Friday, November 20, 2015

XC Summary- Six of the World's Most Endangered Trees

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/blogs/6-worlds-most-endangered-trees-also-look-strangest

Assignment: Read the article and write a one-page summary. XC 40 points

On the TOP-right corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the TOP-left corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write the name of this assignment "Six of the Worlds Most Endangered Trees". This needs to be in the TOP margin at the top of the paper, not in the lined portion.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity- Blog Assignment


Assignment: Take notes while you are watching the videos and write after watching each clip or set clips. This approach will allow more time for you to reflect on the material, resulting in better summaries and syntheses. On the TOP-right corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the TOP-left corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write the name of this assignment "Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity- Blog Assignment". This needs to be in the TOP margin at the top of the paper, not in the lined portion.

Due Friday November 20th

Remember, take notes while you are watching the videos and write after watching all of the clips.

1. Watch the video Make Better Seafood Choices - Seafood Watch and write a one- paragraph summary.



2. Watch the video Endangered Ocean: Sea Turtles and write a one-paragraph summary.



3. Watch the following videos about how seafood is caught and write a three-paragraph synthesis.

Long Lining



Gill Netting



Bottom Trawling



Traps



Purse Seining



Dredging



Dredging



Mid-water Trawl



4. Watch the video Fabulous Wetlands with Bill Nye The Science Guy (1989) and write a one-paragraph summary.



5. Watch the video What is an Estuary? and write a two-paragraph summary.



6. Watch the National Geographic video Divers Fight the Invasive Lionfish and write a one-paragraph summary.



Monday, November 9, 2015

Ocean Acidification, Bioaccumulation/Magnification & Eutrophication/Deadzones – Blog Assignment

Assignment: Take notes while you are watching the videos and write your summaries and syntheses after watching each clip or set clips. This approach will give you time to reflect on the material, resulting in better summaries and syntheses.

On the TOP-right corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the TOP-left corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write the name of this assignment "Ocean Acidification, Bioaccumulation/magnification & Eutrophication/Deadzones – Blog Assignment". This needs to be in the TOP margin at the top of the paper, not in the lined portion.

Due Friday November 13th

Remember, take notes while you are watching the videos and write your summaries and syntheses after watching each clip or set clips.

1. Watch the following video about ocean acidification and write a one-page summary.



2. Watch the following two videos about bioaccumulation and biomagnification and write a three-paragraph synthesis.




3. Watch the following five videos about eutrophication, hypoxia/anoxia, and dead zones and write a three-paragraph synthesis.





Friday, November 6, 2015

XC Summary- Climate Change Threatens an Iconic Desert Tree

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151028-joshua-tree-climate-change-mojave-desert/

Assignment: Read the article and write a one-page summary. XC 40 points

On the TOP-right corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the TOP-left corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write the name of this assignment "Climate Change Threatens an Iconic Desert Tree". This needs to be in the TOP margin at the top of the paper, not in the lined portion.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Chapter 9 & 10 Video Extravaganza! – Blog Assignment

Assignment: For “Planet in Peril” write a one-page summary. For all other video clips write a one-paragraph summary for each video clip (7 paragraphs). Take notes while you are watching the videos and then write your summaries after watching each clip. On the TOP-right corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the TOP-left corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write the name of this assignment "Chapter 9 & 10 Video Extravaganza! – Blog Assignment". This needs to be in the TOP margin at the top of the paper, not in the lined portion.

Due Friday November 6th

1. Watch “Planet in Peril”- CNN- Anderson Cooper from the beginning up to 1:02. Skip the Yellowstone section from 29:00 to 39:00 (you already watched this). Write a one-page summary.

2. Watch “PRI: How to save endangered species” and write a one-paragraph summary.

3. Watch “California Condors” and write a one-paragraph summary.

4. Watch “FSC® Certification to Protect Habitat for the Amur Tiger in the Russian Far East” and write a one-paragraph summary.

5. Watch “CNN Explains: Deforestation” and write a one-paragraph summary.

6. Watch “The Swedish Forestry Model: Environmental Atlas of Europe” and write a one-paragraph summary.

7. Watch “HOME - The Deforestation: Soybean, Palm Oil, Eucalyptus” and write a one-paragraph summary.

8. Watch “How Fighting Wildfires Makes Them Worse” and write a one-paragraph summary.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Trophic Cascades- Synthesis Essay


If you look up the definition of "synthesize" you will find that it is to "combine (a number of things) into a coherent whole." In contrast, a summary is meant to "give a brief statement of the main points of (something)." For this assignment, ensure you are synthesizing, not summarizing.  You will be weaving together information from different videos, literature, and articles into one piece of writing that covers all of the ideas and themes presented in the videos, literature, and articles. Therefore, instead of breaking down the main points of each video, article, piece of literature into separate paragraphs, find common themes and differences within the videos, literature, and articles and organize them into your synthesis.  It is a good idea to take notes first, then analyze your notes to determine the common themes to organize your thoughts, and then write your synthesis essay.

You are not required to use MLA citations for this assignment.  However keep in mind that the project at the end of the semester will require both synthesis and proper use of MLA style citations.

You will be synthesizing four different sources.  They are all embedded below.  
1) Video- “Planet in Peril”- CNN- Anderson Cooper.  Watch only the ten-minute segment from 29:34 to 39:04 (you will watch the rest during other chapters).
2) Video- “How Wolves Change Rivers”
3) Book Excerpt- Thinking Like a Mountain By Aldo Leopold   
4) Nature Article- Rethinking predators: Legend of the wolf 

On the TOP-right corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the TOP-left corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write the name of this assignment "Trophic Cascades- Synthesis Essay". This needs to be in the TOP margin at the top of the paper, not in the lined portion.
Length Requirement: 1-2 pages; length is not as important as substance. 
Due Monday October 26th 


Monday, September 28, 2015

Evolution & Biodiversity- Blog Assignment

Part One- Watch the Galapagos Finch Evolution video and write a one to two page summary (front and back of a piece of loose-leaf paper; max). Your summary should summarize what you learned in the video. For the last paragraph of your summary I would like you to explain the weather event known as El Nino that is discussed in the video. To do this you will need to do some internet research. Anything that you learn from your research, that you include in your response, needs to be properly cited using the MLA format (I have included two links at the bottom of this post as resources to help you with MLA formatting). You do not need to cite anything from the video itself; just your El Nino internet research.  Also, be sure to include a reference list, in MLA format, at the end of your summary. 

Part Two- Watch the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity- Official Video and write a one to two page summary (Front and back of a piece of loose-leaf paper; max). Your summary should summarize what you learned in the video.

On the top-right corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write your name, the class, the period, and the date. On the top-left corner of a piece of loose-leaf paper write the name of this assignment "Evolution & Biodiversity- Blog Assignment". This needs to be in the margin at the top of the paper, not in the lined portion. Due Friday October 2nd


Use the following resources: MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/2/
Son of a Citation Machine- MLA
http://www.citationmachine.net/mla/cite-a-website