Cardigan Mountain School

Biology teacher Mr. Granger has asked the students in his two ninth-grade sections to step up and do some very “real-worldish” things recently. His latest unit has plunged them into a simulated world of scientific research—and not just in terms of experimentation, either. In addition to designing their own laboratory experiment, students have had to request (fictitious) funding by submitting a proposal to a “wealthy donor” (who will “pay out” based on how well their design has been formulated and how promising it appears to be), write a press release once funding has been received, piece together an abstract (a summary) for their university professor, and pen a thank-you note to their “donor,” among other things.

At present, students are working on their final posters, which Mr. Granger says is a typical finale to these kinds of research projects at the collegiate level. And these are not your ordinary posters. These are formal creations that need to be aesthetically pleasing—with consistent formatting and sound continuity—and that will ideally be professionally printed once they are in polished form. They will include an introduction, the team’s hypothesis, a description of methods used, the results, appropriate notes for any information that was cited, acknowledgments, a conclusion, and a section providing resources “For More Information.”