{"id":226,"date":"2023-05-16T19:25:14","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T19:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/owlcelebrateslearning.com\/?p=226"},"modified":"2024-06-06T15:12:18","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T15:12:18","slug":"2023-senate-expedition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/owlcelebrateslearning.com\/?p=226","title":{"rendered":"2023 Senate Expedition – Product and Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2023 OWL students in Algebra 1 continued a tradition of researching projects of import in their lives and going to the Capitol to present about their findings (see early editions<\/a>, 2019<\/a>, and 2022<\/a> here). Below is one of the final products – the briefing book. However, the journey is important and interesting, so if you want to learn more continue below!<\/p>\n\n\nDraft-Final-Draft-Booklet-2023<\/a>\n\n\n

This project starts in the beginning of February when the students are learning about scatter plots and lines of best fit. After the traditional assessment, the students start to dig into some data about the State of Minnesota. The next step is getting into groups based on interests of study. Then the groups grind for data, which is always the hardest part – sometimes they have to put in official requests to the state agencies. I have had groups ask for data that the state doesn’t even keep track of (tax expenditures for example). Once they get their title, data, and graph we are in a position to start drafting the briefing book (that is the thing you see above). Here are some drafts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Draft-1-2023-for-Website<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Draft-3-2023-for-Website<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Draft-4.9-2023-for-Website<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, the briefing book is only one of the two final products that the students produce. The other final product is the presentation in the actual Capitol to their invited state Senators and Representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before their trip to the Capitol, students invited seniors and juniors up to help them practice.<\/p>\n\n\nPractice-with-Seniors<\/a>\n\n\n

With some of their jitters out of the way, they were ready!<\/p>\n\n\nIn-Front-of-Capitol-1<\/a>\n\n\n

The Rotunda of the Capitol is considered the “Crossroads of Democracy” in Minnesota because from there you are under the dome and halfway between the Senate’s Chamber and the room where the Representatives convene.<\/p>\n\n\nRotunda-Pic<\/a>\n\n\n

To give you an example of what a presentation looks like, you can see one here (Representatives Chamber up the stairs):<\/p>\n\n\nGroup-5-Picture-1<\/a>\n\n\n

Lest you think that the kids don’t make an impact, one of the groups (group 6) got a letter from their State Representative Rick Hansen about their topic.<\/p>\n\n\nscan_2023-05-09-09-54-21-1<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2023 OWL students in Algebra 1 continued a tradition of researching projects of import in their lives and going to the Capitol to present about their findings (see early editions, 2019, and 2022 here). Below is one of the final products – the briefing book. However, the journey is important and interesting, so if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[29,14,11,74,76,78,73,79,75,80,77,81,66,82,68,67,83,85,84,69,86,70,87,122,90,88,89,96,94,95,71,93,92,91,100,99,97,101,98,103,104,102,16,105,106,107,109,110,108,114,112,111,113,116,115,72,117,119,118,120,121],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publications","tag-29","tag-7th-grade","tag-8th-grade","tag-ag27","tag-ah27","tag-al27","tag-am27","tag-ao27","tag-as27","tag-asy27","tag-aw27","tag-bd27","tag-bd28","tag-bh27","tag-cc28","tag-ch28","tag-cvg27","tag-db27","tag-dh27","tag-et28","tag-gh27","tag-gs28","tag-hc27","tag-hz24","tag-ik27","tag-im27","tag-it27","tag-jb27","tag-jg27","tag-jk27","tag-jl28","tag-jp27","tag-js27","tag-jv27","tag-kh27","tag-kl27","tag-km27","tag-kp27","tag-kw27","tag-lr27","tag-ls27","tag-lt27","tag-math","tag-mc27","tag-nd27","tag-nv27","tag-omx27","tag-omy27","tag-os27","tag-rm27","tag-rr27","tag-rs27","tag-rsx27","tag-sj27","tag-sk27","tag-tvn28","tag-vd27","tag-wn27","tag-ws27","tag-ya27","tag-zm27"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43,"url":"https:\/\/owlcelebrateslearning.com\/?p=43","url_meta":{"origin":226,"position":0},"title":"2019 Senate Expedition","author":"Thomas Totushek","date":"May 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2019 Students went to the MN State Capitol to present to policymakers ideas that are important to them. The guiding question was \"Does the budget of the state of MN reflect the values of the state?\" Below is a synopsis of that journey. Final Product The final products were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Publications"","block_context":{"text":"Publications","link":"https:\/\/owlcelebrateslearning.com\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":246,"url":"https:\/\/owlcelebrateslearning.com\/?p=246","url_meta":{"origin":226,"position":1},"title":"2022 Senate Expedition","author":"Thomas Totushek","date":"May 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This post features the 2022 Senate Expedition Briefing Book only. To see more about the full project, see the 2023 Senate Expedition - Product and Journey. 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