Outline of Procedure for Chemical Element T-shirt and Research Project The Chemical Element T-shirt Project is an inter-disciplinary unit between Science, English and Art. In Science class, the students research their element and complete their notes pages. They also learn all of the basic chemistry leading up to understanding atomic structure before designing their element box for the front of their shirt. In English class, they learn all about writing a research paper. They are required to get all of the information from their notes pages and write the paper in class in order to avoid plagiarism. In Art class, they learn about graphic design and create the image for the back of their shirt. This image has to include a minimum of three distinctly different uses of their element. If you go to the lesson plans page, you will find all of the directions, notes pages and information necessary to do this project. Each of the bulleted items is located on the lesson plans page and in the booklet. Steps for Implementation: • Students need to learn some of the basic concepts that are a part of the physical science curriculum, such as the elements, chemical symbols and atomic structure, before starting the chemical element project. The following lessons help students to organize the basic information needed and check for understanding of the atomic structure. o Atomic Structure Element Box o Atomic Structure Worksheet o Chemical Symbols, Formulas and Equations explanation o Chemical Symbols, formulas and Equations (larger format for overhead transparencies) • Students choose an element that they would like to research. In order to avoid too much repetition of elements, I have students choose from a list of elements. I print out two and put the students’ names beside the element they choose. That way I can keep track of who is researching each element and make sure that no two students in the same class period choose the same element. Some of the elements will get doubled up on within the entire 8th grade class. You may want to add more elements to the list, but I have found that these work well since all of them have several uses. The students can’t complete the uses portion of their research paper if the element doesn’t have at least three distinctly different uses. o Element list • PowerPoint introduction o PP CD in booklet or PP on web page • Distribution of folders and color coded papers o I give each student a pocket folder that is designated for this project only o Chemical Element project directions o Characteristics Info Chart o Locations and History Info Chart o Uses Info Chart o Sources Info Chart o Element fact page – Biographical Worksheet o Directions for citing sources o Element box template (need to complete before image composer activity)• Students begin researching their element in the science classroom using computers, books and journals. They use the notes pages to take notes on information from their various sources. This information will be used when writing their research paper and creating their graphic design for the back of the shirt. They also record the citation information on the notes pages for each individual source so that they will have that when they go to create their bibliography. They also fill out their element box worksheet so that they have all the information readily available when they use image composer to create their element box for the front of their shirt. o List of element websites o Chemical element resource books • Image composer box (use completed element box worksheet) o Image composer directions • Graphic Design for back of shirt (in Art class) o Grading rubric o Procedure description • Research Paper (in English class) o Grading rubric o Self editing checklist o Exemplary research papers o Notes for Bibliography or Works Cited Page o Differentiated resources adapted for students with special needs  Modified grading rubric  Modified self editing chart for intro and conclusion  Modified self editing chart for body paragraphs • Note card Preparation o Directions sheet • Wearing shirts to school on the day of presentations. Each student receives 10 points extra credit if they wear the shirt all day. It has to be clearly visible, so they can’t wear a sweatshirt over the top of it. The point of wearing the shirt is so that others can learn about the uses of the elements which are on the back of the shirts. Therefore, the other teachers initial a signature sheet at the end of every other period verifying that the student was wearing the shirt and the shirt was clearly visible. When they present, they can also earn 5 points extra credit for modeling to music. The students enjoy this and even though it adds a couple of minutes onto the presentation if they choose to do it, it is worthwhile because it breaks up the presentations and adds an element of fun and laughter. You can view some videos of students modeling to music at the end of the PowerPoint presentation or on my website. o Signature sheet • Assessment o Grading rubric for the paper and presentation o Grading rubric for the entire project (this includes the score from the first