As a student working to a strict time limit, there is far too much for you to tackle all aspects of the unit in depth. This is something which will plague you for the rest for your life - you have to make choices about what you can do within the time available.

Are there areas in which you have particular skills and interest? Science? Business? Finances? Legal issues? Art? Writing? Data collection? Exploring ethical issues? Psychology? Medicine? If so, then certain aspects of this unit will appeal to you more than others. You are welcome to be a consultant specialising in one or more areas. You will then assume that Ms Kamillion has employed other consultants to do the other aspects.

You will find that whatever aspect you choose, you will need to think a bit about some of the other areas. Which ever aspect you take, you will need some idea of the background science and the opposition. You may choose to report to Ms Kamillion on only one area, though, and refer to the others as appropriate

Decide on your specialty.

Read the Letter to Consultants from Ms Kamillion and all the aspects she wants to know about. Think through your skills and interests and what appeals to you. You can't do it all. Write a brief note to your teacher explaining what you are going to specialise in and why.

Set the completion date and format and commit to that in writing.

Ms Kamillion is going to run a Launch of her new company to try to raise finance and interest in the media. She cannot delay that launch. The completion date is fixed in concrete and you must deliver on that date. Negotiate the date with your teacher and commit to it in writing. You will need to do some form of presentation accompanied by a written report containing the details of your findings. Negotiate a time limit for the presentation and work out what formats you might use for both the presentation and written report. Now you know what you want to do and how long you have to do it so we are ready for ...

Plan your time, final product and approach to the task.

Read through Ms Kamillion's Letter to Consultants carefully, and plan how you want to present your report. You need to plan your time from now until then. Set expectations of what needs to be done each day or week. Also have a quick check of the self-evaluation you will be expected to complete at the end. You might like to keep records for this as you go. Then start the research and get to work!

This is not saying you shouldn't. It is saying you can't. You may get help from anyone, copy things from anywhere. You must stay legal, of course, so acknowledge your sources in your report. Ms Kamillion does not care how you get the information. She just wants it for herself and to know your sources are reliable, so tell her who they are. Do you have an uncle who is knows about ethics? A cousin who is into accounting? A mother who is a legal guru? Can you get on the phone or email and ask companies or individuals for help?

Learning to use contacts and sources respectfully to get information and advice is an invaluable skill which will translate into the real world. Real business people, real scientists, real writers, real anythings ... use every resource available to them. They will all be busy people, so make sure you are asking specific questions and will not take too much of their time. Unless they offer more!

Time to see just how broad your resources are!

You need to also submit a report for your teacher for this unit, who is interested in the way you think and approach large and complex tasks.  This will help you become aware of your thought processes over an extended assignment. You will be asked to observe the impact of mood, location, concentration and work practice at times of achievement and times when things don't go as well. So you will need to remain conscious of thinking skills and processes throughout the task.

At the end of the task is the time to reflect back on all that you did. Click here for the Self-evaluation.