2016 Organelle Election

Introduction

Introduction


Who are you voting for? Did you vote yet? Are you Democrat or Republican? While you may not get asked these questions yet since you aren't 18, I'm sure you are still familiar with how our representatives are elected to office. We've all seen the commercials on TV or heard the 30 second endorsements on the radio. We've seen election signs in people's yards and on the roadside. Now, you are going to run a campaign for a very important object. Object...not person? Wait...what?

Task

You and your team are going to run a campaign for this year's Organelle Elections. Your candidate has been nominated for the post of Most Important Organelle. In order to win, you will have to successfully convince your voters that without your candidate, they would be in dire straits, unable to survive. In fact, if your candidate were gone, the whole ecosystem would collapse! Your voters are students in one of the other AP biology classes (not your own classmates). These voters represent the plant, animal, and bacterial cells on our planet, so you need to tailor your campaign components to reach each of them. Be sure to include relevant arguments for each of these types of voters on all assignments. Do not skip on detail because they will know it! They are informed and educated, and they expect a quality campaign.

Process

Process

Step One: You will work in your group of 3 or 4 students.      

Poster and Pamphlet Producer: One or two students will produce a campaign poster AND pamphlet.

  • You are required to hang at least one poster championing the greatness of your candidate (organelle). You must include the candidate’s name, a picture, and a brief, catchy slogan that can attract voters and paints a clear picture of why your candidate is the most important. This should be very visual; think of the iconic Obama Hope poster.

    You are also responsible for creating a campaign pamphlet that describes how totally awesome your candidate is. The following items should be included:

      • A catchy graphic on front
    • Structural details of candidate (How does your candidate visually appeal to your voters?)
    • Function of candidate (What does your candidate do for your voters?)
    • Description of why your candidate is crucial to the survival of your community, ecosystem, even the planet! (Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but hey, that’s how a political campaign is run!)
    • References in MLA formatting on the back

    Be sure to relate the structure of your candidate to his/her function. Be sure to make the connection for your voters as to why your candidate is so important. Be creative with this. Want to use quotes from doctors or other experts? Great! Remember that pictures can tell 1000 words. The pamphlet

Smear Campaign Organizer: Two students will produce smear campaigns against each of your opponent organelles.

  • Two of your team members will run a smear campaign against each of the other seven candidates (organelles). You should address what diseases are associated with mutations and malfunctions of those candidates. How can/do they hurt your voters? Create at least one piece of literature against each candidate (poster, pamphlet, fact sheet, T-shirt, radio ad, etc). You do not have to use the same type of literature for each candidate; you can use as many different types as you want. The five pieces of literature can be displayed either in the classroom, hallway, or showcased during your campaign speech. You must also submit your sources (in MLA format) on a separate sheet of paper. This resource page is NOT counted as one of your five pieces of literature.

Public Relations Representative: One student will write and give a speech that will be videotaped and played on election day.

  • You are responsible for delivering a campaign speech, which will be no longer than five minutes. Your speech should include the following: 
  • The importance of your candidate to your voters
  • Deflect the smear campaigns run against you
  • A description of how your candidate, once elected, will work in cooperation with all of the other organelles to create the best community/ecosystem/planet possible
  • Please, no lies!

You are responsible for recording your speech and submitting it to your teacher. You can record it using a phone, tablet, computer with camera, screencastify (an app or add-on for Chrome) or a good old-fashioned video camera. You can submit it using a flash drive, YouTube, email, dropbox, or any other method that works for you. This speech will be shown to your voters (the other AP Biology class) during class. You must provide a transcript of your speech, complete with references in MLA formatting, on the day the videos are due.

Step Two: Research the structure and function of organelles in a typical eukaryotic cell (both plant and animal).  You will do this during class by completing the Organelle Trackstar worksheets, but you should also do some of your own research using your textbook and online resources.

Step Three: You will randomly draw an organelle to represent in the elections. Using the information on the pages linked to above, complete your assigned job by the deadline given and turn it in. The organelles available to run for Most Important Organelle are the following:      

  • Nucleus
  • Ribosome
  • Endomembrane System: consisting of two distinct organelles - golgi apparatus, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum
  • Cytoskeleton: made up of microfilaments, microtubules and intermediate fibers
  • Mitochondrion
  • Chloroplast
  • Vesicles
  • Lysosomes

Step Four: Use your resources! Hopefully these will fuel your creative juices for your individual tasks.      

  • See The Living Room Candidate for advertisements from every presidential election from 1952 to the most recent election.
  • See Campaign Slogans for slogan ideas.
  • See Political Campaign Posters for campaign poster ideas.
  • See eHow on how to write a campaign speech.
  • See Info Please for famous presidential speeches. While these aren't campaign speeches, they might give you an idea of how to structure your speech.

Step Five: On election day, after watching the campaign speeches, each voter will receive a ballot with the candidates listed. The number of votes your candidate receives will factor into your final grade (as bonus points).

Final Words: Beyond what is required of each member of the group, you can be as creative as is ethically correct to win this campaign. No threatening or bribing your voters or the other candidates, but extra posters, T-shirts, buttons, stickers, pencils, face paint, etc. are all acceptable. I will make eight copies of the pamphlets to be distributed to each table of voters on Election Day. However, these copies will be in black and white. If you want colored copies, you should bring them in yourself. Good luck, and may the best candidate win! (Or, may the odds be ever in your favor!)

Evaluation

To help you understand what you are expected to accomplish during this project, rubrics have been designed for each role - poster/pamphlet producer, smear campaign organizer, and public relations representative.  Each team member will be graded on what he/she does, not on what other team members do. 

Poster Rubric

Component 5 3.5 2 1
Required Elements Contains candidate's name, a picture, and a catchy slogan that communicates the importance of candidate. Contains 2 out of the 3 required elements. Contains 1 out of the 3 required elements. Does not contain the required elements.
Attractiveness Is exceptionally attractive in terms of design, layout, and neatness. Is attractive in terms of design, layout, and neatness. Is acceptably attractive in terms of design, layout, and neatness. Is distractingly messy or very poorly designed; is not attractive.
Graphics Are in focus and can easily be seen 6 ft away. They are relevant and persuasive Most are in focus and can easily be seen 5 ft away. Most are relevant and somewhat persuasive. Some graphics are in focus and can be seen 4 ft away. Some are relevant and slightly persuasive. Are not in focus and are hard to see. They are not relevant or persuasive.
Mechanics Capitalization, punctuation, and grammar are used correctly. There are 1-2 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar. There are 3-5 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar. There are more than 6 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar.

Pamphlet Rubric

Component 4 3 2 1
Content: Structure and Function of Candidate Contains at least 3 facts about structure and at least 3 functions of organelle. All facts are accurate. Contains 2 facts about structure and 2 functions of organelle. 85%-99$ of facts are accurate. Contains 1 fact about structure and one function of organelle. 70%-84% of facts are accurate. Missing facts about structure and/or function. Less than 70% of facts are accurate.
Importance of Candidate How the organelle contributes to the life of an organism is explained very clearly. Broader impact included. How the organelle contributes to the life of an organism is explained clearly. How the organism contributes to the life of cell in general is explained. How the organelle contributes to the life of an organism or cell is unclear or not explained.
Graphics Graphics complement text very well. There is an even mix of both. Graphics complement text, but there are so many graphics they detract from the text. Graphics complement text, but there are too few; seems “text-heavy” Graphics don’t complement the text; appear randomly chosen.
Overall Look Exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information. Attractive formatting and well-organized information. Formatting is not attractive, but information is well-organized. Formatting and organization is unattractive and confusing.
Mechanics Capitalization, punctuation, and grammar are used correctly. There are 1-2 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar. There are 3-5 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar. There are more than 6 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar.

Sources need to be included for both the poster and pamphlet and be properly formatted (MLA). 5 points

Rubric for Smear Campaign Organizer

Component 10 8 6.5 5
Content: Negative Features of Other Candidates Contains at least 3 examples of how organelles can negatively impact an organism/ecosystem. All facts are accurate. Contains 2 examples of how organelles can negatively impact an organism/ecosystem. 85%-99% of facts are accurate. Contains 1 example of how organelles can negatively impact an organism/ecosystem. 70%-84% of facts are accurate. Missing examples of how organelle can negatively impact an organisms/ecosystem. Less than 70% of facts are accurate.
Graphics Graphics complement text very well. There is an even mix of both. Graphics complement text, but there are so many graphics they detract from the text. Graphics complement text, but there are too few; seems “text-heavy” Graphics don’t complement the text; appear randomly chosen.
Overall Look Exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information. Attractive formatting and well-organized information. Formatting is not attractive, but information is well-organized. Formatting and organization is unattractive and confusing.
Mechanics Capitalization, punctuation, and grammar are used correctly. There are 1-2 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar. There are 3-5 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar. There are more than 6 errors in capitalization, punctuation, or grammar.
Coverage If all other organelles are covered, you earn 100% of your score. If you are missing one organelle, you earn 85% of your score. If you are missing two organelles, you earn 67% of your score. If you are missing three or more organelles, you earn 50% of your score.

Sources need to be included for each organelle "smear" and be properly formatted (MLA). 5 points

Rubric for Public Relations Representative: Speech

Component 5 4 3 <center1.5< center="">
Structure of Candidate Fully explains structure of organelle so voters can visualize it. Adequately explains structure of organelle so voters have a good idea of what it looks like. Fairly explains structure of organelle so voters have a vague idea of what it looks like. Poorly explains structure of organelle so voters are confused.
Function of Candidate Fully explains function of organelle and its importance to organisms and the ecosystem. Adequately explains function of organelle and its importance to organisms and the ecosystem. Fairly explains function of organelle and its importance to organisms. Poorly explains function of organelle.
Factual Support All facts are accurate and supported. 85%-99% of facts are accurate and mostly supported. 70%-84% of facts are accurate and somewhat supported. Less than 70% of facts are accurate and poorly supported.
Mudslinging Fully deflects mudslinging advances by all other campaigns. Adequately deflects mudslinging advances of at least 4 other campaigns. Fairly deflects mudslinging advances by at least 2 other campaigns. Poorly deflects mudslinging advances of 1 other campaign.
Language Uses very persuasive language and professional word choice. Uses mostly persuasive language with professional word choice. Uses somewhat persuasive language with adequate word choice. Uses poorly persuasive language with inadequate word choice.
Organization Presents information in a logical, interesting sequence, and all transitions are handled smoothly. Presents information in a logical sequence. Uses transitions, although they may not be smooth. Presents information in a somewhat logical sequence. Attempts to use appropriate transitions. Presents disorganized information. Does not use transitions.
Presence Speaks in a clear voice with correct pronunciation. Maintains eye contact with audience; seldom reads from notes. Demonstrates careful practice. Speaks in a clear voice with mostly correct pronunciation. Makes eye contact but frequently reads from notes. Demonstrates some practice. Speaks in a mostly clear voice with generally correct pronunciation. Occasionally makes eye contact but reads most of the presentation. Demonstrates minimal practice. Mumbles too softly for audience to hear and mispronounces terms. Makes no eye contact and demonstrates no practice.
Dress Dress is professional and appropriate for a campaign. Dress is semi-professional but appropriate for a campaign. Dress is casual but meets CHS dress code. Dress is inappropriate for a school setting.

Sources need to be included and be properly formatted (MLA). 5 points

 

All graphics from Animation  Factory.

Conclusion

Whether your organelle was voted most important or not, you have learned the importance of each these six organelles and the damage that can happen when one is not working properly. You have also gained a little insight into what happens behind the scenes of a political campaign and are more able to recognize inaccurate or misrepresented information. Go forth into the world, with all your organelles properly working, and make use of the privileges you have been afforded in America.