Project 1: Local observations and global connections

Project 1: Local observations and global connections

Addresses course outcomes 1-3:

Interpret information about environmental concerns to identify behaviors that promote sustainable living

Effectively communicate information on natural resources, global climate change, and socioeconomic barriers to encourage others to adopt sustainable behaviors

Apply theories on the human behavioral change to overcome personal and social barriers to participation in sustainability efforts

This project develops the following course skills:

Critical thinking

Critical reading

Critical writing

Effective writing

For this first project, you will be making a local-global connection and thinking about human behavioral changes needed to minimize our environmental impact.

1. Take a look around you and identify one environmental concern in your locality. Explain why you think it is an environmental concern.

2. Find a recent article (less than four years old) from a reputable newspaper or magazine; a peer-reviewed article from an academic journal; or a podcast, broadcast, or other media presentation that discusses this concern, and summarize it. Make sure to reference your source so I may view it as well. If your reference source is not electronic, provide a copy of your source so I may read it.  Websites providing information about the issue cannot be used as the primary article, but I do encourage you to use other sources to explore the issue.

3. Take a preview of your Plan B textbook and identify at least one chapter that most closely relates to your local environmental concern. Explain how your local environmental concern relates to the global concern discussed in Plan B.

4. Identify one human behavior that has been a major contributor to the environmental issue you have identified. In one paragraph, explore the relationship between human behavior and the local environmental issue. What do you think can be done to change that human behavior? Is work to change this behavior already ongoing?

5. Cite all source materials in APA format. (Note that there is an excellent APA tutorial in the Course Content section of the classroom. Use it to refresh your knowledge of APA formatting and plagiarism.)

6. Format guidelines: Maximum of five pages in length, double-spaced, one-inch margins all around, 12-point Times New Roman or similar 12-point font.