Assignment #8: Infant Simulation Activity Personal and Social Responsibilities o

Assignment #8: Infant Simulation Activity
Personal and Social Responsibilities of Being a Parent: Infant Simulation Activity
Now that you have learned about parenting, the importance of relationships, family and child-rearing practices, you can demonstrate your learning by completing this unit activity.  Keep in mind the unit learning goals:
Learning Goals of the Unit 
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of how to prepare for the responsibilities of being a parent.
Demonstrate an understanding of strategies parents can use to ensure effective communication in their families.
Apply and assess your child-rearing knowledge and skills through practical experiences with children.
Remember that we this unit focuses on the Catholic Social Teaching of the Human Dignity of the Person.  We are created in the image and likeness of God and we must concern ourselves with the wellbeing of each person.
Human Dignity of the Person
As part of this course, you are expected to participate in an infant simulation activity. Students who take this course at their local school spend time taking care of ″virtual babies″: electronic dolls that are programmed to cry at irregular intervals and that need to be ″fed,″ ″changed,″ ″burped,″ and ″held″ – just like real babies.
Many high schools require all of their students to participate in programs such as ″Baby Think It Over,″ which use virtual babies to teach teens what it′s like to be a parent.
The valuable lessons teens learn include the following:
Babies′ demands are unpredictable and must be met promptly.
Babies require a great deal of time and attention.
A baby changes a parent′s life profoundly.
Planned or not, parenthood has enormous emotional, social, and financial consequences.
It may not be practical for you to buy or rent a ″virtual baby.″ In the days before electronic baby simulators, high school students would take care of a ″baby substitute″ like a doll or an egg. However, such substitutes didn′t really simulate the demands that a baby makes on a parent′s time.
Therefore, for this activity, you will NOT take care of a ″virtual baby.″
Instead, you will spend 48 hours observing students who are taking care of a ″virtual baby.″
Most baby simulation programs require students to post videos online, showing themselves caring for the ″virtual baby.″ In a 48-hour period, you will explore 25 such videos on YouTube, and make notes on your experience.
To simulate the disruptive effect that babies have on parents′ lives, you are required to examine and report on one video every two hours, day and night, for two days. You′ll set your alarm clock to wake you up at 2:00, 4:00, and 6:00 a.m. for two consecutive days. You′ll have to schedule your meals and other activities around these demands, so you′ll probably want to complete this Assignment over a weekend.
Does this seem like a huge amount of work and a huge disruption to your weekend? If so, congratulations! You′ve learned the first lesson about caring for a baby. Real parents have to live their lives according to their babies′ schedules. Just be thankful it′s only for one weekend and not the rest of your life!
There are six tasks in this Assessment.
TASK 1: GET READY TO RECORD DATA
Create a Data Recording Table with the following headings to record the URL (web address); the date and time; comments on what you learned about caring for a baby from the video; and a reflection of how you feel when you are watching the videos for EACH of the 25 videos clips that you will watch over the 48 hour period. You can choose the videos to watch. Search on YouTube. 
The headings for the table are as follows:
-Date and Time
-URL (web address) and Video Title
-What I learned about caring for a Baby
-How I felt while I was watching the Video
Task 2: Plan when to begin
Begin the activity at midnight on the first day. If you plan to do the activity over a weekend (recommended), begin at midnight on Saturday morning.
TASK 3: SEARCH FOR VIDEOS
Every two hours, search on YouTube for a video posted by a student participating in a baby simulation program. Use search terms such as:
baby simulation project
virtual baby
Baby Think It Over
Real Care Baby
Record the URL (web address) and video title in your Data Recording Table.
TASK 4: PLAY A VIDEO AND RECORD YOUR RESPONSE
As you study each video, make notes in the Data Recording Table on what you learned about caring for a baby. Did you learn the correct way to feed a baby from a bottle, or tips on how to get an irritable baby to fall asleep?
Also, make notes about how you felt during each video, and how you felt about participating in the activity. If you were exhausted because you had to wake up at 4:00 a.m. or angry because you had to cancel plans you′d made with your friends, record your feelings.
TASK 5: CREATE A REFLECTION
After 48 hours, compose a 200-word reflection to summarize your experience. Your reflection should include:
what you learned about caring for a baby
the extent to which the activity disrupted your daily life
the feelings you experienced during the activity
your reaction to the experiences of the people in the videos
how you think your life would be affected if you were to have a baby at this stage in your life
future plans related to the idea of becoming a parent (for example, what you would need to do if you were to prepare for the role of becoming a parent, and what kinds of relationship support you would hope to have in place)
TASK 6: SUBMIT YOUR WORK
Submit both your Data Recording Table and your 200-word Reflection for evaluation to the Assignment #8 portal. This assignment is due Monday, March 25, 2024.
RUBRIC
Pay careful attention to the following rubric. Your teacher will use it to assess your assignment. This rubric outlines the criteria for the assignment and should be used to guide your work.
Press the following tabs to explore the rubric.
KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING
THINKING
COMMUNICATION
APPLICATION
The teacher will assess your work using the rubric. Before submitting your assessment, review the rubric to ensure that you are meeting the success criteria to the best of your ability.
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