Who Has the Rights to the Bones Of the Kennewick Man?

What causes conflicts among people, and how can resolutions be reached?

Steps for Research and Your Job
You will follow the research cycle as you work through this Research Module. The steps you will follow are:

1. Questioning (and Introduction)
As you work through this research module, you will be asking yourself a guiding question: What causes conflicts among people, and how can resolutions be reached? In order to answer that question, you will focus in on smaller questions to guide your planning and your research.  

Your Job: Read the Website: Kennewick Man Virtual Interpretive Center. Read and understand the scenario. Review the rubrics-process rubric and legal brief rubric-in the evaluation sections of the research cycle to know on what you will be evaluated. Gain knowledge about the Kennewick Man by reading and studying the sites Mystery of the First Americans, and Kennewick Man’s Daily Life. Complete the study guide questions for these two sites called, Who Is Kennewick Man. Turn in the completed worksheet. These activities will stimulate your questioning skills, preparing you to research the issue.

2. Planning
Decide on what your jobs are in order to get the information to answer your questions and complete the task. What will you need do to make a successful product?

Your Job: Complete the Project Planning worksheet. Turn in the answers.

3. Gathering
Next, you will be ready to search for the information that will help you make your decision. You will visit various web sites to gather information.

Your Job: Fill out the three research charts, one for each claimant group by researching each website link putting information into each chart. Archaeologist Chart, Asatru Folk Assembly Chart, and Umatilla Native American Chart.

4. Sorting and Sifting
You have gathered a lot of information about your project. Now, it is time to arrange and rearrange the information to focus on what is important to your project.

Your Job: Evaluate your research. Reorganize your ideas. Throw out information that is not important to the task and assignment. Find more information to support your thinking. Gather information again.

5. Synthesizing
Keeping your guiding question in mind, discuss with yourself how the information helps answer the questions you posed and will help you make the decision. What decisions can you make, using the information you gathered? What information do you still need to find? You will need to go through your notes and consider what questions have not been answered. Remember it is not your opinion that guides your decision but what makes a fair and legal decision. Do you need to investigate farther?

Your Job: Consider the scenario and your decision. Ask the guiding questions again. Decide if you need to do more research and what you need.

6. Gather, Sort, Sift, Synthesize
Repeat these steps until you have all the information you need and can clearly make a fair and legal decision.

Your Job: Gather, sort and synthesize your research again and see how it supports your task. Look at how to write a persuasive piece of writing, a legal brief, and look at the 6-Traits links. Consider your researched information and decide if you need to find more information or reorganize what you have already gathered.

7. Evaluating
You will review all of the information you have gathered, again. Is the information sufficient to support your conclusions? You will evaluate your work to be sure you are meeting the requirements of the task. Look over the task and the rubrics.

Your Job: Look at the process rubric. You need to know on what you will be evaluated. Be sure you have completed what you need to do.

8. Reporting
You will translate your findings into a persuasive written product.

Your Job: Look at the directions for a legal brief. Review the legal brief rubric. Consider what your task is. Look over your notes and research. Return to any research website that will help you write your legal brief with detail and information.

To begin, use the writing process: brainstorm/organize, first draft, revise, second draft, edit, final draft. Remember, you must turn in all the pieces of the writing process. Begin by brainstorming details for each section, using words and phrases, facts and details. Create a graphic organizer/web or a written outline. Write the first draft. Continue to follow the writing process to the final draft that will be your official legal draft, ready for publication.