Teen Obesity: The Type Of Obesity, Which Affects Teenagers

Course Overview
The Mission Imagine that you have been hired by wealthy philanthropists who made their money in the tech sector to find a good project for them to fund with a major donation. Your new clients take this opportunity very seriously. They want to use their new wealth to improve human well-being in a meaningful and sustained way. They want to feel confident that they are choosing the right problem to focus on and choosing a program or project that will deliver real results.
Donor ProfileThe donors are a couple in their late 30’s who both have master’s degrees in engineering. They want to focus on positively affecting one significant problem in America. They are deeply pragmatic. In other words they understand that there is never a perfect solution to a problem and that it is important to know the limitations of one’s efforts. They are both “numbers people” who want to maximize the impact of the donation. The couple is willing to consider a problem from a broad range of issues such as social justice, gender issues, poverty, major health issues that broadly affect society (obesity, teen pregnancy, AIDS, etc.), food security  and violence. At every step of the process, the donors expect you engage in a thorough, open-minded inquiry process and that you present credible evidence in support of claims that you make about problems and responses. 
For the donors a thorough, genuine inquiry process has the following characteristics:• The inquiry begins with questions not conclusions• The process is motivated by curiosity and an interest in discovering what is true• The researcher recognizes their own biases and assumptions about what is right and what is true and consciously challenges them throughout the process
For the donors credible evidence has the following characteristics:• Evidence is based on observable facts gathered using methods considered reliable by experts• Evidence is from credible sources• Kinds of evidence presented are considered most reliable given the subject• Interpretation and analysis of evidence from sources is made by credible experts in appropriate fields using methods considered valid by the fields• Interpretation and analysis of evidence by you is reasonable and thoroughly explained• Material from sources (facts, analysis, interpretations of facts, etc.) is presented accurately and in context
Project Details – Overview of the semesterIn the first phase of the process (Unit 1), the donors want you to propose a significant problem and make an argument for why they should focus on it and how they should think about or approach the problem. They want you to help them understand the “size” and severity of the problem, complex causal factors, what is already being done to reduce the problem, and what way of understanding the problem will be most fruitful in choosing a response.Throughout the semester, you will do research to learn different ways of thinking about the problem and to identify the kind of program or effort that you think the donors should fund. You will find evidence to support your thinking about why it is a good choice for the donors. During Unit 2 you will engage in particularly intensive research. In the third phase (Unit 3), you will create a written argument in support of your choice. You will need to explain how the donation will be used and why and how it will affect the issue in a positive way. You will need to use evidence and reasoning to make your case. You will need to acknowledge the limitations of responses and explain why your choice is better than other reasonable choices. In the final phase (Unit 4), you will identify a stakeholder group related to your proposal and create a message for that audience in an alternative medium in order to motivate a specific change in thinking or behavior in that group.