ENV 101 Final Project Guidance Draft Scaffold A. INTRODUCTION Why is this topic/question one that you wanted to ask? Why is it important that we learn more about this topic/question? My research question(s) is/are… B. LITERATURE REVIEW: What do we already know about this topic? Topic 1: Topic 2: Topic 3: Topic 4: Topic 5: C. METHOD How are you collecting original data/information? Why is that method the right one for the question you are asking? Who are your participants? How do you have access to your participants? What questions are you asking them? OR In what ways are you modifying a behavior? D. RESULTS If you have some results already what are they? If you don’t have results already, consider your questions or your actions, what do you expect to see? How do you plan on displaying your results? (This might be a table, if you have multiple participants, it might be a written paragraph for each question that you ask, it might be a log of your behavior modification, day by day) E. ANALYSIS AND INSIGHTS What did your literature review tell you in answer to the research question that you asked? What did your original data collection tell you in answer to your research question? Did your original data collection support or correspond with what you found in your literature review? What did you find challenging about you behavior modification, if that is what you did? How did your survey/interview participants struggle with the questions that you asked, if that was your method of data collection? ENV 101 Introduction to Environmental Science FINAL PROJECT The learning objectives for this class are the following: -understand the basic environmental processes that shape the natural world around them. -evaluate the reciprocal relationship between human and environmental systems. -consider environmental problems from both a global and a local perspective. -understand the impact of human decisions on the natural environment (both positive and negative). -understand some of the ways in which scientists gather information, as well as, analyze and communicate their findings. Everything we did in class was aimed at improved your understanding and skill related to these learning objectives. I don’t want you all to leave as scientists, but I want you to be able to navigate scientific information related to environmental issues with some understanding and ability to take it apart and use it to make well-informed decisions. The final project is designed to give you the opportunity to reflect the improvement in your understanding and skill and to consider your relationship to the environment. For this project, you will select a behavior that you engage in, that has an impact on the environment. This behavior will be the foundation of a research question that investigate and use to inform your perspective on this particular environmental beha ...

1. ENV 101
Final Project Guidance
Draft Scaffold
A. INTRODUCTION
Why is this topic/question one that you wanted to ask?
Why is it important that we learn more about this
topic/question?
My research question(s) is/are…
B. LITERATURE REVIEW:
What do we already know about this topic?
Topic 1:

2. Topic 2:
Topic 3:
Topic 4:
Topic 5:
C. METHOD
How are you collecting original data/information?
Why is that method the right one for the question you are
asking?
Who are your participants?
How do you have access to your participants?
What questions are you asking them? OR In what ways are you
modifying a behavior?

3. D. RESULTS
If you have some results already what are they?
If you don’t have results already, consider your questions or
your actions, what do you expect to see?
How do you plan on displaying your results? (This might be a
table, if you have multiple participants, it might be a written
paragraph for each question that you ask, it might be a log of
your behavior modification, day by day)

4. E. ANALYSIS AND INSIGHTS
What did your literature review tell you in answer to the
research question that you asked?
What did your original data collection tell you in answer to your
research question?
Did your original data collection support or correspond with
what you found in your literature review?

5. What did you find challenging about you behavior modification,
if that is what you did? How did your survey/interview
participants struggle with the questions that you asked, if that
was your method of data collection?
ENV 101
Introduction to Environmental Science
FINAL PROJECT
The learning objectives for this class are the following:
-understand the basic environmental processes that shape the
natural world around them.
-evaluate the reciprocal relationship between human and
environmental systems.
-consider environmental problems from both a global and a
local perspective.
-understand the impact of human decisions on the natural
environment (both positive and negative).
-understand some of the ways in which scientists gather
information, as well as, analyze and communicate their
findings.
Everything we did in class was aimed at improved your
understanding and skill related to these learning objectives. I
don’t want you all to leave as scientists, but I want you to be
able to navigate scientific information related to environmental
issues with some understanding and ability to take it apart and
use it to make well-informed decisions.

6. The final project is designed to give you the opportunity to
reflect the improvement in your understanding and skill and to
consider your relationship to the environment. For this project,
you will select a behavior that you engage in, that has an impact
on the environment. This behavior will be the foundation of a
research question that investigate and use to inform your
perspective on this particular environmental behavior. The
guidance below will describe the project and the remaining
class time that we have together will be used to work towards
its completion.
Step 1: Develop a research question about your behavior that
can be researched in two ways.
1. You should be able to research the question using existing
literature.
2. You should also be able to research the question by
experiment or survey.
Step 2: Review and report on the existing literature related to
your question. The purpose of this step is to inform your
understanding of what is already known about the impact the
action in your research question and related impacts. The
resources you use to inform your understanding may include
class resources, like videos, PowerPoints, class notes, your text
book, etc. It should also include outside resources that you find
on your own. You should have 5 resources, that you will cite, to
inform your understanding of your topic.
Step 3: Conduct your own data gathering. You may choose one
of the following ways to gather data to help you better
understand your topic:
1. Conduct surveys/interviews to elicit the perspectives of
others on the behavior you are investigating. You may choose
this option if your aim is to know more about how people feel
about, how many people engage in, or what obstacles people

7. perceive to improving the behavior you are investigating. You
will interview/survey no fewer than 5 people and I have to
approve the interview guide prior to interviews taking place.
2. Engage in a behavior change related to your topic for no
fewer than five days. You may choose this option if your aim is
to understand the impact of a change in behavior you might
engage in or if you want to better understand your own
perspective and obstacles related to the behavior. I will approve
your behavior change plan and data table prior to
implementation.
3. Interview and expert in Las Vegas. You may choose this
option if your aim is to better understand the local perspective
on a global problem. Your interview should be in depth and I
will approve an interview guide prior to the interview.
Step 4: Data analysis and write up. For this step you will
consider the information you gathered; what is already known
and the new things you found out from your own investigation.
How do they compare? What were the insights? How does this
information add to your ideas about the behavior you selected
and the relationship it creates between human beings and the
environment?
The outcome of your research will result in a paper that will
meet the following requirements:
1. Your essay should be at least 5 pages double-spaced.
2. You should use at least 5 resources to support your essay.
This may seem like a lot, but remember, these might be things
we have looked at in class, as well as new resources.
3. You must include a reference list and cite your references
when you use them in text. I am not a stickler for format, but I
want to see where you are using your references.
4. Your paper should include the following sections:
a. Introduction with research questions: What are your research
questions and why are you asking them?

8. b. Literature review
c. Method of data collection: What did you do and how did you
do it?
d. Results of data collection
e. Analysis and insights
I will post a rubric later, but this is enough to get you started.
Good luck and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Essays are to be submitted no later than Thursday, May 14th, at
midnight.
Schedule for the remaining days:
11/23 or 11/24
Introduction of final project and class work time; take time to
research resources to use for your project.
GOAL: DEVELOP RESEARCH QUESTIONS BY END OF
CLASS
11/25 or 11/26
THANKSGIVING BREAK
GOAL: GATHER RESOURCES AND DEVELOP OUTLINE OF
LITERATURE REVIEW
11/30 or 12/1
Come to class with outline of literature review and a draft of the
survey, interview guide, or behavior modification guide you
will use.
GOAL: REVISED VERSION OF SURVEY, INTERVIEW
GUIDE, OR BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION GUIDE.
12/2 or 12/3
WORK TIME

9. GOAL: TO LEAVE CLASS WITH A CLEAR PLAN OF THE
THINGS THAT NEED TO BE FINISHED OVER YOUR LAST
WORK WEEKEND
12/7 or 12/8
Come to class with a draft or well-developed outline of your
paper.
FINAL PROJECT DUE ONLINE: THURSDAY, 12/9 or 12/10 at
midnight
ENV 101
Final Essay Evaluation Rubric
Scale for each category: Exemplar = 5, Quality = 4, Addressed
Prompt = 3, Underdeveloped = 2, Limited = 1, Not Present = 0
(0.5 values are acceptable)
Possible points
Class Participation
Research questions developed with and approved by instructor
5
Literature review outline presented to instructor for review in
class
5
Data collection method reviewed by instructor in class
5
First draft of paper outline shared with instructor in class for
feedback
5

10. Format
Paper is at least 5 pages double spaced (this category is scored a
5 or a 0)
5
Student references at least 5 outside resources that are included
on a reference list. (this category is scored a 5 or a 0)
5
Students cites references where they are used in text (this
category is scored a 5 or a 0)
5
Final paper contains subsections described in project
description (Introduction with Research Questions, Literature
Review, Method of Data Collection, Results, Analysis and
Conclusion)
5
Content
Introduction describes why the researcher wants to research
these research questions: Why is it important? Research
question(s) are stated in introduction
5
Literature review describes what is already known about the
problem being research and is aligned with research question(s).
5
Method described which method of data collection was chosen
(behavior modification, survey/interview, expert interview)
Method is aligned to research question(s).
5
Results report the important findings from the data collection
and helps answer the research question(s).
5

11. Analysis section uses the data to answer the research
question(s). Analysis describes insights researcher came to
about the environmental issue they are studying. Analysis
should also discuss how the data collected and analyzed adds
something to what we already know (which is what the
researcher learned in the literature review). The conclusion
should describe any questions that came out of the analysis and
what the research learned about the problem overall.
5
Overall Totals=
/70