Write a paper on the he Environmental Effects of the Arctic.

Write a paper on the he Environmental Effects of the Arctic.For the first writing assignment, you will choose a specific habitat or ecosystem about which you can find
information from the literature. This writing assignment is a literature review on the habitat or ecosystem you
choose, so please take this opportunity to learn more about your system and decide how you want to present that
knowledge to others (i.e., me in this case). In your paper, you will include:
1. a brief description of the habitat or ecosystem,
2. how the habitat or ecosystem is threatened at present,
3. the specifics of those threats,
4. who/what is threatening the habitat or ecosystem, and
5. how those threats could be realistically altered/eliminated to benefit the habitat or ecosystem.
You may find Google Scholar, which has a large number of scientific research articles in its database, helpful to
discover articles about your topics. If you find articles related to your topic but cannot find a full-text version of
them, you might try searching through ResearchGate (www.researchgate.net), a free depository for scientific
researchers to post PDF copies of their work. If you continue to struggle to find a full-text copy of any articles
you need, please feel free to e-mail me the relevant information about the article, and I will try to help. Books,
websites, magazines, and newspapers are not considered primary literature and should not be used for this
assignment.
You should do some reading before you begin writing in order to develop an outline of your paper. You will
decide which information you wish to include in your paper and the order in which it will appear so the reader
can easily follow your thesis. Develop your outline and eventually use appropriate literature citations within
your text for the first assignment to provide support for your thesis. I am happy to review your outlines/drafts as
you progress through the writing process.
Throughout your paper you will use ideas that are not your own. This is perfectly acceptable; in fact science is
dependent on the sharing of ideas. It is however imperative that you acknowledge where these ideas came from
by citing your sources in the body of your paper. You should indicate borrowed ideas or phrases with an “in text
citation” consisting of the author’s name(s) and the date of the paper from which you lifted the idea [e.g. ….as
mortality rates of juvenile turtles increased, population sizes dropped in all surveyed habitats (Meylan et al.,
1992).]. Do not copy direct quotes from other sources unless absolutely necessary. It is all right to put the
ideas of others in your own words as long as you cite them. You will find writing much easier this way because
you are able to continue to write in your own style instead of switching periodically to someone else’s. At the
end of the paper you should provide a list of all the sources you directly cited in your paper (and no others – do
not just list all of the references that you found on Google Scholar that are related to your topic). All references
cited in the paper and listed in your Literature Cited should follow the APA style (see examples at the end of
this handout).
Avoid convoluted writing styles. Make sure your sentences are clear and state exactly what you want them to in
the simplest way possible. Your sentences should be arranged in a logical, meaningful order – not just a string of
random facts. Read, reread and have someone else read your work. There is no way that I can understand what
you are saying if you cannot do so when you read it. Reword your sentences to make them say exactly what you
want them to say. Good writing is not hard, it just takes time and lots of practice.
Examples of in-text citations:
Meylan (1987) suggests that turtles are the greatest vertebrates that ever lived.
There is a significant difference between turtles and tortoises (Meylan and Auffenberg, 1987).
Meylan et al. (1992) speculated that several factors contributed to the decline of turtles in Florida.
Literature Cited examples:
Meylan, P. A. 1987. Phylogenetic relationships of soft-shelled turtles. Bulletin of the American Museum of
Natural History 186:1-101.
Meylan, P. A. and W. Auffenberg. 1987. The chelonians from the Laetolil Beds. pp. 62-78 In Laetoli: a
Pliocene site in Northern Tanzania. M. D. Leakey and J. M. Harris, eds., Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Meylan, P. A., C. A. Stevens, M. E. Barnwell, and E. D. Dohm. 1992. Observations on the turtle community of
Rainbow Run, Marion County, Florida. Florida Scientist 55:219-228.
Sample of thesis statements:
The soft-shelled turtles are the most morphologically divergent of the living turtles.
Sea turtles had a much greater diversity in the Mesozoic than they do today.
Reproductive behavior of pond turtles is the most elaborate among living turtles.

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