Environmental report

Written Report (50 points)

1. Formatting Requirements:

1. Minimum Length: 3 pages.

2. Text: Times New Roman, 12pt font.

3. Margins: 1” top, bottom, right, and left.

4. Spacing: Double Spaced (Spacing Before and After=0pt, ‘Line Spacing’=Double).

2. Content Requirements:

1. Written as a scientific report.

1. Make a title (it doesn’t have to be anything fancy).

2. Headings: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion

3. Proper grammar (capitalization, complete sentences, no contractions)

4. Please refer to the sample paper for the content that needs to be covered in each section.

2. IF you use outside sources (i.e. articles, web pages, etc…) in your write-up, these MUST be cited in the paper (in the case of APA, (Author, year)) and in a ‘works cited’ page at the end of the document (any formal style (i.e. APA, MLA, Chicago, etc… is acceptable). Failure to do so will result in a point deduction.

1. As usual, plagiarism will NOT be tolerated.

Example: Paper Format

Title

Introduction

This is where you introduce the Wabashiki wetlands (as an introduction for the reader; in this case, the reader is yours truly). You should explicitly write out your hypothesis (for this paper, it’ll be your thesis statement); don’t do something like “Hypothesis: blah, blah, blah…” as if it’s a bullet point. As in the typical five-paragraph essay, after making your thesis explicit, provide a brief overview of how the structure of the paper will be set up.

Methods

This is where you describe how testing was conducted in the field (sampling strategy and the tests you conducted while in the field), as well as how other tests were conducted in class. DO NOT take up a lot of room in the your paper describing how you took your samples home in their little baggies and opened them up for a week; you SHOULD mention this, of course, but I don’t need the details of how you opened it up in front of a fan to speed up the drying process, or how your cat played with it while you were away from home.

Results

In this section, you will discuss the result of the tests you performed on each of your group samples: soil texture, soil chemistry, soil pH, Munsell Color Results, and, if applicable, XRF results. Because your graphs depict the results of your tests, I recommend that your charts and graphs be placed IN THIS SECTION.

Discussion and Conclusion

This is where you give meaning to the numbers you regurgitated in the previous section; what do the results mean? Were they what you expected to see, or were they surprising? If they were surprising, how so? Did you have to change your hypothesis? If so, why? What did you learn from this experience?

Oral Report (30 points)

1. Basics

3. Powerpoint Presentation

3. At least 5 minutes in length.

3. Each person must speak in front of class (a minimum of one slide each).

3. Should be visually appealing and easy to read.

1. Information to Include

4. Hypothesis

4. Testing Strategy

4. ALL test results (for the group)

4. Conclusions from your study:

3. What do your results say about Wabashiki?

3. Did your results confirm your hypothesis? Why or why not?

4. Graphs are always nice (hint, hint!)

4. If your group took pictures while on-site (it was not a requirement), feel free to include these in the presentation as well.

Oral Report Rubric ___/30

Hypothesis explanation ___/7

Testing and sampling method___/7

Results ___/7

Member participation ___/9

Notes:

Written Report Rubric ___/50

Formatting ___/10

Mechanics ___/10

Introduction ___/5

Methods ___/5

Results ___/5

Discussion/Conclusion ___/5

Graphs ___/10

Notes: