2015 Project Narrative

Instructions:
1. Student Showcase team members are required to complete the Project Narrative
(3 parts: Cover Sheet, Overview, and Response).
2. Using this template, create a Word document, using 12 point font.
3. Save the document as your-pathway-your-school-your-project-title.doc
(ex. health-science-stebbins-improving-your-diet)
4. Attach the file to email and send to mvtechprep@gmail.com.
5. The Project Narrative will be evaluated prior to project judging at Sinclair on March
26th and will be part of each teams final project score.
6. Deadline for submission of the Project Narrative is Friday, March 6th by 5:00
p.m.

Please note: Late submissions will not be

evaluated.

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Sinclair Tech Prep Showcase

Project Narrative
Pathway Selection
(Put X next to selected pathway you are choosing in the box to right)
Career Fields- Pathway/Category
PathwayAgricultural & Environmental
SystemsAgricultural & Environmental
SystemsAgricultural & Environmental
SystemsAgricultural & Environmental
SystemsAgricultural & Environmental
SystemsArts & CommunicationArts & CommunicationArts & CommunicationBusiness & Administrative ServicesBusiness & Administrative ServicesBusiness & Administrative ServicesBusiness & Administrative ServicesBusiness & Administrative ServicesConstruction TechnologiesConstruction Technologies-

Construction TechnologiesEducation & TrainingEducation & TrainingEngineering & Science TechnologiesEngineering & Science TechnologiesEngineering
Engineering
Engineering
Engineering

&
&
&
&

Science TechnologiesScience TechnologiesScience TechnologiesScience TechnologiesGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen Technology-

Career Field/Area of Study

Agribusiness & Production Systems
Agricultural & Industrial Equipment
Animal Science Management (includes
Vet Tech and Equine)
Food Science & Technology
Natural Resource Management
Media Arts
Theatre Technologies
Visual Design & Imaging
Accounting & Financial Services
Administrative & Professional Support
Business Management
Legal Management & Support
Medical Management & Support
Architectural Technology
Construction Management (Brick, Block,
& Cement Masonry, Building Technology,
Carpentry, Construction Design Building,
Electrical Trades, Heavy Equipment)
Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning, &
Refrigeration Engineering Tech
Early Childhood Education
Teaching Professions (STEM)
Biomedical Science (PLTW)
Computer Integrated Manufacturing
(PLTW)
Design Engineering Technology
Engineering & Science (PLTW)
Engineering Technology
Manufacturing Design & Development
Agricultural & Environmental Systems
Arts & Communication
Business & Administrative Services
Construction Technologies
Education & Training
Engineering & Science Technologies
Health Science
Hospitality & Tourism
Human Services

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Green TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyGreen TechnologyHealth ScienceHealth ScienceHealth ScienceHealth ScienceHealth ScienceHealth ScienceHealth ScienceHealth ScienceHospitality & TourismHospitality & TourismHuman ServicesInformation TechnologyInformation TechnologyInformation TechnologyInformation TechnologyInformation TechnologyLaw & Public SafetyLaw & Public SafetyLaw & Public SafetyLaw & Public SafetyManufacturing TechnologiesManufacturing TechnologiesManufacturing TechnologiesManufacturing TechnologiesManufacturing TechnologiesMarketingMarketingMarketingMarketingService ProgramsService ProgramsService ProgramsService ProgramsService ProgramsTransportation SystemsTransportation SystemsTransportation SystemsTransportation SystemsTransportation SystemsTransportation SystemsTransportation Systems-

Information Technology
Law & Public Safety
Manufacturing Technologies
Marketing
Transportation Systems
Biotechnology
Dental Assistant
Exercise Science or Sports & Recreation
Healthcare
Health Information Management Services
(HIM)
Health Science
Medical Assistant
Nurse Assisting
Therapeutic Pathway
Culinary Arts & Food Service Operations
Lodging
Cosmetology
Geospatial Information Systems
Network Engineer/Network Manager
Programming & Software Development
User Support (ISS)/Microsoft Security
Web Development/Interactive Media
Criminal Justice
Criminal Science
Emergency Medical Services
Fire Fighter Training
Automation & Control Technology with
Robotics
Electronics Engineering Technology
Operations Technology (Manufacturing
Design & Development)
Precision Machining
Welding & Cutting
Entrepreneurship
Marketing Communication
Marketing Management
Supply Chain Management
Agriculture Services/Energy Systems
Management
Automotive Services
Clerical Services
Construction & Architecture Services
Hospitality Services
Auto Collision Repair
Auto Specialization
Automotive Technology
Aviation Maintenance
Aviation Occupations
Medium & Heavy Truck Technician
Power Equipment Technology

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Sinclair Tech Prep Showcase

Coversheet
(Need at least 2 members to be considered a team)

School Dayton Regional STEM School

Project Title The Accuracy of the Entertainment Medias Portrayal of Infectious
Disease

Team Members:
Cheyenne Benson

Jacob Penick

Anders Sondergaard

Instructor Kate Cook Whitt

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Sinclair Tech Prep Showcase

Project Narrative
Overview
(Respond in complete sentences. Teams do not necessarily need to
limit writing to one page. Use as much space as needed to provide
complete answers below.)
1. Thesis statement (state a claim or a position)
The emergence the topic of infectious diseases in the entertainment sections of the media has led to the
growth of misconceptions and hysteria surrounding infectious diseases. Over the past few decades,
fascination with real pathogens such as Ebola and fictional pathogens that represent the potential
infectious diseases have has expanded immensely. Recently released movies, such as Contagion,
Outbreak, and 28 Days Later demonstrate this. The topic of infectious diseases spreading into
bioterrorism has also been of great concern in the media, such as the popular television show 24s
modified prion used for bioterrorism. This can lead to misconceptions in the general population as to the
nature of infectious diseases. Many movies have perpetuated inaccurate information about infectious
diseases. We hope to debunk some of the myths perpetuated by the media and emulate some of the
movies which have correctly represented infectious diseases by producing a short video that can both
educate the public and directors on accurate epidemiology to reduce misconceptions in the population.

2. Project plan/design (include teachers role in project development)

Our first step was to find potential sources of misconception in media. A simple search for movies using
infectious diseases as a plot device revealed that there was an air of scientific inaccuracy. Although some
exceptional movies attempted to accurately portray the pathogens, they used while continuing use of
them as a plot device, many movies were inaccurate. We compiled a list of movies and television shows
we wanted to select scenes from and analyzed: 28 Days Later, The Host, I Drink Your Blood, 24, and
Star Trek. After selecting the scenes, we conducted research on how accurate the portrayals were, and
what the actual scenario would be. We then created a script using our research in which we stopped the
scene, walked in using green screen software, and explained to the audience the actual science of the
situation. Through our analysis of the scene and the fictional science, we educated the audience by
explaining how the actual biological processes of infectious diseases occur. For example (specific
example when we do the project and come up with it). This level of detail helps the audience see through
the misconceptions the media spreads. We also congratulated some movies on their accurate portrayals of
diseases. Movie, for example, (example here). After providing the analysis of the scenes scientific
accuracy and explaining to the audience the realistic basis of the story, we appealed to directors by
explaining how more scientifically accurate films are better enjoyed by the population for being more
realistic, thereby encouraging them to heed our advice.

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3. Research methods (e.g., Internet, experiments, interviews)

Throughout the research process, we followed a systematic plan of evaluating media and researching the
real-life versions of the pathogen depicted in the movie. For example, the movie Contagions fictional
MEV-1 virus was based on both the terrifying Nipa virus and the SARS outbreak. To determine the
validity of the movie, we performed a thorough examination of the transmission methods, prevalence,
incidence, and mortality rate of the diseases the movie dealt with. For 24s modified Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease prion, we read through a multitude of scholarly peer-reviewed articles on prions and determined
that an aerosol-transmitted prion that could present in people almost instantaneously was a highly
unlikely, if not impossible, from for prions to achieve. Each movie involved extensive research through
only reliable sources, typically research papers in scientific journals. Overall, our method was to watch
the movie, locate the points of scientific question, research the accurate science behind the movie using
reliable sources, and analyze whether the information in the movie was correct or incorrect.
4. Role of project partners/advisors involved in the project (who, what, where, when)
Throughout the process of this project, we required counsel from adults with vast experience in the fields
we were venturing into. A teacher at our school, Ms. Whitman-Allen, had access to advanced cameras
and video editing equipment for her multimedia classes. We asked her about copyright issues, how to use
the greenscreen, and borrowed her resources and received her instruction on using the video editing
software.
We also conferred with the teacher of our class, Mrs. Cook-Whitt, on the research we conducted on the
various pathogens and confirmed with her that the knowledge we were gaining from our research was
correct and accurate.
5. Team processes used (provide evidence of total team participation, i.e., who did
what?)
For the entirety of this project, we worked closely together as a team to create our final product. First we
came together and decided which movies and television episodes we wished to focus upon, and then split
up the media amongst ourselves so that we each analyzed a couple movies or a movie and two television
shows. We individually found scenes in our movie that were of interest to us to highlight and later factcheck. After deciding which scenes were most relevant to our project, we performed research to validate
or invalidate the science presented in the movie. After thoroughly educating ourselves on the topic, we
looked through the movies one more time to ensure that no glaring inaccuracies were missed and then
combined all of our knowledge into a research document, shared through Google Drive amongst all of
us. The team member assigned to write the script then pulled from this research document and, with
input from other team members, constructed the script. Roles were further assigned so that one team
member was a director and another was editor after all the scenes were shot. We came together once
more to act the script, and then edited the movie repeatedly to turn it into the final product. As we
regularly worked in the same space, we kept each other on track and continually cross-collaborated even
when one section was assigned to only one team member.

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6. Record keeping methods (e.g., log, journal, note taking, photography)

7. Timeline (no need to respond in complete sentences for this item)

Monday Tuesday Wednesda Thursda Friday

y
y
Wee No
k 1 school

Brainstorm

Wee ID
k 2 Lesson

ID Lesson ID Lesson
Research Research

Wee
k3

ID
Lessons
Script
writing
Filming

Research
ID
Lessons
Script
writing
No
school

Brainstorm

ID Lessons
Script
writing

Filming
Wee
k4
Wee Finishing Finishing Practice
k 5 details details Project

Saturda Sunday
y

Begin
work on
project
proposal

Finish
Watch
project
movies
proposal Initial
(11:59
research
p.m.)
ID Lesson ID Lesson Research
Research Research

Watch
movies
Initial
research

ID
Lessons
Script
writing
Filming
Editing

Script
writing

Script
writing

Editing

Editing

N/A

N/A

ID
Lessons
Script
writing
Filming
Editing

COMPETE N/A

Research

Presentation

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Sinclair Tech Prep Showcase

Project Narrative
Response
State how your team chose a Showcase topic. Then tell about discoveries or
improvements that your team made while planning, researching, and/or working as a
team. Please limit your response from four to eight paragraphs or two typewritten pages
maximum.
For our groups submission to the (official name of the competition once we know it: Miami Valley Tech
Prep Consortium Competition?) we created a video that dealt with the unrealistic depictions of infectious
diseases in the media. We went through several steps to produce this piece of work. We needed to come
up with an idea for our project, research fairly complex subjects to have the knowledge necessary to
carry it out, and then actually implement our plans and create a high quality product.
As in our class curriculum the project that we would use to compete was a capstone project (meaning
that we were free to decide the nature of the project so long as it communicated in-depth learning), we
spent two days in the beginning of our timeline simply brainstorming ideas on what we were going to do.
The requirements set forth for our class were that the project must be on infectious diseases in some way.
Some of our classmates chose to research historical epidemics and pandemics, some chose to write
research grants to study pathogens such as bacteria in a lab, and some created childrens storybooks to
educate children on infectious diseases. At first our group was thinking of focussing our project on
bioterrorism, an extremely interesting subset of study under infectious diseases. This brought to mind all
of the realistic concerns of bioterrorism in the world, and what we saw as bioterrorism threats from
entertainment media. We realized we heard more about the devastating potential of pathogens to be used
as weapons more in entertainment media than anywhere else. Finally, we decided that we were most
interested in determining exactly how realistic (or overly dramatic) the entertainment medias depiction
of infectious diseases really was.
Next, we needed to do the research to build a script off of which we would use to film the video. We had
to know how accurate the movies were, and to do that we had to become experts on the pathogen each
movie was using. We researched prions, viruses (many strains), (and any other pathogens we end up
researching. Dont know yet). We compiled all of our research into one document we shared over google
drive with each other, and kept another document with all of our sources. We kept these research logs
almost like scientific journals, adding commentary and building up enough knowledge over the course of
the research phase to let us make educated evaluations of the movies we watched. We took the scenes
that we felt had inaccuracies and wrote a script based around stopping them, walking in on greenscreen,
and explaining how the real situation would work out.
Finally, after writing the script, we filmed ourselves walking in on clips we selected from the movies.
We overlayed some diagrams and images to help us make our point while educating the audience, and
used professional movie editing software to make this a high-quality project. The multimedia teacher at
our school, Mrs, Whitman-Allen, as well as some of her students helped us and let us borrow cameras
and greenscreens for this endeavour. We also researched copyright laws and asked adults about how we
should cite the movies and use the footage to avoid violating them and stealing intellectual property.
Towards the end of the video, we created our own small skit where we acted out a realistic situation with
an infectious disease. Realistic epidemics can still be terrifying.
Overall, we faced a few problems. We had to learn a new movie editing software, do something
completely new for all of us (film something using advanced equipment), research complex issues and
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read college-level peer-reviewed articles and make sense of the information, and completing this all
within a short time frame. However, by consulting with our teacher Mrs. Cook-Whitt and the multimedia
teacher Mrs. Whitman-Allen we ensured clarity and professional quality throughout the project. We
created an excellent, compelling product that succinctly summarizes all we learned.

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