Year One High School Internship 2008-2009
Personal Choice Project
Goal To produce a scientific, creative, or educational project that reflects
independent research into a facet of the work performed at Mote Marine
Laboratory.
Topic
The project topic should relate to the work performed at Mote,
either in Science, Education, or the Aquarium.
Guidelines Your project will be evaluated by these criteria. It should be:
 Significantly in-depth
 Scientifically accurate and supported by a bibliography
 Well-crafted
 Self-explanatory
 A contribution to Mote Marine Laboratory
Outcome
Acceptable outcomes for your project include, but are not limited
to:
 PowerPoint presentation with supporting notes
 Educational tool
 Video with supporting script or voiceover
 Artwork with supporting text
 Creative story, essay, or poem
 Research paper
 Web site
Valid Sources
You may use primary and secondary sources to learn more
about your project topic. Primary sources include people you interview and
information that you collect yourself (e.g. a survey). Secondary sources include
books, journals, and electronic media that provide you with information.
Secondary sources must be reputable, that is, subject to their own fact-checking
system. For example, Encyclopedia Britannica is a valid secondary source;
Wikipedia is not. Blogs and Web sites that have no overview are generally not
good sources of information. A good rule of thumb is to find three independent
Web sites that confirm the same information.
Plagiarism Please be aware that plagiarism is unacceptable. Plagiarism.org
explains, “All of the following are considered plagiarism:

turning in someone else's work as your own
Year One High School Internship 2008-2009





copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without
giving credit
copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the
majority of your work, whether you give credit or not
Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided by citing sources. Simply
acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your
audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to
prevent plagiarism.”
For more information about plagiarism, how to avoid it, and how to correctly cite
your sources, please visit www.plagiarism.org.
Project Steps
There are five steps in the Personal Choice Project:
1. Project Idea: What would you like to do?
2. Project Proposal: What are you going to do and how are you going
to do it?
3. Draft: Your complete project. Must be reviewed by someone
outside of Mote and include a Cover Sheet and Bibliography.
4. Final Project: Your complete project with any modifications
suggested by Amy during the draft process. Must include a Cover
Sheet and Bibliography.
5. Project Presentation
Personal Choice Project Schedule
Project Component
Project Idea
Project Proposal
Draft
Amy provides feedback
on the draft
Final Project
Project Presentations
Due Date
Friday, November 7, 2008, 5 p.m.
Friday, December 5, 2008, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at class
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009, 5 p.m.
May 2009 (Time and Date TBD)
Feedback and Evaluation At each stage, Amy will provide feedback on your
project. Please note that you are required to have someone outside of Mote
(parent, teacher, etc.) review your Draft before you turn it in. They should
Year One High School Internship 2008-2009
provide you with independent feedback on the quality of your project (Does it
look well-made? Are there any components missing? Are there any spelling
errors?). Your reviewer signs your Draft cover sheet.
Your final project must meet or exceed the evaluation criteria (below) in
order for you to successfully complete the Year One internship.
Criteria
Final project submitted on
or before deadline
Cover Sheet
Bibliography (AP or MLA
style)
Contains independent
research into a facet of
work performed at Mote
Marine Laboratory
Significantly in-depth
Scientifically accurate
Well-crafted
Self-explanatory
Makes a contribution to
Mote Marine Laboratory
Does Not Meet
Criteria
Meets
Criteria
Exceeds
Criteria
Year One High School Internship 2008-2009
Suggested Projects
Shell Board: We need a 3-D educational tool that identifies shells common to our
beaches. This tool needs to be portable and durable.
Specimen Collection: We need to identify, sort, label, and display or store all of
the specimens in our collection, and identify new specimens that we would like
to acquire.
Visitor survey/ visitor traffic tracking: We want to know how our guests use the
Aquarium: Which exhibits catch their interest and in what order do they choose
to see them? We also want to know who our guests are and how they would
describe their experience of the Aquarium. We would like to make
recommendations to the Aquarium Exhibit Committee based on this
information.
Diagnostic stuffed animals for Rescue, Rehab, Release class: We need stuffed
dolphins, manatees, and turtles that have been altered to reflect the injuries and
illnesses we encounter in our Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Hospital.
Marine Debris illustration: We need an educational tool (2 or 3D, portable and
durable) that visually represents the degradability of common marine debris.
Story hour in the Aquarium: We would like to begin a regular weekend reading
program with kids in the Aquarium.
Mote Marine Lab overview video: We need a short, professional video that gives
our guests (and other audiences) an overview of SEA (Science, Aquarium, and
Education) at Mote.
Redesign of Education Web site: We have a redesign plan for the Education
portion of the Mote Web site and need someone to implement the changes.
Design and implementation of an Education database: We would like to keep
track of everyone who registers for an Education program. We need a searchable
database created to our specifications in Microsoft Access, and someone to input
the data.
PSA about Mote Education: A professional video or radio spot promoting Mote
Education programs, and placement with local stations.
Year One High School Internship 2008-2009
Marine science conservation newspaper clipping/ online bulletin board: We
would like to create an Mote “Conservation Waves” Web site that highlights
conservation news from around the world by hosting links and original content.
Construction of a drying and storage system for field gear: We have a lot of field
gear that needs to be rinsed off and dried after every program. We would like to
create an easy system for rinsing, drying, and storing our gear.
Enhanced interpretation material for Aquarium and Mammal Center: We would
like to have more interactive and attractive features at our interpretation tables.
Transforming the MERC bathrooms: We would like to repaint the MERC
bathrooms with mural elements and stencil fun facts about marine life on the
walls.
Year One High School Internship 2008-2009
Personal Choice Project Idea
Name:
Date:
Project Topic:
Project Goal:
Project Outcome:
What do you hope to accomplish with your project?
What do you hope to learn during your project?
How will Mote benefit from your project?
Year One High School Internship 2008-2009
Personal Choice Project Proposal
Name:
Date:
Project Topic:
Project Goal/ Description:
Project Outcome:
Project Schedule: What steps do I need to take to complete my project? What is
the timetable for these steps? Please feel free to add rows to this table if you need them.
Project Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Draft due to Amy
Date Completed By
March 10, 2009
Project Materials: What materials will I need to gather to make or achieve my
project goal?
What roadblocks might I encounter during my project? How can I avoid or
resolve these roadblocks? Please relate your answer to the steps you listed above.
Bibliography
Please list the reference materials you will use to make this project scientifically accurate. You
may include books, journals, electronic media, and people. Please use a standard style guide,
such as AP or MLA, to format your bibliography, and include contact information for any people
you will interview.
Year One High School Internship 2008-2009
Personal Project Draft Cover Sheet
Name:
Date:
Project Title:
Project Topic:
Project Goal:
Project Outcome:
Reviewer Name:
Reviewer Signature:
Year One High School Internship 2008-2009
Personal Project Final Project Cover Sheet
Name:
Date:
Project Title:
Project Topic:
Project Goal:
Project Outcome: