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CHEMISTRY CURRENT EVENT/TECHNOLOGY ASSIGNMENT
Chem 100
Dr. Amy Hellman
Guidelines for Writing Assignment

The Chemistry Current Event/Technology Writing Assignment is due by 11:59 pm
on Sunday December 2nd. You will upload your writing assignment into Canvas.
It is worth 100 points (10% of your final grade). A late writing assignment will have
25% deducted for each calendar day it is late. It should be a minimum of 1000 words
(not including references!).
You pick the topic! Choose something that interests you, something that caught your
attention in class. It can even be a topic we didn’t cover in detail (or cover at all!) in
class. Almost every topic can have a chemistry connection, if you look hard enough!
Even non-scientific fields such as history or art make use of chemistry.
1) Find a science related current article about a subject that interests you, written
within the last three years. It can be a current event, social/political issue, or an
emerging technology related to chemistry.
• You may use a newspaper, a magazine, the internet. Below are some
suggestions of sites where you can find science news:
• Science News for Students: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/
• Science News: https://www.sciencenews.org/
• Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com/
• The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/section/science
• Popular Science: http://www.popsci.com/
• American Association for the Advancement of Science:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news
• There are many others! Also check the science section of your favorite
magazines and newspapers.
2) In addition to your news article, search the OCC digital library’s Periodicals and
Electronic Resources to find a peer reviewed scientific journal article related to
your topic. The peer reviewed scientific journal should be written in the last 5
years.
• http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/academics/library/Pages/Periodicalsand-Electronic-Resources.aspx
• Click on ‘Ebsco Power Search’ and choose your databases
• When searching for your topic, click ‘Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals’ to find a
journal article on your topic
• I recommend finding a review article on the topic as they are easier to read.
You can type in the term ‘review’ if you used ‘Advanced Search’
CHEMISTRY CURRENT EVENT/TECHNOLOGY ASSIGNMENT
Chem 100
Dr. Amy Hellman
Guidelines for Writing Assignment
3) Write a report that describes your topic: a current event, social/political issue,
drug/pharmaceutical, or an emerging technology related to chemistry. Guidelines
for your paper are as follows:
• Summarize the newly learned information from your two articles; do not use quotes
from the source. Include how your article relates to Chemistry. Write in your own
words!
• Give your thoughts/opinion on what you learned, including whether the peer
reviewed scientific journal article supported or contradicted what was discussed in
the news article:
o This should be a complete paragraph: a topic sentence, 2 or 3 supporting sentences
and a concluding sentence. This is NOT an extension of the summary, but rather a
place for you to provide your own insights and thoughts about what you read.
• Provide an APA or MLA formatted citation for both articles at the bottom of the
page.
o 2 sources minimum: your news article AND your peer-reviewed journal.
o You may have more than 2 sources, and your textbook can be one of them!
o Only 1 of your additional sources can be Wikipedia!
Here is how I suggest you format your paper:
• description of what the article news article is about.
• description about the findings/ information learned from the peer-reviewed journal
article source.
• description of the chemistry related to the articles.
• explanation why this topic/technology interests you
Grading Criteria (100 points total):
o Connection to Chemistry 30 pts
o Scientific Journal Reference 10 pts
o News Article Reference: 10 pts
o References Cited Correctly: 10 pts
o 1000 word minimum: 15 pts
o Organization & Analysis of topic 15 pts Are opinions supported by evidence? Is the paper
well organized and topic presented clearly? Did you write in your own words? (percent match
score from TurnItIn report MUST be less than 15%!)
o Opinion about what you learned: 10 pts Why did you choose this topic? Did the
reviewed scientific journal article support or contradict what you found in the news article?