Description

Minimum Word Length for the Current Event Essay: 1000 words 

Directions: Read through several recent scientific magazines/journals (paper or online versions of these sources are appropriate).  The following are suggested sources:

• Science (Links to an external site.)
• Discover (Links to an external site.)
• Nature (Links to an external site.)
• New Scientist (Links to an external site.)
• Geology (Links to an external site.)
• Scientific American (Links to an external site.)
• Another starting point for student research is Science News for Students (Links to an external site.)

Pick out articles that relate directly to topics covered within this Earth Science class (published within the last three years).

Topics for the Current Event Essay might include: renewable/nonrenewable resources, energy resources, minerals, rocks, plate tectonics, earthquakes, earthquake prediction/forecasting/mitigation, Earth's interior, volcanoes, volcanic eruption prediction/forecasting/mitigation, intraplate volcanism, deformation, faulting, mountain building, Isostacy, weathering & erosion, soil, soil conservation, landslides, surface water, groundwater, aquifers, flooding, deserts/desertification, glaciers, ice ages, geologic time, age of the Earth, relative age dating, radiometric age dating, extinction events, origin of Earth's atmosphere, origin of Earth's oceans, oceanic ridges, seafloor sediments, continental margins, deep ocean trenches, ocean waves/tides/currents, Earth's seasons, greenhouse effect, ozone hole, albedo, humidity, clouds, precipitation, cloud seeding, fog, air pressure, wind, El Nino/La Nina, monsoons, air masses, weather fronts, thunderstorms, tornadoes, tornado prediction/forecasting/mitigation, hurricanes, hurricane prediction/forecasting/mitigation, sea level rise, ocean acidification, climate, or climate change.

Once you find a primary source article that you are interested in, search for at least one additional RELATED source article to add further support & details to your primary source.

Your Current Event Essay must include:

1. Titles of Primary Source Articles 
   • 2 primary source articles are required; however, most students utilize more sources plus their textbook
2. Primary Source Article Author and Discussion of Author Qualifications 
   • In other words, describe the author's background in detail. 
   • Note - if the chosen article is a summary of a scientific journal article, include qualifications of both the article author and the research scientist
3. Summary of Primary Source Articles - IN YOUR OWN WORDS [minimum length = 2 detailed paragraphs]
4. Critique of Primary Source Articles - IN YOUR OWN WORDS  [this section should be the bulk of your essay, minimum length = 4 detailed paragraphs]
5. Specifically, address the following questions:
   • How does the topic of the article affect the Earth as a whole?
   • How does this article relate to my life?
6. References (APA format preferred)

Please use the above 6 numbers/headings to organize your essay.

What is a Critique? A book report only summarizes the article.  A critical essay is you explaining what you think of their data.  For a 1000-word essay, the summary should only be about two paragraphs long.  The rest of the report should be your thoughts about the topic.  Analyze the pros and cons of the article.  Is the author presenting good science or just opinion?  Is the author a recognized expert?  How could the article be improved?

What is Good Science? The instructions above ask you to evaluate whether the article is ‘good science’.  DO NOT just tell me it is ‘good science’.  Explain why.  Start by asking yourself these questions: Did they try and use the scientific method (Ch. 1)? Did they support the conclusions with facts?  Did they provide the facts or a reference to them?  If the answer is no to any of those basic questions, then it’s probably not good quality science, and you probably need to find at least 1 more supplemental article to add additional support to your essay.