biomes

Posted: December 11th, 2013

This research paper will focus on one of the following ecological biomes found on Earth. You are to choose one of the biomes from the list below and write a research paper concerning the characteristics of your chosen biome (normal plant/animal life, temperature, rainfall, etc.) and you must address at least one environmental challenge that your chosen biome is facing. Biomes are introduced on pages 623-625 of your textbook.
For the environmental challenge, you must be specific. For instance, rather than stating pollution is challenging the biome you must state what specific type of pollution and the source of the pollution.
You must also include at least one animal or plant species whose survival is threatened by the environmental challenge and what, if any, conservation efforts are being made to save that particular biome. You should suggest some conservation methods if there are none currently underway.
Remember, this is to be a biology research paper. You are to objectively research the biome you have chosen and choose research materials that provide information only and leave out any social or political viewpoints. Please refrain from adding personal details (a research paper should never refer to yourself in the paper and you should never use any phrase like “I feel” “I found”, “I researched”, et cetera. Your research paper should also stay away from opinions and social issues if at all possible; simply research the science behind your topic.
BIOME LIST:
Coral Reef
Ocean
Wetlands
Desert
Prairie (Temperate Grassland)
Tundra
Tropical Forest
Savanna
Polar Ice
You will need AT LEAST THREE RESOURCES/REFERENCES to get full credit for this paper. You can use more than one of each reference listed below, but you must have at least one of each.
1. A Reference Book (this should be your secondary source and you cannot use your textbook)
2. A Current Journal (primary source) located using the databases in the library (the library staff can help you). You can find journals online as well or can search journals at any reference type library you have access to. There are several ecology and environmental themed journals in publication today so you should not have any trouble finding one.
3. ONE webpage reference. Be careful with webpage choices. Anything that ends in .org is likely to be more reliable than a .com.
All references must be properly used and referenced in your essay and included in a BIBLIOGRAPHY at the end of the essay. Any quotes you take from a resource/reference, either directly in quotations or by paraphrasing, need to have credit given to the original author. Copying directly from books, articles, the internet or your colleagues work is considering plagiarism and is the equivalent of cheating. This academic misconduct is unacceptable and well be dealt with as clearly states in the Cameron Student Handbook, Code of Student Conduct, Section 5.07 Academic Offenses. Your textbook CANNOT be used as the only book reference for your essay.
Structure
• The paper must include a separate title page and a bibliography (these pages do not count towards the length of your paper)
• Times New Roman is the font, 12 point type size, traditional MLA format
• Standard 1 inch margins
• Double spaced
• Maximum of 4 pages (not counting the title page and bibliography)