Vandalism in the Inner City Communities
A Project Critical WebQuest
Ms. Morris
Grade 6
P.S. 197
“These children have no respect for their parents and the
community they live in. Plain and simple. You can talk
about their psychology, that their parents don’t monitor and/or hug them
enough, but it doesn’t matter. These kids just wanted to get off on destroying
something that is beautiful.”
Introduction
Vandalism is a major problem
in the inner city communities. It is out of control. The mayor and his cabinet
seem to have failed. The City Council has thrown up their hands with disgust.
In this WebQuest you are
going to be a part of the solution by becoming a part of the Committee on the
Cleaning Up the City Campaign (CCUCC.) You will become
an agent of change. As a member of the Committee you will help by creating a
solution for cutting down the incidents of vandalism in your community.
You will present your
proposed policy solution in the form of a PowerPoint at a special meeting with
the Mayor and Police Commissioner. Be
creative and let’s stop vandalism in
Task
This WebQuest will provide
you with guidance using the steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) and the Internet
Resources (listed below.) You have a
real opportunity to be a leader in helping create a better community that
everyone can live in.
You will help
develop a PowerPoint presentation that could be shown at a special meeting with
the Mayor and Police Commissioner.
Process
I. Your teacher will divide the class into
groups of five. Your groups will
complete the task. Each member of the
groups will have a specific role as follows:
Public Policy Analyst-You will be responsible to completing the worksheets
for the group
Presenter-You
will present the policy solution to the Council
Researcher-You
are responsible for compiling and analyzing all of the research in the resource
section below
Power Point Creator-You will create the final PowerPoint presentation for the group
Community Council Liaison-You are responsible for presenting the policy
solution to the community
You will all work together to
help each other complete all of the tasks.
You will work together to create a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation
presenting your policy solution.
II..As
a member of CCUCC you will use the Public Policy Analyst and your knowledge
gathered from the Internet to develop a policy solution. Follow the six steps below.
2. Gather evidence.
5. Develop public policy
alternatives.
6. Determine the best
public policy alternative to the problem.
III. You will help
develop a PowerPoint
presentation that could be shown at a special meeting with the Mayor and Police
Commissioner. Please look at the discussion about making a good PowerPoint at
the website link in the sentence before this one. Keep in mind that your
PowerPoint should have graphics, charts, clip art, etc. It should also include
an introduction slide with all team members listed. Your PowerPoint should
include at least 8 slides.
Resources
Santa
Clara University: The Ethics of Vandalism
Vandalism: Definition
and Much More from Answers.com
Hackers organize vandalism
contest | CNET News.com
Vandalism
Pastor
undeterred by vandalism (phillyBurbs.com) | Intelligencer
Graffiti
Figure Admired as Artist Now Faces Vandalism Charges
Avoiding
Vandalism Problems - Crime Prevention Service, Rutgers
...
NYC
Business Solutions - Combating Graffiti
Catholic
League: For Religious and Civil Rights –Comments on the extent of vandalism
facing Roman Catholic Churches and institutions.
ADL Urges Jewish Institutions to 'Think Security' During High Holy Days
and Every Day- Comments on vandalism affecting Jewish
institutions
Section
I—hate crime statistics, 2004 Uniform Crime Reports:
Google Search:-
Select vandalism as a search topic.
Evaluation
YOUR SCORE WILL range from a possible 16 points
(highest) to 4 points (lowest)
Scale: A=16 B=12 C=10 D=7 F=4
|
|
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Score |
|
PPA Policy Followed |
All questions were answered
completely and rationales for the answers were clearly stated. |
All questions were answered
completely, but rationales for the all the answers were not clearly
stated. |
Not all questions were
answered completely, or greater than 2 rationales for the all answers were
not clearly stated. |
All questions were not
answered completely. |
|
|
Presentation |
Clear and full presentation
of the findings of the survey and the research. Presents findings both for
and against. -
|
Clear and full presentation of the findings
of the survey and the research with few mistakes. |
Clear and full presentation
of the findings of the survey and the research with some errors |
Insufficient and/or unclear
presentation of material |
|
|
Teamwork |
It is evident that a mutual
effort and cohesive unit created the final product. |
The team worked well
together, but could have utilized each other's skills to a better degree. |
The team had problems
working together. Little collaboration occurred. |
The final product is not
the result of a collaborative effort. The group showed no evidence of
collaboration. |
|
|
PowerPoint Presentation |
High level of creativity and informative for and against GM foods. |
Moderate level of creativity and moderate amount of information given
for and against GM foods. |
Fair level of creativity and moderate amount of information given for
and against GM foods. |
Poor level of creativity and moderate amount of information given for
and against GM foods. |
|
Conclusion
Now
that you have completed this Web Quest on Vandalism in the Inner City
Communities you were able to show ways to decrease this problem. You should
have learned that vandalism is a critical social problem and must be addressed
by the whole community. It creates a threatening atmosphere that prevents each
citizen’s “unalienable” right to a safe environment. You also learned the
importance of the “public policy analyst” in our democratic society. The PPA
analyst can evaluate critical problems and find solutions that can benefit all
of us in
Standards
English Language Art Standards
E1c Reads
and comprehends information materials
E2a Produce
a report of information.
E3b
Participate in-group meetings.
E6a Critique
public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.
E6b Produce
public documents.
E7a Critique
functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional
documents.
E7b Produce
functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose
Social
Studies Standards
(Standard 5)
Participate as
informed citizens in the political justice system and processes of the
• evaluate, take, and defend positions on
what the fundamental values and principles of American political life are and
their importance to the maintenance of constitutional democracy