Our Dependence upon the Environment

36004 Topic: SCI 207 Our Dependence upon the Environment
Number of Pages: 2 (Double Spaced)
Number of sources: 4
Writing Style: APA
Type of document: Essay
Academic Level:Undergraduate
Category: Environmental Issues
Language Style: English (U.S.)
Order Instructions: Attached

Week 1 – Term Selection Forum
Please choose a single term from the Week 1 TermsPreview the document list and post the term you’ve chosen in the forum below.

A term can only be chosen once, so please be aware of the previously chosen terms by reviewing the table below prior to posting your preferred choice to validate it is not already taken. If you choose and post a term that has been chosen by a student who posted prior to you, you will be required to choose a new term from the remaining list.

This activity is first to come first serve, so please make sure to choose a term early in order to have your preferred options.

Terms Name
apex predators
biodiversity
biodiversity hotspot
biome
carrying capacity
coevolution
Convention on Biological Diversity
deforestation
desertification
ecological resilience
ecosystem services
ecotourism
endangered species
Endangered Species Act
endemic species
extinction
food chain
food web
Half-Earth Project
habitat fragmentation
habitat loss
invasive species
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
keystone species
native species
overexploitation
poaching
restoration ecology
threatened species
trophic cascade
Return to Week 1 – Assignment 2 >

USE THE EXAMPLE BELOW:
Week 1 – Assignment 2
Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part 1 of 4: Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems

[WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapters 1 and 4 in the Turk and Bensel’s Contemporary Environmental Issues textbook (2014).

The purpose of this assignment is twofold: first, to enable you to explore a term (concept, technique, place, etc.) related to this week’s theme of sustaining Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems; second, to provide your first contribution to a collective project, the Class Sustainable Living Guide. Your work this week, and in the weeks that follow, will be gathered (along with that of your peers) into a master document you will receive a few days after the end of the course. The document will provide everyone with a variety of ideas for how we can all live more sustainably in our homes and communities.

To complete this assignment, you will

Select a term from the list of choices in the Week 1 – Term Selection. Reply to the forum with the term that you would like to research. Do not select a term that a classmate has already chosen. No two students will be researching the same topic.
Download the Week 1 Assignment TemplatePreview the document and replace the guiding text with your own words based upon your online research. Please do not include a cover page. All references, however, should be cited in your work and listed at the end, following APA format expectations.
In the template, you will

Define the term thoroughly.
Clearly, relate the term to the week’s theme.
Explain how the term affects living things and the physical world.
Relate the term to the challenge of achieving environmental sustainability.
Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps a technique or technology that might promote it.
Suggest two specific actions we can take to promote sustainability in relationship to this term.
Provide detailed examples to support your ideas.
Please do not include a cover page, or even place your name directly on the work. In addition to submitting this assignment to Waypoint, you will also be submitting it for anonymous peer review by classmates in Week 2.

The Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems assignment

Must be a minimum of three paragraphs in length (not including title, any quoted text, or references) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style resource.
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice resource for additional guidance.
Must use at least two credible and/or scholarly sources in addition to the course text. To receive optimal credit, use at least one scholarly source from a peer-reviewed academic journal. To aid you in your research, and particularly in locating scholarly sources via the Ashford Library or using Google Scholar, please review the following Ashford videos and tutorials:
Scholarly and Popular Resources
Database Search Tips
Research, Keywords, and Databases: An Overview
Accessing Full Text and Citation in Google Scholar
The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper guide.
Must include a separate references list that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources
Source type
What is it?
Examples

Best used for
Scholarly
A source was written by scholars or academics in a field. The purpose of many scholarly sources is to report on original research or experimentation in order to make such information available to the rest of the scholarly community. The audience for scholarly sources is other scholars or experts in a field. Scholarly sources include references and usually use language that is technical or at a high reading level.
*Note: Different databases may define “scholarly” in slightly different ways, and thus a source that is considered “scholarly” in one database may not be considered “scholarly” in another database. The final decision about the appropriateness of a given source for a particular assignment is left to the instructor.
Scholarly Journals
• Journal of Management Information Systems
• American Journal of Public Health
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
Scholarly Books (published by a university press or other high-quality publisher)
• Shari’a Politics: Islamic Law and Society in the Modern World
• The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War
• The Hidden Mechanics of Exercise: Molecules That Move Us
Journal articles:
• Recent research on a topic
• Very specific topics or narrow
fields of research
• NOT good for an introduction to
or a broad overview of a topic Books:
• In-depth information and research on a topic
• Putting a topic into context
• Historical information on a topic
Peer Reviewed
A publication that has gone through an official editorial process that involves review and approval by the author’s peers (experts in the same subject area). Many (but not all) scholarly publications are peer reviewed.
*Note: even though a journal is peer-reviewed, some types of articles within that journal may not be peer-reviewed. These might include editorials or book reviews.
Refer to “Scholarly Journals” examples
Books go through a different editorial process and are not usually considered to be “peer reviewed”. However, they can still be excellent scholarly sources.
Refer to “Scholarly Journals” description
**Note: some publications (such as some trade journals) can be peer-reviewed but not scholarly. This is not common.

Credible

A source that can be trusted to contain accurate information that is backed up by evidence or can be verified in other trusted sources. Many types of sources can fall into this category.
*Note: The final decision about the appropriateness of a given source for a particular assignment is left to the instructor.
Refer to “Scholarly Journals” examples. Also:
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Books
• Trade journals or publications
• Government websites
• Websites from educational institutions (like universities)
• Websites or other publications from reputable organizations (like the Mayo Clinic)
• Encyclopedias (general or subject)
Many websites could be considered credible. The more information provided about the source, the more likely they are to be credible. Look for information about the author and/or the organization, how recently it was published, the intended audience, the intended purpose, and whether there is evidence of bias.
• Basic/general/background information about a topic
• Current events
• Local news
• Statistical data
• Information about specific
organizations or companies (look at the organization’s or company’s website, or look for articles in newspapers or trade journals)
• Government information
• Information about popular culture
• Opinions or commentaries
• Topics of general interest
Ashford University Library, June 2015, CR 0130415

AS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT I CHOOSE APEX PREDATOR FOR THE Week 1 Assignment Template below:

Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part One of Four:
Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems

Instructions: Using the term that you have selected from the list provided in the classroom, please complete the following template. Create a minimum of 5 to 7 well-crafted sentences per paragraph. In your response, you are expected to cite and reference, in APA format, at least two outside sources in addition to the class text. The sources must be credible (from experts in the field of study); scholarly sources (published in peer-reviewed academic journals) are strongly encouraged. Delete these instructions before submitting your work to Waypoint.

Your Term:

Instructions: In the first paragraph;
• Thoroughly define your term.
• Describe how the term relates to this week’s theme. Provide specific examples.
Delete these instructions before submitting your work to Waypoint.
[Enter your information here]

Instructions: In the second paragraph;
• Discuss how the term affects living things and the physical world.
• Explain how the term relates to the challenge of achieving environmental sustainability.
• Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps a technique or technology that might promote it?
Again, be as specific as possible and include examples to support your explanations.
[Enter your information here]

Instructions: In the third paragraph;
• Determine at least two specific actions that we can take in order to promote environmental sustainability in relation to this term. Be creative and concrete with your suggestions. For example, you might recommend supporting a particular organization that is active in the field of your term.
• Consider actions that might be taken
1) on the individual level, in our daily lives;
2) at the community level;
3) via national and global organizations working on behalf of the environmental issues associated with your term; and/or 4) at the ballot box (though voting).

[Enter your information here]

After proofreading your assignment carefully, please submit it to the Peer Review Site. After you have done so, please also submit a copy of your work to Waypoint