Brief Description

Students are provided with a list of dominant and recessive traits.  They are to interview a determined amount of individuals and record the number and types of traits found. Students will learn how their physical characteristics, or traits, are inherited by gathering a great deal of information about specific, easily seen human features.  This information will be shared through an Internet Project. During this project, students will complete surveys, formulate hypotheses, and use the data compiled by students around the globe to test their hypotheses.  Following the study, the students are to create forms and charts to illustrate their individual and group findings.  Please see attached the Internet Project requirements and deadlines.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

4T-E1-Students use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of facilitated and independent learning.
4T-E3-Students collaboratively use telecommunications and online resources.

1SC-E1:  Identify a question, formulate a hypothesis, control and manipulate variables, predict outcomes, compare and analyze results, and defend conclusions.
1SC-E3:  Organize and present data gathered from their own experiences
1SC-E4:  Identify and refine questions from previous investigations
1SC-P1:  Propose solutions to practical and theoretical problems by synthesizing and evaluating information
1SC-P3:  Analyze and evaluate reports of scientific studies
1SC-P6:  Identify and refine a researchable question, conduct the experiment, collect and analyze data, share and discuss findings.

Academic

1. Students will explore collaborative Internet Projects.
2. Students will examine chosen Internet Project and judge its merit.
3. Students will research at least three demographic and/or academic facts about school and/or city to report in Letter of Introduction.
4. Students will read and outline Project procedures, deadlines and requested information.
5. Students will develop and submit appropriate and accurate Letter of Introduction to Project Discussion Area.
6. Students will review and practice previously taught interview/survey strategies and protocol.
7. Students will efficiently introduce and explain project objectives to prospective survey candidates.
8. Students will become familiar with survey questions and particular dominant and recessive traits.
9. Students will formulate personal and group hypothesis regarding outcome of survey.
10. Students will successfully survey individuals and document/record findings accordingly.
11. Students will present information accurately and with effective basic language structure and form via e-mail to Project Discussion Area on a regular predetermined basis.
12. Students will produce a visual and oral presentation that explains the findings of survey results.

1. Students will communicate effectively via email with people in a remote location with minimum assistance from teacher.
2. Students will request collaborative information from individuals in local and remote locations.
3. Students will communicate electronically to collaborate with experts, peers and others to analyze data.
4. Students will present an academic product to electronically share data and hypotheses.

• Students are familiar with basic Internet skills.
• Students are familiar with Internet etiquette.
• Students have opened email accounts through the school.
• Students have permission from their parents/guardians to be involved in the project as results may be published in a variety of ways.
• Students demonstrate understanding of the power of email, how to use it, what information to share and how.

Survey Data Collection Form
Computer with email capabilities
Population to interview

Accommodations for Special Needs

The majority of the students that participated in this project were special needs individuals.  The students had the opportunity to work in groups and individually.  When more time was needed, we were able to schedule the computer lab for another date, and/or longer periods of time.  The students were able to record findings in any way they needed to in order to be able to adequately relay the information.  Students were, of course, permitted and encouraged to use the tools provided i.e., spell check, dictionaries, thesaurus’ etc.

Procedures

These sites have useful information for the project:
http://www.k12science.org/collabprojs.html
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/genes/genesov.html
http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/projects/zool/zool202/
http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~otto/Talks/Dominance/Dominance.html
http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/DIR/VIP/Glossary/

• Students are introduced to the ‘concept’ of an Internet Project.
• Students become familiar with the chosen Project.
• Students review previous letters of introduction from other participating schools.
• Students produce an adequate, accurate Letter of Introduction and submit it to the Project Directory.
• Students formulate hypotheses regarding the outcomes of the project.
• Students produce written hypotheses on computer-word processing and in handwriting.
• Students submit their individual and group hypotheses by e-mail to the project discussion area.
• Students survey pre-determined number of subjects.
• Students will organize and post (email) survey results within designated timelines.
• Students will observe and analyze the data on a weekly basis and evaluate accuracy of hypotheses following each data entry.

• The students developed a number of rubrics from which to be assessed.
• Students will be rated on whether or not the completed work within given timeframes.
• Students will be rated on the accuracy of their emails.
• Students will be rated on consistency of their individual and group participation.
• Students will be rated on the accuracy and basic language form and structure of the Letter of Introduction-see rubric on writing.
• Students will be rated on the final presentation/report-see final presentation rubric.