How do I deal with someone this bullheaded and ridiculous?

Do you each (each team member) have to submit a report or is it one report for the team? I had a genetics project in HS one time. Fruit flies. We had to breed them for a while and then gas them and then look at each of them under the microscope to determine the genetic differences. Basic genetics test. My team mate was cool as long as all we had to do was to watch them grow. But when it came time to do the drudge work of looking at hundreds of fruit flies under a microscope, he couldn’t make it. We had set a date and time to do it (late in the day, school day on a Friday) and suddenly, at the last minute, he had to go out to dinner with his parents and they wouldn’t let him out of it to support his school project. Right. So I spent hours categorizing the fruit flies and ended up staying at school until about 6 that night. I wrote up my report (we each had to do a report) and on Monday morning, he rushed in first thing and asked me for the report. I handed him the raw data and the dead fruit flies and told him MY report was done, here was all he needed for his. He had 3 periods to write it up. Not my problem.
If you are only submitting one report for the entire group, you have to take the guy aside and have the tough conversation with him. Tell him it looks to you and your other team mate that he isn’t fully engaged in the project. Explain to him how his reticence to participate is hurting the team and the project. Ask him why he isn’t participating…if he is having personal issues you don’t know about or if he doesn’t like his tasks or what. Give him a chance to respond.
Don’t let him get off with a shrug of the shoulders. You have to explain to him why his help is needed, what he needs to do to support the team. You can work with him to set goals for his accomplishment of his part of the project. And in the end, if he just plain doesn’t want to help, tell your teacher what you have done and that you are leaving his name off the project.

I would do as much as you can and then turn it in with a cover letter explaining what your partner has not done. It’s a shame but it doesn’t seem like there’s much else to do.

You might give a heads up to the teacher, now. Don’t wait another day, Plaigarism is unlikely, unless the other group is using your written material.

Very simple! You don’t!

Realize that the real project possibly is on leadership and group dynamics.

All in the group will have to report what had or had not occurred within this group dynamics.

Each participant will have to explain why or why not there reports or parts of the project are not completed.

I had such an experiment done to our group on Unions vs Management and the teacher gave us opposite sides from which we chose to be on.

In the end it was about how we as a group come about decision making and how soon..out group was the last to hand in this assignment due to some who misunderstood the Legal” jargon” in the argument ( the Union side had as a leader one who misunderstood the meaning of one word in the agreement and thus held up the whole process !)

We received a “C” since we were the last to settle ( our group “shut out” Union ..locking the doors of the supposed Company).

In the end all were to write comments as to why we disagree with our mark given and give good arguments.

Our mark was changed to a Passing Grade when we brought out the reason “WHY” we could not get an Agreement from the Union side.

The opposing Union side failed since they designated someone who could not understand (different culture ) the term .

It was the Groups fault for poor choice of leader in the first place, and by NOT listening to reason when Management ( our group) explained that early in the project.

I’d let the teacher know, which you already did.

Then I’d plan the project and suggest a division of the work. If the “partner” wouldn’t participate in that, he’d get the parts I’d assign him. I’d do the overview and leave him the details, then do my part, with his part being to fill in the details. I’d design it so that the project showed the overall design and ½ to ⅔ of the work being done, with conspicuous absences or placeholders waiting for the partner’s work.

My daughter has had the very same problem. She used to tell me she hated group projects because the others would always just rely on her to do the work.
What I know about her is that she can be bossy. She is very smart, and she knows it. That stood in her way because the others had ideas too, but she tended to feel her ideas were always best.
Since I don’t know you at all, I can’t be sure if you are that way in a group. Just in case, I will give you my advice to her.
Part of being on a team is not the outcome, but how each member draws the best they can from the others. You have to listen to the input of others, no matter how lame. Even an idiot can have a cool thought sometimes. The most important aspect of a group project is that everyone gets to be heard. If you get I don’t know, offer ideas, not just your best, but at least one alternative. Keep pressing them for their own thoughts, not only how your idea is best.
Also, some kids have barriers they don’t want others to know about. I was in the Navy. A man I worked with who outranked me, and had a few years more in, asked me a favor one day. He was able to because he knew I was the type to not shame people. He could not read.How he got by so long I can’t imagine. Somehow he passed engineering school in the Navy! He wanted help filling out a form requesting some specialized a work to be done. You just never know what someone might be hiding. Compassion is imperative for classmates to work together.
You don’t need to be friends, but you do need to find a middle ground. You just might find he has some special talent which can enhance your idea some way you hadn’t thought of. Or, maybe he has some other issue which makes him afraid, and would make him more open to an alternative.
Being part of a team is a big responsibility. He might need some encouragement.
I’m sure he didn’t mean to the torpedo your idea by discussing it with someone else. Try to forgive inside your own heart and move past that.
My last input, just because the other team is doing the same thing does not mean they will do it best.
Good luck. Let go of the stress.

Thank you all for your responses. I’ve done what I can for today, and I’ll talk to him and try to understand and see if maybe he’d like to put in some work tomorrow. If that isn’t the case, then I’ll write a cover letter.
Once again, thank you all.

Email the student and tell them what you are going to do, then write a detailed letter to the teacher explaining what you have done, and how the other student’s lack of work, and leaking, have causes trouble, and potential problems (explain the possibilities of the other team cheating, or you potentially being accused of plagiarizing your own work) and then explain why it should never be one student’s responsibility (you, in this case) to get another student to do work, and no one else’s work (the other student) should never count for or against, any other student’s efforts and work. Remind the teacher that if you were in a real life work situation and something like this happened, that you would go directly to the supervisors, and this other person would likely get reprimanded, or fired. Then let the teacher know that you will be CCing her supervisors. Save all records of your work, and records of your correspondence with all of the involved parties, including the lazy student, the other students, and the teacher, otherwise you will be accused of making stuff up. Never put yourself in that position. Always document everything.

Please keep us posted. We all want to know the outcome of your project and how the teacher responded to you.

Hey :) so for those of you who wanted to know, my partner didn’t really end up helping me. I did talk to him and this time I changed my approach telling him to just inform me honestly if there was an actual reason he wasn’t helping, and he said there was nothing really, except he didn’t feel like working much. So I told him that if that was the case then I couldn’t really help with that or cover for him, or try to complete this project and save our grade, if he really had no legitimate reason. And then he did something super unexpected which was to tell me to do as much of the work as I could, and he’d inform the teacher that he didn’t help at all, which honestly to me sounds, what young people like me say, sus. I’m really not sure what to make of him at all. But in the end I have a good grade, so no harm done to me. I just hope I’m not paired with this guy ever again. The only reason we were even paired is because I’m a good student n he’s the kind that makes you wonder how he even made it past third grade. Not because he isn’t smart, I’m guessing, more because he seems to just not care at all. Either that or he’s just insanely lazy.

@MaisyS Thanks for the update and good for you for talking to him and getting an honest answer. And I’m glad you got a good grade. I think you won’t be paired with him again or if you are, you can object privately to the teacher and have it changed.

Good work in the growing up department!

Because he didn’t attempt to take any credit for your work, I’m guessing there is an issue, something he’s embarrassed to talk about.
It is not your place to fix his problems, but I’m glad you changed your approach. That, at least, let him consider that maybe someone cares.
My guess is the reason your teacher put you together was knowing you are more capable of handling the project alone, if need be, than someone else he might be paired with.

Kudos to you for giving it a shot.

Thank you all for helping me with this :)