Overview
In this course we examine a number of environmental impacts that tend to affect varied locations to different extents, and it is likely that one or more issues are relevant where you live. The idea of the project is to use the knowledge about different environmental issues discussed in this course and create your own projects proposal, case study and a presentation. You can choose a topic relevant to where you live or a topic of interest discussed in this course.
There are four deadlines for this project: the proposal, the case study, the presentation, and the responses to the presentations.
Proposal
Before undertaking the actual case study, you will submit a proposal in the Semester Project Proposal assignment folder. Your proposal must include a minimum of one paragraph on: (1) the environmental issue that you will investigate, including general background about your selected topic and the geographic area in question, (2) an explanation of the controversy (i.e. 3 cons (or the opposing views) and 3 possible solutions to the cons), and (3) list of the suitable references you will use to construct your case study.
Consider the references you will use in this project carefully! Although it is acceptable to use encyclopedia-type resources (such as Wikipedia) to get ideas, these should not be used to write the case study itself. Use and citation of such encyclopedia articles in the case study and/or presentation report will be penalized. The resources you use in writing should be from reputable sources, such as reputable news publications and government (.gov) websites. You may also use sources such as your textbook, environmental organizations (whose websites generally end in .org), but remember that information they publish cannot be considered bias-free. For help in selecting references, contact your school librarian, and/or you may want to look at:
Once your proposals grade is posted, you can work on the actual case study.
Case Study
The case study should be written up as a word document and be no more than 4 pages double-spaced not including references (MLA or APA) and include in-text citations. This is not an opinion-based paper. Every fact you state needs a citation to let the reader know where you found that information. It should include an introduction to the environmental issue and its location. The next portion should be about the opposing views (i.e. at least 3 cons and 3 possible sollutions to the cons). The cons need to be focused on the environmental impact of the problem, not just how it’s affecting humans. Think about what it is doing to the ecosystems. Tie it to what you are learning in class.
On the Word document, you should have:
- your name
- title
- the case study
- works cited (APA or MLA)
Once completed, submit it to the Semester Project Case Study assignment folder and begin work on your presentation.
