Science projects should be about halfway finished. As a reminder, the final whole project is due on Monday, January 25th. The remaining checkpoints are due on the next few Wednesdays. Because of all the work at home with projects, I will not be assigning homework for the next few weeks.
Checkpoint #4 is the "Background Information" requirement. This is what we used to call writing a report, and these days we usually call it an expository paper. Today in class, we reviewed plagiarism and paraphrasing in depth. Students should have a very clear idea on each of these concepts. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade, and the work will need to be redone to be accepted.
Regarding the bibliography: I am requiring students to use at least TWO sources for the paper, and one for the definitions. A great website tool for citing sources is EasyBib.com - we have looked at this in class a couple of times. We also watched video clips from BrainPop to help understand plagiarism, paraphrasing, citing sources, and so on. To access the videos, login with fce/ password coyotes.
PLEASE email me with questions or concerns. I know this can be a daunting task, so if there is anything I can clarify, please let me know.