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Environmental Science ISC 1143 Summer 2009 Mr. Odaffer
Directions for term paper
The Due date for the term paper is at the beginning of class on July
No papers will be accepted after that time and date for any reason.
Early papers are always acceptable. REQUIREMENTS: Your paper will describe an Environmental problem , investigate, evaluate and perhaps propose solutions. The environmental problem must be clearly defined and delineated in the first opening paragraph. If there are two or more ideas about how the problem should be solved, they should be presented, and evaluated. This is to be an environmental science paper, not a political paper. Facts should be presented in a clear and concise manner. If you state, “President X is/was the worst environmental president ever”, you had better be able to cite references and research comparing the environmental record of every other president since the environment became a public concern. If your paper is about an animal or plant species, how is that species important to the total environment? How are others dependant on that particular species? How would the environment change if that organism went extinct? Is that organism a keystone species? The topic should be limited and specific. Do not write a “report” on a broad topic like global warming, atmospheric pollution, or ocean pollution. Describe a specific problem, then evaluate solutions. Do NOT write a paper on Florida panthers, manatees, or red tide. Please pick the topic early and run it by me during my office hours to make sure you are heading in the right direction. Too often students wait until the last week. If they have trouble finding information or their subject is too broad, it’s too late to try another subject. There must be at least two graphs that you make yourself with explanations and source of the data presented. Each graph must be explained in the text. In the text, refer to your graphs as figure 1, figure 2. The graphs should be attached to the end of the paper, after the body of the paper and before the references. I will not accept tables of numbers or pie charts. If you have a doubt about whether what you have is an acceptable graph, come see me. Hand drawn graphs using colored pencils are just fine, as long as you give the source of the data. Do not just photocopy a graph from a textbook or print one from an internet site, slap it onto a page with some tape and then never mention it in the body of the paper. Note, graphs almost always have an X and Y axis.
If you want to include some photos to illustrate of point, please feel free. Add them to the back of the paper. SOURCES: There must be no less than seven references, and that is the bare minimum. The minimum effort: minimum grades. More means a better grade. Few references or inappropriate references will lower your grade. No newspapers, internet news, or popular periodicals can be used for references. Books and scientific journals from the MCC library or USF library are appropriate. You should meet with the MCC reference librarian to find resources. The prohibition against internet sites does not include electronic reference that can be found in the library. There is a wealth of journal articles available through the library electronic reference system. Local public libraries will probably not have what you need. They tend to carry simplified books suitable for elementary/middle school reports and high school level term papers. These are unacceptable sources. This is college. Time to move up to the next level. Use quality scientific references (i.e. Nature, NOT Readers Digest). Do not even think of using someone such as Michael Moore or Al Gore as a scientific reference, although you may look up their references and quote the original sources that they quote. A dictionary or an encyclopedia does not count as a reference. Do not fluff your paper by copying a dictionary or encyclopedia entry in the introduction. Do not define words. If you use any big words I don’t know, I have a dictionary and I’ll look it up myself. Do NOT use the text book as a reference. No internet sites will be accepted as sources unless they are .gov or MyFlorida.gov sites. If you think you have a non-government page that is really, really, really good and you will just DIE if you can’t use it, come see me and I may be convinced. Don’t even try to use a non- government internet site without the instructor’s okay. If you use an internet site, please include the complete address on your reference page. Something such as www.epa.gov is not a complete address. If you have many internet.gov or myflorida sites with only a few other references, you will lose many points. Multiple pages from the same web site will count as only ONE source. Do not think that you are going to just sit at your computer, surf the Internet, and write a paper. A word of warning - just because something is on the Internet does not mean that the information is truthful or scientifically valid. If your have nothing but internet references, your will lose many, many points. If possible, do your own research. Conduct a research study of your own. Come see me if you have an idea about collecting your own data and I will help you set it up properly. This will earn you the highest possible grade if done well.
Do not use passive phases like, “This is known as………” or “These are called…..” when explaining your ideas. Passive writing is highly over utilized in undergraduate papers. Passive sentences include the following: the verb TO BE (am, is, are, was, were, been, being, be) + second verb + past tense. Try this. “This contaminates …….” or “These create …….” Do not allow your paper to become a list of quotes or paragraphs cut from your sources and pasted together. This paper should be in your own words, with any quotes or paraphrases clearly defined with parenthetical notation. No direct quote should be more than two lines long. You can not “legitimize” long portions of copied text by rearranging or rephrasing some of the words in each sentence. I DO check papers for this. Any paper found to have a significant portion of its text lifted from its sources (whether you try to rearrange a few words here or there, or not) will earn ZERO points. Please refer to the article on my website “A Word About Plagiarism” for details about how to avoid the problem. I will be happy to look your paper over at least one week before the due date and answer any questions you may have about what you have written. FORMAT: I will accept printed paper only, no electronic submissions. Use a cover page with your name, the title of your paper, name of class, class time and day of week. Next is the body of the paper, followed by the graphs. The final page is your reference page. You must number all the pages in the top right corner. The cover page is not numbered or counted. Your page count begins on the first page of the body of the paper. The paper must be stapled! The body of the paper must be no less than seven pages long, double spaced. The body of the paper does not include your cover page, photos, graphs or references. Parenthetical notation to identify your sources in the body of the text is required. At the end of any quote or paraphrased idea that you write in your text, include the last name and year of the source in parentheses. Like this, (Odaffer, 2001). Papers written with no source attribution in the text can expect to have their grade lowered. Please see me if you are still not sure what this means. No “fluffing” of your term paper will be tolerated. You cannot make your paper appear longer by increasing margins, font size or adding extra space between lines. All margins should be 1 inch all the way around. Paragraphs should be indented one-half inch and evenly double spaced. (Extra space is only appropriate between paragraphs when you are writing a single spaced document, not in a double space format.) Use only size 12 font in the paper. The font should be a “book” style. Do not use a font that is abnormally wide or artsy. The cover page must have your name, the name of the class, and the days and time your class meets in the top right hand corner. The title should be centered in the middle of the page. On the bottom of the page on a single line write the following: Received by ____________________________ on ___________________ from (your name) This is your receipt. I sign this and return it to you when you turn in your paper. This is your proof, in case of unanticipated tragedy, that you have turned your paper in on time. Don’t skip
this part and don’t leave class without it on the day you turn the paper in. I grade over a hundred term papers every semester; accidents happen. THIS IS FOR YOUR PROTECTION AS WELL AS MINE. Do not put the paper in special plastic binders. Just staple the pages together. (And it MUST be stapled. Don’t bother handing in a term paper held together with a paper clip or the corner bent down. Staples ONLY.)
No papers will be accepted after that time and date for ANY
reason.
This includes, but not limited to: sickness, late air plane connections, dead printers, any number of computer problems, left it at home, I’ll bring it tomorrow, failure of personal relationships, sudden new personal relationships, pets or significant others eating the only disc on which the paper was written, and so forth. If you have a relative who is so inconsiderate as to die the day before the paper is due, the paper is still due on the due date. I am available to review your paper, offer tips, discuss the topic or any problems you might have finding information on your topic long before the due date. However, those who have been too busy to begin the assignment until four or five days before it is due will find that I, too, am very busy. Just because the paper is due on a particular date, does that mean you have to wait until that day to turn it in? Of course not. Turn your paper in early, if you like. I can’t guarantee that you will benefit from having your paper read early, while I am still in a sweet, loveable mood, but it can’t hurt. GRADING: Grading is done with a rubric; a type of grid that attempts to quantify your work. This is includes follow the format, topic and intro, the body of the paper, graphs, and references. I will use this rubric to grade your paper.
Term paper Rubric for Environmental Science
Excellent Good Fair Poor Topic and Intro (10 points) Clearly stated topic and question. Topic is narrow and address an environmental problem. Topic is not clearly defined. Environmental problem is addressed obliquely Topic is broad, not clearly defined. Environmental problem is not delineated. Topic prohibited by requirements. Topic is ill defined. Intro is ill defined. Body (50 points) Body of paper is well-written. Is there a flow from Body of the paper is not clearly written. Body of the paper is confusing. Body of paper is shorter than required.
least two paragraphs long with elaboration. it is short, with little elaboration. elaboration. Excellent = full points Good = 75% of points Fair = 50% of points Poor = 25% or less of points
The Due date for the term paper is at the beginning of class on July
