Project
Mutahr36
Semester_Project_Instructions_In_Brief_1401_FA_2020.docxSemester Project: Planet Earth
Instructions in Brief
The different parts of the project are explained below.
Note : this project seeks to evaluate your personal writing, quantitative, critical thinking, speaking etc. skills. It is therefore an “individual” effort. The parts where you can collaborate with your group partner are some parts of the Experimental component labeled “Teamwork.”
The project will take time. Please start working on it as soon as possible and try to complete parts of it every week.
1. Project Report (50% of the project grade)
For your project, you will be submitting a report similar in style to an article in a scientific journal. This project will take you through the basic process scientists go through when they publish their work for the world to read.
Read the instructions in the file labeled “Semester_Project_Instructions_in_Detail.”
Follow the instructions in this file to calculate your carbon footprint. Complete the tables in this file. Use the “Project_Report_Outline” file to complete your project report. It has all the sections you need, and you will be submitting this completed outline document as your project report. Visit the three website links provided to study indicators of climate change. Paste your graphs from these websites in the “Results” section of the report outline. Write short captions for your tables and graphs in the “Results” section. Interpret the implications of your results in the “Discussion” section. Summarize the most important take-home message in the “Conclusions” section.
Collaborate with your group partner to see how you could reduce your carbon footprint. Complete all the sections in the “Project_Report_Outline” document. Include at least three in-text citations in APA style in the body of your report, especially in the “Introduction.” List all your references in APA style in the “References” section. Submit this completed report on eCampus. Make sure the document can be opened after you submit.
2. Quantitative component (20% of the project grade)
Complete the accompanying quantitative section as instructed. Instructions for this are in the file labeled “Quantitative Component.” After you finish, copy-paste the questions and answers into Quantitative component section of the “Project_Report_Outline” file.
3. Experimental component (30% of the project grade)
You are required to participate in at least one sustainable activity (environmentally friendly activity). A list of suggested activities is provided. Examples are recycling, reducing energy use, avoiding plastic disposables, adjusting the thermostat, using energy-efficient appliances, hang-drying clothes, planting trees or plants, raising awareness in the community, joining or supporting an Earth-friendly organization, etc. You can also pick other sustainable activities among those not listed. Add evidence (a picture) of your participation in a sustainable activity in the Experimental component section of the “Project_Report_Outline” file.
Investigate the graphs of the three indicators of climate change (temperature, sea level rise, and annual greenhouse gas index) to see how measurements for these indicators have been changing for the last several decades. Instructions for these graphs are in the “Instructions in Detail” document. Paste these graphs in the “Results” section of the “Project_Report_Outline.”
4. Teamwork
If you were part of a group this semester, then please complete the “Teamwork” section in the “Project_Report_Outline” document. In this section, you will evaluate your team member(s) for their teamwork skills. If you were not part of a team, then put “Worked alone” here and leave this section blank.
Grading scheme:
Semester project report = 50%
You will be evaluated for:
i) Written communications skill: content development, follows rules of academic writing, gives sources or citations, grammar, mechanics, and syntax.
ii) Personal responsibility: ethical choices, decision making, consequences.
iii) Social responsibility: cultural competence, civic responsibility, and community engagement.
iv) Critical thinking: explanation of issues, providing evidence, analysis of the issues, takes a position, makes a thesis or hypothesis, makes a conclusion explaining the implications and consequences.
v) Teamwork: contributes to meetings, facilitates participation of members, completes all assigned tasks, fosters constructive team climate, responds to conflict.
Quantitative component = 20%
You will be evaluated for:
Interpretation (of equations, graphs, tables, figures etc.), representation (convert relevant information to mathematical forms such as equations, graphs etc.), calculations, analysis, assumptions, and communication with clarity and quality.
Experimental component = 30%
You will be evaluated for:
i) Written communications skill: content development, follows rules of academic writing, gives sources or citations, grammar, mechanics, and syntax.
ii) Personal responsibility: ethical choices, decision making, consequences.
iii) Social responsibility: cultural competence, civic responsibility, and community engagement.
iv) Critical thinking: explanation of issues, providing evidence, analysis of the issues, takes a position, makes a thesis or hypothesis, makes a conclusion explaining the implications and consequences.
v) Teamwork: contributes to meetings, facilitates participation of members, completes all assigned tasks, fosters constructive team climate, responds to conflict.
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