GENERAL BIOLOGY (BI 131)
Midterm Writing Assignment
(50 pts)
Late submissions will not be accepted. You may submit prior to the due date.
Find a science based news article (using only the links below) on a topic that interests you that has been covered in class (I will accept other topics as long as it is science based) and write a 1-page summary of that article. The article should not be a Wikipedia entry, or any type of webpage that summarizes the topic. The article should be about a recent advance in our understanding of that topic.
INSTRUCTIONS
The summary (written in a word or PDF document) should include the following:
- Appropriate article choice (2 pt) (You may only use articles from the sources highlighted in blue below)
- a working hyperlink that takes me directly to the article (2 pt)
- general summary of the article in your own words, any copying of the original article without proper citation or quotation result in a zero grade on the assignment (20 pts)
- a list of words and definitions you didn’t know or are unfamiliar with or are curious about, look up definition. Please italicize the words and definitions (at least two, 4 pts)
- 2-3 sentences of how this article relates to you (major, career, family, etc.) (5 pts)
- a sentence or two on how this relates to a topic we’ve covered during the class (5 pts)
- Proper grammar, spelling, and sentence structure (10 pts, -1 point for each mistake)
- 2 pt. for length (max 1 page) including all aspects of the paper (summary, how article and topic relates, words and definitions) 12-point size front, Times new roman or Arial black front type, double or single spaced based on your length. Papers significantly less than 1 page will have points deducted.
- Reminder: The assignment will be turned in using TurnItIn software which will highlight all parts of your paper that are found verbatim on the internet especially CHATGPT. Please do not plagiarize and write your paper in your own words. Please assure that all aspects are accounted for as explained above. No revisions or re-submissions will be allowed once the paper is submitted.
Article sources (nothing accepted outside of these sources):
- The New York Timesscience news:http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.htmlLinks to an external site.
- ABC'sscience and technology news: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/?technology=trueLinks to an external site.
- Science Dailynews: http://www.sciencedaily.com/Links to an external site.
- The WHY Files--Science Behind the News: http://whyfiles.org/Links to an external site.
- News Scientist: http://www.newscientist.com/Links to an external site.
- Science Magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org/Links to an external site.
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