Unit Description

On the verge of a new century, the scientific community has started reflecting on its accomplishments and avenues through which to pursue new scientific inquiry.  What have scientists discovered?  Which is/are the most important findings?

This unit will  introduce you to scientific inquiry, the process, and how scientists write about it.  By asking empirical questions you will use concrete, verifiable data from scientific experiments to draw conclusions about a scientific breakthrough.

Brainstorming: click here.  (The list kept growing & growing, so I gave it its own page)
Proposal
Annotated Bibliography
Article Submission for Science

Goal: Argue what you believe scientists should designate as the "breakthrough of the twentieth century."
Audience: A panel of scientific writers putting together the January 2000 issue of Science.
Length: at least 2 full pages (500 words)
Value: 5 points

Choose a specific scientific breakthrough that interests you from the brainstorming list.  If you have another topic, please consult me first.  I urge you to choose a topic that interests you, that you want to learn about, or  with which you have some familiarity either academically or personally.  But, do not hesitate to choose a topic about which you do not know much.  The mini-research unit will help with that.

Without doing any research, argue why you think the editors should include your "breakthrough" in the 2000 issue.  Remember, since you must write an argumentative claim, scientists should disagree about whether your choice represents THE breakthrough of the twentieth century.  If they all agree, then it's not an argument, right?  Consider the following:

• Define your terms: What's your topic and why do you consider it a "breakthrough"?  What conditions must exist for a scientific discovery to qualify as a "breakthrough"?  Why does your argument deserve readers' attention?  (In other words, what's your claim?)
• Try to establish as much of the situation / condition of things before the discovery.  What was life like for humans before this great realization about the natural world?
• Carefully explain what you know of the actual breakthrough, how scientists arrived at it, and what it revealed.  If you do not know that much about your topic, explain the research strategies you will use.  What types of sources will you consult?  Why?
• What opposition (if any) has this breakthrough encountered?  Tell us if you know, speculate if you don't.
• Argue how this breakthrough has shaped  our experiences in  this century and how it will function as stepping stone in the next century (what other benefits can come of this?)
• Based on your understanding of Science (the journal) readers, why would they find your topic and views  interesting?
• On a separate sheet of paper: list at least five (5) questions you have about the topic. (This does not count towards your 2 page requirement.)

Annotated Bibliography

GOAL: Summarize and evaluate at least six professional articles, chapters from books, or web sites (limit 2) that address a recent natural science "breakthrough."
Audience: Those who want the most up-to date and valid scientific information, but  want summaries of the articles to determine if they should read them for their own research.
Length: 100-150 words per entry
Value: 10 points

Now that you have begun to think about your topic, you've probably recognized the gaps in your knowledge.  Time to fill them in!  Putting together an annotated bibliography will help you gather and evaluate information from current scientific research on your topic.  An annotated bibliography has three basic components:

• a list of the most reliable and important resources available on your topic
• brief summaries and evaluations of each article so that potential readers can read your summaries to determine if the article pertains to their own research.  Thus, you must show that you understand the article and then be able to evaluate it.  (Hey, that correspond with that chart and in-class workshop we did earlier in the semester.  Imagine that!)
• must be accurate, inclusive, and precise
• use correct tense (review Allyn & Bacon's tips.  See brown section on p. 727)
• Samples by NCSU students (just look at these for format, not content)
• consult the  Allyn & Bacon Handbook, pp. 577-582

• review Allyn & Bacon's tips for reading complex scientific lab reports & articles.  See pp. 729-730
• read a variety of materials, but always look for the most authoritative.
• first priority: professional journal articles (ex: JAMA, medical journals etc.)
• second priority: popular magazine articles and newspapers (Time, Newsweek, etc.)
• Where do I look?
• consult the reference materials listed in Allyn & Bacon pp. 743-44
• Infotrac
• specific scientific databases
• the on-line catalogue
• the web (but be careful!  There's lot's of "junk" on the WWW!)
• Newsbank Newsfile (for first reports of the discovery.  Use a reliable & national newspaper like: New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune. )
• Natural Science Reserve List

• Make copies of the articles you find.  Annotate (look in the reading to understand section of this chart) them carefully by writing in the margins, underlining important concepts, etc.  You will submit these with your annotated bibliography and I will check them!
• It may help to make a chart with sections on reading to understand and evaluate for each article. (Click here to review the goals and strategies for these 2 types of reading.)
• To make a chart, go to Microsoft Word (or which ever software you use).  Go under Table, and choose Insert Table.  Then, tell it how many columns you want, estimate on the # of rows you need (you can always add a row by pressing tab in the last box on the last row), and choose a grid format you like.  That's all folks!
• IF YOU GET STUCK, DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK THE LIBRARIANS OR ME!

20th-Century Scientific Breakthroughs: Article Submission to Science

GOAL: Write an argument that presents scientific information and persuasively argues that your topic represents the the most important scientific breakthrough of the twentieth century.
Audience

• Your audience consists of the scientists and readers of Science.  Remember, that they have a very strong knowledge base.  Do not to "talk down" to them with insignificant or irrelevant information.  Use the best expert sources and your sharpest, most polished writing.
• You will also encounter opposition.  Many will not agree that your choice represents THE breakthrough of the twentieth century.  How will you deal with the opposition?  How will you make them at least consider your view?

Your critical thinking and extensive research have made you "experts" on specific this scientific breakthrough.  Using your special insight, the empirical data you have collected, and your new and improved knowledge, write a persuasive, scientifically valid, argumentative article for Science. You should have the following:  an argumentative claim, persuasive support, logical and authoritative reasoning, and an acknowledgment of the opposition. We will mail these!

Review the basic of natural science writing in Allyn & Bacon, pp. 724-7730

A Successful Paper:

• Claim
• establishes why you think the scientific breakthrough you have chosen represents THE most important  twentieth-century advancement in the natural sciences.
• Support
• present empirical evidence from valid experiments etc., which you will interpret and from which you will draw conclusions
• use CBE documentation
• Reasoning
• logos: Provide specific reasons/evidence for your claim. Use a variety of strategies we discussed.  Review your Writing and Evaluating Arguments checklist (or follow this link).
• ethos: Leave no doubt as to the strength of your convictions as well as your credibility.
• Rebuttal
• deal with the opposition as thoroughly as possible either by refuting, acknowledging, or making concessions to other viewpoints and qualifications where you think they are reasonable and justifiable
• Content (basics, but do not feel limited by these guidelines)
• establish the scientific "situation" before the breakthrough
• demonstrate  your description and summary skills by explaining the various parts of the breakthrough such as:
• the scientific experiments
• who did them
• what they found
• how the experiments build upon each other
• how the experiments led to the breakthrough
• argue the impact this will have for us in the next century: benefits, drawbacks
• consider how scientists can build upon this discovery in the next century

• General Writing Skills
• establish an interesting introduction
• clearly state your argumentative claim (thesis) and reasons.
• demonstrate the basic paragraphing skills we've practiced
• tone:professional, objective, and consistent.
• use a middle to high lever of formality.  Avoid slang, colloquialisms.  But, make the language interesting & refreshing.
• demonstrate basic style skills we've practiced
• do not use the pronoun "I."  Unless you plagiarize, the essay reflects your ideas.
• offer an insightful conclusion
• use correct tenses (review Allyn & Bacon's tips.  See brown section on p. 727)
• cites sources & documents carefully (CBE)