Read through several recent scientific magazines/journals (paper or online versions of these sources are appropriate). The following are suggested sources:Science (https://www.sciencemag.org/)Discover (https://www.discovermagazine.com/)Nature (https://www.nature.com/)New Scientist (https://www.newscientist.com/)Geology (https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology)Scientific American (https://www.sciencemag.org/)Another starting point for student research is Science News for Students (Links to an external site.)Pick out articles that relate directly to topics covered within this Earth Science class (published within the last three years).Topics for the Current Event Essay might include: renewable/nonrenewable resources, energy resources, minerals, rocks, plate tectonics, earthquakes, earthquake prediction/forecasting/mitigation, Earth’s interior, volcanoes, volcanic eruption prediction/forecasting/mitigation, intraplate volcanism, deformation, faulting, mountain building, Isostacy, weathering & erosion, soil, soil conservation, landslides, surface water, groundwater, aquifers, flooding, deserts/desertification, glaciers, ice ages, geologic time, age of the Earth, relative age dating, radiometric age dating, extinction events, origin of Earth’s atmosphere, origin of Earth’s oceans, oceanic ridges, seafloor sediments, continental margins, deep ocean trenches, ocean waves/tides/currents, Earth’s seasons, greenhouse effect, ozone hole, albedo, humidity, clouds, precipitation, cloud seeding, fog, air pressure, wind, El Nino/La Nina, monsoons, air masses, weather fronts, thunderstorms, tornadoes, tornado prediction/forecasting/mitigation, hurricanes, hurricane prediction/forecasting/mitigation, sea level rise, ocean acidification, climate, or climate change. Explain why. Start by asking yourself these questions: Did they try and use the scientific method (Ch. 1)? Did they support the conclusions with facts? Did they provide the facts or a reference to them? If the answer is no to any of those basic questions, then it’s probably not good quality science, and you probably need to find at least 1 more supplemental article to add additional support to your essay.
