research

CHEM 1001, Laboratory #8 – Climate Change Article Evaluation Page 1 of 5

Name: Lab #8 – Climate Change Article Evaluation

RESEARCH PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS To begin this assignment, you and your partner will use the Google search skills that you learned in Lab #1 to find an article from a “popular” media source (not a peer-reviewed journal). The article should be related to climate change and must reference a peer-reviewed scientific article. Then, you will look up the original peer-reviewed article that contained the scientific findings referenced by the popular medial source article. Then, you and your lab partner(s) will prepare a short (5-7 minute) PowerPoint presentation to share your findings with the rest of your lab section during Week 8.

POPULAR SOURCES VS. PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS

Type of Source Popular Sources Peer-reviewed Journals

Audience The general public Experts within a specific field

Information within Article

More general – it is a summary of one or more specific pieces of

research

Very specific – this is where scientists explain their work in excruciating detail to prove the validity and importance of

their findings

Authors Someone who did not perform the experiments The scientists who performed the

experiments

Language Non-technical and easy to read Very technical and difficult to read Requirements for article from popular source:

• Is related to climate change, greenhouse gases, or another key topic from Chapter 4 • Must cite the original scientific study (from a peer-reviewed journal) • Should be fairly recent (within the last 2 years) • Must be a summary of science research that is written for a non-expert audience • Should come from a source that is frequently read by non-experts, such as Popular Science,

Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, 9News, CNN, Denver Post, etc.

The DU Science Librarian created a webpage that should help you with this part of the assignment: http://libguides.du.edu/c.php?g=403306

Ø Once you have located an article that fits the requirements above, answer ALL of the questions in the Table on Page 2.

Ø If there is not enough information to answer ALL of the questions in the Table on Page 2, you will need to find a new popular article.

Ø You will upload your completed file (completing all tables and questions below) to Canvas before your lab #8 starts (this file acts as your pre-lab and your presentation is your “lab & post-lab”). EVEN THOUGH YOU AND YOUR LAB PARNER WILL USE THE SAME ARTICLES AND PRESENT TOGETHER, EACH PERSON NEEDS TO TURN IN THEIR OWN COMPLETED FILE; 1 FILE PER PERSON, NOT PER GROUP.

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POPULAR ARTICLE

Title of popular article

Where did you find the popular article? (title of publication)

Does the popular article reference a peer-reviewed article that you can find?

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE

What is the title of the peer-reviewed scientific article mentioned in the popular article?

Who are the authors of the peer- reviewed scientific article?

What journal was the peer-reviewed article published in?

What is the publication date for the peer-reviewed article?

Scientific articles can be pretty long and complicated, so people often do not read the entire article – they just read the abstract! In addition to the abstract, people usually look at the figures and the last few sentences of the article. Read the abstract of your peer-reviewed article (usually found at the beginning) and the conclusion (usually the last paragraph or two). Then, answer the question in the box below. This is a video from the DU librarian that explains how to read the abstract of a peer-reviewed scientific article to get a general understanding of the paper: https://canvas.du.edu/courses/103483/assignments/829720

1. In your own words, write a brief summary of the scientific article based upon reading the abstract and conclusion sections.

CHEM 1001, Laboratory #8 – Climate Change Article Evaluation Page 3 of 5

In order to better understand the peer-reviewed scientific article, collect some background information on the specific topic of the article.

• Use the skills that you learned in Lab #1 to: o Use Google to find websites with background information o Use the CRAAP evaluation criteria to identify useful websites

2. In the space below, provide some background information on your peer-reviewed article: Also include:

a. How you located the information b. The URLs for websites you visited

CHEM 1001, Laboratory #8 – Climate Change Article Evaluation Page 4 of 5

Now you will do an evaluation of the quality of the original peer-reviewed scientific article. • This is a video that will help you evaluate the quality of the peer-reviewed scientific article:

https://canvas.du.edu/courses/103483/assignments/829720 • Use the methods from the video to fill in the blanks in this table:

EVALUATING THE PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

a) How many times has the article been cited?

b) How many articles have been published by the first author?

c) How many articles have been published by the last author?

d) What institution is the first author affiliated with?

e) Can you determine who funded the research? If so, do the authors appear to be well-funded?

f) What is the impact factor of the journal? How does the impact factor compare to other journals on similar subject matter?

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3. Now that you have performed an evaluation on the original peer-reviewed scientific article, how do you rate the information and accuracy of the popular article that you selected? Provide your evaluation of the popular article based on your research and new understanding of the subject matter.

Presentation (done with your laboratory partner): You will be presenting your findings to your lab mates in lab during Week 9 (November 9th – 13th)

• Prepare a 5 – 7 minute presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint (or Google Slides). • A rubric explaining how your presentation will be graded can be found under Lab 8 in Canvas. • The purpose of your presentation is to:

1. Share what you learned with your classmates 2. Explain to them how you evaluated the quality of the information

• You will share your screen during your zoom lab to give your presentation, so you will need to have your slides on your computer or your partner’s computer. Your TA will not be screening your presentation from their computer.

• This lab session will be recorded so that I can review the presentations, as necessary. • You must attend your scheduled laboratory section, on-time, and stay for the entirety of

the class period – or until all student presentations are completed.

1. Name: Wenjia Zhang
2. Title of popular article: Saving the climate from the ground up
3. Where did you find the popular article title of publication: ScienceDaily
4. Does the popular article reference a peerreviewed article that you can find:
5. What is the title of the peerreviewed scientific article mentioned in the popular article:
6. Who are the authors of the peer reviewed scientific article:
7. What journal was the peerreviewed article published in:
8. What is the publication date for the peerreviewed article:
9. 1 In your own words write a brief summary of the scientific article based upon reading the abstract and conclusion sections:
10. 2 In the space below provide some background information on your peerreviewed article Also include a How you located the information b The URLs for websites you visitedRow1:
11. a How many times has the article been cited:
12. b How many articles have been published by the first author:
13. c How many articles have been published by the last author:
14. d What institution is the first author affiliated with:
15. e Can you determine who funded the research If so do the authors appear to be wellfunded:
16. f What is the impact factor of the journal How does the impact factor compare to other journals on similar subject matter:
17. Text1: