Introduction

 

Meet Brian, a popular, athletic, good-looking, academically average tenth grade high school student. He has been dating his girlfriend Marissa for a year and a half and thinks he’s in love. They have been sexually active since the start of their relationship and occasionally have unprotected sex. A few months ago, Marissa told him that she missed her period. Worried and confused, they went together to the clinic and confirmed their worse fear: they were going to be parents.

 

They decided to keep the baby. Things were going well between them until their friends and family found out. Brian’s family kept asking him if he was sure if the child is his. His friends started telling him that they had seen Marissa with other guys apart from him. He was getting confused. He trusted Marissa but with doubts planted in his head and the reality of the responsibilities of fatherhood dawning on him, he began to panic. How could he abandon Marissa? How would he support her and their baby? Where and how could he get help? He sought help from counselors and other organizations, but other than thoughtful advice, nothing real and tangible was in sight for this 15 year old soon-to-be father. What should he do? Give up or standup?

 

Many teenage fathers do not really want to be “dead beat dads”. They resort to that because of fear, helplessness and hopelessness. Very few resources are available for teenage fathers compared to those available for the teen mother. Consequently, they leave their young girlfriends with the burden of finding a way out on their own. As a writer for your school newspaper, you have decided to write a series of articles exposing the problem of limited resources for teen fathers in the South Bronx. You will use the Public Policy Analyst to analyze the problem and develop policies to address the problem. You will also create a PowerPoint presentation of your findings for use in the Health classes in your school.

 

 

 

 

 

Task

Your task will be to bring awareness to your fellow students about the problem of limited resources for teenage fathers by:

Ÿ         Writing three articles presenting and discussing the problem

Ÿ         Create a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation that give your findings and developed policies

 

 

Process

You will be assigned to groups of five or six. Each member of the group will be assigned a specific task. Your group will use the Internet as a resource to conduct research, and to develop written and oral reports including a ten slide PowerPoint presentation. Be sure to use The Public Policy Analyst (PPA) to complete the following initial process:

 

1. Define the problem using Worksheet1: "Defining the social problem"(MSWORD)

2. Gather evidence using Worksheet2: “Gathering evidence of the problem”(MSWORD)

3. Identify causes using Worksheet3: "Identifying the cause of the problem"(MSWORD)

4. Evaluate a policy using Worksheet4: "Evaluating Existing Public Policies"(MSWORD)

5. Develop solutions using Worksheet5: "Developing public policy solutions"(MSWORD)

6. Select best solution using Worksheet6: "Selecting the best public policy solution" (MSWORD)

 

Resources

 

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ppa/intro.html

http://www.edweek.org/ew/vol-13/09dads.h13

http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed341891.html

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1994/1/94.01.03.x.html

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/pressreleases/2000/ojp000203.html

http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/jjbul2000_1/intro.html

http://www.unc.edu/courses/sowo330/lisa/

 

Recommended Search Engine

www.google.com

Evaluation

 

 

Category

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Poor

Research

Excellent use of a variety of Internet resources.

 

Completed all six steps of the PPA successfully.

Sufficient use of a variety of Internet resources.

 

Completed all six steps of the PPA with evidence of some difficulty.

Limited use of a variety of Internet resources.

 

Attempted all

six steps of the PPA with evidence of much difficulty.

No use of a variety of Internet resources

 

Did not use the PPA.

Product

All assigned tasks were fully completed.

 

Information in articles and PowerPoint is accurate, up-to-date and well organized.

Most assigned

assigned tasks completed.

 

Information in articles and PowerPoint is mostly accurate, up-to-date and well organized.

Few assigned tasks completed.

 

Information in articles and PowerPoint is seldom accurate, up-to-date and well organized.

Did not complete assigned tasks.

 

Information in articles and PowerPoint is inaccurate, not up-to-date and not organized.

Presentation

PowerPoint slides show much clarity, attractiveness and creativity.

 

Written assignments are neat and attractive.

PowerPoint slides show some clarity, attractiveness and creativity.

 

Written assignments are mostly neat and attractive.

PowerPoint slides show little clarity, attractiveness and creativity.

 

Written assignments are scarcely neat and attractive.

PowerPoint slides lack clarity, attractiveness and creativity.

 

Written assignments are not neat and attractive.

Sources/ Citation

All sources are cited according to format assigned.

Most sources are cited according to format assigned.

Few sources are cited according to format assigned.

No sources are cited according to format assigned.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 By completing this web quest you will learn how to use the Internet to gather information for research. You learn about the problem of limited resources for teenage fathers and use your critical thinking skills to help develop policies and resources to alleviate the problem. You will also learn how to use Microsoft PowerPoint to successfully create presentations.

 

The following academic standards will be met:

 

English Language Arts

E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2a: Produce a report of information.

E3a: Participate in one-on-one teacher conferences.

E3b: Participate in group meetings.

E3c: Prepare and deliver an individual presentation.

E4a: Involves conventions of Standard English.

E5a: Utilizing and analyzing functional documents.

E7a: Utilizing and analyzing public documents.

 

 

 

Social Studies

IV: Economics

 

 

CDOS Standards

A2: Make an oral presentation of project plans or findings to an audience with expertise in the relevant subject matter.

A2c: Develop a multi-media presentation