One of the most important things in society today is being informed about what is going on in the world. In fact, as a student, knowing what is going on in the world is crucial! The goal of this assignment is for everyone to become familiar with current environmental science issues: What kinds of cool or disturbing things are going on in the world?!

Over the course of the year, each person will be required to submit a review of a current event once a quarter. We will do this on a last name basis (I’ll explain) The following guidelines must be followed:

1. The article you use HAS to be from a periodical (a magazine, a newspaper or an online news source). It cannot be a blog, wikipedia or anything like that. If you have questions on whether or not a source is appropriate, ASK Mr. Fisher.
a. Some examples: Newsweek (newsweek.com), Popular Science (popsci.com), The New York Times (nytimes.com – weekly science section and environment page), The San Francisco Chronicle (sfgate.com), Reuters (reuters.com), eurekalert.com, sciencedaily.com

2. The article also must be from within the previous thirty days (month).

3. This will be a written assignment completed as follows:
a. Written summary and reflection:
i. Summary: A longer, more thorough summary of the article (who, what, when, where, why, how). This should be approximately a three paragraph summary. If it describes a particular event, like an oil spill, what happened? If it describes a policy change or scientific research, what are the details? If it describes a scientific breakthrough, what were the conclusions reached? How were they reached (procedure)? Is it new science? Old science? What fields of environmental science does the article apply to? THIS IS NOT THE WHOLE LIST! INCLUDE ANYTHING THAT YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT!

ii. Opinion: At least a paragraph about your opinion of the article: do you agree with the conclusions and the method? You must have at least 2 questions about the science or the application of the science in the article.

iii. Future: A paragraph on what you think future research or next steps in the area WILL be and what it SHOULD be and explain WHY.

iv. Reference: Make sure you include the article, along with an accurate bibliography of your source. It should look like this and be at the end of your summary:
1. Author’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year, Day, Month of publication). Title of the article. Newspaper, magazine or source. Page number or web address.
a. For example: Smith, D. (2001, January 27). Has history been too generous to Gutenberg? Computer sleuths cast doubt on one innovation attributed to the 15th-century printer. The New York Times, p. A15.