Current Event Engagement Report

Choose an interesting article related to antibitoic resistance, GMO’s, the death of bees, palm oil, OR, organic vs non organic foods.

  Your article can be no more than two months old.   

Be sure to use either primary peer reviewed  articles (you may find on google scholar – but these are often more than a month old) or reputable secondary media sources such as:

Consistently excellent reporting on environmental issues in Michigan can be found on the Michigan Radio program Stateside in a segment called the Environment report  (Links to an external site.)(you can also find the link in the table above). If you would like to listen to (and even subscribe to) the Podcast, find a link to do that here:  The Environment Report From Michigan Radio (Links to an external site.)

For a  good visual resource that helps you think about your choice of information sources check out the following link:  The media bias chart (Links to an external site.)

You may not use a blog, television program, or personal website as an article. However, if a news station has a segment, and an accompanying article is posted about that segment on their website, that is fair game as an article.  If you find some other Environmental related media source please contact me to confirm it is something you can review.

CEERs will be graded  before the next CEER is due so you have feedback to help you improve.  Be sure to use the attached rubric as a guide and to even use it self score your report, or have a peer use it to review your  report.  View any comments and contact professor through inbox if you have questions. 

Requirements:

1. Name, date, Assignment name
   1. You should save your file as file name should be your name and CEER Week#, example HereauCEERWeek2.pdf
2. Article information
   1. Title, author, source, date 
   2. A clearly indicated copy  of the source or an active link to the article must be included
   3. CEER missing any of the information above will receive a 0
3. A summary (7-10 sentences) of the article in your own words
   1. Chose an article that is long enough to review and you understand with limited research
   2. Include enough relevant, reworded facts to convince me you read and understood the article.
      • Avoid quotations as it implies you do not understand the concept enough to describe what they are saying.
      • Your summary should use the science ideas you learn to explain the topic to an outside reader with not background knowledge of the topic
4. A longer discussion (10 to 15 sentences) of the article
   1. Include your thoughts, specifically how it relates to a current topic (you must specifically reference textbook information for the specific and scientifically accurate science ideas that relate to the article).
   2. What did you learn?
   3. What you found interesting and made you choose article?
   4. How you felt about it/how it changed your thinking?

Avoid just saying “this article talked about how_____ is happening”.  What I really want to know is the details.  Describe the MECHANISM of the problem… not just that there is one (the same is true for reports about solutions).  The purpose of the CEER is to relate the current events to what you have learned and to demonstrate to me that you understand this issue on a deeper level. 

I am not interested in you showing me that you have read the article, I am interested in you showing me that you understand the article  – and that you understand it so well that you could explain it to someone that has not taken an Environmental Science Class.

Finally as with all assignments you must have a reference page where all references are listed using APA style formatting.  You must include all sources used to inform your report, including the article you reviewed.

Be sure to study and use the rubric  Download rubric for this assignment to help you construct your report and ensure you are awarded maximum credit.