Environmental and ecological issues are often newsworthy, especially in south Florida. Each of you will identify an ecological issue from the popular press (newspapers, news magazines, television news; not scientific journals) and follow that issue. You will make a scrap book of the articles pertaining to your topic, and you will write an essay exploring how ecological concepts, as discussed in class or in the scientific literature, can be used to better understand the issue.

Scrap book details: Each article you find will be mounted on loose-leaf paper and put in a 3-ring binder. Include the proper citation details for each article. Begin the scrapbook with a title page and a table of contents.

Essay details: Your essay will be no more than 5 pages long, excluding literature cited and figures (double spaced, 1" margins, 12 point type). It will be written in standard English, and will be succinct, insightful, and scientifically rigorous. You will properly cite any scientific literature that you use in your analysis.

Due Dates: October 10: You will turn in a 1-page report defining the topic you have chosen and give me a progress report, including the number of articles you have found so far and the sources for those articles. December 5: Scrap books and essays are due. NO LATE PROJECTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.