APES

Current Events Scrapbook

2016-2017(ongoing year assignment)

Ms. Ramon

Introduction

An environmental issue is referenced up to 20 times in every edition of every newspaper everyday in the United States. Consider that these stats are similar on the international scale, and environmental issues are wrapped and tied into the news media like a political battle, social crisis, or worldwide epidemic. These articles may be about obvious environmental issues such as water quality or global warming or ecological issues such as plate tectonics or changing weather patterns. Yet, the scope of environmental science is even larger than these fundamental parts--it is social, political, and technological. Thus, articles about environmental action groups or new global technologies can also be considered comments on environmental science.

For this ongoing assignment, you will be responsible for finding current articles from the newspaper or magazinesthat have a clear connection to Environmental Science.

Your Current Events Scrapbook will be submitted EACH Mondayand graded once per week.

Your grade will count as 2 QUIZ grades at the end of each quarter.

Be sure to save this document as you will need to refer to it throughout the year. Following are instructions for how you need to complete this assignment:

Instructions:

Find Eight large newspaper or magazine (magazine must be w/in last 6 months) articles relating to Environmental Science. These must be hardcopies!

  • You may only have 2 articles from a given source
  • At least one article must be from one of the following sources: Scientific American, Nature, Discover, Science
  • Do not print articles from the web
  • You may photocopy or print the article if it cannot be clipped
  • Do not type summary

Summaries MUST be HANDWRITTEN!

Carefully read each article.

Write an article critique that includes the following:

(Organize your critique into 3 separate paragraphs.)

  • PARAGRAPH 1 A clear, thorough summarization of what the article is about. Be sure to identify the 'Ws' (the Who, What, Where, When, and Why).
  • PARAGRAPH 2 A discussion of how the article relates toat least2 of the following areas: ecology, economics, and sociology.
  • PARAGRAPH 3  Comment in paragraph form on two of the following questions:
  • In what way(s) does the environmental issue discussed in the article apply to you personally? (how you either contribute to the issue, or how you are affected by the issue)
  • How can you personally be a part of the solution to the environmental issue presented in the article?
  • What was most interesting about this article? Why?
  • What was the weakest aspect of the article? Why?

Neatly cut out article and tape/glue/display the summary facing its article. (Article needs to be placed before the write-up)

Include a “Table of Contents” in which you number the articles and list the title, source and date of each article.

Example:

TitleSourceDatePage

The Bad News About Booming ChinaThe Charlotte Observer6/21/20072

NOTE  the articles you select must have some “substance” and must have a clear connection to Environmental Science. Make sure that articles are selected and summarized periodically as you progress through each quarter. Be sure that your articles are current. This should not be a problem with newspaper articles but could be with magazine articles. Again, magazine articles must be published within the past 6 months.

Suggested sources: (in addition to the others listed above)

  • The New York Times (especially the Tuesday edition)
  • Time magazine
  • Newsweek
  • US News
  • The Economist
  • National Geographic
  • Orion
  • E – The Environmental Magazine
  • The San Antonio Express News

Examples of some environmental issues:

1. Human population growth

2. Transgenic species (GMO’s)

3. Non-native (invasive) species

4. Food production, food safety

5. Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)

6. Renewable resources (solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, etc.)

7. Nuclear energy

8. Air quality, Water quality (surface or groundwater)

10. CO2 and global warming

11. Recycling or another aspect of waste management (garbage)

12. Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, or similar NGO

13. Over fishing, or over hunting

14. Deforestation

15. Ozone depletion

16. Legislation or International Treaty dealing with an environmental issue