Final Project - Call to Action - Solving a Social Problem (20%)

 Final Project - Call to Action - Solving a Social Problem (20%)

Introduction: For your final project you will imagine that you work for a government agency and you have the mission to identify a social problem in your country and propose a series of initiatives to solve it. Read the learning objective for this assignment then complete the tasks with your group to begin preparing your project.

Learning Objective: Students will prepare and deliver a formal presentation based on research and evidence from online publications to persuade the public to act.

Rubric: CLICK HERE to review the official rubric for the project. 

Taking Notes: Click on your link below and take notes as you complete the tasks below.

Group 1: CLICK HERE

Group 2: CLICK HERE

Group 3: CLICK HERE

Group 4: CLICK HERE

Group 5: CLICK HERE

Group 6: CLICK HERE

Task 1: Brainstorm

Let's start by brainstorming a list of common social problems that you see occurring in your community or country. Discuss these questions to generate ideas.

• What are some common social problems I see on the news?
• What are some problems that affect children?
• Students?
• Working adults?
• The elderly?
• Different social classes?
• Minority groups?
• Immigrants?
• What are some problems that have been occurring for a long time?
• What are some relatively recent phenomena?
• What problems have I personally been affected by?

Now that you have generated lots of ideas, choose the one that you think you is the most interesting and move to the next task.

Task 2: Definition and Background

Now that you know what topic you will explore, you need to define it. Discuss the following questions and take notes. If you do not know the answers, these will be questions you can use to guide your research.

• What is it? How do we define this problem or phenomena? What does it mean and what does it involve? For example, if you choose to talk about racism, you need to start by defining what racism means. 
• What is the size of the problem? How many people are affected? How serious is the problem? 
• What evidence do we need to prove this? Where could we look to find the information we need?
• Who is affected? Where are the people located? What social class are they from? What age are they? What other characteristics are important to consider about the people involved? If many different types of people are affected, what groups are more severely affected? Why?
• What evidence do we need to prove this? Where could we look to find the information we need?

Task 3: Causes and Effects

In the previous section you brainstormed ideas related to the size of the problem and the people involved. Now it is time to discuss causes and effects. Discuss the following questions and take notes. If you do not know the answers, these will be questions you can use to guide your research.

• Why does this happen? What are the obvious causes of this problem? Do any of the causes have causes historical, cultural, economic, etc. Are there global or international connections? Are there any possible hidden causes or factors that most people don't consider?
• What evidence do we need to prove this? Where could we look to find the information we need?
• What are the consequences? In what ways are people affected by this problem? Does this problem have other kinds of effects (social, familial, economic, cultural, etc)? What are the short-term consequences? What are some possible consequences if this problem continues far into the future? What are some personal, local, and global consequences?
• What evidence do we need to prove this? Where could we look to find the information we need?

Task 4: Time for Research

In tasks 1-3 you chose a topic, defined it, and looked at questions related to its definition, size, people affected, causes, and effects. Now you need to begin your research. For this presentation you will need to use evidence from written sources to support your presentation. In the previous sections you were asked: 

• What evidence do we need to prove this? Where could we look to find the information we need?

Now you need to search the internet to find the information you need. You MUST CITE your sources and the sources should be from professional organizations or newspapers. You can find the information in English or Spanish, that is not a problem.

Use the final table on the Google Doc to record your notes about the information you find. 

Task 5: Organizing the Presentation

Now that you have all of the information that you need, it is time to organize it in a logical order. The questions below can help you find the best way to put the pieces together. You do not need to answer all of the questions. They are designed to give you inspiration.

Introduction: Starting the Talk

• Start Strong: How can we start the presentation in a strong and unexpected way so that we catch the attention of the audience?

• Context: What general information do we need to say to give the context for the topic of our presentation so that the audience will be able to understand the other points that we make? Why did we choose this topic? Why is it something that the audience should care about?

• The Plan: It's always a good idea to tell the audience the goals, objectives, or agenda points for the talk so that they know what to expect. How do we want to say this in our presentation?

Background: Sharing our Research

• Define the Problem: We need to tell the audience exactly what we are going to talk about. How can we define what the problem is in our own words?

• Scope of the Problem: How big is the problem? How many people are affected? Who are the kinds of people who are most affected and least affected? Is are there particular geographic areas that are more affected than others? For how long has this problem existed? Is it worse now than in the past? How do we know? What statistics and data can we share related to this? What sources can we cite to support this part of the presentation?

• Causes: What are the obvious causes of this problem? Do any of the causes have causes historical, cultural, economic, etc. Are there global or international connections? Are there any possible hidden causes or factors that most people don't consider? What factors contribute to this problem directly? What are some indirect factors? What are some unexpected factors? What sources can we cite to support this part of the presentation?

• Effects: In what ways are people affected by this problem? Does this problem have other kinds of effects (social, familial, economic, cultural, etc)? What are the short-term consequences? What are some possible consequences if this problem continues far into the future? What are some personal, local, and global consequences? What sources can we cite to support this part of the presentation?

Our Initiatives: Proposing a Solution

• Proposals: We need to propose projects to help fix the problem. This should be our own original ideas. What can we propose? What are some actions and resources that would help us remove some of the causes of the problem? What are some ways that we could help the people who are affected by the problem? Do we need any laws to change? Do we need support from any institutions? What name do we want for this initiative? How much money do we need to support this initiative? What is our time limit? Do we need volunteers? Do we need paid employees? What results do we expect to see in the next year, 5 years, 10 years, etc?

• Remember that we need to include at least two initiatives.

Conclusion: Our Call to Action

• Inspiring Change: To finish our presentation we want to inspire our audience to join us. What can we say to invite the audience to change their opinion about this topic? What final message do we want the audience to understand about our topic? How do we want the audience to think and act differently in the future?  

Task 6: Giving the Presentation

Take a moment to review the following phrases. These can help you express yourself and connect your ideas appropriately.

Introducing Ideas:

• Today we are going to talk to you about...
• On the other hand...
• Something we need to consider is...
• Let's take a look at a new idea...

Discussing Sources: 

• According to (source)
• In a report from (source) we learned that (information)
• A (year) report from (source) states (information) 

Listing Information:

• First of all ...
• Second ...
• Another thing to consider is...
• Additionally...
• Finally...

Transitions:

• Now, my partner (name) will tell you about...
• That is the end of my part. (name) is going to discuss...
• My partner just told you about ... Now I'm going to explore...