Unsolved Mysteries Research PROJECT aka... your last and final Embedded Assessment for the year!!!

Unsolved Mysteries Research PROJECT aka... your last and final Embedded Assessment for the year!!!

Objective Objective: Pick one unsolved mystery to research and build a cold-case around. Choose to work alone or with one partner. No more than two in a group. Product Product: After researching, and building your cold-case file on your topic, you will create 2 final products that will display your research and findings to your class.

WELCOME TO THE UNSOLVED MYSTERIES SOCIETY Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson often drew different conclusions from the same clues, the same pieces of information. They then looked for additional evidence to prove that something was true. The process of solving a mystery and the process of writing a research paper have several things in common. Both require gathering and studying clues, evidence, and information; weeding out "red herrings" or irrelevant information; organizing thoughts; and presenting accurate theories and conclusions. For this Research Project Embedded Assessment, you will have 2 parts: 1. A typed and printed 1-2 page essay which you will read to the class 2. A creative product to display your evidence and findings to your class

WHERE TO BEGIN Here's a quick overview to begin your research process: Choose to work alone or with one partner Explore the many topics of unsolved mysteries (historical, scientific, supernatural, baffling medical mysteries, or just down right unexplainable). Find one that you feel the most compelled to research and learn more about. Think about- What makes it a good unsolved mystery anyway? Has it been close to being solved? Are there good theories out there that support it? With the help of technological advances and modern technology for the future, could further investigation be done to solve this mystery in time? Can some theories be disproved? How/why...explain? How would solving this mystery benefit the world, people, those involved or closely involved, the future, etc? Now, LET S EXAMINE Cracking History s Cold Cases: Unsolved Mysteries Research Project HANDOUT

Now let s examine some famous unsolved mysteries and begin the next step.

Unsolved Mysteries that would make great Research Topics BRAINSTORM IDEAS: Medical Mystery- allergic to sunlight The Ghost Ship, the Mary Celeste The Bermuda Triangle The Loch Ness Monster Roswell, New Mexico Stonehenge Area 51 Lost Colony of Roanoke The Curse of King Tut

The Legend of King Arthur and the Round Table- Was he a real king or just a legend? Medical Mystery- Foreign Accent Syndrome: traumatic events in the brain can have other unusual effects as well- beginning to speak with a different accent Vampires, Zombies, Chupacabra, Abominable Snowman Yeti, Bigfoot Sasquatch - Mythical Creatures born from legend and cultures- Did they ever really exist? Builders of the Great Pyramids Paranormal sightings Life on other planets- Are aliens real? Mermaids- Real or hoax?

Black Holes Is there a Missing Link? The story of human evolution is not complete. In addition to hoaxes such as Piltdown Man and extraordinary finds such as Lucy, many puzzles remain. What, in the end, do we mean by a missing link? Preserved people- expired bodies/mummies that never seem to age or are found in perfect condition after centuries, millenia or more. Are these preservations dependent on environment or something else that cannot be explained (bodies found in ice, bog bodies preserved in peat, bodies found in high altitudes, Egyptian mummies, etc.) Psychic Abilities (ESP) The Shroud of Turin- Is it a hoax or an image of Jesus? The WOW signal: A Message from Space?- In 1977, the sound of extraterrestrials was heard by human ears for the first time. Is this evidence of aliens in space?

How did the Universe begin? The Big Bang has been the accepted theory for decades but does it explain everything? How did life on Earth get started? Easter Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean The Legend of Billy the Kid Crop Circles The Lost City of Atlantis The Wolf Girls raised in the wild, by wolves their whole life Million Year Old Screw- Russian researchers believe the unusual object is 300 million years old, leading some people to claim that it may be proof of a highly advanced lost human civilisation, or even the work of aliens. The Oak Island Money Pit- (found in 1795) Is it a natural sinkhole, a treasure hunters paradise or one of history s best hoaxes?

Alien Abduction Salem Witch trials Life-after-Death Experiences/Out-of-Body Experiences End of the World predictions Time Travel/Time Slips/Other Dimensions Spontaneous Human Combustion Abraham Lincoln- Was his murder really done by John Wilkes Booth? Illuminati- Does this secret organization really exist?

The Ark of the Covenant The Holy Grail The Fountain of Youth Crystal Skulls- The legend of the crystal skulls crossover cultures and times. They are contemporarily shared by the Mayans, The Aztecs, the Native Americans and other indigenous people around the world. Do these really exist and what s their purpose? The Sphinx- A creature shrouded in mystery. The body of a lion and the head of a human, with some variations. It is a prominent mythological figure in Egyptian, Asian, and Greek mythology. What secrets does it hold?

Find 1-3 possible mysteries that you are interested in, then narrow it down to 1: Consider the following while you brainstorm possible topics- K: What I know... W: What I want to find out... Q: Questions I have... T: Theories I have... R: Why is this worth exploring and researching more about...

Now let s go back to our Research Planning page.

Ideas for creating a final product to display your research and findings to your class- Google Slide Show: You will use a combination of both to present to the class. You would read the essay 1st, then show the Google Slides 2nd to back up your evidence. You may even intertwine them and begin the essay, then cut to the slides, then back to the essay, etc. The ABCs of make a Google SlideShow of the ABCs of your unsolved mystery. Use as many letters of the alphabet as possible. Journal Writing INDIVIDUAL OR DOUBLE PERSPECTIVE- Individual journal: Create a journal/diary entry that is written from the point-of-view of someone that was affected by the mystery. You will become a person involved in your cold-case. You may use notebook paper or type the entries into a journal entry format. You may also use pictures to make it more interesting. Double Perspective journal: Both entries will be written from two different point-of-views that will compare and contrast their experiences, thoughts, fears, etc. on the same subject.

Ideas for creating a final product to display your research and findings to your class- Newscast/Interview/Dateline news segment as seen on tv. No longer than 5 minutes long. Dramatic Re-enactment of a moment before, during, after event surrounding the mystery (LIVE OR PRE-RECORDED) Diorama- a scaled down model version Interactive UMI [Unsolved Mysteries Investigation] session (like a CSI) with the class- take us through the facts, examine evidence and have the class propose theories Timeline of Events- create a timeline to display important dates, times and events Make a Poster, Brochure or Display Other: Your choice. Clear with Mrs. Elliott first!