Directions for semester project worth 60 points

You are to take a physical fieldtrip if possible.  If not, you will need to use the fieldtrip the class took to the Kellogg nature center.

Your report of the fieldtrip will contain

 

 

 

 

In addition, you will pick ONE THING that you saw on your field trip and do additional research.

 

 

 

Writing a science research paper

The following directions for writing your botany research project were taken from http://www.westmont.edu/departments/biology/courses/physiology/paper.html

Your task in this paper is to convince the reader (your professor) that your work is good. To do this, two things are critical: 1. you need to explain your point by using other sources and presenting your work well, and 2. you need to make sure that your paper is well written. Anyone reading your paper should be swayed by the content of it and the writing style. If you write in a concise, scientific style, you will be convincing. If you write in a casual, conversational style, you will not be convincing. How well you present your idea has a great effect on whether your idea is understood and convincing. Some general pointers:

a. Clearly articulate your idea. Explain your idea clearly using the material you have, and present it in a clear and logical fashion.

b. Don't string together a list of ideas, quotes, or comments and expect that a conclusion will follow. Rather, develop your paper with the conclusion in mind, and use your references to strengthen each point on the way to your conclusion.

c. Use solid references in your writing. You are not an expert in the field, hence you need to call in expert opinion to back up your own conclusions.

d. When you are summarizing a point from an article you read, you must provide the citation for that article.

e. Any time you use the same wording that was used by someone else, you must use quotation marks and provide the citation.

f. Failure to cite and/or to use quotation marks is plagiarism (using someone else's idea as your own). As Christians, and as students, it is absolutely critical to avoid plagiarism.

g. Don't forget your English skills when you write a science paper. It is imperative that you use English well. The comprehensibility and clarity of your writing will affect how well the reader can understand your paper. These provide a significant mark of the quality of your paper. Also, the writing style of a science paper differs from that of a newspaper article. Reading several articles in the Annual Reviews should give you a better feel for this style. Essentially, you should write in a clear and concise fashion, without long quotations or stories.

Citations or references:

There are two types of sources, primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources are ones with original research, who have first developed an idea and demonstrated it. Secondary sources are ones which provide summaries of the work and ideas of others, or give reviews of those ideas. Research articles in Science, Nature, Cell, Neuron, Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, or the Journal of the American Medical Association are primary sources (please note that commentary and review articles in these same journals are secondary sources). Articles in Scientific American, Science News, or any of the Annual Reviews or Trends in compendiums are secondary sources.

&#Secondary sources are of two types: scholarly and non-scholarly. All secondary sources in the above journals, or any of the other scientific journals or books are scholarly. They are termed scholarly because there is a careful verification of the accuracy of the article (which is called peer-review). Secondary sources from newspapers, health magazines, pamphlets and brochures are non-scholarly. This does not mean they are inaccurate, as they often take their information from scholarly sources. It does mean, however, that there is no verification of the accuracy of these articles. In your research paper, you are only to use primary sources and scholarly secondary sources. Non-scholarly sources may not be used as any part of your references for the research paper.

Reference list and citations: You will need to use at least 12 references for your paper. Of these, at least six must be primary sources. Additionally, a majority of your references must be recent (this typically means articles published within the past few years). When you prepare your reference list, all the articles are to be listed in alphabetical order, by name of the first author of each article. Citations of each article in the text of your paper must be in one of two styles:

1. using the author(s) last name(s), a comma, and the year of the article, all of which should be in parentheses (eg., Cuttlefish et al., 2000); or

2. by numbering your reference list, and using your number of the article (in parentheses) as the citation indicator in your text.

article Aardvark, A. (1999). Llamas and their habitat. Science 312, 123-132.

chapter Cuttlefish, C, Fugu, F, and Mako, M (2000). Denizens of the sea. In, The Sea. Cetacea, B and Bottlenose, B, eds., Waterhouse Publishers, New York, 342-431.

General Format for Research Paper

I expect your research papers will be about 7-12 pages in length (double-spaced, typed). Since these are to be written in the style of a scientific research paper, the general format is that typified by the Journal of Physiology. The full format for a research paper is as follows (see note about review papers at bottom):

Summary, 1 or 2 paragraphs, where you give a summary of what you wrote.

Introduction, about 3-8 pages, where you explain what has already been published, and the evidence you use to choose your experiment.

Methods & Materials, typically 2-6 pages, where the specifics of the experimental methods, the materials used, and any other experimental protocols are detailed.

Results, from 4-10 pages of text. This portion describes the data collected, and is usually accompanied by figures and/or tables.

Discussion, from 3-8 pages in length, with a detailed explanation of what the results mean, how what was found differs or is similar to what has previously been determined, and some overall explanation of what has been done of significance.

References, an alphabetical listing of all references used, following the format of J. Physiol. (as above). In general, the author(s) names are first, followed by the year of publication in parentheses, followed by period. Then the title of the article (if from a journal), or the title of the chapter (if from a book), followed by the title of the journal (or book), which should be underlined, followed by the volume of the journal (or book, if it has a volume number), which is also underlined. The page numbers of the journal that the article appeared on follow the volume number (separated by a comma), and ended with a period. For books, the editors of the book follow the title, then the publisher and city, and then the page numbers.

Figure Legends, are to describe each figure. The legends may be placed on the figure, or in their own section of the paper (immediately after the references). The legends should provide sufficient information to describe the figure to the reader, and not simply say "as described in Results."

Figures, follow the legends (or have legends attached to them), and should be clear, well-labelled, and should readily demonstrate the data presented.

Tables, if used, follow the Figures, presenting the data needed for the to explain the research.

Appendix/Appendixes, if used, are at the end of the paper. One would use an appendix to provide additional information which may be relevant but does not properly fit the body of the text. Also, a series of related tables, or a short story of relevance could be placed in this section.

Note that for a review paper (which is what you are writing), the Methods and Results sections are eliminated, as these are only present in primary papers (those presenting original research data). I have included the more complete form here for your reference.

The following rubric which will be used to evaluate your paper was taken from http://www.aae.lewiscenter.org/teachers/mhuffine/Science%20Research%20Paper%20Rubric.htm

Science Research Paper Evaluation Rubric

Student Name:

Score:

This analytic rubric is used to verify specific tasks performed when producing a research paper. If the task has been successfully completed, all points are awarded. No points are awarded if the task is not complete.

Category

Scoring Criteria

Points

Student
Evaluation

Teacher
Evaluation

Abstract
10 points

Separate page abstract clearly summarizes the essential research findings and conclusion in less than 200 words.

10

 

 

Title Page
5 points

Title page consists only of: a descriptive title for the paper, author's name, and paper completion date.

5

 

 

Introduction
15 points

A thesis statement makes the research topic clear.

10

 

 

Background information is provided to establish the importance of the research topic.

5

 

 

Report of
Research
15 points

Scientific terms and concepts are properly used.

5

 

 

Research findings are presented in the student's words, not "cut and pasted".

5

 

 

At least one research reference is "quoted".

5

 

 

Conclusion
15 points

The most important research findings are restated.

5

 

 

Student's final thoughts about the research topic are stated.

5

 

 

No new information is introduced.

5

 

 

Annotated
Bibliography
10 points

A single page annotated bibliography is provided.
(A brief description of the information contained in the source is proved for each reference.)

10

 

 

Appendix
15 points

Professional Vernacular - a single page with all relevant terms defined.

5

 

 

Diagram - at least one diagram or picture of importance related to the research topic is included.

5

 

 

Research organization is demonstrated by including the concept map used to plan the paper.

5

N/A

 

Rewrite
15 points

Paper demonstrates an effort to produce a well written paper free of grammar, spelling, and typing errors.

10

 

 

There are no "first person" statements in the paper.

5

 

 

Score

Total Points

100

 

 

Self-evaluation

Students are expected to honestly evaluate their own work. If the difference between the student evaluation and the teacher evaluation is more than 10 points, 5 points will be deducted from the teacher's score when the grade is recorded.

Deadline

In is expected that all "turn-in" assignments will be completed by the assigned deadline. Research papers will be accepted for 3 class days after the deadline for 3/4 credit. No credit will be given after this time.

 

Last modified: October 08, 2004 by Cynthia Herbrandson  © Copyright 1999, Kellogg Community College. All rights reserved.