Current Events in Aquatic Science

  1. Requirements regarding articles:
  2. Articles must be fairly recent (no older than two years old). Provide a summary and write a commentary for your article.
  3. Articles must pertain to algae or aquatic plants. (ex. HABs) If in doubt, check with me.
  4. Articles MUST be at least 5 paragraphs (minimum length).
  5. The date and source of the article must be included on the page with the article.
  6. Possible sources to use: Discover, Scientific American Science News, Newsweek, Time, Popular Science, National Geographic, NOAA’s website, or New York Times. Check the science section of newspapers. AVOID: poor quality sources like Reader’s Digest, Seventeen, National Enquirer.
  1. How to write APA bibliographies for:
  2. Online Magazine

Author's name. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number, Retrieved month day, year, from full URL

Example:

Dove, R. (1998). Lady freedom among us. The Electronic Text Center. Retrieved June 19, 1998, from Alderman Library, University of Virginia website:

  1. Online Document

Author's name. (Date of publication). Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from full URL

Example

Health Canada. (2002, February). The safety of genetically modified food crops. Retrieved March 22, 2005, from

  1. Summary: Must be NEATLY handwritten or typed in concise paragraph form and should include:
  2. title of the article, date and source.
  3. the main points or findings of the article
  4. see the two sections below on how to write your summary
  1. Commentary or “Opinion”: The analysis must be NEATLY in concise paragraph form and should include but is not limited to the following:
  2. Your perspective or opinion on the news article based on your own personal knowledge of the topic. Include commentary on any insights or awareness you gained from reading the article. (Was it informative? Did it give you enough information? Etc……)
  3. Any opposing opinions, or controversy, surrounding the article. What is the author’s point of view? Does the author have a bias?
  4. How does this article relate to what we have studied or will study? Can you make any connections between what you knew before this article? What questions or concerns does the article raise for you?

How to produce a summary:

1.Read the article to be summarized and be sure you understand it.

2.Outline the article. Note the major points.

3.Write a first draft of the summary without looking at the article.

4.Always use paraphrase when writing a summary. If you do copy a phrase from the original be sure it is a very important phrase that is necessary and cannot be paraphrased. In this case put "quotation marks" around the phrase.

5.Target your first draft for approximately 1/4 the length of the original.

The features of a summary:

1.Start your summary with a clear identification of the type of work, title, author, and main point in the present tense.

Example: In the feature article "Four Kinds of Reading," the author, Donald Hall, explains his opinion about different types of reading.

2.Check with your outline and your original to make sure you have covered the important points.

3.Never put any of your own ideas, opinions, or interpretations into the summary—this is part of what your commentary should be! This means you have to be very careful of your word choice.

4. Write using "summarizing language." Periodically remind your reader that this is a summary by using phrases such as the article claims, the author suggests, etc.

Current Event Presentation and Visual Aid

For your final presentation of your current event you will need to prepare a 2 minute presentation. During that time you will speak about your article and your thoughts on it. You will need to have a visual aid with your presentation. Options for the visual aid are below.

  1. Informative pamphlet: Pamphlet includes a title sections, bibliography section, brief summation of article, quotes from article, and your thoughts on the article.
  2. Illustration: Illustration of main points of article with a caption explaining how it relates to the article.
  3. Graphs: If your article uses statistics you can create graphs to represent those statistics. Must include a caption that fully explains the graphs and their significance to your article.

You will be graded using the rubric below:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Summary / Summary is incomplete and/or does not show understanding of the article. Does not include title, author, date, and source. Lots of grammar mistakes. / Summary is short and shows minimal understanding of article. Includes all necessary parts. Some grammar mistakes. / Summary shows understanding of the article and its main points. Includes all necessary parts. No grammar mistakes. / Summary shows great understanding of article and explains points in a succinct manner. Includes all necessary parts. No grammar mistakes.
Commentary / Commentary is incomplete and/or lacks original insight into the article. No mention of author’s viewpoint or biases. Incorrect understanding of how article relates to current studies. / Commentary is weak. Does not give much insight into original thoughts on article. Only partially mentions author’s viewpoint or how it relates to current studies. / Commentary follows guidelines and gives original insight into student’s thoughts. Gives explanation to author’s viewpoint and explains how it relates to current studies. / Commentary gives deep insight into student’s thoughts on the article. The author’s viewpoint and possible bias is explained well. Students shows strong understanding to where the article would fit into current studies.
Presentation / Student is unprepared for presentation. Does not have enough material to stay on topic for two minutes. Needs to look at notes. Does not reference visual aid. / Student is somewhat prepared for presentation. May have some longer pauses in filling two minutes. Needs to frequently look at notes. Only briefly mentions visual aid. / Student is prepared for presentation. Can fill the two minutes talking about article. Student rarely relies on notes. Visual aid is mentioned and explained. / Student is well prepared for presentation. Can fill the two minutes talking about article and opinions. Student rarely relies on notes. Visual aid is used to enhance presentation.
Visual Aid / Visual aid is incomplete. Does not enhance presentation or seem to provide further insight to article. / Visual aid is complete with minimal effort. Somewhat neat. Loosely relates to article. Does not add much value to presentation. / Visual aid is complete and neat. Relates to main points or article. Adds some value to presentation. / Visual aid is complete and well made. Visual aid helps explain main focus of article. Adds value to the presentation.