General Biology Current Events Journal Guidelines

 

One of the most valuable assets we have is the access and the ability to stay well informed through our media. One of my goals for this course is to get you in the habit of seeking out new information to stay knowledgeable about what is newsworthy and perhaps get a few interesting discussions started.

 

Each Monday (or first day of classes for the week), you will turn in a journal containing articles reflecting current events (or at least in the last year) in biology (note that biology is more specific than science, so no astronomy or geology articles please!). Your journal will work on a three week rotation. You should make an effort to get articles from different magazines or newspapers throughout the year. You may choose the order, but during a three week period you will be required to find one of each of the following:

Newspaper Articles –. Examples include The Washington Post, The Courier Journal, or the New York Times. You may not use articles from sources such as cnn.com, yahoo.com, etc. You may use the online version if you choose.

Magazine Articles - The library has a number of different magazines relating to biology, or you may use an article from the magazine of your choice. Do not cut articles out of the library’s magazines! National Geographic, Science, American Naturalist, and Time are all good magazine sources.

Science News – These are online articles that provide great information. There are numerous places in the margin of your text that have web codes that you punch in at PHSchool.com to retrieve the articles, or you may browse the site and find your own.

Assigned Articles - I may also periodically assign an article in place of your normal article. In this case simply adjust your rotation accordingly. These do not count as one of your other article types.

 

Using a composition notebook, create a current events journal according to the following guidelines

 

  1. Each week, attach a copy of your article to its own journal page and record the source and date of the publication (this includes web address for online sources, or the PHSchool code for Science News). You will need to glue/tape the article to the notebook paper. Please do not come in at the beginning of class and ask me for tape or glue- it should be done before you arrive to my class. And do not pester Mrs. Austin for these supplies!!

 

  1. After the article, write a summary paragraph, in your own words, about the articles content and its main points. This needs to be at least five sentences and it should be handwritten, NOT TYPED

 

  1. If the article gives an opinion or bias, do you agree? Why or why not?

 

  1. How does this article relate to biology? Give a summary of your opinion relating to the article. Do you see this being important to society? Why or why not. If it is, how is it important?

 

 

  1. Find three words in the article that are unfamiliar to you and define them using a dictionary, again handwritten. If you know all of the words, then define any three words relating to biology that you didn’t already know using a dictionary.

 

I will collect these journals every week at the beginning of class. I will grade them for completeness of your summary, organization, length of the article (they don’t need to be 20 pages, but should be at least 1000 words), and appeal (how interesting I find them).

 

Guidelines for point deductions:

5pts/day: Journal late                                                 1-2pts: Summary doesn’t explain how bio-related/imp.            

5pts: Not in notebook.                                                                1-5pts: Summary too short/not descriptive

1pt each: Definition missing/reused                                        2pts: Two or more of same article type in 3 weeks

1pt each: Definition/Summary not handwritten    2pts: Source not bio-related

5pts: Article absent                                                                      2pts: Source not given

1pt: Article not pasted into notebook                                       2pts: Source not appropriate

1pt: Article is biased, but no mention is made                       1pt:: Date/PHSchool code of source not given

A helpful tip is to stay one week ahead in case you forget one week!