Biology in the News 

The biology concepts presented in this course encourage you to make the connection between textbook biology and biology that appears in daily newspapers and weekly periodicals. This assignment will encourage you to make the connection between the textbook and the world you live in and to recognize how science and technology influence and contribute to modern culture. 

This assignment is worth 20 points.  Late work will count half credit.

Select an article from a current newspaper, periodical, or the Internet which correlates with the content of one or more units of instruction covered in the course. Appropriate sources are any major newspaper, news website, scientific magazines, or any other major news source for the public. 

Tips on choosing an article

– Article MUST relate to content presented in class

– Article is an appropriate length for the assignment (not a tiny blurb, not 10 pages long)

– Article MUST BE less than 3 months old

– Article is news, not reference material, and from a reputable source

– Article MUST be readable by the general public, not scholarly. 

Your essay should consist of the following three items:

1) A cover page, including your name, course and section number, date and instructor name 

in the upper right corner, the title of the article centered on the page, and works cited or bibliography at the bottom of the cover page. 

2) The body of your essay, which should consist of three carefully prepared paragraphs, each a 

minimum of 4 sentences, double spaced. 

Paragraph one: Summarize the article with the who?, what?, when?, where?, why?, and how? of the main ideas in the article. 

Paragraph two: Correlate the article with a unit of instruction covered in class. Give specific information you learned in class, citing the text and or lab manual sources, and explain how it helps you understand the article, or contradicts the article. 

Paragraph three: Give your personal reaction and explain why the content of this article is important to you, your friends, or family. This involves relating the topic of the article to real life, by answering two or more of the following questions. 

1. Did the article make you aware of things you had not thought of before?

2. Did the article change your mind or feelings about the topic?

3. Was the article about something you have experienced personally?

4. Did the article address any ethical, value, or public policy issues?

5. Do you agree or disagree with arguments presented in your article? Explain. 6. If you were “in charge”, how would you proceed with the information in the article? 

3) A copy of the article must be attached, either copy and paste at the end of the article, or attach as a separate article. 

This assignment must be your own work. No plagiarism will be tolerated. Papers that the instructor determines contain plagiarism in any part will be given a zero for the entire paper. See http://www.plagiarism.org/ for more information on what is plagiarism. Do NOT cut and paste information from any source into your paper. Use your own words to relay information from the article, text or any other source. Then cite the source of that information using a standard citation format.