Week 3 (Aug 04 – Aug 10)

Overview

Assignment	Due Date	Format	Grading Percent
Discussion 1: Age of Oil	Day 3 (1st post)	Discussion	3
Laboratory: Biodiversity	Day 7	Laboratory	7
Assignment: Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report	Day 7	Assignment	10

Note: The online classroom is designed to time students out after 90 minutes of inactivity. Because of this, we strongly suggest that you compose your work in a word processing program and copy and paste it into the discussion post when you are ready to submit it.

Learning Outcomes

This week students will:

1. Summarize examples of alternatives to oil production and use.
2. Examine and analyze biodiversity through laboratory experimentation.
3. Organize a rough draft of the Final Lab Report based on Week Two’s Laboratory, “Water Quality and Contamination.”

Introduction

Week Three will build on information acquired in previous weeks to construct the initial stages of a scientific laboratory report. Utilizing course readings and the eScience lab kit, you will design a rough draft of each section to be elaborated on in the final week. Additionally, the use of course materials and participation in discussion posts will educate you on the topics of land use change and fossil fuel use, and elaborate on how the exploitation of these resources can adversely affect humankind and biodiversity.

Required Resources

Required Text

1. Contemporary Environmental Issues 
   
   1. Chapter 4: Land Use Change and Biodiversity Loss
   2. Chapter 6: Fossil Fuels and Minerals

Lab Kit

1. Lab 3: Biodiversity

Supplemental Materials

1. Selhorst, A. (2013). Rough draft of the final lab report template [Word file]. College of Liberal Arts. Ashford University.
   
   • You will need this form in order to successfully complete this week’s assignments, “Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report.”
2. Selhorst, A. (2013). Week three lab reporting form [Word file]. College of Liberal Arts. Ashford University.
   
   • You will need this form in order to successfully complete this week’s laboratory, “Biodiversity.”

Discussion
To participate in the following discussion, go to this week’s Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. Age of Oil

   As you know, our world is heavily dependent on oil. In Chapter 6 of Contemporary Environmental Issues, you have read that there is concern about the possibility of reaching a peak in oil production. Describe at least two alternatives to oil that are currently available and discuss the barriers that keep these alternatives from replacing oil as our primary means of energy? Additionally, utilizing at least two scholarly or reputable resources and your textbook, discuss the role that government plays in ensuring a transition to such alternatives in a post peak-oil world?

   Your initial post should be at least 150 words in length. Utilize at least two scholarly or reputable resources and your textbook to support your claims. Cite your sources in APA format. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.

   Carefully review the Grading Rubric that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
     
   

Laboratory
To complete the following journal entry, go to this week’s Laboratory link in the left navigation.

BiodiversityCarefully review the Grading Rubric before beginning the assignment.

Read “Lab 3: Biodiversity.” This lab will allow you to investigate how various organisms alter their environments. Additionally, it will allow you to assess the health of ecosystems based upon their biodiversity. Then, you will utilize this information and your eScience lab kit to complete Demonstration 1 and Experiment 1 on the Week Three Lab Reporting Form. Make sure to complete all of the following items before submission:

1. Read through the introductory material.
2. Perform Demonstration 1: Interdependence of Species using your eScience lab manual and kit.  
3. Complete Table 1 and answer Post Lab Questions 1 through 3 in complete sentences on the Week Three Lab Reporting Form.
4. Record your hypothesis for Experiment 1 on the Week Three Lab Reporting Form.
5. Complete Experiment 1: Diversity of Plants using your eScience lab manual and kit.
6. Complete Table 2 and answer Post Lab Questions 1 through 4 in complete sentences on the Week Three Lab Reporting Form.

Submit the Week Three Lab Reporting Form via Waypoint. The document does not need to include a title page or other APA formatting; however, any outside sources utilized in your answers must be referenced in proper APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.  

Late Policy: Written assignments (essays, journals, presentations) are due on the specified days in the course. Written assignments will be subject to a late penalty of up to 10% per day up to three days late. If written assignments are submitted after 72 hours past the due date, instructors can give a penalty up to and including a grade of 0 for the assignment.

Assignment
To complete the following assignment, go to this week’s Assignment link in the left navigation. 

Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report

Carefully review the Grading Rubric that will be used to evaluate your assignment before you begin.

You are required to develop a rough draft for your Final Lab Report, which covers all three experiments for “Lab 2: Water Quality and Contamination.” To begin, carefully review the instructions for your Final Lab Report assignment located within Week Five. Next, download the Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report Template and utilize this form to ensure proper formatting and inclusion of all required material. Using the template will ensure proper formatting. You must use at least four scholarly sources and your lab manual to support your points. The rough draft must be three to five pages in length (excluding title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar. 

The Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report must contain the following seven sections in this order: 

1. Title Page – This page must include the title of your report, your name, course name, instructor, and date submitted.
2. Introduction – This section should discuss why the experiment was conducted. At a minimum, it should contain three paragraphs. One paragraph must cover background information of similar studies that have already been done in the area. This is accomplished by citing existing literature from similar experiments and explaining their results. A second paragraph should provide an objective or a reason why the experiment is being done. Why do we want to know the answer to the question we are asking? A third paragraph should provide a hypothesis for each of the three experiments conducted.
3. Materials and Methods – This section should provide a detailed description of the materials used in your experiment and how they were used. A step-by-step rundown of your experiment is necessary; however, it should be done in paragraph form, not in a list format. The description should be exact enough to allow for someone reading the report to replicate the experiment, but it should be in your own words and not simply copied and pasted from the lab manual.
4. Results – This section should include the data and observations from the experiment. All tables and graphs should be present in this section. Additionally, there should be at least one paragraph explaining the data in paragraph form. There should be no personal opinions or discussion beyond the results of your experiments located within this section.
5. Discussion – This section should interpret or explain the meaning of your data and provide conclusions. At least three paragraphs should be outlined here. First, a paragraph should be present that addresses whether the hypotheses were confirmed or denied and how you know this. Second, you are to discuss the meaning of your findings in this area utilizing scholarly sources to put the paper into context. For example, how do your results compare with the findings of similar studies? Also, you should discuss any future questions arising from your results and how you might test them. Finally, you should discuss if there are any outside factors (i.e., temperature, contaminants, time of day) that affected your results. If so, how could you control for these in the future?
6. Conclusions – This section should provide a brief summary of your work.
7. References – Provide a list of at least four scholarly sources and your lab manual that will be used in the Final Lab Report. Format your references according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
   

Note: An abstract must be included in the Final Lab Report. However, the abstract should not be included in the rough draft as it is to be written last after the entire paper is fully written. Do not forget this in your Final Lab Report.