comprised of students from the same class and in the same grade level. Multi-grade teams--even within the same classroom--are not eligible.

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