To
juice, or not to juice?
Introduction:
“Eight percent of girls and 12 percent of
boys surveyed said they used supplements in striving to become more buff.
Protein shakes and powders were the most commonly used, but teens also listed
steroids, growth hormone, amino acids and other potentially unhealthful
products among those they'd tried in the previous year....." Read
the whole article!
Steroids have
become a serious problem in our society, and the problem has trickled down into
high school sports programs across the country.
This trend has disastrous consequences for the youth of this country and
high school sports programs. Can
anything be done? What are the
consequences for ignoring this problem?
Omar Minaya and George Steinbrenner, in a
surprising collaboration, sent out an open letter to all New York City Public
and Private High Schools calling on students to voice their opinions on the
subject of steroids and the high school athlete. The plight of steroids has been brought to
the national scene after major allegations surfaced regarding high profile
athletes in Major League Baseball, and recent reports suggest that steroid use
is on the rise among high school athletes.
Task:
It is the job of every Stag to have our
voices heard, and in this spirit, we will create a proposal to send out to the
General Managers of the Yankees and the Mets.
Your proposal will contain the general current of the Stag population
and their knowledge/feelings on the problem of steroids and the high school
athlete. The proposal will also contain
statistical information in the form of surveys to actualize the thoughts and
feelings of the school. The final
product will include this information and a feasibly, effective solution
for combating the problem of steroid abuse among high school athletes. In deciding on an effective
solution, students will construct an effective policy to combat this increasing
problem. Students will present their
proposals to the class, and as a whole, we will choose one proposal to send to
the GM’s of the Mets and Yankees.
Each student will have a particular role in
this assignment.
1.
Data
Collector- responsibilities include
gathering data and deciphering between credible sources and useless web sites.
2.
Organization
Specialist- responsibilities include
organizing data using frequency distributions, histograms, and other
statistical organization methods.
3.
Project
Manager- responsibilities include
designing survey, developing final analysis, and overall facilitation of the
needs of the group.
****All members will join together for
final analysis/final product****
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Process: |
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Stags are always ready
when called to task, and it is our responsibility to help solve this
problem. In groups of three, you will
be submitting a proposal on the subject of steroids and the high school
athlete. |
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Your proposal will contain several parts
including: |
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1) Define the Problem/Gather Evidence-
You will design a survey on the topic of steroids in baseball and the high
school athlete. Your survey should
include questions regarding each topic and contain an investigative
theme. In this task, we will begin to
define the problem according to the Stag population. |
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Objective: A) In order to gain statistical information
regarding the current and thought of steroids from the perspective of a Stag. |
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2) Data Analysis Summary- After
you have designed and given your surveys, you will complete measures of
central tendency in order draw conclusions. |
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Objective: B) Construct conclusions and inferences
based on statistical data. |
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3) Identify The Cause:
Steroid Effects on the Athlete- Informative, one page summary to be presented
in classrooms. Should detail effects,
risks, consequences, and long-term effects. |
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Objective C) Describe and
relate the effects of steroid on an audience of peers. |
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4) Post-Information Survey-
After you have presented and informed the student body of the effects of
steroids on the athlete, a new survey will be designed in order to identify
the cause of steroid use among athletes.
The focus on this survey is to see any variances in opinion after the
student body has been informed on the subject. This task will allow us to determine the
causes of the problem in a high school arena. |
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Objective) See A |
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5) Evaluate Existing
Policy- Each group will be given a copy of major league baseball's new and improved steroid policy. Your group
will compile a list of strengths and weakness' of the policy. Each strength and weakness should be
accompanied by cited references from the policy. |
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Does the policy work? What would you change? |
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Objective D) Analysis and
inference drawn from text support |
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-In your groups you
will generate three different solutions to present in writing to the Gm's of
the Mets and Yankees. |
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Things to
consider?????? |
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Feasibility- How difficult would your
solution be to implement? Any
additional costs? Is it realistic? |
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Effectiveness- Will it solve the problem? |
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7) Roundtable
Discussion/Selecting the Best Solution- Each group will present their
analysis of the situation and their conclusions for possible submission to
the Gm’s. |
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Proposal Components: |
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a)
Four minute presentation including possible solutions and best course of
action. |
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b) Statistical
Evidence to support your claims and solutions. (Surveys and Analysis) |
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c) Useable plan, in
writing, for each solution including how to implement and the resources
needed. (One page Each) |
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*** During this session,
the class will vote on the best possible solution/presentation for submission
to the GM’s. |
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8) Final Product- A last
session will be needed to revise and adjust the final solution. Students will also receive grades for their
work on the project. |
Evaluation:
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CATEGORY |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
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Brainstorming - Problems |
Students
identify more than 4 reasonable, insightful barriers/problems that need to
change. |
Students
identify at least 4 reasonable, insightful barriers/problems that need to
change. |
Students
identify at least 3 reasonable, insightful barriers/problems that need to
change. |
Students
identify fewer than 3 reasonable, insightful barriers/problems that need to
change. |
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Brainstorming - Solutions |
Students
identify more than 4 reasonable, insightful possible solutions/strategies to
encourage change. |
Students
identify at least 4 reasonable, insightful possible solutions/strategies to
encourage change. |
Students
identify at least 3 reasonable, insightful possible solutions/strategies to
encourage change. |
Students
identify fewer than 3 reasonable, insightful possible solutions/strategies to
encourage change. |
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Research/Statistical Data |
Students
include 4 or more high-quality examples or pieces of data to support their
campaign. |
Students
include at least 3 high-quality examples or pieces of data to support their
campaign. |
Students
include at least 2 high-quality examples or pieces of data to support their
campaign. |
Students
include fewer than 2 high-quality examples or pieces of data to support their
campaign. |
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Campaign/Product |
Students
create an original, accurate and interesting product that adequately
addresses the issue. |
Students
create an accurate product that adequately addresses the issue. |
Students
create an accurate product but it does not adequately address the issue. |
The
product is not accurate. |
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Sources - Quality |
Students
include 4 or more high quality sources. |
Students
include 2-3 high quality sources. |
Students
include 2-3 sources but some of are questionable quality. |
Students
include fewer than 2 sources. |
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Sources-Citation |
Information
in all source citations is correct and in the format assigned. |
Information
in all source citations is correct but there are minor errors in formatting. |
Information
in almost all source citations is correct AND there are minor errors in
formatting. |
The
information is often incorrect OR there are major errors in formatting. |
Conclusion/Final Thoughts
1) What did you learn about the state of steroids and the high
school athlete?
2) Did our research generate thoughtful solutions for public
policy makers to consider?
3) Did this process change your views on the subject? How?
4) What other social problems can we effectively combat using
this process?