Research Report
Due the Week of March 22nd, 2010
8TH GRADE SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT
Medical Condition or Disease
Pick a disease or medical condition (for example – lung cancer, flu, AIDS…) that is of interest to you.
1) Introduction: A general overview of the condition or disease. Get the definition of the disease and give the necessary biological background. For example – What is cancer? Why is cancer so bad? What is the flu? What kind of damage does AIDS cause? What do the brain cells of Alzheimer’s patients look like?
2) Cause – What causes this disease? If Scientists do not know the exact cause, then what theories do they have?
3) Symptoms – How does the person feel? Does he have fever, chest pains, rash, fatigue…?
4) Diagnosis –
a. What tests do doctors do to determine whether a person has this disease? X-rays? MRIs? Blood tests?
b. How do these tests work?
c. What information are doctors looking for when they conduct these tests?
d. Why is a certain test necessary?
e. What does the patient have to do for this test?
5) Treatment/Cure
a. What treatments and/or drugs are available? Answer these questions for each available treatment. (Refer to all drugs by their accurate name.)
i. How is treatment administered?
ii. Where is treatment administered?
iii. How often is this treatment administered?
iv. Are there any side effects and if so what are they?
v. How effective is this treatment?
vi. What does the patient have to do? How effective are they?
b. Is there a cure for this condition or disease?
6) Conclusion. As is proper in any written document, the last paragraph should sum up your findings and bring the reader to some closure.
7) Bibliography. The bibliography should start on a new sheet of paper (page 6.) Please refer to the guidelines given to you by Mrs. Rosenberg for the correct form of writing a bibliography.
General Guidelines:
You are to hand in two (2) copies of your report: one copy is to be emailed to me as a Word attachment (mrsorlanski@gmail.com) and the second copy is to be a “hard” (paper) copy according to the following instructions:
Your report should have a sturdy cover that includes the name of the disease or condition you are researching, your name, your class, and the due date.
The cover and pages should be securely attached on the left side.
The outline given is for guidance only - do not treat each number as a question to be answered, and do not format your report as an outline. Each topic should be at least one paragraph; some topics may take many paragraphs to properly answer.
You need a minimum of three sources for your bibliography. Minimum means you may use more than three sources, but not less. You may use the internet for one of the three required sources. Another source should be a fairly current magazine or newspaper article. The third source should be a book. (You do not have to read the entire book- you check the index for appropriate relevant material and cite the pages used.) The bibliography is to be put on a separate page at the end of your report. Please use the guidelines that Mrs. Rosenberg gave you for the Social Studies report to do the bibliography.
As we live in an era when duplication of material is fairly easy to come by, attached to your report, behind the bibliography, should be print-outs of all on-line sources you use. Also, you are to attach photocopies of pages cited from books, as well as photocopies of any newspaper or magazine articles used. I should be able to turn to any of these sources and check the accuracy of your information.
The report is expected to be a full 5 typed pages long double spaced, using a 12 point font with no more than one inch margins all around. Of course, more than 5 pages is acceptable, also. The original instructions are printed with one inch margins and Times New Roman 12 point font. Use it as a guide for your paper. If you choose another font, please measure it against that one and make necessary size adjustments.
Do not skip lines between paragraphs and sections.
Rules of spelling and grammar, while not being graded per se, do count towards the overall quality of your document.
NEATNESS COUNTS.
Good luck and enjoy the pursuit of knowledge!!!