ENST105 Project Instructions
Project Information
The project will entail some aspect of Environmental Science.
The
HOWL Online Writing Lab is a good resource for help on any writing assignments:
https://www.howardcc.edu/services-support/academic-support/learning-assistance-tutoring/howl-
online-writing-lab/
(Links to an external site.)
You need to submit your topic through Canvas by the date on the class, September 19th.
Note: Life happens and sometimes there are crises, but any request for changes to project
deadlines or exceptions to these instructions must be made before the deadline on the
syllabus, and must be made by email to
clockard@howardcc.edu . Please do not ask at
exams or during office hours for exceptions to project due dates.
The project writeup is due at the date on the class syllabus, December 3
rd
.Please turn in
your project writeup through Canvas with the project as an attached file. Late projects
will be deducted 10% for the first week after the due date (Tuesday-Monday). Another
10% will be deducted for every week late. No final project late submissions will be
accepted.
Project Options:
Option 1
:
A Research Paper
The
HOWL Online Writing Lab is a good resource for help on any writing assignments:
https://www.howardcc.edu/services-support/academic-support/learning-assistance-tutoring/howl-
online-writing-lab/
Choose an environmental topic/issue that interests you and do a literature search on it. This
research project should involve some environmental science topic which is important to human
society. The paper should contain a minimum of at least 8 typewritten pages (around 3000
words) of your own written text, double spaced and 12 Times New Roman font. Figures, tables,
quoted text and/or photos add to the paper, but do not count toward the 8 page minimum (for any
credit at all) of written material. If the project is not at least 8 pages long, it will be returned
ungraded. It is best to write more than 8 pages to make sure. (Please reduce the file size of any
photos you attach so that they are appropriate for email.) Your report will be graded on content,
research effort, organization and writing (including English, grammar, spelling etc.).
Remember to reference all of your sources and be careful not to plagiarize (see
plagiarism
policy for a description of plagiarism and how to avoid it). Additionally, this paper should
include a literature cited (bibliography) section at the end referencing all your information
sources (see below for examples). You should cite at least 8 different references in your paper
for each participant; at least 4 of these references (per participant) must be from a source other
than a website.
ENST105 Project Instructions
The content score will be negatively affected if the paper is just a series of quotations. Quoted
material is also not part of the 8 pages of your text. Though this is not plagiarism, it is poor
writing. The paper needs to portray the knowledge you have gained from your research. Your
opinion is welcome in this paper, but it must be supported with more than just your opinion.
Published reference materials can greatly support an opinion.
Option 2
:
Book Report
This option requires you to read a book from the list below. These fiction or non-fiction books
cover an environmental issue. You will have to write a book report summarizing the main theme,
the environmental message of the book, whether you agree with the message of the book, and if
the environmental issue is still relevant. The book report must be 5 pages (around 1800 words),
double spaced, and 12 point font. The 5 pages of written material is your own personal writing,
and figures, tables, quoted text, and other material does not count toward this total. If the project
is not at least 5 pages long, it will be returned ungraded. It is best to write more than 5 pages to
make sure.
Your report will be graded on content, organization and writing (including English, grammar,
spelling etc). If you use references, please follow the citation examples below. Remember to
reference all of your sources and be careful not to plagiarize (see plagiarism policy for a
description of plagiarism and how to avoid it).
Environmental Books:
A Sand County Almanac – Aldo Leopold
The Botany of Desire – Michael Pollan
Guns, Germs, and Steel – Jared Diamond
The Milagro Bean Field War – John Nichols
The Monkey Wrench Gang – Edward Abbey
Silent Spring – Rachel Carson
Walden – Henry David Thoreau
******************************************************************
Earning an average, above average, and excellent grade:
Some students in the past have
expressed that if they follow the instructions, they expect a perfect grade. Please don’t think
this, as you are likely to be disappointed if you make a modest effort and expect an “A”
grade. It is extremely difficult for a student to earn a nearly perfect grade. Remember that
a 90% final percentage grade (including any “curve” which is applied) is an A, the highest
grade possible for the class. It will be very hard to justify a grade of 96% or higher unless
the paper is truly outstanding, unique (not repeating material) and you can demonstrate
that to me.
This is Howard Community College, and outstanding writing, ideas and assimilated
ENST105 Project Instructions
material are the norm, and graded accordingly. Your opinion in your original submission
is great, but unless you have substantial environmental science concepts and support for
that in your work, it doesn’t merit a high grade.
You need to bring in information from a variety of sources to support your discussion for
an excellent post, and the internet is NOT an excellent source of information. Material cited
from Wikipedia will not be accepted. Repeat, the internet is NOT an excellent source of
information and you will not receive a good grade if you rely solely on the internet.
Another thing that will not get you a high grade is copying material and ideas from other
sources without properly citing it. This is a serious issue. I will be looking for uniformity of
style in the writing, and if we see large changes that indicate that material and ideas have
been copied from elsewhere, we will research the posting extensively for plagiarism. Your
own writing is essential for you to get a high grade. Plagiarized material will result in the
post not being accepted and possible Howard Community College disciplinary actions, so
this is definitely not the route to a high grade.
Citations: It will be nearly impossible to receive a high grade without bringing references into
your work. If all of your cited material comes from the web, you will not be likely to receive a
high grade either. We do not accept Wikipedia as a source of factual information for this class or
accept citations from Wikipedia for your work. Do not use Wikipedia. You must go to the
library, newspapers, books, etc. and find reference material to support your written work
there. References must be included underneath all figures, tables, graphs, and images. If you
copy written material word-for-word from a book, website, etc., you must put quotation marks
around the text and clearly CITE the author/source of the material. You may do this in one of
two ways:
__________________________________________________________________
You must also include a full reference to ALL the sources you use by using in-text citations as
well as listing them in proper bibliographic format (in alphabetic order) on a separate reference
page. You may choose to use the APA or MLA styles of citation, but please be consistent in
using one or the other throughout your paper and bibliography.
The following websites are great resources for helping you correctly format your in-text and
bibliography citations. There are also examples below of some popular kinds of citations in
MLA and APA format.
MLA:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ (Links to an external site.)
APA:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ (Links to an external site.)
Online citation creator:
http://citationmachine.net/ (Links to an external site.)
Examples of MLA Citation:
In-text citation: (Author last name, page#)
(Smith, 272)
ENST105 Project Instructions
(Smith, Jones and McCoy, 272) – up to three authors
(Smith et al., 272) – for four or more authors
Here is an example of a research paper with citations in the form we would prefer:
http://soilslab.cfr.washington.edu/publications/Li… (Links to an external site.)
*************************************
Book citation:
Stalson, Helen. Intellectual Property Rights and U.S. Competitiveness in Trade. Washington,
D.C.: National Planning Association, 1987. 52-67. Print.
Web page citation:
“Global Warming – Climate: Uncertainties.” EPA Yosemite Information Page. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), 2002. Web. 13 January 2003.
<
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/cont… .html (Links to an
external site.)>.
Newspaper article citation:
Hartocollis, Anemona. “New York State Regulators Toughen Standards for Teachers.” New
York Times 18 Sep. 1999, New Enland: A12. Print.
Popular magazine article citation:
Pooley, Eric. “How Conservative is McCain.” Time 14 Feb. 2000: 40-42. Print.
Journal citation:
Susskind, Lawrence E., and Louise Dunlap. “The Importance of Nonobjective Judgments in
Environmental Impact Assessments.” Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 2.4 (1981):
335-366. Print.
Oral (person’s words) citation:
Harrison, Rob. Personal Communication. 25 Jul. 2005. Conversation on how to cite references
for ESRM100.
Examples of APA Citation:
In-text citation: (Author last name, year published)
(Smith, 2002)
(Smith, Jones & McCoy, 2002) – up to five authors. For three or more authors,
use this format the first time you use an in-text citation in your paper, and for subsequent in-text
citations of the SAME SOURCE use (Smith, et al., 2002)
(Smith, et al., 2002) – six or more authors
Book citation:
Stalson, H. (1987). Intellectual property rights and U.S. competitiveness in trade. Washington,
D.C.: National Planning Association.
ENST105 Project Instructions
Web page citation:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) . (2002). Global warming – climate: uncertainties.
Retrieved
from
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/cont… (Links to
an external site.)
Newspaper article citation:
Hartocollis, A. (1999, September 18). New York regulators toughen standards for teachers. New
York Times, A12.
Popular magazine article citation:
Pooley, E. (2000, February 14). How conservative is McCain. Time, 40-42.
Journal citation:
Susskind, L.E., & Dunlap, L. (1999). The Importance of nonobjective judgments in
environmental impact assessments. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 2(4), 355-366.
Oral (person’s words) citation:
Harrison, R. (Professor). (2005, July 5). Conversation on how to cite references for ESRM 100
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