A Summer along Four Mile Creek

This Progress Report submitted by Majida Al-Husaam, Melissa Hamann, Luke King, Sarah Hayes [e-mail:hamannmm@muohio.edu] on 4/4/03.

We are excited to say that our group has a great deal of progress to report. Some revisions have been made to the final proposal in terms of collection dates, but everything else is working well for us. The changes that were made have been due to unpredictable circumstances during our first collection and then a lack of available equipment on our fifth trip (fourth time of data collection).

Data collection was finished this past Tuesday, April 1, 2003. On Tuesday, April 1, 2003, we tested for the same material that we had in the past as well as measured riparian zones and took four samples at each location, velocities, and measured width, depth, and length for each of our sites; this data will be used in figuring out sediment loads. We have begun to organize the data that we have into tables and charts. This collection of data will be included in our final childrenÕs book either in the main body of the text or as an appendix.

Each of us is currently writing our portion of the book. We are now trying to figure out a lot of the logistics of putting together the dialogues of all the characters. One of our primary concerns is how to get each of our characterÕs perspectives accurately portrayed without making the book seem choppy. A list of questions was put together to discuss in the coming week:

1)What is the tense going to be?
2)What is the most effective format from the perspective of the young reader?
3)Is this format feasible for us- the publishers?
4)What is the cost?
5)When do we have to get it to one of the copy shops to ensure that it is completed on time?
6)How are we introducing the characters? How are we going to explain a change in character if the story is written in first person?
7)Citing- Footnotes, etc.?
8)Where would scientific data be the most meaningful in the story?
9)Have we decided to use the layout of the book Garrison lent to us?

Marci, our illustrator, has been in contact with Melissa and she is eagerly awaiting our project. We hope to get it to her as soon as the final editing is completed on the project. This will give her enough time to work on it.

We have decided that our first meeting next week will be during our regular seminar meeting time, next Tuesday, April 8, 2003. Other meeting times and places will be arranged at this meeting. Besides our meeting, our group has had contact via phone, class, and e-mail.

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