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Challenge / Criteria

Challenge

Your Active Physics class has been asked to develop an exhibit that will provide visitors to a science museum with an understanding of the atom.

The exhibit must:

include distinct features of the structure of the atom
communicate the size and scale of the parts of the atom
provide information on how the atom is held together
capture the visitor's attention within 30 seconds
include written matter that will further illuminate the concepts
have a model, a T-shirt, a poster, a booklet, or a toy that can be sold at the museum store
have a building plan and cost estimate for the exhibit
include safety features
be interactive–visitors should not merely read

Criteria

You will be presenting your museum-exhibit plan to your class. As a class, decide how your work will be evaluated. Some required criteria are listed in the Challenge. Are there other criteria that you think are worth including?

How should each of the criteria be weighted? Should the building plan and cost estimate be worth as many points as the item for the museum store? Should the "30-second"criterion be worth more than anything else? Since the museum exhibit is supposed to educate the visitor, how much should the content be worth? Work with your class to agree on how many points should be assigned for each criterion. The total points should add up to 100.

Once you decide on the point allocation, you will have to decide how you can judge the assigned point value. For instance, assume that you chose the 30-second criterion to be worth 15 points. How will your class decide on whether your exhibit gets the full 15 points or only 10 points? It is worth knowing how each criterion will be judged so that you can ensure success and a good grade.

You will probably want to assign some strict guidelines and also leave room for some extra points. Learning how to judge the quality of your own work is a skill that all businesses expect to see in their professionals.