Grade 5 Project Challenges
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Theme Option #1: Energy
Theme Option #2: Your Choice
Rules
OPTION #1 Theme: Energy
Project Challenge: Finding New Sources of Energy
- All around the world we are facing global energy challenges. Beyond energy shortages, existing sources such as fossil fuels can leave a detrimental footprint on the environment.
- Working in small groups of 2-4 students, students are to develop a project that identifies--and explains the benefits of--one of the most promising alternative energy sources.
Key Steps:
- Conduct background research on different types of alternative energy sources
- Select one alternative energy source that appears to have great potential
- Construct a plan/procedure to expand the availability and usage of this promising alternative energy source
- 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:
Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment. [Clarification Statement: Examples of renewable energy resources could include wind energy, water behind dams, and sunlight; non-renewable energy resources are fossil fuels and fissile materials. Examples of environmental effects could include loss of habitat due to dams, loss of habitat due to surface mining, and air pollution from burning of fossil fuels.]
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:
- Human body systems
- Water cycles
- Rocks and minerals
- Changes in matter
- Structure of living things
Rules for Grade 5
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.
