Science in the Media Essay Assignment

Science in the Media Essay Assignment

Objectives: Identify science articles in popular media; Find the primary science source behind a popular-media article; Summarize the science presented in the primary scientific article; Evaluate the accuracy of a media article Compare the presentation styles of popular-media and primary scientific articles. Themes: Strong structure, thesis statement, and persuasive writing. There is no recipe for this assignment, and as such it is a good warm-up for the capstone research paper. This assignment is designed to develop your sense of how science is communicated to the public. You need to find a

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This assignment is designed to develop your sense of how science is communicated to the public. You need to find a popular-media article on a science story of some kind, and then track it back to the original primary article. Sources such as New Scientist, Science Daily, and Cosmos magazine, as well as an increasing number of newspapers often give direct references to the original work; otherwise they will say where the primary article was published and give the names of one or more authors. Generally the news stories appear within a week of the primary article being published, which helps you to narrow down the dates. Your essay can be on any topic of interest to you (geoscience is great, but other science topics are fine too), as long as you can track it back to the original primary science article. Topics could be anything from “What killed Tutenkhamen?” to “How wearing shoes changes the way you run,” to “Taking dinosaurs’ temperature.” It does not matter if the journalist wrote the press article based on summarizing the primary science article or based on an interview with the researcher. You are comparing the two sources. Format: Times New Roman 12 point font, 550-650 words, double spaced (this will be about 2 pages). Your name and the title at the top of the first page.

You are comparing the two sources. Format: Times New Roman 12 point font, 550-650 words, double spaced (this will be about 2 pages). Your name and the title at the top of the first page. Title can be the title of the media article or a title of your own choosing. On a page following your essay provide full citations to both articles. Structure: There is no “recipe” for this assignment. Your essay should be structured to inform and persuade. It should state and support a clear and interesting thesis, and it should contain the following elements: (1) Summarize the science presented in the press article you selected in your own words. If you have found a very short press article, include more information from the primary science article. The aim of this part of the task is to assess whether you have understood the article and whether you are able to summarize information in your own words. (2) Evaluate the accuracy and scope of the material presented in the press article, relative to the primary science article, considering the following: – What is the scope of each article (what information is covered? what detail and complexity is included?) – What is the focus of information in each article (are different detailes emphasized in the two articles? – Has the language been changed to suit each audience? – What is the aim of each article? (e.g., the primary science article aims to present information to other scientists, the popular press article may be using the information to promote something…) A few examples: If you look at the discovery of a new human species story (Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119101034.htm), think about what aspects are of interest to the public. The public is not going to be enthralled by the hundreds of tiny measurements that the scientists made. The audience needs context. Consider why the journal article uses the term ‘hobbit’ rather than the scientific name. If you look at a health related story, how are the details simplified for the general public. Medical/scientific papers generally use detailed statistics and complex terminology. Consider why these do not appear in the general press. If you look at a story related to the environment, does the press article link the scientific article to a bigger issue? For instance, take an article researching some aspect of water. The press article might link the study to ‘drought’ because drought is a major social, human concern. But when you go back to the original article, the focus may not be on drought at all. There may be implications for drought (which are mentioned in the discussion of the paper), but that may not have been the focus of the scientific research. Grading Rubric Science Summary (context, aim, method, results, conclusions) 6 Critical comparison of science (accuracy, scope, focus, etc.) 6 Style comparison of the two articles (language, tone, audience, images, etc.) 4 Thesis statement, argument supported by overall structure 8 Mechanics, language 4 Format guidelines followed, full citations provided. 2 Total 30 Suggestions for getting started – Select a media article online. – Find the primary science article. – Take notes for summary and for article comparison. – Form an opinion. Turn this into a strong thesis statement. – Outline the sub-points that support your thesis (these are your topic sentences, or mini-thesis statements). Arrange evidence and examples. Revise structure until you could talk from your outline to effectively convince the class to accept your opinion. – Write the paper, following formatting guidelines. Revise. Revise. Revise. Make sure your paper matches your thesis and the structure helps you argue it.

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