Project #1: ENVIRONMENTAL CASE STUDIES - Individual Student Research and 15 MINUTE ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Be prepared to present your ORAL for the week of September 30. Look through the Hughes book and select a CASE STUDY that you wish to research. Claim your case study with a blog post below. (Example - "I will research New Orleans, Louisiana, and Hurricane Katrina."). "First Come, First Served." Once you select your CASE STUDY, research and then create a CASE STUDY blog post that addresses the 3 areas below. Be sure to use embedded photos, videos, and hyperlinks in your presentation - prepare enough material to hold forth for 10 minutes, with 5 minutes of discussion questions that you ask.

Historical case studies of the environment

Humans have altered the places they inhabit for as long as they have existed – in fact, all organisms do.  While human impact was more diffuse on a global scale before the present, there are many historical case studies of significant human-environment interaction where human population centers occurred.  History often presents the stories of note-worthy people; the case studies of Hughes’ text present the stories of noteworthy places. 

We will cover the historical case studies of Hughes’ text as individual student presentations throughout the semester. After being assigned to a chapter, you will select a case study from that chapter to present to the class.  Note that more than one student may be assigned to a chapter, in which case you will have to decide amongst yourselves who gets what case study to avoid any overlap. 

Your presentation should contain the following three components:

1.     A summary of the content of case study            

Provide us with an overview of what happened (important events, decisions, ecosystem characteristics, etc.).  This may require some additional outside research, as the case studies are only a couple pages in length.  Do not simply regurgitate the case study to the class.

2.     An analysis of the ethical questions that are raised by the case study

What role did ethics play in the events of the case study? Can you identify a particular ethical framework that we’ve studied that was employed in this place and time?  Are there connections between the events and ethics of this case study and those of the present day? 

3.     A class discussion of the case study and its implications

You will lead the class in a short discussion of the material and its broader implications.  A good way to initiate this discussion is by asking interesting and thought-provoking questions that your classmates will want to answer.  Avoid questions that are too specific (e.g. questions that quiz your classmates on content) or too broad (e.g. What do you think about X?).  Good questions challenge your classmates to investigate the greater meaning and context of the case study.  A helpful exercise is to ask yourself the question and evaluate whether your answers will lead in interesting directions.

Your presentation should be 15 minutes long and provide the class with a visual while you are speaking.  Powerpoint and Prezi are acceptable, but they must be used effectively!  Common pitfalls of these presentation tools (too much text, reading from slides, listing events) will result in point deductions.  A simple collection of few images, maps, and/or statements that provide you with talking points are best. More details to come.