History of the ______(you pick the animal or plant here)

For this assignment you will go back in time (through research) to find out where your chosen living thing started appearing on earth. Where were they, what did they look like, what habitat were they living in? How different are they today from their modern version?

Use the suggested websites or links provided in class.

Create a visual of some type: poster, brochure, or timeline of your specimen. Make sure to cite your sources properly! If you find images, make sure you cite those also. See rubric below for specific grading requirements.

CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Writing - Organization / Each section in the final product has a clear beginning, middle, and end. / Almost all sections of the final product have a clear beginning, middle and end. / Most sections of the final product have a clear beginning, middle and end. / Less than half of the sections of the final product have a clear beginning, middle and end.
Spelling and Grammar / No spelling and grammatical errors in the final product. / No more than 1 spelling or grammatical error in the final product. / No more than 3 spelling or grammatical errors in the final product. / Several spelling and grammatical errors in the final product.
Content - Accuracy / All facts in the final product are accurate. / 99-90% of the facts in the final product are accurate. / 89-80% of the facts in the final product are accurate. / Fewer than 80% of the facts in the final product are accurate.
Sources / Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 95-100% of the facts and graphics in the final product. / Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 94-85% of the facts and graphics in the final product. / Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 84-75% of the facts and graphics in the final product. / Sources are not documented accurately or are not kept on many facts and graphics.
Graphics, Pictures / Graphics go well with the text and there is a good mix of text and graphics. / Graphics go well with the text, but there are so many that they distract from the text. / Graphics go well with the text, but there are too few and the brochure seems \"text-heavy\". / Graphics do not go with the accompanying text or appear to be randomly chosen.
Knowledge Gained / Student demonstrates excellent knowledge of the geologic time scale and the change of organisms over time as shown by the fossil record. / Student demonstrates satisfactory knowledge of the geologic time scale and the change of organisms over time as shown by the fossil record. / Student demonstrates partial knowledge of the geologic time scale and the change of organisms over time as shown by the fossil record. / Student demonstrates minimal knowledge of the geologic time scale and the change of organisms over time as shown by the fossil record.
Creativity / The final product is a student's original design, shows unusual approach to demonstrating the mastery of the concept. / The final product is a brochure, timeline or a poster with creative design ideas. / The final product is a brochure, timeline or a poster with little creative design ideas. / The final product is a brochure, timeline or a poster that closely resembles teacher provided student sample work.
Student selected category: / Define criteria: / Define criteria: / Define criteria: / Define criteria: