Each year, beginning in November, the seventh grade students at Blessed Sacrament School begin preparation for the annual science fair which takes place in February.  Over the years this has become a cross-curriculum project involving not only science but also language arts, art, and computer classes as well.  Last year was my first year to participate in this project.  My part was to prepare the students for producing computer generated data tables and graphs in Microsoft Works.  Since I didn't know how to do this and most of them didn't either, it became a learning experience for all of us.

    I didn't begin instruction until after Christmas and quickly realized that I hadn't begun soon enough.  I was able to make sure that they had their graphs ready, but I knew I would begin much earlier the next time and include much more than just instruction on how to produce a graph.

    I decided to take on the task of instructing the students in the identification and classification of variables as either manipulated or responding.  I also wish to instruct them in writing a statement which explains the relationship between the variables.