Purpose
The Unit III Essay allows you to delve into a topic of interest from this unit (Evolution and Diversity) and to explore the social implications of the science of biology. This assignment will allow you to practice essential academic, career, and life skills, including:
Tying course content to real world importance
Thinking critically about course content
Locating good sources of information on a topic and using them to support an argument
Communication through writing
Task
Choose one topic we have covered in class this unit (Evolution and Diversity), and write a 500-600 word essay discussing its broader relevance to society.
Appropriate topics from Unit III include:
any of the groups of organisms we have talked about (or others we havent talked about!)
taxonomy and classification
evolution
the importance of biodiversity & human impacts
Or, choose your own topic!
Feel free to check with me on whether or not your topic choice is a good one for this assignment.
Your essay should:
Explain the science that is relevant to understanding your topic.
In this section, your goal should be to show me what you have learned from class.
Explain what your topic is, how it works, and what role it has in biology
Discuss how your topic is more broadly relevant to society
You may need to dig in and do some research outside research to make links between your topic and society.
If your topic is something we
ve done a discussion on, the discussion materials are a great place to start to get ideas on how your topic is relevant to human society.
Be specific and include examples! Statistics are always good to illustrate a point. I like to call it numerical context.
Explain why it is important to understand the science behind your topic.
In this section, you should answer the question of How has our scientific knowledge of [topic] influenced its impact on society?
Be specific and include examples!
Feel free to also include why this is important to you as an individual, too
This assignment is open-book. Cite all of the sources you use, including the textbook, class lectures, lab materials, and others. Your essay should indicate your understanding of course materials. Thus, you must cite course sources AND at least two outside sources, and these additional sources must be trustworthy according to CRAP Test criteria (recall Lab 1). You must work independently on this assignment. Any indications of plagiarism, cheating, collaboration, or other academic dishonesty will result in a 0 on this assignment for all parties involved.
You must work independently on this assignment. Any indications of plagiarism, cheating, collaboration, or other academic dishonesty will result in a 0 on this assignment for all parties involved.
Upload your completed unit essay here as a Word document (.doc or.docx).