Marine Biology 180

How to Effectively Write a Fact-supported Essay

1. University standard. Write a 10-15 sentence, fact-supported, essay answer to your assigned weekly question(s).

2. How to determine your assigned weekly essay question(s)? You will be answering the “Study Guide Questions” (found under Course Content), for the assigned weekly textbook chapters listed in your Class and Assignment Schedule. These are excellent questions representing the most important concepts in our course. Therefore, if you cut-and-paste your classmates’ correct answers to these weekly questions, you will have created an excellent Study Guide (questions plus answers) for studying for your final exam. To determine your assigned question(s), go to the Navigation Bar, Roster, select the Students tab, alphabetize by student’s last name, then count down the list of students to your name. That number is your student number. You only need to check this number once each week, as students will drop the class, causing your number to change. Now, go to the last paragraph in this document and use your class Week number and your student number to determine your assigned essay question(s) to answer. Don’t be concerned that more than one student does the same question(s), as student numbers will change when students drop the course.

3. Mechanics a. Your discussion directions will direct you to submit your work by selecting Start a New Thread. Do not use attachments. b. After the week is over, the discussion is closed to further input so that we can move forward to the next week’s discussions. I will not respond to every discussion that is made, but will be following your submissions and responses, and interjecting when I feel it is appropriate. c. I will interact weekly with each student using a completed discussion grading rubric, so be sure to read them for my feedback. The last paragraph explains where to find them in LEO.

4. Expectations a. Your submission must be thorough, concise, positive, and in essay form using effective writing, with a length of one or two single-spaced paragraphs totaling 10-15 sentences (not including the question(s) or references). Question(s) should be in bold font. Answers should discuss the concept in DETAIL to show your understanding of the topic. If you need more scholarly information on your topic, consider an internet search or a second textbook. b. Your submission must be paraphrased (as explained in UMUC’s “How to Avoid Plagiarism” self-study module), i.e. written in your own words. Do not copy or cut-and-paste from any source. Do not use direct quotes. The reason I insist on this is because (1) student comprehension is significantly increased by paraphrasing instead of copying verbatim material, and (2) UMUC considers copying-and-pasting another author’s work to be plagiarism. Paraphrasing also allows me to identify, and subsequently correct, any misconceptions a student may have with the course material. I will not give credit to an input that gives little detail, or uses verbatim text from an internet site, our course materials, or other source. c. Use APA in-text and reference list citations, which are explained on UMUC’s APA Citation Examples web page, as well as in UMUC’s “How to Avoid Plagiarism” self-study module. Liberally use in-text citations to cite material which is not your own. Use our course materials as your primary reference. You may use other scholarly, peer-reviewed references in addition to our course materials. 1) If using an electronic textbook, use the provided physical textbook page numbers for your citations. 2) If you wish to add an internet reference, be sure to use a paragraph number in its in-text citation if the reference has no page number. The internet address should also be a “hot link” which allows the reader to click on it and be taken directly to the page where you found the information. 3) Use only scholarly references, dated no older than 10 years. Do not use dictionary references. Do not cite commercial web sites (URL ending in “.com”) since they are not scholarly (i.e. peer-reviewed). d. I will evaluate effective writing based on the Maryland Statewide English Composition standard for undergraduate writing which states that writing should be “substantially free of errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and mechanics” to earn a “C” grade. e. I will grade your first submission of that week; therefore, submit only final, not draft, versions of your work. For effective writing assistance, you may wish to have UMUC’s Effective Writing Center review your work before submission. f. No late submissions are accepted. Before the deadline, use the “Edit” function to correct errors that I bring to your attention.

5. Discussion example with errors. To read error comments, you will need to use Microsoft Word and select View => Print Layout. Paragraph 5 provides a corrected version.

Discussion subject line: Jones Comment by Dennis Whitford: Missing question number

2. Differentiate between marine biology, biological oceanography, and oceanography. Comment by Dennis Whitford: Did not bold question number and question

Marine biology is closely related to both oceanography and biological oceanography, a subset of oceanography. (Castro & Huber, 2013, p. 2) If you were studying marine organisms, and how they interact with their environment and other marine organisms, you would be studying marine biology (Begin et al., 2014, p. 2). However, if you were studying the ocean from the perspective of one, or many, natural sciences, such as biology, geology, etc., you would be studying oceanography (Begin, Wurzbacher, & Cucknell, 2014, p. 2). Comment by Dennis Whitford: End-of-sentence punctuation comes after the in-text citation Comment by Denny Whitford: Format: first use in a paragraph of a multi-author reference must use all author’s names. Comment by Denny Whitford: 2nd and subsequent use in a paragraph of multi-author ref can use all authors or use the shortened “et al.” version.

Castro & Huber (2013) explain that marine biology is the study of biology applied to the sea, and that scientific study of the ocean is oceanography (p.2). Oceanography, being a broad area of study, are split into many branches, including biological oceanography (Castro & Huber, 2013, p. 2). Often, marine biology and biological oceanography are hard to set apart from each other. However, there are a few dissimilarities that can be pointed out. Castro & Huber (2013) explain that marine biologists focus their examination to marine organisms which live closer to the shoreline (and sometimes on terrestrial organisms), while biological oceanographers spend their attention on organisms in the deep, open ocean (p. 2). Meteorologists study the weather and climate. Marine biologists focus their attention on the roles and life cycles of the organsm, while biological oceanographers focus their attention on the effects of the organism on the ocean as a whole (Castro & Huber, p. 2). More specifically, marine biologists show interest in the reproduction, physiology, or biochemistry specific to the marine organism which they are studying (Marine Biology & Biological Oceanography, 2010, para. 1). On the other hand, biological oceanographers focus on the ecological effects of the organisms they study; especially taking into account the different physical characteristics of the ocean environment they live in (Marine Biology & Biological Oceanography, 2010). However, these distinctions are not very easy to draw, and there are many exceptions, meaning that some scientists consider these two branches to be the same (Castro & Huber, 2013, p. 2). Comment by Dennis Whitford: Missing blank space Comment by Dennis Whitford: Ineffective writing (grammar) Comment by Dennis Whitford: Irrelevant statement Comment by Dennis Whitford: Ineffective writing (spelling) Comment by Dennis Whitford: Missing year

References:

Bégin, C., Wurzbacher, J., & Cucknell, M. (2014). BIOL 181: Life in the oceans – Lecture notes. Posted in University of Maryland University College (UMUC) BIOL 181 online classroom, archived at UMUC, Adelphi MD.

Castro, P., & Huber, M. E. (2013). Marine Biology (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education Comment by Dennis Whitford: Incorrect capitalization and missing italics Comment by Dennis Whitford: Missing ending period

(2010). Marine Biology & Biological Oceanography. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/eemb/programs/graduate/research/marine_biology/marine_biology.html . Comment by Dennis Whitford: Incorrect reference list citation format for an Internet citation Comment by Dennis Whitford: Missing hyperlink

Errors Not shown:

Essay did not answer question that was asked

Verbatim copying of any material from textbook or another source

Failure to use any in-text citations Use of quotations rather than mandatory paraphrasing

 

5. Same discussion example, with all errors corrected. This submission scores 100%.

Discussion subject line: Jones, Question #2

2. Differentiate between marine biology, biological oceanography, and oceanography.

Marine biology is closely related to both oceanography and biological oceanography, a subset of oceanography (Castro & Huber, 2013, p. 2). If you were studying marine organisms, and how they interact with their environment and other marine organisms, you would be studying marine biology (Begin, Wurzbacher, & Cucknell, 2014, p. 2). However, if you were studying the ocean from the perspective of one, or many, natural sciences, such as biology, geology, etc., you would be studying oceanography (Begin et al., 2014, p. 2).

Castro & Huber (2013) explain that marine biology is the study of biology applied to the sea, and that scientific study of the ocean is oceanography (p. 2). Oceanography, being a broad area of study, is split into many branches, including biological oceanography (Castro & Huber, 2013, p. 2). Often, marine biology and biological oceanography are hard to set apart from each other. However, there are a few dissimilarities that can be pointed out. Castro & Huber (2013) explain that marine biologists focus their examination to marine organisms which live closer to the shoreline (and sometimes on terrestrial organisms), while biological oceanographers spend their attention on organisms in the deep, open ocean (p. 2). Marine biologists focus their attention on the roles and life cycles of the organism, while biological oceanographers focus their attention on the effects of the organism on the ocean as a whole (Castro & Huber, 2013, p. 2). More specifically, marine biologists show interest in the reproduction, physiology, or biochemistry specific to the marine organism which they are studying (UCSB, 2010, para. 1). On the other hand, biological oceanographers focus on the ecological effects of the organisms they study; especially taking into account the different physical characteristics of the ocean environment they live in (UCSB, 2010, para. 1). However, these distinctions are not very easy to draw, and there are many exceptions, meaning that some scientists consider these two branches to be the same (Castro & Huber, 2013, p. 2).

References:

Bégin, C., Wurzbacher, J., & Cucknell, M. (2014). BIOL 181: Life in the oceans – Lecture notes. Posted in University of Maryland University College (UMUC) BIOL 181 online classroom, archived at UMUC, Adelphi MD.

Castro, P., & Huber, M. E. (2013). Marine biology (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

UCSB (2010). Marine biology & biological oceanography. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/eemb/programs/graduate/research/marine_biology/marine_biology.html

6. If you are assigned more than one question, divide your submission into smaller parts:

Question A

Answer A

Question B

Answer B

Question C

Answer C

Note the 10-15 sentence requirement applies to your entire submission, and not to each of the multiple questions.

 

7. Your discussion grading rubric template is provided in LEO with the discussion directions. After the discussion due date, you can read the completed (1) rubric feedback and score and (2) grade feedback by going to: My Tools, User Progress.

 

8. Now, go to the tables below and use your student number and class Week number to determine your assigned essay question(s) to answer. Don’t be concerned that more than one student does the same question, as student numbers may change in the middle of a week.

 

 

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2

 

BIOL 181 Week 1BIOL 181 Week 3

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

1111225231116112732384

2121326241226213742485

3131427251336314752586

4141528261446415762687

5151629271556516772788

61617210281666617782861

71718211291776718792962

821192123021868197103063

92220213312296920813164

1023212143223107121823265

1124222153324117222833366

BIOL 181 Week 4BIOL 181 Week 5

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

191129122311211211213123141

292131012411321221313224142

393141022511431231413325143

494151032611541241513426144

59516104279151251613527145

69617105289261261713628146

79718106299371271813729147

89819107309481281913830148

99920108319591292013931149

10910211093296101210211310321410

11911221113397111211221311331411

BIOL 181 Week 6 (if SG questions are assigned)BIOL 181 Week 7 (if SG questions are assigned)

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

Student

chques

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

#

##

11511215122317311811219423206

2152131612417421821319524207

3153141622517531831419625208

4154151632617641841519726209

5155161642717751851619827211

6156171652817861861719928212

7157181662917971871820129213

81581916730171081881920230214

9159201683115191912020331215

1015102117132152101922120432216

1115112217233153111932220533217

 
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