Step 1: Pick a natural disaster! A specific disaster. Think individual events - tornados, hurricanes, winds, volcanos, floods, tsunamis, landslides, etc. As the class is small enough, two or more people cannot do projects on the same theme. Project topics will be accepted on a first come-first served basis. Thus, as soon as you have a couple of topics, see me asap. It would be wise to have alternates, as your first choices may already have been taken. Project topics MUST be approved by me.
Step 2: Surf the web (go forth and learn). It will help if you bookmark (add to favorites) your sites and take notes while searching. Note - you are more than welcome to use sources other than the web!
Step 3: Write things up.
Format: 3 - pages of text - EXCLUDING title information, figures, charts, graphs, references, etc. Times New Roman (or similar) font, 12 point, double spaced, 1 inch margins. Correct English is assumed - if you need help, see the Academic Skills Center for assistance.
Content: This will vary depending upon your topic. However, I'm generally interested in 1) a description of the event and 2) a description/evaluation of it's impacts. Note - these impacts could be physical, cultural, economic, etc.
References: Be sure to reference the websites from which you garner information. Visit this site: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html for more info regarding citing websites. Be sure to note which style you used (Chicago, MLA, or APA).
Special warning: Remember (or go learn) the basic academic rules about plagerism. These rules apply to websites, too, so be sure to restate what you learn in your own words. Also, remember netiquette - if you haven't been exposed to this, go here.
This will be worth 8% of your final grade. It is due on Wednesday, August 4. I do NOT want hardcopy - email your assignments to me in MS Word format.