Science 8 students in Mr. Houlton’s class this year had their epidemic
research projects collated into a self-published science journal which now
resides in the Windsor library. The project allowed students to personalize
their learning by researching an epidemic of their choice and communicate that
learning in the format of an academic publication. Some quintessentially eighth
grade topics were chosen on the basis of shock value, such as Laura Volkamer’s
analysis of the chlamydia epidemic in Australia’s koala population. Others
chose topics with a personal connection, such as Alexi Novik’s reflection on
the SARS pandemic in which he was able to reference the genomic research
performed by his own mother during the outbreak. The journal featured heavily
in the students’ year-end learning portfolios and presentations as an artifact
supporting their completion of the course’s learning outcomes. Congratulations to everyone involved with the
project!