Scenario

Your mother has recently discovered that she has a rare degenerative muscle disorder. As the disease progresses, she will become increasingly disabled. There is no known treatment or cure for this disease due to a lack of research dollars.
This scenario is not as farfetched or uncommon as you might think. All of us have been or will probably be touched by disease, whether in our own lives or in the lives of those about whom we care.
We cannot leave to some unknown person the task of arguing for funds to support medical research or advancements. Each of us needs to be actively involved in the process of raising public awareness as well as monies.

What disease or condition or disability do you care most about? What are the facts about it? Which facts are the most compelling and would have the greatest impact on an audience?

Read the following article regarding research priorities at the National Institutes of Health.

Task and Product

You have been selected to lobby for medical research funding on behalf of a disease or disability or condition about which you are concerned. You will conduct an I-Search investigation in order to learn more about that disease. You will need to justify the spending of federal dollars in that research area to a visiting Congressional subcommittee. Click here to see a list of possible diseases, conditions, or disabilities from which to choose.

Your research will be used to inform and persuade others to support the allocation of funds for medical research about your disease or disability or condition. The product you create based on your research will be used to help you in this effort to inform and persuade. It may be in written, oral, visual, video, or service-learning form.
Click here for a list of possible final product ideas.

Assessments

Question

Jump start your thinking! These sample questions can be used to get you started, then add some of your own.

What is Alzheimer's disease?
What causes this disease?
What are the symptoms of this disorder?
What are the stages of this disease?
What systems of the body are affected?
How is this disease treated?
How can this disease be prevented?
What population is affected?
What impact does this disease have on the families of those affected?
What is the present state of research on Alzheimer's?
How would increased funding for research on Alzheimer's disease impact the search for a cure?

Gather and Sort

Survey the world of resources Use this link to develop a plan for locating resources.
Use this Getting Started worksheet to begin your research process.
Use this calendar to help keep track of research time and due dates.
Use this planning sheet or your own source note cards.

Gather information from a variety of sources.

Sort your research findings using a graphic organizer or note cards. Be sure to avoid plagiarism and keep track of your resources for a bibliography.

Design your own graphic organizer for taking notes. (Use this link for ideas and samples).

Organize

Analyze your progress! Whether you are working individually or with a group its time to determine how much you have learned thus far. Assess your notes, review the jump start questions, if you need more information, return to Gather and Sort to gather additional data.

Synthesizing is the act of pulling your research and ideas together to form a new whole.

*Do you have a fairly complete understanding of the important facts regarding your disease?
*Have you answered all of your questions?
*Do you have enough supporting ideas and details for each of your questions?
*Do you have sufficient facts and details to convince an audience to support funding for research on  your disease?
*Have you decided on a product that will best represent your information for your audience?

Use this chart to help organize your thoughts about why your disease deserves to have research funding

Evaluate the effectiveness of your research for the task.
Have you gathered sufficient details about the disease in order to justify your funding?
Is your research reflected in your presentation?

It is now time to lobby for funding for your disease!

You will use your research and your product to inform and persuade a visiting Congressional Subcommittee (your peers or a special group arranged by your teacher) to support the allocation of funds for your disease.

          Your visiting subcommittee (peers or a special group) may use this evaluation sheet to help decide which presentations are most compelling and therefore deserve funding.

If you've done a good job, hopefully your chosen disease will receive funding! Good luck!

Conclusion

Reflection and/or Extension Activities:
Take time to think about the research process you just completed.
         Describe how you carried out your I-Search process.

Story of my I-Search process...
What changes did you make to your original plan?
What worked and what didn't work?
What did you learn about yourself as a researcher?

Follow these guidelines to help you to prepare your I-Search reflection.
This scoring tool may be used or modified by your teacher to evaluate your I-Search reflection.