Extra Credit
Extra credit is only available for those students who have no missing assignments. If you have missing assignments, do those first. (Now here's the exception to that rule: if you missed a class, or several, and need make-up assignments, extra credit might just work for you unless we come up with another, more appropriate, make-up.)
Extra credit assignments should have three components for the most points:
If the student does the above three well, showing clearly that effort went into the extra credit work, then he or she can probably get up to 10 to 15 extra credit points! If less is done, then the student will not get as many points.
As 6th graders study Energy, Machines, and Motion, the EMM website (http://www.stcms.si.edu/emm/emm.htm) will help students complete extra credit and the topics we are studying in class. Try that website first. For the water quality project, any fresh water or salt water topic is fair game. Especially if it's something we don't cover in class.
For 8th grade Earth Science any weather topics (hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, rain, tsunamis, heat, etc.), any astronomy topics (our solar system, our moon, any planet, our galaxy, the universe, stars, the sun, black holes, quasars, etc.) are all available for extra credit.
Go to the website, http://eagle.csd49.org/classpages/extra_credit.html, to see sample posters.
As of 12/10/03, students have given me ideas for two more topics perfect for extra credit. One is silicon where students can research the many uses of silicon, and what it is of course, to share with the class. The second topic students can study is the switching of the earth's magnetic poles.