GEOG 1003 Hometown Environmental History Project Spring 2015
Relevant Due Dates:
Week of Feb 10: Four draft graphics and captions due in discussion section
Week of Feb 17: Draft list of citations using APA style due in discussion section
Week of Feb 24: Paper outline and thesis statement due in discussion section
For this project, you will research the environmental history of your hometown. Your hometown could be the place you spent the most time in, where you identify as home, or a place you feel you know well. (Throughout the assignment I refer to “towns” generically although you may come from a big city or a rural place.) I expect a tightly written paper (about 3,000 words, not including maps, tables, photos, etc.) exploring the environmental history of your hometown, written from your perspective as a resident (and yes, first person is fine!).
Some learning objectives of this project include the development of research skills and identification of appropriate sources of information, critical analysis of multiple data sources and integration of class material and readings, contextualization of your previous experiences of the environment of your hometown, and developing and supporting a cogent and balanced argument.
Components of the finished project should include:
1. An overview of the geography and local environmental conditions without humans and/or pre-settlement. This section can be relatively short, perhaps about 500-700 words. You can describe the landscape (for example the terrain, or that is built on a series of inlets), the underlying geology, and the flora and fauna. Try to make this section as engaging as possible.
2. An analysis of how human habitation has changed the environment over time, from the earliest human settlement to present. This could include descriptions of historical land use and development, agriculture, transportation, industry, etc. Who were the earliest settlers of this region and how did they thrive here? Who came after? Are there legacy land uses such as tanneries or mills that have left an imprint today—either in the form of “disamenities” like brownfields or other remnant landscape elements? This section could be perhaps 1500 words depending on what you can document.
3. An assessment of your hometown today. How would you characterize this place in terms of housing styles, neighborhood design, and street patterns? What about demographics? How do residents get to work? Describe the “activity spaces” of typical residents and their uses of the local environment. I would like you to describe some of what you determine to be your town’s major current environmental problems, and describe any ways that your town is attempting to address these. (If your first instinct is to say that it does not really have any, you need to think again!) For instance: Does your town have a Sustainability Plan, and if so, what are its major recommendations/strategies? What is the level of awareness among the residents about environmental or sustainability issues? Finally, reflect on the imprint of the past on the present in terms of land uses, and extrapolate to the future. What does your town look like in 100 years? This section of the paper could be perhaps 700-1,000 words.
The importance of a thesis. Throughout the research process, you should be thinking about a thesis that drives your paper. While you’re in the process of creating your outline and amassing your sources, think of the biggest take-home point that you want a reader to have about your city’s environmental history. Many students have success by focusing on some geographic feature—location on a river or a coast, on a trade route, or in proximity to a natural resource, which has affected the development trajectory of your hometown. Developing this thesis will give your paper focus, and help you decide, for instance, which environmental problems to focus on, or what aspects of your town’s imagined future to feature.
Further, students from large cities may want to focus on a smaller area such as a neighborhood or section of the city depending on the amount of reference materials available. Students whose hometowns are international might want to investigate the availability of data as soon as possible.as soon as possible.
Finding and citing information. While you can (and I hope you will) have fun with this project—with a first person narrative being acceptable, and your freedom to imagine a future for your town—this is still an academic undertaking. You should have at least 10 sources, including at least five scholarly ones (books or peer-reviewed journal articles). Websites, newspaper articles, government sources, data tables, photos, interviews, maps – ALL need to be documented and listed. We will spend significant time thinking about how to identify trustworthy sources of information—this should be reflected in the work you cite as well. Be scrupulous about giving credit to others for their work. Please use APA formatting (for guidelines, see http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/apa). This means no footnotes or endnotes but rather in-text citation “(Smith 2014).” Then all cited sources are additionally provided in a source list at the end of the paper. High value is placed on developing original sources, especially interviews, site visits, and archival work. Reach out to librarians, historians, and naturalists in your town (and remember they need to go into the source list as well).
Supporting Materials. A picture is worth a thousand words. Make ample use of graphics—certainly include a locator map showing where your town is with respect to the state or territory it is in, and perhaps also photos, sketches, tables, and other graphics as they enhance your story. Aim for a minimum of 4 of these in your document. Enhance the readability of your paper by embedding these graphics in the body of the paper and including captions with a cited source of the information – very important!). You should also refer to each image (as Figure 1 etc.) in the text.
Final notes. We will be working on many aspects of the paper during discussion section. Your full participation in these exercises will be of great help to you! Make your paper as technically perfect as possible: write drafts, proofread, read your own paper aloud to yourself, get a buddy to read it over, and schedule a visit with the writing center. Format your paper carefully (one inch margins, double-spaced please) and be sure to include page numbers(!). Please save the final paper as a PDF before uploading to blackboard.
This project in its entirety comprises 10 percent of your total grade, but I am at liberty to add additional bonus points (up to 5) for exceptionally insightful, well documented, and polished efforts. Aim for this. You are also encouraged to take your work to the Writing Center (http://www.gwu.edu/~gwriter/) located at Gelman Library for more in-depth help. This is an assignment for a class, but I also hope you treat it as opportunity to get familiar with the geography of your own backyard and apply the learning elsewhere in your life.
Grading Rubric:
10 points 8 points 6 points 4 points
Focus Student’s essay establishes its central idea clearly and effectively in the opening paragraph and maintains this focus throughout the essay. Each paragraph is logically linked to the main idea and all sentences within the paragraphs serve to further develop and maintain this focus. Student’s essay establishes its central idea in the opening paragraph, though the focus is weak in some points of the paper Student’s establishment of a central focus is weak and/or falls apart at multiple points in the paper Student’s essay lacks a central idea. Focus is unclear, and paragraphs do not logically relate to main idea and/or each other.
Analysis of pre-human conditions Student’s paper shows insight, exploring subject in all its complexity and reveals and examines the nature of that complexity in your essay. Such insights are not implied but revealed and developed through good examples from the literature. Student’s paper thoroughly explores topic in all its complexity and includes some concrete examples from the literature. Student’s paper explores topic and includes a few concrete examples from the literature. Student’s paper lacks a thorough analysis of this subject. Statements are simplistic and not supported with concrete examples from the literature.
Analysis of environmental change over time Student’s paper shows insight, exploring subject in all its complexity and reveals and examines the nature of that complexity in your essay. Such insights are not implied but revealed and developed through good examples from the literature. Student’s paper thoroughly explores topic in all its complexity and includes some concrete examples from the literature. Student’s paper explores topic and includes a few concrete examples from the literature. Student’s paper lacks a thorough analysis of this subject. Statements are simplistic and not supported with concrete examples from the literature.
Analysis of current environmental conditions and public perceptions Student’s paper shows insight, exploring subject in all its complexity and reveals and examines the nature of that complexity in your essay. Such insights are not implied but revealed and developed through good examples from the literature. Student’s paper thoroughly explores topic in all its complexity and includes some concrete examples from the literature. Student’s paper explores topic and includes a few concrete examples from the literature. Student’s paper lacks a thorough analysis of this subject. Statements are simplistic and not supported with concrete examples from the literature.
Graphics, maps etc. Student’s visual aids explain and reinforce paper themes. Student occasionally uses visual aids that somewhat support paper themes. Student’s visual aids relate to the paper themes. Student uses superfluous visual aids or no visual aids.
Writing Style:
Organization, structure, tone,
Organization & structure very evident: major points divided into paragraphs and signaled by use of transitions. Each paragraph has a topic sentence; sentences within each paragraph relate to each other & are subordinate to the topic. Introduction & conclusion effectively related to the whole. Voice & tone are consistent & appropriate to the audience/purpose. Organization & structure clear. Most major points are separated into paragraphs and signaled by transitions. Paragraphs are built on related sentences that logically develop the main points. No major digressions. Introduction & conclusion effectively related to the whole. Voice & tone consistent & appropriate although somewhat generic or predictable in places. Organization & structure mostly clear. Many major points are separated into paragraphs and signaled by transitions. Most points are logically developed. There may be a few minor digressions but no major ones. Introduction & conclusion are somewhat effective. Voice & tone adequate to audience/purpose although often generic or predictable. The organization & structure must be inferred by the reader. Only some major points are set off by paragraphs and are signaled by transitions. There are some logically connected points. There may be some major digressions. Introduction and conclusion may be lacking or ineffective. Voice noticeably generic or inappropriate (e.g. first person narrative may predominate in an analysis assignment). Tone is often inappropriate.
Citation
**The grade in this section will be doubled** Source material is incorporated logically & insightfully. Sources are documented accurately. Exceeded the established minimum number of sources Source material incorporated logically. Sources documented accurately. Met the minimum number of sources. Source material incorporated adequately & usually documented accurately. Minimum number of sources met, though may not be of sufficient rigor. Source material incorporated but sometimes inappropriately or unclearly. Documentation is accurate only occasionally. Minimum number of sources not met.
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