|
|
|
DOING
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AT
PHILADELPHIA
UNIVERSITY
Environmental Action Projects Handbook Dr. Anne Todd Bockarie Environmental Science Coordinator 2002 Edition ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE PROJECTS Why
Environmental Action Projects? During this semester in Environmental Science you
will have the opportunity to use what you are learning in the classroom in a
‘real life’ setting by working with an environmental professional at an
agency with your class. We have
found that students learn more, ask more questions in class and feel like they
have made a contribution to the environment by engaging in an action project as
part of the class. There are many
topics in environmental science that are best learned in the field where you can
see it first hand. We have established project sites with a wide variety of
agencies. You will:
Grading
The
Environmental Action component is worth 100 points (which is 20% of your course
grade):
You
will receive credit for taking your paper to a writing tutor at the Learning and
Advising Center. Points will be
deducted if you miss your project date. No
late posters will be accepted. All
late papers will loose one letter grade per day.
No papers will be accepted after three days past the deadline. Plagiarism
of any kind will result in failing the entire assignment. Guidelines for
Doing Your Project
You
will be working, researching, assisting and learning from professionals in an
environmental agency. Here are a few hints to guide you in making your project
better: 1.
Be Prompt: Always try to arrive about 10 minutes to the time when your project is
scheduled to start. If you have trouble getting up develop a back-up plan with
an alarm clock, room-mate, class-mate or other friend to help you get up with
enough time to get to the meeting point designated by your professor, dressed
for the weather and with water, insect repellent or sun screen as needed.
What Should Be
in Your Field Work Analysis Paper? (50 points) Your paper is for you to evaluate what you learned from the experience. The purpose of this paper is to think over the work you did and describe in writing what you learned, what could have been done better, and how does this work compare to what others are doing on the same environmental issue. We suggest you include the following sections: 1. Title Page (5 points) Use the fewest words possible to convey the topic of your paper. No abbreviations. Include your name, date, and university address Include your supervisor’s full name, title, and agency 2. Introduction and Background Information on Your Agency (10 points) What is your environmental issue? Why is it important? What are others doing in PA, USA or around the world to work on this issue? Are they any groups of immigrants or refugees that have been involved with this issue? What is the mission of your agency? (what do they do?) How is this environmental issue related to their work?
3. Project Description (15 points: notice that most of the points are here!) What was the goal of your project? What were you trying to accomplish? What exactly did you do and how did it help the agency reach their goal? Location of the project (could include a map if that is useful) What are the main features of the area where you did your project? History of the area (if applicable) How did this project relate to information discussed in class, background information you got from the agency and/or your personal experience?
4. Conclusion (5 points) What did you learn? Describe things such as new skills, new methods, new knowledge or personal growth such as time management, communication or working as a team. What should the agency do next to work for working on this environmental issue? (Provide at least two recommendations or suggestions for your supervisor) What should the public do to help remedy this environmental issue? What do you think you’ll remember five years from now about this issue?
5. Spelling, Grammar, and Format (5 points) 6. Library Research (10 points) You should include a bibliography with at least 10
references such as books, journals, web sites, brochures or pamphlets.
Remember, only five references can be websites! For each
reference include the author, title, date of publication, and page numbers used.
Be certain to use MLA format and to cite material in the body of the paper
as well as listing the complete reference in your bibliography at the end. Proper Use of
Sources
Prepared by Nancy
Sorkin, Learning and Advising Center, Tutoring Appointments call x2799
WHY
USE SOURCES
HOW
TO USE SOURCES Think
of your paper as a contribution to an on-going conversation.
You are not the first person to write about, say, butterflies, and you
won’t be the last. As a student
in science, you have done your field research, made observations, taken notes,
and done some reading. When you write your reflection paper, you combine ALL these
sources of knowledge. This means
that you include relevant information, judgments, and ideas from your sources throughout
your paper, wherever citing a source will help you make your point. From
your first preparations for writing your paper, plan how and where you will use
your sources. This will insure that
you have treated sources as an integral part of your paper. Writers
refer to their sources in various ways, depending on need.
Read on for a description of each way to include information from a
source in you paper. QUOTE
when it will strengthen your argument to have the exact words of your source. Quotes are helpful when the source is a recognized authority
or has expressed information in a particularly significant way.
Quotes should be as short as possible, even just a key word or phrase.
All quotes must be scrupulously accurate and must fit smoothly into your
writing.. Document
a quote by following it with a parenthesis (immediately or at the end of the
sentence). The parenthesis contains
the author’s last name and the number of the page on which the quote can be
found. Note:
If the quote comes from an electronic source, the parenthesis will
contain just the author’s last name, or, if this is unavailable the title of
the source, whether it is an article or a website. Do not include web addresses in the parenthetical citation. PARAPHRASE
when you want to refer to important ideas, information, or statistics from a
source, but you are using your words. Writers
paraphrase when a source’s information is more important than the exact words
used. Be sure to put the
information completely in your own words. Document
a paraphrase with a parenthetical citation, the same way you would document a
quote (see above). The absence of
quotation marks tells your readers the words are yours but the ideas or
viewpoint belong to the source you are crediting. GRAPHICS
from a source can make an important point visually.
Types of graphics include published charts, graphs, photographs, maps,
illustrations, sketches. Document
graphics by placing a parenthetical citation immediately beneath the graphic.
If you reproduce the graphic exactly as it appears in your source, the
parenthetical citation includes the same information as if you were quoting (see
above). If you alter the graphic in any way (for example, removing
one variable from a chart), the parenthetical citation must say “adapted from
Smith 219.” What Should Be in Your Poster? (50 Points) Your
poster is important. It is your opportunity to tell the story of what you did to
your colleagues. Past posters have
been donated to the agency and used at Board Meetings, in public forums and in
display cases. Listed below are
what you should include on your poster to fully tell us the story of what you
did: 1.
Title (5
points) Title Include
your name, date, and school address Include
your supervisor’s full name, title and agency 2.
Introduction
(5 points) Introduction: Use bullets or other creative media to give an overview of why your environmental issue is important. Include the background information from your references (when appropriate) so that the viewer knows the history of this issue, why your agency works on it and what is being done elsewhere to address the issue. Make sure you cite your references using MLA format. 3.
Creative Format and Organization
(10 points) How
you arrange the text, pictures, 3-D graphics, music or other materials strongly
influences how well the viewer understands what you are trying to communicate.
Posters must have very large neat lettering, creative use of color, and lots of
pictures or drawings arranged to tell a story for the viewer.
Be certain to check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Your pictures must have captions to label what is in them! 4.
Project Description and Results
(25 points-notice that half of the points are here!) This
is the meat and potatoes of the poster. It
highlights what you did and why it was important.
You need to describe how you did your project so that others who are
unfamiliar with specific technical terms and processes can understand.
Be specific, but don’t write out long windy sentences.
This is your chance to use pictures, drawings or other creative media to
tell the story. We recommend using
bullets. 5.
Conclusion
(5 points) How
was this an interesting unique topic? What
did you learn? How did the agency
benefit? What was the most
surprising part of the project to you? What
needs to be done next? How did the
project relate to a current environmental issue?
|
|
