Course Profile - Curriculum Services Canada

Suggested Activities
6.1 The goal of this portion of the Final Performance Task is to allow the university-bound student an
opportunity to pursue an interest in chemistry outside the regular curriculum and to demonstrate their
knowledge and expertise by engaging in a series of tasks: research; investigation; hypothesizing;
verifying; organizing; and presenting. The specific objectives of this unit are to: act as a vehicle for
the exploration of some genuine interest; provide experience in independent thinking; give students
the opportunity to demonstrate excellence in research and presentation; provide motivated students
with an opportunity to work on an enriching and challenging project.
The role of the teacher is to: provide access to a choice of suitable project topics and supply suitable
resources where necessary; provide ongoing support and maintain overall control of the project;
ensure that all safety and waste disposal requirements are met; evaluate the process forms, final
report and peer evaluation forms.
The role of the student is to: choose a suitable topic; do the background research necessary to ensure
that the investigation proceeds to completion; schedule the lab work necessary and ensure that it is
done under the proper supervision and conditions; maintain a record of their time spent on activities
in a log; maintain the agreed-upon schedule to completion; prepare and submit the process forms,
final reports and peer evaluations forms on time and in an acceptable format. Probably the single
most difficult part of the Performance Task for students is the choice of a good research question;
refer to Planning Notes for Activity 1.1 and Activity 1.1.2.
Students’ search for a Performance Task question should begin with an inventory of personal
interests and related chemical/scientific topics as early in the course as possible. Since all research
begins with a question, students should be given the opportunity to ask their own research question
and follow through with an experimental investigation. It should also be pointed out that a
Performance Task that follows the true “Scientific Method” is deemed superior to one that only
follows a pre-written procedure.
The following items could be included in the experimental design proposal and discussed with the
teacher in a student-teacher conference:
• identification of the dependent, independent and controlled variables;
• a labelled diagram of the experimental set up;
• a list of all required chemicals, their required concentrations/masses;
• a list of all required equipment;
• a detailed, step-by-step procedure that indicates how the dependent variable will be measured
and how the controlled variables will be kept constant;
• an outline of the observations/data tables;
• a description of how the observations/data will be analysed;
• possible sources of error and ways to minimize error;
• safety concerns and waste disposal.
The importance of lab work in the Performance Task cannot be overstated; the results of
experimental work are necessary in order to write the scientific lab report. There is also an
opportunity to evaluate student Learning Skills and Investigative Skills.
6.2 Written Examination
Assessment Inquiry Activity (Inquiry, Communication, Making Connections),
Final Exam (Knowledge/Understanding, Making Connections)
Resources
Science Teachers’ Resource Center Lapeer County Information Depot
– http://chem.lapeer.org/Chem1Docs/Index.html
Rubric design (Salina High School South)
– http://www.usd305.com/south/teachers/pitts/projects/projectpaper.html
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• Chemistry – University Preparation