The document summarizes several projects from Paul D. Schreiber High School that merge high school science with Common Core standards. It outlines the assignments and requirements for a Basic Chemistry project on adopting an element, an Honors Biology research essay, an ESL Global Issues essay on two global problems, an AP Environmental Science alternative energies project, and a nuclear energy debate. It concludes with some thoughts from presenters on offering choices, skills transfer, collaboration, and making STEM fun.

1. Paul D. Schreiber High School in
Port Washington, New York is a four year
comprehensive public school of 1600
students serving a diverse population.
Guest Speakers
Mary Seligman – Media Specialist
Joy Grasso-Krebs – Chemistry Teacher
Michal Cohan – English Teacher
Merging High School Science with
Common Core Standards
COMMON CORE WEBINAR SERIES

2. • Basic Chemistry Project
• Honors Biology Project
• ESL Global Issues Project
• AP Environmental Science Project
• Nuclear Energy Debate
Questions?
Please send them through the CHAT BOX!
Today’s Webinar Agenda

3. Basic Chemistry
ASSIGNMENT:
1. Select an element from the list of options
2. Research the following categories:
a. History – discovery; in what circumstances?
b. Properties – physical/chemical; uses
c. Reactivity – compounds and their properties; what does it react with?
d. Extraction – where does it occur in the environment; how is it extracted from its ore?
e. Contribution – human welfare, civilization, culture; would you judge it to be
generally useful and beneficial? or harmful? Give reasons for your opinion.
FINAL PROJECT:
 Make a presentation to the class (5-7 minutes).
 You may use presentation software or a presentation board.
 Include a Works Cited page.
Basic Chemistry
Project Title: Adopt an Element
Source: "Periodic table." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner
and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Science in Context.

4. Basic Chemistry Project - Pathfinder

5. Basic Chemistry Project - Search Results

6. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such
that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style
are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.5 Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of
data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative
print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and
limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information
into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on
any one source and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4 Present information, findings, and supporting
evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of
reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the
organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a
range of formal and informal tasks.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5 Make strategic use of digital media
(e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance
understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
Common Core Standards:
Basic Chemistry Project - Adopt an Element

7. ASSIGNMENT:
1. Select a Biology related topic
2. Define a problem
• this must be in question form
3. Find 3 articles illustrating why the problem is important
• 2 must be from peer reviewed journals
• articles must be published within the last five years
4. Create an outline that reflects your problem
• use your articles to support the important points
5. Using your outline and notes:
• write an in-class essay about your topic
• suggest possible ‘solutions’
Honors Biology
Project Title: Research Essay
Source: "Animal research and testing." Biotechnology: Changing
Life Through Science. Detroit: U*X*L, 2010. Science in Context.

8. Honors Biology Project - Pathfinder

9. Honors Biology Project - Search Results

10. Common Core Standards:
Honors Biology Project – Research Essay
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science
and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other
domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context
relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other
domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context
relevant to grades 11–12 texts and topics.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.6 Analyze the author’s purpose in providing an
explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, defining the question
the author seeks to address.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.8 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a
text support the author’s claim or a recommendation for solving a scientific or technical problem.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.10 By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend
science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.10 By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend science
/technical texts in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

11. ASSIGNMENT(Essay):
1. Select two different global problems
2. Describe one major cause of each problem
3. Discuss one effect of each problem on a specific nation or region
• Do not describe problems in the United States, although the discussion of the
effect of the global problem could involve the United States.
Guidelines:
In your essay, be sure to –
• Develop all aspects of the task.
• Support the theme with relevant facts, examples, and details.
• Use a logical and clear plan of organization, including introduction and
conclusion that are beyond the restatement of the theme.
ESL Global Issues Project
Source: "Deforestation of temperate rainforest." Environmental
Encyclopedia. Ed. Marci Bortman, Peter Brimblecombe, and Mary
Ann Cunningham. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Science in Context.
POSSIBLE TOPICS:
desertification deforestation
overpopulation spread of disease
earthquakes nuclear energy
environmental pollution drug trafficking
*you are not limited to these suggestions*

12. ESL Global Issues Project - Pathfinder

13. ESL Global Issues Project - Search Results

14. Common Core Standards:
ESL Global Issues Project
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or
secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the
course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other
domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context
relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text;
determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.5 Analyze the structure of the relationships among concepts
in a text, including relationships among key terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction
force, energy).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science
and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace
the text’s explanation or depiction of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an
accurate summary of the text.

15. ASSIGNMENT:
1. Presentation – (15 minutes in length)
• detail history
• current research pros/cons
• cost
• future of this alternative
2. Research paper – (8-10 Pages)
• Expand on the specifics of the presentation
• Include academic journal articles
3. Choose one of the following:
• Design and conduct a meaningful survey
• Develop a lesson plan for elementary school
• Design a webpage
• Design and create a children’s book to teach about your energy source
AP Environmental Science
Project Title: Alternative Energies
TOPIC CHOICES:
passive solar photovoltaics biomass conversion
hydroelectric geothermal hydrogen fuel cells
wind OTEC tidal
Source: "Photovoltaic Cells on Street Lights." Gale Science
in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2013.Science in Context.

16. AP Environmental Science Project - Pathfinder

17. AP Environmental Science Project - Search Results

18. Common Core Standards:
AP Environmental Science Project – Alternative Energies
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in
diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve
a problem.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.8 Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or
technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other
sources of information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.9 Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments,
simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting
information when possible.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical
texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex
concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate
terms.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.1a Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance
of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that
logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual,
and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and
to add interest.

19. Nuclear Energy – The Great Debate
Project Title: To Fission or Not To Fission?
Task 1 :
Research the pros and cons of nuclear energy (fission)
Focus on the following:
• What are the problems with Fission reactions
(Nuclear Power Plants, Nuclear Weapons) in our society?
Think about the environment and global politics.
• Why are people always so worried about Nuclear Power?
• Why are Americans in general, often so opposed to
Nuclear Power as an alternative energy source?
• What are the advantages of Nuclear Power (Fission)
• What are the disadvantages?
Task 2:
• Based on your research, decide which side you are on.
• Create a well developed, articulate argument and be prepared to defend your position.
• Your research and presentation notes will be handed in at the end of the debate.
Source: "Nuclear explosion at sea." Chemical Elements: From
Carbon to Krypton. Ed. Lawrence W. Baker and David E.
Newton. Detroit: UXL, 2006. Science in Context.

20. Nuclear Energy: The Great Debate - Pathfinder

21. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of
conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such
that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style
are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of
evidence and rhetoric.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.8 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a
text support the author’s claim or a recommendation for solving a scientific or technical
problem.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative
tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Common Core Standards:
Nuclear Energy Debate – To Fission or Not to Fission?

22. • Offer students choices within parameters.
– help them ‘own’ the project!
• Skills are interchangeable across content areas and are
necessary in all professions and work worlds.
• When teachers collaborate even informally, it trickles into the
classroom and kids benefit.
• Library skills (Information Literacy) is the pathway to being a well
educated person and able to communicate thoughts and ideas.
• STEM topics don’t always have to be a grind.
– they can be fun if we make it that way!
- Mary, Joy, and Michal
Some thoughts – why we do what we do…

23. QUESTIONS? PLEASE CONTACT US!
Dinah Ramirez
Product Training Specialist
dinah.ramirez@cengage.com
1-800-877-4253 ext# 8047
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Your Gale Representative
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