Locate a minimum of two reliable sources (ie. not someone’s personal blog or Wikipedia, but they may

be good places to start) that contain information pertinent to your topic. You should have one source

that supports one side of the argument and another source that supports the other side. You may use

more than two sources.

Paper Source Evaluations (10 points: 5 points each)

Locate a minimum of two reliable sources (ie. not someone’s personal blog or Wikipedia, but they may

be good places to start) that contain information pertinent to your topic. You should have one source

that supports one side of the argument and another source that supports the other side. You may use

more than two sources.

For two of your sources, complete the “Worksheet for Source Evaluation” on Blackboard. You will need to complete a sheet for each source used.

Research Paper (60 points)___________________________________________________________________

Write a 2 page essay that analyzes your controversial environmental issue (two FULL pages, it can

continue to a third page as needed. No more than three pages.).

Your essay should include the following:

o An overview of the environmental controversy and both sides of the issue

o An identification of the stakeholders in this controversy (what is “each side”?) or an

identification of the pros/cons of the topic

o Supporting arguments of your opinion based on the information found in your references

Your essay should be written in your own words. Do not directly quote anything! Paraphrase

material from your references and then cite the material using APA formatting. Failure to cite

reference material constitutes plagiarism and will result in receiving a zero for the assignment.

Do not use “I/we/us/you” in your paper. This is about facts. However, for the paragraph or two about

your opinion of the issue/solution, you can use “I” such as “I think…”

Include a separate references page of the sources used

Use the grading rubric included to see how your essay will be graded.

Formatting

Use the following guidelines for writing this paper. For anything written in this course, you should follow the

same guidelines:

Do not include a cover page.

The entire paper, including the references, should be double spaced (use the paragraph formatting, do

not manually double-space it).

1 inch margins (standard)

Use Calibri size 11 font

At the start of your paper, write the following information single spaced on the left hand side (do not

put this in the ‘header’)

Your Name

Instructor Name

Course Name

Due date

On the next line, create a title that is centered and in the same font style as the rest of the paper. The

title should be succinct about your topic and only use one line of text. Enter in a space below the title

and begin writing your paper (which from here is now double-spaced)

Do not use headers for any section of the paper

Grading Rubric – Research Paper of a Controversial Environmental Issue (60 points)