TERM PAPER
ASSIGNMENT
EAS 100
PLANET EARTH
(Prof. L. Braile, Dept. of
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences)
Fall, 2009
(Please read
this document carefully! Also, note
Hints section on p. 4 and requirements on p. 5-6.)
1. Select a
topic of interest to you that is related to the Geosciences - Earth
Science, Oceanography, Atmospheric Science, Astronomy. Your topic should not be so broad that it
would take extensive research and a long paper to cover, nor so narrow that it
will be difficult to find reference information. Some suggested topics are listed below, but
you are free to select others. Your
topic and the major emphasis of your paper must be scientific, in fact, geoscientific. Many topics have important political, social
or economic aspects and you are free to discuss these, but the paper should be
primarily a science paper. When you have
selected your topic, find two or three key references to help you with your
paper. The term paper is not really a
research paper which is intended to completely review the latest findings on a
topic. Rather, you are asked to
investigate a topic of interest using a small number of good references and
write a paper which displays your understanding of that topic.
2. Write a short
paragraph (about two sentences) prospectus of your term paper describing your
topic and how you plan to approach it in your paper. List at least two key references (author,
title, publication, etc.) on your prospectus.
Only one reference is required if you are reporting on (reviewing) a
book. The prospectus is due on Thursday, October 15. You will get your prospectus back with an
indication as to whether or not the topic is acceptable, and, in some cases,
suggestions related to sources of information or other aspects of your proposed
topic.
3. Write a 5-8
page (double spaced typed, text only, normal size type [12-point Times New Roman
font; you should have about 300 words per page of text with this font and
normal margins] and margins; figures, tables and references are extra) term
paper on your topic. A draft* of your term paper must be
reviewed by a fellow student. The
suggestions for improvements contained in the review should be considered when
preparing the final version of your term paper.
See section on Review below.
The term paper is due on Thursday,
November 19. You may turn them in
early. Late reports will be graded
down. The term paper is worth
approximately 15% of the course grade. Your term paper will not be returned to you. (You will be able to find out your term paper
grade on Blackboard.) If you want to
keep a copy, please be sure to make a copy before you turn in the paper. Always
retain a copy of your paper on your computer until after the semester.
*The draft of your term paper must be a reasonably
complete (full length, edited) and typed version of your paper that can be
given to a fellow student for review about one week or more before the due
date. Reviewer and Author’s
Response forms will be available and must be turned in with the term paper.
OPTION
#2: Lesson Plan for Teaching
1. In this option (designed especially for Education majors), you are
to prepare a detailed lesson plan that could be used for teaching a Geoscience
topic. The target grade level for your lesson
plan is open, but grades 4-8 are suggested.
Your lesson plan must consist
of the following sections:
(a) Educational Objective (a brief discussion introducing your topic
and describing the principles, concepts, and skills to be taught).
(b) Materials Required (a description and copies of materials
including (paper copies of) transparencies, props, models, etc. needed for
demonstration in teaching of the lesson).
(c) Procedure (discussion of the procedure for teaching the lesson).
(d) Scientific Background (a section of at least two pages in length
and utilizing at least two references which gives the scientific background of
the topic that you have chosen and demonstrates your understanding of the
topics that are included in your lesson plan).
Your lesson plan term
paper must be reviewed by a fellow student (see point 3 above, and section on
Review below).
2. The other aspects of the term paper assignment discussed above and
below (length, prospectus, due date, etc.) also apply to this option.
REVIEW OF YOUR TERM PAPER
After writing a first (or second) draft of your term paper (either
option #1 or option #2), have a fellow student in EAS 100 (enrolled in this
course, this semester) review your draft term paper and provide you with
written feedback on your paper. Use the
constructive criticisms to revise and improve your term paper when you prepare
your final version to be handed in on November 19. Be
sure to leave enough time to provide for this review process. You will need to finish your first draft
about a week before the due date in order to provide time for the review by
another student and making your revisions for the final version of the paper.
Each student whose paper is reviewed will receive 10 points in the homework grade.
Each student who reviews someone else’s paper will receive a maximum of 10 points in the homework grade. Therefore, each paper should be reviewed and
each student should perform one review on a paper.
We will provide you with a reviewer
form on which to write the review and to turn in along with the term
paper. There will also be an author’s response form to document the changes
that you made in your term paper from the review that you received. If you have problems finding someone to
review your paper, we will help you find someone who is not already doing a
review. The advantages of including this
review process in your term paper preparation are: (1) obtaining a critical review of your paper
should allow you to improve your paper; (2) performing the review allows each
student to read a brief paper on a different topic and provides experience in
reviewing another student’s work.
SUGGESTED
TERM PAPER TOPICS:
|
Greenhouse effect |
Causes of Ice Ages |
Nuclear Winter |
|
Cretaceous/Tertiary
Mass Extinction |
Air pollution Earthquake hazard |
Voyager II
discoveries Black Holes |
|
Acid rain Earthquake prediction |
assessment Ground water
pollution |
Scientific method of
nuclear testing verification |
|
Dinosaurs |
The East Africa Rift
System |
Milankovich orbital |
|
Global Climate Change |
The San Andreas Fault |
predictions |
|
Volcanic hazards |
Earth's magnetic
field |
Theories of the
Origin of the |
|
Origin of life |
Hotspots |
Universe |
|
Oil spills |
Radiometric dating |
Stellar evolution |
|
Ocean pollution |
The age of the Earth |
Hurricanes |
|
New techniques in
weather |
Meteorites |
Oil exploration |
|
forecasting |
Geology of the Grand |
Geologic hazards |
|
Coastal erosion |
Canyon |
Radon |
FINDING
USEFUL REFERENCES:
1. Many
references can be found in the main library, but you should spend some time in
the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences library (Room 2215, second floor of CIVL
building). The EAS 100 Reference List (see web page web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/eas100/eas100home.htm)
will also be useful in finding good references.
Also, use one recent reference to find others by using the citations in
the text and the bibliography. These
methods will generally be superior to simply using an electronic search which
will usually result in a list dominated by out-of-date books. Examples of previous student term papers are
available on the reserve shelf of the E&AS library. Electronic searches (of card catalog) are
mostly limited to books (not journal articles) and tend to produce less useful
and out-of-date sources.
2. Use the EAS
100 Reference List to get you started with a useful, recent reference.
3. Because
recent "light" science books may be useful for your topic, you may
have better success finding some references in the Purdue undergraduate
library, the public library or by purchasing inexpensive paperbacks in local
bookstores.
4. Because your topic may be included as a
chapter or section of textbooks on Earth, Ocean, Atmosphere or Astronomical
sciences, recent textbooks in the Purdue libraries may be useful. One problem with this method is that
textbooks usually don't have a good list of additional references to follow-up
or find more information. Some
recommended textbooks include:
Earth Science:
Judson, S., M.F. Kauffman and L.D. Leet, Physical
Geology, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 484 pp., 1987.
Press, F. and R. Siever, Earth, Freeman, San
Francisco, 649 pp., 1983.
Skinner, B.J. and S.C. Porter, The Dynamic Earth: An
Introduction to Physical Geology, 2nd Edition, J. Wiley & Sons,
Inc., New York, 570 pp., 1992.
Stanley, S.M., Earth and Life Through Time, 2nd
Edition, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, 689 pp., 1989.
Oceanography:
Duxbury, A.C. and A.B. Duxbury, An Introduction to the
World's Oceans, W.C. Brown, Dubuque, IA, 408 pp., 1989.
Gross, M.G., Oceanography: A View of the Earth, Prentice Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, 5th Edition, 441 pp., 1990.
Atmospheric Science:
Ahrens, C.D., Meteorology Today, West Publishing, St.
Paul, MN, 582 pp., 1988.
Astronomy:
Abell, G.O., D. Morrison and S.C. Wolff, Exploration
of the Universe, Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, 682 pp., 1991.
Beatty, J.K. and A. Chaikin (Eds.), The New Solar
System, Sky Publishing Corp., Cambridge, 3rd Edition, 326 pp., 1990.
Hamblin, W.K. and E.H. Christiansen, Exploring the
Planets, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, 451 pp., 1990.
Pasachoff, J.M., Astronomy, Saunders, NY, 1987.
Pasachoff, J.M., Contemporary Astronomy, Saunders, NY,
1985.
Snow, T.P., Dynamic Universe: An Introduction to
Astronomy, 1983.
HINTS ON
COMPLETING YOUR TERM PAPER:
Read this
document carefully!
1. Select a
topic that interests you.
2. Do a
good job of researching (library, etc.) to find good resources.
3. You
might choose a thesis (a particular position to take on an issue) to provide a
focus for the paper.
4. Outline
your paper in order to organize your thoughts and material.
5. Organizing
your paper with sections and headings will help you present your
material and aid the reader in understanding your paper. The paper should include an introduction, background, data/evidence,
results, discussion, conclusions, references, copies of supporting figures, tables, etc.,
which illustrate the points made. Be
sure to cite (see information on citations
below), in the text, specific references to information that comes from
published resources.
The
easiest (and recommended) way to handle references
and citations is illustrated by the
examples below (the author's name(s); if more than 3, put first author's name "and others"; followed by the
date of publication. If publication is a
book, also include page numbers):
Examples
citation in your text:
Earthquakes which occur in stable
continental crust are commonly associated with ancient rift zones (Johnston and
Kanter, 1990).
.....
Johnston and Kanter (1990) show that
although intraplate earthquakes occur less frequently than earthquakes at plate
margins, their potential size and efficient wave propagation in stable continental
crust results in significant seismic risk.
.....
Example
of reference format for separate reference page:
Johnston, A.C., and L.R. Kanter, Earthquakes in stable
continental crust, Scientific American,
262, 68-75, 1990.
6. A small
number (1 to 5) figures or tables (xerox copies of figures [with appropriate
captions] from your reference sources), or drawings of your own may help you
explain your topic. Figures and Tables are
optional and do not count in the
length requirement (5-8 pages of text, double spaced typed, 12-point Times New Roman
font, normal margins; with these settings, you should have about 300 words per
page of text – if you do not, adjust the
font and margins and add additional writing as necessary to be consistent with
the page requirement). If you
include figures, they can be placed at the end of the paper or embedded in the
text (if embedded, be sure that the 5-8 pages of text is maintained).
7. Use the metric system in referring
to numerical values that include dimensions (units)!
8. Don't
bother with fancy covers, etc. A neatly
typed paper with a title page, and your name, that is firmly stapled together
is all that is necessary.
9. Use the
EAS 100 Reference List to help you find reference material for your paper. Some references that appear in normal
electronic searches in libraries are excellent.
However, many are dated (decades old) and may be of limited value
because so much has been learned about the geosciences in the last 20 years or
so. You do not need many references to
find the material to write a good paper on your topic. However,
if you have only one or two sources, they cannot be the textbook and an
encyclopedia or dictionary. You must
have at least one journal article or book reference.
10. Get
started early - don't put it off until the last minute. Be
sure to provide time for review of your paper by a fellow student and final
revisions based on the review. Reviewer and Author’s Response forms must be used and turned
in with the term paper.
11. IMPORTANT! – Do
not be tempted to use a term paper obtained from the Internet or some other
source or to copy sentences or
paragraphs from the Internet or other reference! A simple Internet search can distinguish
papers that are copied. Plagiarism is copying or direct paraphrasing
a sentence or more without citing the original source. (“Paraphrasing
should not include the replication of vivid phasing, chains of syntax or
sequences of ideas. Where those things
are involved, direct quotation marks should be employed.” Thomas Mallon, author of Stolen Words,
1989, as quoted in USA Today, January 17, 2002.) Direct
quotations must be placed in quotes in your text and be cited
(citations). Specific information
that you obtain from a reference must
be cited. You may copy specific sentences (must be in quotes), Figure and Tables
from an Internet, book or journal source to include in your paper to support
your own writing and objective. However,
the copied material must be cited (such as in the Figure caption, or Table information),
and the copied Figures and Tables do not count toward the minimum five page
length requirement. To avoid
plagiarism or filling your paper with direct quotes, a good method is to
prepare notes and outlines from your reference material, then use only your
notes and outlines (along with citation information) to write your term paper with your own organization and in your own
words.
12. If you turn in your
prospectus early, we will get it back to you early. You may also turn in your paper early if you wish.
13. You must turn in a paper copy of your term paper and, keep an
electronic copy of your paper.
14. When you have finished your term paper,
check to see that all of the requirements (above and in the next section) have
been met.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
FOR TERM PAPER:
1. Format (~30%)
a. Length, following directions
b. References and citations (listed and
adequate)
c. Organization,
neatness, readability
2. Content
(~70%)
a. Organization of material (Intro, body,
conclusions).
b. Clear objective.
c. Scientifically sound.
d. Text, figures, tables understandable,
relevant, and support objectives/conclusions.
e. Text which
demonstrates your understanding of the chosen topic.
3. You must have the following
(requirements):
a. Citations (indication in your
text that refers to the reference source; the source must be listed in your
reference list) in your paper for all quotations, figures, tables or other
information that you have copied from the Internet, books or other sources, and
to refer to specific information from your references that you have included in
your text. Citations and reference list
must correspond (each reference has corresponding citation(s) in your text).
b. Citations must be of the
form: (author(s), year) or: (author(s), year, page number(s)) if the
source is a book. For Internet sources
use a unique key word such as EPA.gov for an EPA website and list the complete
URL (http://www... etc.) in your reference list.
c. Reference List (for
journals articles: author, title, journal, volume, pages, year; for books:
author, title, publisher, pages, years; for Internet sources: list full URL).
d. You must use at least one
non-Internet source that must also not be the EAS 100 textbook, a dictionary or
an encyclopedia. You must have at least
one journal article or book source.
e. If you choose Option #2 (Lesson Plan), the scientific background
must include citations.
f. Proper format for your reference list (author, title, journal,
volume, page numbers, year) or (author, book title, publisher, location of
publisher, number of pages in book, year).
g. Metric units. Except in a direct quote from an article or
book, convert non-metric units to metric or put the metric equivalent in
parentheses.
h. Figures and tables must
have a caption and include the source (citation).
i. Please note length
requirement: 5-8 pages of text, double spaced, typed. Figures, Tables or other copied materials,
and reference list do not count in the minimum 5 page requirement. Font should be 12 point Times New Roman or
equivalent. Margins should be
approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm) top and bottom, 1.25 inch (3 cm) on the left and
1 inch (2.5 cm) on the right. With these
settings, you should have about 320 words per page – you can count words with
the Tools option provided by your
word processor.
GEOSCIENCE
READING:
This reading list is not necessarily designed for use
in finding information for your term paper, but some of the references
(especially the periodicals) may be good sources. This list contains books and magazines that
contain interesting 'light' science, including some geoscience topics.
Books Periodicals
|
Chaos
- James Gleick Scientific
American Ice
Time - T. Levenson American
Scientist Coming
of Age in the Milky Way - Ferris Smithsonian Beginnings
- I. Asimov National
Geographic A
Brief History of Time - S. Hawkings Astronomy Cosmic
Dawn - Chaisson Earth
Science Basin
and Range - J. McPhee Geotimes Rising
from the Plains - J. McPhee Discover (and other Geology-related books by
McPhee) Earth From
Stone to Star - C. Allegre Sky
and Telescope Dinosaur
Heresies - R. Bakker Earth
in Space Books
by Stephen Jay Gould, Nigel Calder, Steven Schneider Earthquakes and Volcanoes Ancient
Light - Alan Lightman Weatherwise Krakatoa
– Simon Winchester Meteorological
Magazine A
Crack in the Edge of the World – Simon Winchester Rocks and Minerals
Air and Space |