An Inter-disciplinary Problem Solving Program.

A Web Quest for Advanced Art students,

prepared by Elma Reingold

Grace Dodge Vocational High School.

“Oh Baby, if you love me, you’ll do it!” Teenage girls become burdened with these or similar requests at a very young age. The United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rates of all developed countries. The Bronx has the highest number of reported cases of teenagers living with AIDS. The media portrays sex in society as an acceptable action between a man and a woman to express the love they have for one another. Movies often show people engaging in sex, however it is rare to see the man put on a condom or to show the woman taking birth control pills at any point in the film. The media relies on the parents to teach safe practices to their children. Today, teenagers engage in unprotected sex, despite the alarming data and reject abstinence. You have been selected as a group to assist the Mayor of New York City to develop a new policy for our City to address teenagers in a meaningful way about responsible and safe sex practices.

You will complete the following:-

¨ You will work in a group to research, develop and present a public policy proposal to the Mayor that addresses new ways to communicate with teenagers about unsafe sexual practices in your community.

¨ You will create a written proposal incorporating the results of your research and your public policy analysis.

¨ You will include a bibliography and footnotes with your text.

¨ You will create visual art posters to be used on the buses of the City of New York to create awareness similar in concept and design to the work of Keith Haring.

¨ Finally, you will present your findings and artwork in an oral presentation to the school community and the Mayor’s office.

1. You will be assigned into groups to research the best approach to foster abstinence, but also healthy and safe practices for teenagers who are sexually active. These may include interviews, Internet searches, and data research.

2. To do this quest you must follow the following steps:-

¨ Identify the social problem.

¨ Gather evidence that this is indeed a problem

¨ Identify the causes of this problem

¨ Evaluate the existing policy by the city that deals with this problem

¨ Develop possible solutions that the city may adopt

¨ What in your opinion would be the best solution for the city to adopt

¨ Assess the costs and benefits of this solution.

Use the TIPS Public Policy Analyst web site to guide you through these steps. www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal

3. Complete a written proposal using your research information and including the 6 worksheets from the Public Policy Analyst.

4. Create at least 5 original art posters based on the following directions:

¨ Research the posters of Keith Haring.

¨ Create posters no smaller than 12”x18”.

¨ Use a maximum of 6 colors.

¨ You may use any medium to complete this.

¨ Employ strong line design in your poster.

5. Present your findings and your artwork to your class and the

Mayor’s office in an oral report that would demonstrate your knowledge of Public Policy, the social problem you researched as well as your understanding to visually communicate your ideas to others.

You may use search engines to retrieve information:

www.google.com

www.ask.com

www.yahoo.com

The following Web sites may be useful to you in your research:

AIDS in the South Bronx

http://www.mapc.com/sections/mission/aidmin.h

Youth programs take pop culture approach

AIDS Alert (www.ahcpub.com/online.html

Teen sexual behavior: Issues and concerns.

vwww.focusas.com/SexualBehavior.html - 71k - 27 Aug 2002 - Cached - Similar pages

National Youth Violence Prevention center:

http://www.thebody.com/whatis/youth_education

www.safeyouth.org/teens/topics/teen_fighting.htm

Schools need to teach teens about safer sex: http://speakout.com/petitions/1280.o

Community Health Leadership program.:

www.communityhealthleaders.org/releasehttp://www.communityhealthleaders.org/release

Adolescent Risk Behavior:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/news/adol. m

Stories of Sex Education: http://www.avert.org/sedstory.htm

Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco Abuse Prevention: http://www.aed.org/health_projects2.html

Teen Pregnancy Prevention:

CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update.

http://lists.cdcnpin.org/pipermail/preventions

Keith Haring: For information on the artist and his work.

http://www.netaxs.com/~adredd/haring.htm

http://66.113.241.131/activit/project...

http://66.113.241.131/lessons/envs/li...

http://66.113.241.131/art/subway/geld...

	Excellent A	Good B	Satisfactory C	Unacceptable Redo
Research Public Policy Analysis	*Problem well identified and thoroughly researched *All six steps of the PPA are thoroughly addressed and all worksheets correctly completed	*Problem identified and reasonably well researched *All six steps of the PPA are addressed, most worksheets correctly completed	*Problem identified with limited research. *All steps of the PPA are addressed, but worksheets could be improved on.	*Problem identified but research is lacking *Incomplete worksheets.
Written Proposal	*Well organized, demonstrates logical sequencing and sentence structure	*Well organized, but demonstrates illogical sequencing or sentence structure.	*Well organized, but illogical sequencing and sentence structure.	*Weakly organized.
Presentation	*Social problem introduced with authority based on information. *Generate questions and responses from audience around their topic of discussion. *Every member in group participates in presentation.	*Social problem introduced with some authority *Generate questions and responses. *Most members of group participate.	*Students state the social problem. *Students require prompts to generate questions *Limited participation within the group	*Teacher generated discussion.
Art Assignment	*Completed art poster based on the work of Haring with a strong visual message concerning safe sex. *Strong line design with limited use of color. *Image strong enough to communicate ideas with or without text	*Completed art poster based on Haring design to communicate safe sex. *Line design with prescribed use of color. *Image requires text to communicate.	*Completed art poster with some reference in design to Haring's work. *Guidelines not adhered to. Image not clear about the message you are trying to communicate	In- complete art assignment.

This web quest focuses on the following English Language Arts and Visual Arts Performance Standards:

E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2a: Produce a report of information.

E2e: Produce a persuasive essay.

E3d: Make informed judgments about TV, radio and film,

E4b: Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

The following New York State Standards have been addressed:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ART STANDARDS

Standard 1: Language for information and understanding.

Standard 3: Language for critical analysis and evaluation.

Standard 4: Language for social interaction.

ART STANDARDS

Standard 1: Creating, performing and participating in the arts.

Students will actively engage in the process that constitute creation and performance in the Arts.

Standard 2: Knowing and using art materials and resources.

Students will be knowledgeable about the most effective way to communicate their ideas graphically.

Standard 3: Respond to and analyzing works of art.

Students will respond critically to a variety of artwork by Keith Haring and make connections between their own creative responses to those of his.

Standard 4: Understanding the cultural contributions of the Arts.

Students will become aware of the important roles artists can play to bring about change and create awareness within

their own community.

Due to all the research on the causes and effects of unsafe sex between teenagers, students will be able to develop an understanding of the problems faced by parents, Health departments and school administrators when trying to deal with unsafe sex between youngsters. You will be able to suggest new approaches in policy–making and even reach far more students with your artwork which could all lead to a safer and healthier way for our youth.