Oceans in the News

Assignment for all Students, Including Honors

Part 1: Find an Article about the Ocean

find an article about the oceans, dated within the last year
read it, and write down three key points to remember
go to the class Wiki and enter the following information
1. the source of the article – URL or newspaper
2. the date of the article
3. three key points
4. your name

When entering information in the Wiki, follow the formatting example, with lines and headers. You may enter your article anywhere in the Wiki; please try to enter it near related articles if possible. Create a link to the original article, if possible.

Part 2: Relate the Articles

Before Class

go to the course Wiki, and review the articles listed there
write down the topics of 5 articles to bring to class
think about how those topics might be related

In Class

share your topic list with your two nearest neighbors
together, think about how the topics could be grouped
create a tree diagram and/or concept map to show relationships
remember that in a concept map, circles are nouns and arrows are verbs
turn in one diagram with all three names

Examples: Tree Diagram and Concept Map


Example Tree Diagram Undergraduate Experience	Example Concept Map Oceans and Humans

Honors Project: Oceans in the News Presentation

Assignment: You will make an oral presentation about some way that humans affect the ocean (such as pollution, development, destruction of marine life and legislation) or the ocean affects people (such as disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis or new discoveries that help people). Find two related articles, both published within the past six months. For this assignment, use articles from sources such as National Geographic and other reliable media outlets. Prepare a 5-10 minute powerpoint presentation for the class. At the end of your presentation, you should ask 2-3 scientific questions about the topic - these will form the basis of your second honors project.

Outcome: Students will make an informed judgement about a course-relevant issue.

Tips and a few superb examples