We need mentors interested in helping us with a successful program in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. These students will work with mentors to provide support for these students for this ninth grade project as well as for subsequent projects as they move through high school.

The student and mentor will work together under the teacher's supervision to create a science research project submitted in the school science fairs and create presentations to share with the community.

Science & Technology 9th Grade Outcome: 2. Examine how choices regarding the use of technology are influenced by constraints caused by various unavoidable factors (e.g., geographic location, limited resources, social, political and economic considerations). 3. Create a solution to a problem given more than two constraints (e.g. limits of cost and time for design and production, supply of materials and environmental effects). 4. Evaluate the overall effectiveness of a product design or solution. Science Inquiry 9th Grade Outcomes: 1. Choose the appropriate tools or instruments and use relevant safety procedures to complete scientific investigations. 2. Describe the concepts of sample size and control and explain how these affect scientific investigations. 3. Read, construct and interpret data in various forms produced by self and others in both written and oral form (e.g., tables, charts, maps, graphs, diagrams and symbols). 4. Apply appropriate math skills to interpret quantitative data (e.g. mean, median, and mode). Scientific Ways of Knowing 8th Grade Outcomes: 1. Identify the difference between description (e.g., observation and summary) and explanation (e.g. inference, prediction, significance and importance). 2. Explain why it is important to examine data objectively and not let bias affect observations.

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Student will maintain a notebook with all correspondence and products. All students will create a presentation for the school Science Fair.

Students will write a final letter to the mentor which will include a self-evaluation of the project, including what the student did well, what he would like to have done to improve upon the project, and what the mentor contributed to the project.

Teacher's Role: Teacher will aid student in identifying research areas of interest. Teacher will create guidelines for students to follow for science projects. Teacher will evaluate student products.

Mentor's Role: Mentor will aid students in mastering and applying the scientific method during the course of developing a project for the science fair.