Project Guidelines
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a paper that will be a comprehensive personal reflection and action plan focused on personal natural resource use. The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate mastery of the course concepts and encourage students to incorporate course learning into an applicable future choice plan. The purpose of the presentation component (graded separately) is to effectively demonstrate your plan to peers and for peer review of their ideas.
This assessment will assess your mastery with respect to the following course outcomes:
- What are natural resources and how do we use them?
- How has our use of natural resources changed over time?
- How does the use of natural resources impact our environment?
- Apply scientific principles to make informed decisions about resource use
- Recognize and act on essential components of academic integrity
- Examine students' perspectives of how they fit into the world community
- Examine students' responsibility as stewards of the environment
- Identify important connections between human and resource use
- Become proficient at integrating and apply skills learned to everyday life
- Demonstrate awareness of how natural resource use impacts their daily lives
Prompt
Your final project will be a personal reflection and action plan paper on one or two natural resources that you would like to focus on to make personal changes, from the general categories of animals, plants, water, air, soil, minerals, food, and energy sources. This assignment moves beyond recycling and packaging reduction to a real and significant lifestyle change regarding natural resource use.
Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed in the final paper:
I. Provide an introduction that describes the topic. Specifically:
a) Define the scope of the topic. What are the natural resources involved? How were they created? How are they used and obtained?
b) Briefly indicate the importance of this topic to:
i. You personally
ii. American society
iii. The global community
II. Section 1: History and Contemporary Viewpoint. Include and build upon your Section 1 submission (Background, Historical Awareness in America, Historical Awareness Globally) from Milestone Two by incorporating instructor feedback and by adding:
a) A synopsis of the historical development of the topic from inception through modern-day usages, both in American culture as well as the global culture, focusing on the most significant developments and contributors to the topic.
b) A timeline of the most significant developments and contributors (e.g., scientists, activists) to the topic to provide a summary of the most important events and who was involved.
III. Section 2: Local Real-World Applications and Specific Steps. Include and build upon your Section 2 submission (Opportunities and Hurdles) from Milestone Two by incorporating instructor feedback and by adding:
a) A synopsis of the opportunities for change and the hurdles that you will have to overcome
b) Outline an action plan of specific steps that you will need to take to make the change happen. All projects should include the following, plus any additional items that are project-specific:
i. The short- and long-term costs to implement your change (for example, monetary, social, time, effort, etc.)
ii. The personnel and/or skills needed and availability (e.g., electrician, local politicians, HOA managers and members, construction crews, yard work)
iii. A timeframe (e.g., time necessary for planning stage, implementation stage, most limiting time-based action items, etc.)
iv. Local laws and regulations (e.g., local and state water laws, HOA regulations, organic designation laws, etc.)
IV. Section 3: Global Significance, Impact, and Applications. Compare and contrast local (i.e., local to you) versus global application of your chosen topic as well as the global significance and impacts for this type of change locally and globally. Depending on your topic selection, this may include comparisons to both a developed country and a developing country or between two widely differing areas of America. Specifically:
a) Describe two key differences between your chosen comparison communities (i.e., your own and another), for example, regarding the cost of making a change, skilled personnel needed and availability, differences in local laws and regulations. For example, in California there may be many local regulations/laws that have to be addressed before you could disconnect your home from city water and sewage to use your own water-recycling system, whereas in a city in Pakistan there may be no regulatory oversight.
b) Describe two key similarities among your chosen comparison communities (including your own). For example, in both California and Pakistan, finding skilled labor and the right equipment for an in-home gray water recycling system might be difficult
V. Conclusion
a) Summarize the use of natural resources and environmental impacts relevant to your selected topic.
b) Describe what skills and resources are required to address this topic.
c) Reflect on how your knowledge of the topic has changed over the course of your research, ensuring that you address instructor feedback.