Grade 4 Project Challenges
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Theme Option #1: Ecosystems
Theme Option #2: Your Choice
Rules
OPTION #1 Theme: Ecosystems
Project Challenge: Protecting Our Ecosystems
- Identify where and how an ecosystem close to your community--or within your state--has been negatively affected by human activity.
Special Note to Teachers:
The structure of the world's ecosystems changed more rapidly in the second half of the twentieth century than at any time in recorded human history, and virtually all of Earth's ecosystems have now been significantly transformed through human actions.
(http://www.greenfacts.org/en/ecosystems/millennium-assessment-3/1-ecosystem-change.htm#0p0) - Working in small groups of 2-4 students, students are to develop a project that addresses how to restore the ecosystem you've identified to its original healthy state.
Key Steps:
- Conduct background research on how human activities impact ecosystems
- Construct a plan/procedure for how reduce the negative impact
- 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
- Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
- Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth's features.
Theme Option #2: Your Choice
The 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:
- Characteristics of plants and animals
- The solar system
- Electricity and conductors
- Waves and their applications
- Body systems
Rules for Grade 4
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.
