Topic:

Human-caused global climate change is the biggest environmental challenge we are faced with today. Your aunt is a climate skeptic and you have decided to use your understanding of science to explain to her why the earth’s climate is changing, describe the major biological effects of climate change, and discuss how technology can be a solution to this problem.

Briefly describe the greenhouse effect and how carbon dioxide is a natural part of the carbon cycle.

How is the use of fossil fuels disrupting the carbon cycle and enhancing the greenhouse effect? You may want to look ahead to the Week 7 readings for this information.

What are the major ecological effects associated with climate change? Describe at least two specific examples.

What are the human health concerns associated with climate change? Describe at least two specific examples.

And finally, what can we do to reduce our impact on the climate through technological innovation? Include a descriiption of at least two technological solutions.

recognize and explain how the scientific method is used to solve problems

make observations and discriminate between scientific and pseudoscientific explanations

weigh evidence and make decisions based on strengths and limitations of scientific knowledge and the scientific method

use knowledge of biological principles, the scientific method, and appropriate technologies to ask relevant questions, develop hypotheses, design and conduct experiments, interpret results, and draw conclusions

Write a paper about your chosen topic – selected in Step 1.

Your paper should consist of a title page, introduction, several paragraphs addressing the questions for your chosen topic, conclusion, and references.

The outline you wrote in Step 1 should be your starting point, but you can make edits to the topics and details you include, and the organization of the content. Take advantage of any feedback received.

Your paper should be 750-1500 words, excluding references and the title page.

Use a minimum of three (3) reliable information sources. These can be different from the resources that you found in step 1 of this assignment.

The majority of your paper should be written in your own words, in your own writing style and structure, and fully paraphrasing information from the selected information sources (just changing a few words in a sentence is not enough). Your paper should consist of less than 10% direct quotes. Quotation marks must be used at the start and end of a direct quote, followed by an in-text citation. When paraphrasing, you should also use text citations to acknowledge the source.

A list of references in APA format should be included at the end.