BIO-11: HUMAN BIOLOGY
News Report Assignments
One of the major objectives of this course
is to increase your awareness of the biosciences as they affect your everyday
life, our society, and the long-term aspects of life on our planet. Part of
this awareness involves gaining appreciation for how extensively life science
issues appear in the news. But also to develop the tools to help you to discern
the real story behind a report that may have been biased by the prejudices of
the journalist, editor, public relations agent, political appointee, or
advertiser Ñ or the scientists themselves Ñ who all may have influenced how the
story was reported.
First, read the articles, ÒScholarly
or Popular Materials: Knowing the DifferenceÓ (Iowa State Univ.) and ÒEvaluating
Information Found On the InternetÓ(John Hopkins Univ.).
You will select two articles that appear
recently in the newspaper or a news magazine. Product advertisements written as articles are fair game! You will
then research the background information for this article and evaluate how well
the article reported the news. The topics for each of your articles shall
reflect the subjects we are discussing in class as follows:
¬ Report #1. Topic: related to bioscience and society; e.g.,
science policy in relation to politics, education, religion, or ethnicity; the
perception of the scientist in advertising and the entertainment media; the
public or economic reaction to innovations in biotechnology.
Submit news article #1 by Week 4 Lab. Report#1 paper due by October
23.
¬ Report #2. Topic: related to natural products, physiology,
nutrition, and/or health issues.
Submit news article #2 by Week 9 Lab. Report#2 paper due by November
25.
One of your reports will be brief and the other
extensive as described below. You may choose on which topic you want to prepare
the brief or extended report.
Brief Report Format (2 pages; 35 points)
*
Make sure each of the above
paragraphs/sections are clearly identified in your report!
Extended Report Format
(5pages; 65 points)
A-D.
Proceed as in AÐD described above for the
brief report.
E. Find an additional reference source in a book Ñnot
your textbook or an encyclopedia.
Write another paragraph summarizing this reference book article.
F-G. Find two more background articles from either a website, journal,
or book as described previously
(for a total of five background articles). Write two more paragraphs summarizing
these articles.
H. Write a couple of concluding paragraphs as
described in E. for the Brief Report Format, adding evaluations of the significance
of the additional resources.
I. Write a final paragraph stating what further
information you would like to know and of what future developments in the field
you would like to be kept aware.
J.
Bibliography. All works cited
shall be listed using Modern Language Association (MLA) style. [See below.]
*
Make sure each of the above
paragraphs/sections are clearly identified in your report!
Citing references
The news article and all background articles
must be fully cited using MLA style as described in ÒCiting Sources and
Writing PapersÓ on the DeAnza College Library website; or ÒCiting SourcesÓ on the
Duke University Library website.
For citations of internet sources using MLA style, also refer to ÒUsing MLA Style to
Cite and Document SourcesÓ.
Extra Credit
You may do both of the reports as extended format instead of
just one to get extra credit on the second extended version.
If you would like assistance in writing your reports or other essays,
come to the De Anza Writing and Reading Center in ATC-309. Go to http://www.deanza.edu/studentsuccess/writing-reading-center/for
details and hours.
Go To Biology News
Links.
Return
to Biol-11 class
web page.