“Chemistry of…/Chemistry behind…” Research Paper

Topics:

  • Students may choose any topic that interests them. Students should select topics that are school appropriate and that they can easily find the required information. Suggestions include but are not limited to: the chemistry of beer, cola, fireworks, cosmetics, hair color, perms/relaxers, paints, clothing dyes, combustion (car) engines, production of gasoline/ethanol, water treatment processes for drinking and/or sanitation, tires, glassware/bakeware, atomic bomb, etc.

Paper Layout:

  • 3 – 5 pages
  • Double spaced
  • Times New Roman Font
  • 12 pt Font
  • 1 in margins

Paper content:

  • Title Page
  • History of the subject matter
  • Where was it found/created? When was it created? Who found it?
  • How the subject matter is produced.
  • Discuss where and how it is made, produced, distributed. Is it made locally and only found in part of the country, region, or the world. Give chemical formulas for the creation of the product such as the fermentation of yeast to make beer.
  • Are there multiple versions of the product, such as various brands of cola? How many variations are there? List a few.
  • How much money does your topic make each year?
  • Discuss the type of environmental impact your product has on the environment. Do not think only of the product itself but think about its packaging and the transportation of the product, etc.

Works Cited:

  • 3 – 5 creditable sources, Wikipedia is not a creditable source. BING, Yahoo!,and Google are not creditable sources they are search engines.
  • Use MLA formatting rules for sources.
  • For Citing your work use Son of Citation Machine.com, link is found on Ms. High’s web page.

Students will turn in collected research, peer reviews, rough drafts, and published pieces to Ms. Wright and Ms. High at the times listed below.

Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated. Any student caught cheating will receive a zero on their assignment, parent/guardian will be contacted, and will serve a school detention. Plagiarism will be discussed in the beginning of the class and before the starting the project. Plagiarism will be dealt with on an individual basis, depending on the severity; the student could receive a zero on the assignment/project.

Due Dates

2/23 – 3/9: computer lab

2/23 – 2/24: Research and pre-writing

2/27 – 2/28: Rough drafting; drafts due by Tuesday @ 3:30 (email to Ms. High & Ms. Wright)

2/29: Peer review

3/1 – 3/2: Revision based on peer suggestions, Revision due on Friday @ 3:30 to Ms. High & Ms. Wright

3/5 – 3/9: Typing final revisionpaper due on Friday @ 3:30(email Ms. High & Ms. Wright)

You will receive a grade for each part of the process. Points will be divided up as follows:

Requirement / Points / Due Dates
Pre-writing & four sources / 50 pts (10 pts/each) / Friday, 2/24/2012
Rough Draft / 50 pts / Tuesday, 2/28/2012
Peer Review of three peer papers / 30 pts (10 pts/each) / Wednesday, 2/29/2012
Revision after Peer Review / 50 pts / Friday, 3/2/2012
Final Draft / 200 pts / Friday, 3/9/2012

Paper Layout Rubric:

Title Page / Title / 1 pt
Student’s name / 1 pt
Subject / class period / 1 pt
Date / 1 pt
Header / Last name on each page (top right corner) / 1 pt
Page number on each page (top right corner) / 1 pt
Images / Must be labeled (ie Figure 1) / 1 pt
Have a caption (The dog jumped the fence.) / 1 pt
Must be cited / 1 pt
Paper / Times New Roman Font / 1 pt
12 point Font / 1 pt
1 inch margins / 1 pt
Doubled spaced / 1 pt
Works Cited / Bibliography / Used MLA formatting / 1 pt
Correctly formatted sources / 1 pt
Correctly formatted in-text citations / 1 pt
Total Points for Paper Format / 16 pts

“Chemistry of…/Chemistry behind…” Research Paper

0 (<70) / 1 (70 – 75) / 2 (76 – 80) / 3 (81 – 90) / 4 (91 – 100)
Content
Purpose and Audience; Idea Development and Support
The writing: / The writing: / The writing: / The writing: / The writing:
□ Lacks purpose / □ Attempts to establish a general purpose; lacks focus / □ Attempts to establish and maintain a narrowed purpose; some lapses in focus / □ Establishes and maintains an authentic focused purpose throughout / □ Establishes and maintains an authentic and insightful focused purpose throughout
□ Lacks awareness of audience / □ Indicates limited awareness of audience’s needs / □ Indicates some awareness of audience’s needs; makes some attempt to communicate with an audience; may demonstrate some voice and/or tone / □indicates an awareness of audience’s needs; communicates adequately with audience; conveys voice and/or appropriate tone / □ Indicates a strong awareness of audience’s needs; communicates effectively with audience; sustains distinctive voice and/or appropriate tone
□ Lacks idea development; may provide random details / □ Demonstrates limited idea development with few details and/or weak support; may attempt to apply some characteristics of the genre / □ Demonstrates some idea development with details/support; support may be unelaborated, irrelevant and/or repetitious; may apply some characteristics of the genre / □ Demonstrates depth of idea development with specific, sufficient details/support; applies characteristics of the genre / □ Demonstrates reflective, analytical and/or insightful idea development; provides specific, thorough support; skillfully applies characteristics of the genre
0 (<70) / 1 (70 – 75) / 2 (76 – 80) / 3 (81 – 90) / 4 (91 – 100)
Structure
Organization: unity and coherence; Sentences: structure and length
The writing: / The writing: / The writing: / The writing: / The writing:
□ Demonstrates random organization / □ Demonstrates ineffective or weak organization / □ Demonstrates logical organization with lapses in coherence / □ Demonstrates logical, coherent organization / □ Demonstrates careful and/or subtle organization that enhances the purpose
□ Lacks transitional elements / □ Demonstrates limited and/or ineffective transitional elements / □ Demonstrates some effective transitional elements / □ Demonstrates logical effective transitional elements throughout / □ Demonstrates varied and subtle transitional elements throughout
□ Demonstrates incorrect sentence structure throughout / □ Demonstrates some ineffective or incorrect sentence structure / □ Demonstrates simple sentences; may attempt more complex sentences but lacks control of sentence structure / □ Demonstrates control and variety in sentence structure / □ Demonstrates control, variety and complexity in sentence structure to enhance meaning
0 (<70) / 1 (70 – 75) / 2 (76 – 80) / 3 (81 – 90) / 4 (91 – 100)
Conventions
Language: grammar and usage, word choice; Correctness: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation and documentation
The writing: / The writing: / The writing: / The writing:
□ Demonstrates lack of control in grammar and usage / □ Demonstrates some control of grammar and usage with some errors that do not interfere with communication / □ Demonstrates control of grammar and usage relative to length and complexity / □ Demonstrates control of grammar and usage to enhance meaning
□ Demonstrates incorrect or ineffective word choice / □ Demonstrates simplistic and/or imprecise word choice / □ Demonstrates acceptable word choice appropriate for audience and purpose / □ Demonstrates control of grammar and usage to enhance meaning
□ Demonstrates lack of control in correctness / □ Demonstrates some control of correctness with some errors that do not interfere with communication / □ Demonstrates control of correctness relative to length and complexity / □ Demonstrates control of correctness to enhance communication

Title

First Name, Last Name

Chemistry – period

Mrs. High

March 12, 2012