This project is one I have conducted with 7th-grade science students. Because there is so much writing involved, it is an ideal project for the interdisciplinary team. I will describe the comprehensive steps below, but feel free to adapt it to the needs of your students. Then they are to pick a partner or two to work with.
Students are to identify what they want to know about their animal by designing three questions.
These questions then focus their research efforts. Organizing Data Students use several class periods to organize their information into a manageable form. One exercise I used to facilitate this was to have each student take out 3 fresh sheets of paper, and put one of the original questions at the top. Then the students were to identify on which page each bit of information belonged. Some discovered that they had information that didn't fit anywhere, or questions that still remained unanswered.