Purpose of the project: To explore current social problems facing the world today and brainstorm solutions to these complex problems. Students will develop research skills in locating multiple sources in the library and on the Internet.

Skills: At the end of this unit will be able to:

1) Locate multiple resources in the library including books, magazines, newspaper articles, encyclopedias, and websites.

2. Write a 3-5 page research paper including a cover page, parenthetical citation, and a bibliography.
3. Edit their work for proper spelling and grammar.

Final Draft 75 points

Research Notebook/ Class participation 50 points

Rough Draft 25 points

See attached rubrics for specific details

Topics: Choose any of the following topics or with permission develop your own. Remember the focus is on the world problem and possible solutions to the problem.

1. Poverty
2. World Hunger
3. Overpopulation
4. Substance Abuse (Alcohol and Drug)
5. Crime rates
6. Domestic Violence
7. Prostitution
8. Diseases: AIDS, Cancer, etc.
9. War and Terrorism
10. Ethnic Cleansing
11. Gun Control
12. Global Warming
13. Human Rights Violations
14. Sweatshops
15. Racism
16. Energy problems: Oil, Nuclear

Requirements: Students may work alone or with one partner only. No exceptions!

The following details exactly what is expected of the final draft:

1. Cover page: Typed with the following information: Name(s), Topic, Date. You may include a picture or graph related to your topic but it is not required.
2. Body Format: Typed, Double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman Font.

Required length: Individual- 3-page minimum – 5-page maximum

Partners- 5 page minimum – 7 page maximum

Quotes/ Citations: Use Parenthetical method (Author, Year of Publication)

Pictures/ Graphs, Charts- may be added to your paper to illustrate points but will not take the place of the required writing.

3. Bibliography: listing all sources used in creating the paper. You must use a minimum of 5 sources including at least 2 books, 1 magazine or newspaper article, and 1 website.

Research groups: Students will be placed in research groups and asked to share ideas and provide support and feedback to their group members. The research group will also meet to read and edit rough drafts. Students will be graded by their group members for their contribution to the group.

Notebook/ Class participation: Students will be expected to complete tasks relating to the research paper for example filling out research logs and sharing them with their research groups. See the attached rubric for specifics on grading.

Rough draft: Students will be expected to complete and turn in a rough draft of the paper including cover page, outline, introduction, body, conclusion and bibliography. The rough draft will be shared with the research groups and the teacher and feedback will be provided. Due on Tuesday October 3, 2000.

Final draft: Students will turn in final draft, which will be graded for format, content, grammar, spelling and punctuation. See the attached rubric for details.

Late papers: Papers turned in late will be deducted 20 points a day. No papers excepted after October 11^th.

Plagiarism: Using someone’s thoughts, ideas, or words without giving them proper credit (citation) is stealing. Those students caught for plagiarizing will receive an automatic 0 (F) for the project and will be required to serve detention time and have a conference with their parents.