Project Report: Due Wednesday Dec 10th in the dropbox before MIDNIGHT
KEY
REQUIREMENT:
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The most critical element of your Project Report is how accurately and effectively you link your project topic and question to our GC 170A1 course material! There are many activities or questions you could pursue in your project, but do not get sidetracked on an issue that doesn't link directly to one of our class topics.
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In your report and on your ppt slide, you should explicitly state which of the course topics your project links to and HOW it links to it! (i.e. specifically state one or more topic #'s such as: #5 Radiation Laws, #7 Thermodynamics and Energy Transformations, #13 Global Warming & Anthropogenic Forcing, etc.).
POWERPOINT SLIDE CHECKLIST:
Summarize your project by creating a a single Powerpoint Slide -- one (1) slide ONLY, not a multi-slide presentation!
The slide must contain the following items: See Stella's slide example here: SAMPLE SLIDE
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___ Your NAME & GROUP # Be SURE to put your Name & Group # on your slide!!!
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___ The PURPOSE & MOTIVATION for your investigation. Put it in the largest text on the slide or in a box so it stands out and state it in a single phrase or sentence. (It can even be in the form of a question, e.g. "Does taking public transportation vs. driving to campus make a big difference in my footprint?!" . . . or "Can I actually find locally grown food in Tucson when we live in a desert!?" . . . . or "How does what people comsume in the USA impact people on the other side of the globe?" . . . or Stella's example: "What can I do to reduce all the mail order catalogs I get? )
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___ A Clear CONNECTION to GLOBAL CHANGE and our class - list the topic(s) your project connects with (e.g., #4 Energy & Matter, #6 Electromagnetic Spectrum, #10 Global Energy Balance) & add a diagram or figure from class that links to your project.(e.g., from Class Notes, Dr H's lectures, the E-Text or Dire Predictions, etc.)
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___ Some words or phrases that specifically explain the connection to Global Change (a few words of explanation that refer to the diagram(s), or figure(s) from class that you've added to your slide -- see above).
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___ As needed, add one or more additional images or text boxes to illustrate in a creative way what you did to investigate your project and what you learned in your investigation. (This could be a list, table, or graph that shows actual data or information you collected, sources you investigated, a photo of you "in action" collecting information, etc.)
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___ Your CONCLUSION or "BOTTOM LINE" statement about what you learned, discovered, or found out in your investigation. (This could be in the form of a recommendation to others in the class, e.g., "Bottom Line: stop drinking bottled water -- My analysis found that it costs too much and . . . ..etc. etc."
Place your SLIDE in D2L Dropbox
BEFORE our last class:
Tuesday Dec 9th 30 minutes before class
Name your SLIDE file as follows: your-name-LTL-slide.pptx
(or .ppt or .pdf) (e.g.
stella-student-LTL-slide.pptx)
BRING A
COPY OF YOUR SLIDE TO CLASS
(i.e., an electronic copy on a
laptop, tablet, etc., or printed paper copy)
Within your group you will share your slides with one
another and together the group will decide on just
one slide to put forward for sharing with the whole class in the
just-for-fun Team+Group "Competition"
PROJECT REPORT CHECKLIST:
REPORT FORMAT: typed in a doc, docx or pdf file, double or 1.5 line spacing, one or more informative paragraphs for each of the major headings above -- some headings will need 2 or 3 paragraphs. This will probably end up being about 3-5 well-written pages (not including reference list, figures, tables, etc.) However, addressing each of the sections below is more important than the number of pages. Don't obsess over page numbers, obsess on good content!
Your report should contain the following parts
with headings. Please use the
highlighted headings below to
organize your report. If you like, you may add a
subheading to make your headings more informative or "catchy."
Here are Stella's headings for the project report she
wrote for her SAMPLE SLIDE:
Title: Too Many Catalogs, Too Few Trees
Purpose & Motivation: Reducing my
Footprint by Reducing Catalogs
Connection to Global Change: Catalogs Contribute
to Carbon Emissions
What I Did: Researching My Choices
What I Learned: Reducing Catalogs Saves
More than Just Trees!
The Bottom Line: "Catalog Choice" Gives
Me a Choice
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___ A TITLE (that describes your project)
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___ PURPOSE & MOTIVATION State the PURPOSE of your investigation what your MOTIVATION was for examining it. In this section you could include a quote and if applicable you should tie it back to PART A, your Ecological Footprint and/or PART B, any films/videos you watched in Part B which may have inspired or intrigued you.
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___ CONNECTION TO GLOBAL CHANGE. Here is where you will explain how your Project relates to one or more of the topics of our course. This is a key section of the whole report so spend some time on it and be as thoughtful, as specific and as thorough as possible. Be sure you mention the general course topic(s) by name and number, e.g. Topic #8 Thermodynamics, Topic #14 Global Warming and Anthropogenic Forcing, and then also include more details about what in that course topic specifically connects to your question and investigation and explicitly how it does so, e.g., the 2nd law of thermodynamics, the Keeling Curve, etc. etc..
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___ WHAT I DID Here explain what you did, what data or information you collected, where you got it, and how you organized and analyzed it (e.g., re-calculated your Ecological Footprint, or found another type of footprint to use, made a graph, put together a table of information, did a comparison, etc.).
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___ WHAT I LEARNED In this section explain what you found out in your research and analysis of your data / information. Explain what you discovered and learned, how your findings relate to your original purpose, and how these results relate to global change. A good report is one that substantiates its findings by including the data and information you collected in a lear and effective way (a list, graph, number or "word" table, photos, etc.). You should discus the implications of this information, and use the information to substantiate your "bottom line" conclusion.
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___ THE BOTTOM LINE This section is your summary and conclusion section. Begin by succinctly stating your CONCLUSION about what you did and what you found. Then provide a reasoned explanation of how the information or data you collected in your investigation SUPPORTS or substantiates this conclusion and how well your study accomplished your original purpose.
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____ LIST OF REFERENCES Here is where you will list your sources for all the information and data you looked at or gathered to research your project and write your report: urls of webpages you used, your textbooks, pages in Class Notes, people you may have interviewed, the films or videos you watched, etc., etc. Note that if you make a statement in your report in any of the above sections that is quoted from, or based on, one of your references, you should indicate this with an "in-text" reference (i.e., a notation in your report that refers to an item in your reference list)
For a good handbook on documentation of the sources of your research CLICK HERE and refer to "Documenting Sources" to see examples of how to reference different types of sources, including websites. For your report you may use either the APA style or the CSE style for the list of references and in-text references
FINAL NOTE: Your investigation in PART C should be something that you can accomplish over a day or so, but with a concerted effort. It's not expected to be a month-long or semester-long term project! But it is something that you need to give yourself time to do well, and not in a rush in the last few hours before it is due!