Science and Society Journal 2
For each project, you will be given a news story (Links to an external site.) and a scientific journal article (Links to an external site.)that goes with it, posted to Canvas by the instructor. Each of these journal articles will have been published in a reputable online magazine, newspaper, or journal. The news story may or may not be.
You will then write a short essay, 1-2 pages in length, detailing the parts of the scientific method discussed in your article and comparing that information to what was reported in the news story. Each entry will be written in a logical and professional manner.
Entry Content
You will be graded on the following content that combines information you obtain from both the news story and the scientific article:
Introduction: This section identifies the subject of the scientific study. You will also identify the problem or observation that spurred the research. Is this problem or observation the same that is presented in the news story? If they differ, how so? You will then transition into the body of the journal.
Body: In this section, you will identify the hypothesis the scientist was testing. Remember that a hypothesis is a testable educated guess. Thus, it is not appropriate to pose a question here. However, while reading your articles, it can be helpful to ask yourself what explanation scientists tried to use to explain their initial observation. Does the news article report the scientists’ hypothesis? Then, transition into the next section of the body.
Here, you will identify the test or experiment that was performed to address the hypothesis. You can be detailed here. It may be helpful to pull from other sources if you do not fully understand how the experiment was conducted. Does the news article discuss any of the methods that were used by the scientists? Did they explain it correctly? Is the information the same, or did they leave something out? After detailing how the experiment was done compared to how it reported in the media, you will transition into a discussion of the results.
In this section of your entry, you will identify the experimental results that the scientists obtained. What did the scientists find after doing their experiment? Did the news article report the same results? Did they leave anything out or add anything compared to the scientific article? Again, you can be detailed here. After detailing the results, you will transition into the conclusion sections.
Here you will identify the conclusion of the study. In this part, you may address one or more of the following questions: What were the new finding of this study? Were these findings the same that was reported by the news? Did the news interpret the scientists’ conclusions correctly? How were the findings explained by both sources? Finally you will transition into your conclusion section.
Conclusion: Here you will signal the end of your entry. In this section you will discuss whether or not the news story was a representative reporting of the scientific study. Did the news change anything or leave out something important from the scientific study? Summarize the important content from your entry, then you will end with a definitive final statement.
Constructing your journal entry
In addition to the criteria above, you will be graded on the quality of your writing; write with proper grammar, punctuation, and style.
All sources (including the original 2 articles) should be properly documented. You must include an APA style reference page.
