Civics - CHV2O

Unit 4: Final Project

Activity 1: Culminating Activity

Overview
This is the final culminating project of this Civics course. It requires you to identify, research, analyze and take action on a civil local issue. The focus of this project will be to prepare you for full citizenship in order to influence public decision-making. You will become actively engaged with a community issue of interest to you. This will provide you with the opportunities to make connections between classroom activities, active participation, and possible career links.

Assignment All blue links are handouts in your package Outline

This is the final culminating project of this Civics course. It requires you to identify, research, analyze and take action on a civil local issue. You can download a copy of the project. Click here to download a copy of this assignment. Purpose: The focus of this project will be to prepare you for full citizenship in order to influence public decision-making. You will become actively engaged with a community issue of interest to you. This will provide you with the opportunities to make connections between classroom activities, active participation, and possible career links. This project will reinforce your literacy skills, including inquiry strategies, critical and creative thinking, decision making, resolving conflicts, and collaboration. You will continue to develop attitudes and values founded on Catholic social teaching and will act to promote social responsibility, human solidarity, and the common good. This culminating activity will require you to identify and research a local issue. You will then formulate a plan of action and begin to implement it. Tasks: The project will contain the following: Step One - Choosing an Issue Step Two - Researching the Issue Step Three - Analysing the Information Step Four - Problem- Solving Step Five - Taking Civic Action It is essential that you follow each step through the project, as each one will be assessed as part of your completion grade.

Step One - Choosing An Issue

This is the final project of the course and it will run over the length of the course, with scheduled online conferences to ensure understanding and that you remain on task. You will choose a local issue, research and analyse the information, and take action on that issue. There are five steps to this project, which you will complete throughout the course. Please make sure that you have read the outline for this project before proceeding with this step in order to familiarize yourself with all expectations and requirements. Local government takes care of those issues which directly affect the citizens. Cities and towns are run by a municipal council, which is responsible for areas such as police, fire, and ambulance services, parks, street cleaning, zoning by-laws, libraries, and public transit. The mayor is the head of local government. He or she is elected directly by the voters (unlike the Prime Minister and Premier). Party politics plays a much smaller role in local government than it does at higher levels. There may be candidates who run as a member of a party, but since the mayor has to win a direct election, it's possible for citizens to split their vote. So, for example, a person might vote for one party's candidate for mayor and a different party's candidate for city councillor. This means a mayor is often much less powerful than a Prime Minister or a Premier. The mayor can't count on party supporters on any issue. The mayor simply has one vote, like any other member. Please read and complete all the tasks in this step: 1. Download and complete the attached file "Local Issue Scenarios". Work through the scenarios as an introduction to the study of local issues. 2. Determine what the major issues in the community are that may affect your life. If there are no burning issues, one of the following may be considered: a) Are there persistent concerns about issues concerning school business, school activities or student behaviour? b) Watch the local community television channel or read local newspapers to identify community issues. c) Download the attached file "Choosing An Issue". Complete this outline and submit it to your teacher, as per his/her instructions.

Step Two - Researching An Issue

Now that you have chosen an issue, you have to begin your research. Please use the document "Data Organizer for Researching an Issue" to help you organize your research. Use a separate page for each person or group that you interview or research.

Sources Some of the sources that you can use are listed below. You should formulate a list of questions regarding your issue before you start looking at any of these sources. A. B. C. Read information about the issues in local newspapers, reference books, etc.; Take a field trip to a particular site; Watch the local news channel or a video that explains the issue;

D. Attend a meeting where the issue is being discussed or visit sites where the issue has been addressed; E. F. Interview community leaders, experts on the issue and local citizens; Access sites on the Internet that give information about the issue.

Organization and Analysis After you have completed your research, it is important to analyse it in order to make sure that you do not need to do any more research to complete the assignment. A. Bring together the results of the research in an organized fashion so that you can ensure that you have looked at all aspects of the issue; B. Look through your research notes to determine what questions you had planned to answer and identify any questions or ideas that have not yet been addressed in the research; C. Identify any new questions that result from looking at the research you have already done; D. Brainstorm ways to research these new questions. Please read and complete all the tasks in this step: 1. Download the attached file "Data Organizer for Researching An Issue". Use this worksheet to help you organize your research. Please use a separate sheet for each person or group you interview or research. 2. Once you have completed most of research, download and complete the worksheet "A Summary of My Research".

Step Three - Analysing the Information

Now that you have completed your research and ensured that you have all the necessary facts, you must analyse it to ensure that you are not being led astray by someone's bias or propaganda. The following notes will help you to distinguish between facts and opinions. Propaganda techniques The Bandwagon Technique This technique is used to make it seem as though everyone agrees with the person from whom the information came. Some common advertising gimmicks are used to suggest popular support, such as "Everyone uses (likes, agrees, etc.) " or "Nine out of ten people use the Yellow Pages." Endorsements Another popular propaganda technique is that of an endorsement by a well-known personality. For example, Michael Jordan makes commercials for Hanes underwear. Examine the information you have collected about your local issue. Look for instances of bandwagon or popular personality techniques being used to try to convince people to have one opinion or another on your local issue. Point of View It is important to remember that different members of the community have different points of view about what is happening and what is important. Identify the different possible viewpoints of the issue you have researched. A. B. C. Identify the different groups who have a stake in the issue researched. Summarize the group's viewpoint on the issue. Identify the major arguments made by these groups to justify their stand.

Analysing Arguments An argument is an assertion with supporting evidence. Analyse news editorials, statements by public officials or citizens, and information collected from others about the issue you researched, looking for arguments. Identify ways you could check the accuracy of the supporting evidence. After identifying arguments with accurate evidence, categorize the arguments, e.g., arguments that deal with health and safety would fall into a different category from those that deal with revenue. Compare the categories found with arguments representing different points of view. Do the viewpoints emphasize different categories? Can you think of any relevant categories for which there are no arguments presented? Is there important information which has not been covered?

Fact and Opinion There is a difference between fact and opinion. Opinion - Skateboards are dangerous. Fact - Fifty children have been hurt on skateboards in our community this year. How could you go about checking if facts are true? Some opinions might be more credible in certain situations. For example, if the fire chief gives his/her opinion about common causes of fire or fire safety, that is likely to be better grounded in experience than if someone who is not part of the fire department gives his/her opinion. Identify facts and opinions from the research you have conducted. Please read and complete all the tasks in this step: 1. Download the attached file "Point of View". Use this worksheet to help you understand the different points of view involved with your issue. 2. Now that you have completed the research and identified other people's points of view, it is now time for you to analyse all of the information in order to help you come to your own conclusions. Please download and complete the attached file "What is the Problem?".

Step Four - Problem Solving

The following notes will help you to become more organized and deal how you will deal with this issue. Please read through and complete each of these activities. Restate the Problem: Although you have been working with the issue for some time, it is useful to restate the problem clearly and succinctly. Sometimes an issue has so many parts to it that is it easy to lose sight of what the actual problem is. Far too often, it is easy to state a solution as a problem (e.g., We need a walkway over the highway). In doing so, your solutions are limited because you have confused a potential solution with a problem. By restating the issue, you have to focus on what is really at the heart of the issue. You should have completed this in step three of this project. Brainstorm the Solutions to the Problem: Come up with as many possible solutions to the problem as you can. Focus on what you want the outcome to be. Examining Solutions: Examine whether the solutions are feasible or possible at all. If a list of solutions exists, decide on which solution would be most effective by using the PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) technique (this technique is included in the attached document). The task

is to find the solution with the fewest negative consequences and the greatest number of benefits to all. It is important that you look for the common good rather than interests of smaller groups of citizens. This is the key to making good public policy decisions! Read and complete all the tasks in this step: 1. Download the attached file "Plus, Minus, Interesting". Use this worksheet to help you analyse the different solutions to this issue. 2. Now that you have analysed the various solutions to this issue, it is time for you to decide what you think should be done. Write a brief paragraph, outlining what you think the best solution to the problem is and submit that paragraph. Remember that you need to state reasons why you think this is the best solution.

Step Five - Taking Civic Action

After you have determined the best solution to your problem, you need to determine what actions are necessary to carry out the agreed upon solution and who can take these actions. In order to do so, you need to think about which groups have the power to take action and how you can best present your solution to these groups. You need to plan how you can convince others that your solution will actually solve the problem. You may decide that public awareness is the proper solution, or that you need to present the information to a particular group (local government agency, media, school community, etc.), or you may come up with a solution that you can carry out yourself, such as cleaning up a local park. Identify steps to take in carrying out your solution. Develop a sequential approach (doing things in order) to your solution. It is important to plan each step carefully. The following are a few suggestions of actions that you can take to help make your position known: A. write letters to editors of local newspapers B. write news stories for your school paper or submit a news story to the local newspaper C. create and circulate a petition D. prepare a news release E. hold a press conference F. write letters to your local representatives G. visit local officials H. attend local government or school board meetings and present your research and requests I. sponsor a forum with invited speakers J. publish a fact sheet or newsletter explaining the issue K. visit other classrooms or schools and explain the issue to other students L. prepare posters to be placed in and around the school or local community

M. prepare a booklet with information about the issue to be distributed within the community or to be placed in the Library/Resource Centre for future reference N. organize a school assembly or rally O. organize a class-based or school-wide activity dedicated to the issue (i.e., School Clean-Up Day) Please read and complete all the tasks in this step: 1. Please download and complete the attached worksheet "Taking Civic Action". Use this worksheet to help you organize your ideas about how to resolve this issue. 2. After identifying how you would make your position known, you are to write a wellconstructed report paper (3-4 double spaced pages), which outlines the local issue, possible solutions, the solution you picked and how you would make this information known to others. This will be the final task for the culminating project. It will be assessed with the rubric located in the Final Project handout. Important - Your teacher may ask you to complete the final written report "in person" rather than submit it online. Your teacher will give you instructions on how this will happen. Checklist The following is a list of worksheets and tasks for each step that you need to complete and hand in: Step One: Local Issues Scenarios Choosing An Issue Step Two: Data Organizer for Researching an Issue A Summary of My Research Step Three: Point of View What is the Problem? Step Four: Plus, Minus, Interesting Solution Paragraph Step Five: Taking Civic Action Active Citizen Paper (which you may be asked to complete "in person" - your teacher will give you instructions)