Kindergarten Project Challenges

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

 

OPTION #1 Theme: Plants

Project Challenge: How to Help Plants Grow

  • Under the direction of the classroom teacher, students will explore what plants need to survive.
  • As a classroom project, work together to determine how you can help a plant (choose one type) grow and how you can protect it.

Key Steps:

  • Conduct background research on plants
  • Make a plan/procedure for how to grow plants. Create an experiment where students grow seeds and then transplant them into soil.
  • Observe and gather information
  • Analyze your data
  • Interpret your data
  • Using words and original student drawings/artwork, tell the story of your project in one of the two following format options:
    • a handwritten/hand-drawn poster presentation (which can be scanned or photographed for submitting on the online entry form)
    • 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
  • Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.

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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
  • Build 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 one of the two following format options:
    • a handwritten/hand-drawn poster presentation (which can be scanned or photographed for submitting on the online entry form)
    • 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 your students to address:

  • Physical characteristics of living things
  • Properties of objects and materials
  • Simple behaviors of living things
  • Characteristics of living and non-living things

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Rules for Kindergarten

Project submission consists of the creation of a poster (or PowerPoint presentation of the completed project). Each poster 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 storyboard projects are the following: visual aids (e.g. photos, images, student drawings, etc.) highlighted on one of the following format options:

  • Poster board: scanned or photographed and uploaded as a JPG or PDF file on the official online entry form
  • Microsoft PowerPoint: 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 PowerPoint submissions: Up to 8 pages + cover title slide

Team Composition: The entry must be from a team comprised of the students from the same classroom. Only one entry is allowed per classroom and should be a representation of the classroom's ability to address the project challenge.

Submissions in formats other than poster or 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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