Conservation of Marine Iguanas Biodiversity Research Paper

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE BIO 10 Online BIODIVERSITY WRITING ASSIGNMENT

* wow this is long… but I have tried to answer all your questions here to best prepare you – read this first before submitting your topic statement.

Your task at hand is to learn how to locate reliable and scholarly information in order to thoroughly research your topic and develop a clear, concise written review of that topic. Your final product will be 12 point font, 1500-2000 word paper describing your findings and conclusions about your chosen topic. This type of paper is called a Scientific Literature Review Paper and must be written and researched at a college level. You will have one opportunity to submit a final paper and there are no makeups or do-overs. As this is not a writing course, it is assumed that you are able to write and research at a college level and will be graded as such. I encourage everyone to use the support materials here and the on-campus writing center.

Research Support: Begin by going to https://www.marypoffenroth.com/research (Links to an external site.). Write, Present, Create: Science Communication for Undergraduates, (Cognella, 2015 First Edition), will also assist you in submitting a successful paper. There are copies of this book in MLK Library for free checkout in course reserves if you do not wish to purchase. You are expected to have read the book in its entirety. Please see your Canvas Announcements for purchasing information. Please read this text before beginning on your paper. You may get your primary literature from any source, not just the ones I recommend, just make sure to never pay money for a journal article. There is more than enough papers that are open source/free to finish this paper. Make to check out https://www.marypoffenroth.com/research (Links to an external site.)

This assignment consists of two parts:

Part I Biodiversity Topic Statement: submit the following to Canvas by 11:59 pm PST on the due date listed in your syllabus: {10 points}
You may submit this to the folder anytime before the due date.

In this assignment state your intended topic that you will be addressing in your paper AND list at least three references (using complete and correct bibliographic citations in CSE Name Year Style, more info below). You will choose a threatened or endangered species to write a literature review paper on. You can do any endangered species, it does not have to be a mammal (think fish, amphibians, insects) and it doesn’t need to be an animal! (Think plants and fungi too!). Lots of endangered species out there – get creative!!! Please note: when choosing your topic, make sure that you are able to find enough scholarly articles to write your paper. Some species are more researched than others.

It must be a species that is still alive in the wild

Not sure where to start? Some reputable websites that have basic natural history information on species are:

US Fish & Wildlife Service (https://www.fws.gov/endangered/ (Links to an external site.) )

Center for Biological Diversity (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/ (Links to an external site.))

World Wildlife Fund (https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?direction=desc&sort=extinction_status (Links to an external site.))

Britannica (https://www.britannica.com (Links to an external site.))

If your paper is written on an unapproved topic your will lose a minimum of 30 points from the final grade. A alphabetical list is located at the end.

Part II Biodiversity Writing Assignment (Final Paper, 1500 Words): Submit this to Canvas by 11:59 pm PST on the due date listed in the syllabus. NO HARDCOPY IS NEEDED {100 points}
Note: Penalty for late papers is 10 points off per day (including weekends) – submit date will be marked once the paper is submitted to Canvas. No papers will be accepted after 5 calendar days past the due date. If your paper is late, it will be marked late as of when it was submitted online. There will be NO opportunity to make up the points allotted to this assignment. – Please note for winter and summer courses: absolutely no late papers will be accepted due to the timing of the short class.

IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT A WRITING ASSIGNMENT YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A PASSING GRADE FOR THE CLASS – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Below is detailed information that you will need to complete your 4-6 page, 1500 word paper on your chosen threatened or endangered species.

Purpose: One of the main purposes of this paper is for you to research data collected by other scientists and synthesize it into a coherent review of the information on your chosen topic. This paper is NOT an argument or opinion piece. A scientific paper presents facts and data in an unbiased, straightforward manner. Your paper should not be an argument for or against an issue and should not include personal information.

The purpose of this assignment is to:
1.) Learn as much as you can about your topic.
2.) Evaluate the benefits and pitfalls of using a combination of primary and secondary sources (references).

3.) Draw conclusions as an informed member of society based upon your research.
4.) Learn how to write a concise, grammatically correct, non-plagiarized review paper.

To find some inspiration check out http://www.iucnredlist.org , http://www.fws.gov/endangered , http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/index.html . Topics that you may NOT do are: tigers, whales, pandas (red or giant), elephants, polar bears, rhinos, bluefin tuna, sea turtles, snow leopards, gorillas, chimpanzees, penguins, koala, monkeys, dolphins, sea lions, African Wild Dog, Amur Leopard, Black Footed Ferret, or California condors.

Writing Assignment: You must write a SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL STYLE paper on a species of your choosing that is currently being affect by biodiversity crisis. Please use the Short Guide to Writing About Biology, the CSE Name Year Style Guide and the information contained within this assignment as your guide.

This paper should be an example of your best efforts at written communication. Part of your grade will be based on form, style, and grammar, while the content of your report will carry the heaviest weight towards your grade. The length of the write-up should be 4-6 pages (please no more than 6 pages), a minimum of 1500 words (not counting citations), 12pt. times new roman or Arial font, double-spaced, and word processed (approx. 1500-2000 words).

If the body of your paper (the words you are writing, not including citations or titles) is under 1500 words you will not get a passing grade.

FORMAT

• No need to have a title page or include any personal identification information since it will be submitted through Canvas and all your information will be pre-populated for you. Just include the title of your paper at the top of your first page of text.
• Do not include an abstract
• No need to include page numbers or page identifiers
• This is NOT a free-form document. IT MUST BE ORGANIZED INTO THE 4 SECTIONS OUTLINED BELOW – no need to place section titles. Also, you do not need to write an abstract.
  
• No previous example of a paper will be provided for two reasons: 1) that violate FERPA laws and 2) creates a stagnant box that everyone then tries to replicate. As long as your citations are in CSE Name Year Style and you are following an accepted grammatically correct style of the English language, you will be fine. This means, that you may have your literature cited section and in-text citations in CSE Name Year Style and the rest of your paper can be formatted in the style you are most accustomed to writing in, i.e. APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.

You do not need to place these underline headers in your paper – this is just to help you create your paper.

1. Introduction: describe the topic, indicate the scope and give any history and/or background information that is appropriate. (Cite literature)

2. Body: Include current information/arguments drawn from a wide array of literature sources and text. Develop your ideas sequentially. (Cite literature)

3. Conclusion/Discussion: Pull together the information and ideas to make a coherent picture. Give some idea of the importance of the topic and its role in its community (if applicable). Also, indicate what the future may hold. (Cite literature)

4. Literature Cited: Follow the form as given at the end of these instructions. Note: all scientific names are in italics!

For example, if we were doing our paper on tigers, it might look something like this:

1. Introduction: Introduce what the tiger is, where it is found, what it current status is (endangered/threatened?), how many are left in the world. (Cite literature)

2. Body: Why tigers are important to the health of the ecosystem, what has caused their decline, what is being done to help conserve the species (Cite literature)

3. Conclusion/Discussion: wrap up all points into a coherent closing; give ideas/hopes for the future (Cite literature)

4. Literature Cited: Follow the form as given at the end of these instructions.

Citations: Always give credit for ALL information you have gained from someone else. The only information that does not need to be cited is data generated by you personally or common knowledge. In science, direct quotes are seldom used. Instead, information is summarized and the sources cited. Citations occur within the text using the CSE Name Year format NOT as footnotes. This is an activity to gauge how well you can write, not how well a published author can write. Therefore, DO NOT PUT DIRECT QUOTES FROM YOUR SOURCES. You must REPHRASE the information you have gathered. You must cite all your sources both within the body of the paper AND at the end, in the literature cited section.

You may use a lead in citation only once, after which you will have points deducted. (What is a lead in citation? https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/quoting_paraphrasing_and_summarizing/signal_and_lead_in_phrases.html (Links to an external site.))

We will be using the CSE NAME YEAR style (or Council of Scientific Editors style) for all of our citations. You absolutely must use this style for your citations in this paper. You can find more detailed information on how to cite your references both within the body of your paper and at the end in your literature cited section by going to https://www.marypoffenroth.com/cse (Links to an external site.)

You must have at least 10 reputable literature sources, of which you must have 8 minimum peer reviewed journals. Your remaining references can be from any reputable resource, problem cited in CSE Name Year Style.

You get to introduce a citation by its full title in the body of the paper exactly once. Beyond that you will have points deducted. Introducing a citation is a great way of taking up space, I know, but this is a short paper. An example of this would be, as shown in “A Fictitious Paper that No One Actually Wrote” by Johnson and Johnson (2019) blah blah…. So you get one of these in your paper. The rest needs to be end of sentence or paragraph citations.

You MUST HAVE PRIMARY, PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES CITED IN YOUR PAPER. You may have NO Wikipedia resources! If you use multiple pages from a single website, it is still considered just one website-one source. When you access journals from the library through the internet, these are considered NON-WEB resources because they are simply electronic versions of hard copy papers that have been published in paper form elsewhere. Most libraries now store journal articles in electronic form. A “web” resource, is a website that does not exist in a published, printed format anywhere. If you access an electronic copy from a library database, treat it as a journal – do not put any info on what database you accessed it from.

Grading: A copy of the grading rubric is available for you on Canvas.

Plagiarizing: It is critical for you to understand that when you summarize articles, you must put what you read into your own words. By failing to do this you are plagiarizing (in essence stealing another person’s work) and will be penalized by receiving a zero on this assignment, putting you in danger of failing the course (NO exceptions)! Turnitin.com is a powerful tool that scans your paper for any unoriginal material, so please do not even think about turning in unoriginal work! All academic dishonesty events will be reported to the university.

Please note: no examples of previous student work will be provided for two reasons:

1- To share another student’s work would violate FERPA law

2- Providing one example of work pigeonholes students into thinking there is only one right way and stagnates creativity.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Lastly, I am available during office hours or by appointment to discuss any ambiguities regarding this assignment. If you do not understand something contact me sooner rather than later in order to successfully complete this assignment.

***Please see the grading rubric available on our Canvas page for detailed grading information *** All papers will be graded and feedback returned via Canvas

No write animals by alphabetically order:

African Wild Dog,

Amur Leopard,

Black Footed Ferret,

bluefin tuna,

California condors.

cheetah,

chimpanzees,

dolphins,

elephants,

gorillas,

jaguar,

koala,

leopards,

lions,

monkeys,

pandas (red or giant),

pangolin,

penguins,

polar bears,

rhinos,

sea lions,

sea otters,

sea turtles,

snow

tigers,

vaquita or

whales,