Water Use for Fracking Oil Resembles Use

The goal of the paper assignment is to assess your ability to read, synthesize, and interpret original scientific articles related to the environmental impacts of energy acquisition and consumption. An original scientific article is a peer-reviewed report of research activity written by the scientists that performed the research. In other words, original scientific articles are primary sources of information, containing original data, analytical results, and interpretations. Successfully synthesizing and interpreting an original scientific article on energy and environmental issues will demonstrate an increase in your scientific literacy on these topics.

The assignment will require you to choose one original scientific article from a library of articles posted on Canvas. The articles in the library cover different topics and are accompanied by a summary article published as either a press release or a popular media article. These summary articles will help you understand the original scientific work and choose the article that is the most interesting to you.

Once you have chosen an original scientific article, use the following guidelines to prepare your paper submission.

Your paper should cover the following components:

Clearly describe the hypothesis or question addressed in the scientific article in your own words.

Summarize the methods, results, and interpretation of those results of the authors of the scientific article.

State the significance of the discovery or scientific study – More than what and when, why is the result of the scientific study important in understanding the environmental impacts of energy acquisition and consumption?

Evaluate the claims of the author(s) – Which of the authors’ claims/interpretations do you find to be the most or least convincing? Why or why not? Be specific here. It’s the thought process that counts, not whether or not I agree with you. Feel free to incorporate additional scientific articles to support your argument.*