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Project
Proposal
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Angela Geraci

10.6.16

Stay Sand Safe

A. Abstract

The title of my paper and project is Stay Sand Safe. My senior project focuses on sand

safety and the dangers of sand, but specifically, the dangers of sand holes. The purpose of my

senior project is educate the public about the dangers of sand holes. I am aware of how

dangerous the sand can be because my brother fell into a hole he was digging in the sand at the

beach, which collapsed on him, covering and suffocating him in the sand. He was buried for over

twenty minutes because no one knew how to adequately respond to this type of situation.

Thankfully, he did survive but with severe disabilities. However, 60% of victims of sand hole

accidents do not survive, and there is an immense lack of knowledge on just how threatening the

sand can be. With my project, I hope to increase the publics awareness on the dangers of sand

and deter them from digging deep holes which could be life threatening to themselves, as well as

other beach goers. My driving questions in completing my project include the following:

How much of an effort is made to promote sand safety in the U.S. already?
Are there any laws that exist which deter or illegalize individuals from digging

holes in the sand?

If so, where are these laws and what is the punishment?
What can we do bring more attention to this life threatening issue?

For my project, I plan to teach a lesson on sand safety at Kingston Elementary School.

Although sand safety is important to all individuals, my main target audience is young children

as they are at the highest risk. I plan to teach a class of third graders or second graders that

educates the children in an interactive and fun way, while making sure they comprehend the
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severity of the topic. I will have various activities for the students to participate in including

demonstrations on how quickly the sand can collapse and what in its nature makes it this way, a

weight lifting activity where kids will lift sand in order to get an idea of just how heavy the sand

is, and have the students participate in activities which are an alternative to sand hole digging

such as safe sand castle building competition. Additionally, at the end of the lesson, I will give

each student a goody bag filled with candy, thanking them for their participation, and a brochure

all about sand safety for both them and their parents. My consultant for my project will be Mrs.

Shoemake. She is a biology teacher here at First Colonial, and I believe her background in

biology will help assist in my project since it deals with a topic that connects mainly to science. I

plan to have my project take place closer to the spring since this is the time which the weather

begins to get warmer, and kids will start going to the beach. I will assess my project and its

success through having the kids I speak to complete an evaluation survey, allowing them to give

any feedback on my lesson. In order to complete my project, the materials I need will include

brochures, sand, sand tools and toys, volunteers, candy,

B. Learning Skills

The skills I will learn from completing this project will include:

Planning, organizing and directing a public event

Adapting to last minute changes and continue to carry out event under pressure
Scheduling an event at a venue
Keeping my audience involved, engaged, and excited to learn

The skills I will enhance even further from completing this project will include:

Teaching ability and skills

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Especially the ability to teach on a level which is relatable to my

audience, children
Networking and increasing my ability to make community connections
Ability to analyze and search for laws related to sand accidents
Increase work ethic in following through with each aspect of the project
Communication
With volunteers, venue contacts, kids
Confidence in my ability to schedule and carry out an event
Organizing all information regarding project- teaching lessons, activities, contact

list
Creativity in developing the hands-on activities for the kids, suitable to their age

group

C. Marketing Plan

Although I am targeting sand holes from a legal perspective, my project will focus on

bringing awareness to the issue, specifically to those who are at the highest threat of being a

victim of a sand hole accident: children. Sand holes are threatening to all ages; however, children

are at the highest risk of sand hole accidents due to their innate curiosity and love for playing in

the sand, which makes them the ideal target audience. By presenting my sand safety lesson to the

children, I hope it will benefit the children by educating them on this dangerous issue and to

hopefully prevent them from digging deep sand holes. The age groups in elementary school

range from as young as five, to as old as eleven. Any group would benefit from being educated

on this issue, and ideally, I would wish to speak to all grade levels, in order to reach a wider,

more diverse audience; however, this will ultimately be the decision of my venue. I plan for my

venue to be Kingston Elementary School, here in Virginia Beach. Any elementary school is ideal,
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but I went to Kingston, and my family has had a close relationship with the school since 1996,

and thus, I believe that this relationship will help in getting my event approved there.

D. Project Steps

Preliminary Steps - Contact venue - 1 hr.

and secure them, as
well as a date and
which audience(s) I
will be talking to
- Begin creating - 8 hrs.
a lesson plan to teach
the kids. Include main
teaching points,
hands-on activities,
create visuals, etc.
- G
athering
second
opinions on
lesson plan to
make sure it is
appropriately
worded for Preliminary steps total hours.:
younger 9
audience

Midway Steps - Secure - 30 min.

volunteers - 2 hrs.
- Begin running
through event lesson
plan and activities - 1 hr.
- Talk to
teachers of classrooms
to make sure
everything will run
smoothly
- A
lso ask if there
is anything I
need to be
aware of
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regarding the
student's - 6 hrs.
(allergies,
irritations, etc.)
- Began
purchasing and/or
creating materials
needed for lesson
- P Midway steps total hours: 9
osters, sand, hrs. And 30 min.
sand box,
goody bags,
candy, towels,
mats, etc.

Later Steps - Practice - 2 hrs.

running through event
- Present event - 1-3 hrs.
Depending on number
of classes to teach
(each about 30-40
min.)

Later steps total hours: 3-5

Follow up - Write thank - 2 hr. And 30

you letters to all who min.
helped in project:
consultant, volunteers,
school Follow up total hours: 2 hr.
- Analyze data and 30 min.
from student response
surveys

Total 24- 26 hours

E. Project Documentation

In documenting my project, I will do through a variety of ways. I will document my

project through visual aids such as photographs of me working on my project and me in the
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process of presenting my lesson, interacting with the kids. Additionally, I will document all the

written work from my project such as emails between contacts such as the school, sand safety

researchers, and volunteers, my lesson plans and their previous drafts to show my progress, any

handouts I distribute, scanned copies of my thank you notes written, and copies of the student

response survey.

F. Project Justification

This project is a topic which is extremely important to me, and thus, it will push me out

of my comfort zone, in order to bring more awareness to the issue. The beginning steps where I

am planning out my project will be the most challenging since I will have to contact the school,

in the hope that they approve of my event, and organize and plan the event according to my

schedule and the schools schedule. Additionally, since I am teaching at a public school, there

may be many limitations or last minute changes or conflicts which could interfere with my

project. This will challenge me to work well under pressure, something I am usually not great at,

and developing that ability and strengthening this will be extremely important for the rest of my

life, especially in the workplace. Another challenge of this project will be getting the social and

legal message out about sand holes. I need to teach my lesson to the kids in a way which is

entertaining and fun, while being assertive on the dangers of sand holes. This will be challenging

since I have never taught a lesson before, and kids can be a difficult audience to communicate

with. I will additionally be challenged in writing the legal perspective of sand issues during my

paper, since 80% of sand hole accidents are undocumented. There is also a very limited amount

of legislation surrounding this issue so legal research regarding my topic will most likely be

difficult in applying similar laws to my topic.

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G. Project Paper Connection

My paper will focus on the lack of legislation regarding sand holes. This is a serious life-

threatening issue, and it is pivotal that I am able to express in my legal paper the importance of

making digging sand holes a legal issue. Along with discussing the lack of legislation for sand

holes, I will discuss some of the very few already existing laws regarding sand holes. My project

will connect to my paper since I will bring awareness to the issue of sand holes to an audience

which specifically needs to be informed: children. I will be informing kids about the dangers of

digging sand holes and what they can do from preventing these dangers from occurring when

they visit the beach.

H. Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is a responsibility to which all students must uphold, especially in

completing a paper and project which has your name on it. In order for it to truly be your project

and something to be proud of, is is important to stay honest and have integrity in completing all

aspects of the project and paper. understand that any academic dishonesty by me on any part of

the project will result in failure of the Senior Project and forfeiture of the Legal Studies Seal on

my High School diploma.