MAGDALENA

Guidelines for Science Current Events Assignment 

We live in New Mexico, but events all over the world impact our lives. To help you keep up with what’s going on in the scientific community, you’ll complete three current event assignments.

First, you’ll choose a news story and summarize it.

Then you’ll have choose a written, visual or oral response.

Things to remember : 
● You can use news stories from newspapers, magazines or Internet news services. --Make sure your source is accurate and reputable. --Here are some suggestions for news websites you might want to use: 

www.sciencedaily.com
www.sciencenews.org 

● You must choose an article related to science from anywhere in the world. --Think BIG! Science happens everywhere... not just in labs and hospitals or under microscopes! 
● Please stay away from vulgar material or anything that might be inappropriate for class. 

Grading Rubric: 

Step 1: Summary  - 50 points

Answers the "W's" - Who, What, When, Where, Why? – 10 points each 

SHOW YOUR SUMMARY — Write a summary paragraph telling me about the article. I want to know what happened, who was involved, when it occurred, where it occurred,  and why do you think it is important.

Provide the link to the article at the end of your summary.

MLA Citation – 10 points

Step 2: React and Respond  - 40 points

You can pick one of the three types to do along with your summary

1. Visual Response - neat, marker/pen, colorful, text

Create a visual representation (cartoon, collage, advertisement, 3-D model, etc.) that relates to the article and what you have learned from it. In most situations I would expect your visual to be neat and colored. 

●Please do not go out and buy materials. Use what you have & be creative

Here are two examples of a visual response.

2. Written Response – letter format, evaluates/persuades, grammatically correct

Complete ONE of the following four options.

Your written response should be at least six to eight sentences in paragraph form ... written below your summary paragraph! 
Level 1: Being There Imagine you were actually involved in the event. You must tell the story from your own point of view--as if you were actually here. Your story should reflect your perspective, not necessarily the author’s. It should be written in the first person (I...). 
Level 2: Relating Relate the story to your own life. Discuss how the story relates to an experience you’ve had or something you’ve seen or read. If you can think of another way to relate it to yourself you may do so. 
Level 3: Reflecting Tell me why this story is important. How do or could the events in the article affect the world? You? What lessons can we take from it? Based on what you know, what do you think will happen next? 
Level 4: Evaluating Evaluate the news story. What was the author trying to accomplish by writing this article? What did the author do well? What could the author have done even better? Did you feel the author was being fair? 

3. Oral Response (Video) – loud, eye contact, summary details, and questions answered 

Video & present the summary of your article and a response to three of the following questions. 
1. How does the story relate to an experience in my own life or the life of someone I know?

2. How does this story impact me and the world around me?

3. What lessons can be learned from this current event?

4. Why did I choose this article? 

While presenting make sure you make eye contact with the class, you speak clearly/audibly, are concise in your summary, and cover your step two questions. It should last from one to two minutes.