Writing About the AtmosphereA Guide to Writing in Science A-30, Fall 2006IntroductionWriting for Science A-30: OverviewWriting About the Atmosphere A Guide to Writing in Science A-30, Fall 2006 Introduction by Professor Steven C. Wofsy Science A-30 introduces you to the physical, chemical, and biological processes that regulate the earth’s climate and atmospheric composition. The course also addresses global atmospheric changes produced by humans, now major contributors to the earth system. Many of the atmospheric phenomena that we will study – global climate change, the deterioration of the ozone layer, air pollution, hurricanes and acid rain – are caused to varying degrees by human activity, sometimes well-understood, sometimes not. These phenomena have far-reaching economic, social, and political implications. A crucial purpose of Science A-30 is for you to gain a background in the science of the atmosphere in order to assess possible consequences of human activity on our environment and ourselves. The course has two major components: applications of fundamental laws of physics to atmospheric phenomena, and writing assignments using your knowledge of basic science to dissect scientific articles and to analyze environmental issues. • Lectures and homework emphasize physical and chemical principles and analysis of the quantitative observations on which science rests. Quantitation is the essence of science and the foundation for Science A-30. • Writing represents a key component in every area of scientific inquiry, but is especially important for a course in which science, social issues, and policy intersect. Scientists write for a variety of reasons: to record and interpret data and explain methods (the lab report), to share information with other scientists (the scientific article), to communicate with the public (the Op-Ed essay or article in the popular science press), to explain concepts to students (the textbook), and to raise funds for research (the grant proposal). The writing you do in Science A-30 will help you distinguish between scientific fact and unproven hypotheses, and see economic, social, and political arguments as distinct from scientific evidence, and evidence as distinct from scientific claims. It is my hope that you will develop critical skills that will be life-long assets for scientific and policy literacy, useful to anyone intent on living as a responsible world citizen in today’s changing global environment. iWriting for Science A-30: Overview by Cassandra Volpe Horii & Allison Dunn The sequence of writing assignments in Science A-30 gives you a chance to delve into a specific scientific issue related to a major atmospheric environmental problem. In a series of assignments leading up to a term paper, you will uncover underlying science of your issue, follow the debate over the interpretation of scientific uncertainties, and determine the social and political implications. These assignments take you through the process of writing the term paper step-by-step, following the same path as any scientist or policy analyst reviewing the current state of knowledge on an environmental issue. The results of every assignment will be applied directly to completion of the term paper: 1.1: Introduction to the Critical Summary This assignment introduces a method for reading and questioning a scientific paper. After learning this approach, you will be able to read a new article and determine the important scientific findings, evidence, methods, and uncertainties. Questioning a scientific paper in this way allows you to go beyond taking the results simply on the authority of the scientist or reporter and understand the differences between scientific fact, hypothesis, prediction, and uncertainty. 1.2: Critical Summaries in your Topic Using the same method learned in assignment 1.1, you will write a critical summary of two primary scientific papers in your chosen topic area. After this assignment, you will be well on your way to completing the necessary reading for your term paper. Term Paper: Reviewing the Science You will assess the state of scientific knowledge of your chosen topic using 4 to 5 primary sources from the sourcebook. The result of this assignment will be an in-depth review of the current scientific debate, integrated from your own critical reading of the important articles. Suggested topic areas: Climate Change Forcing, Feedbacks, and Prediction: Why might the earth’s climate change? What are the physical phenomena that control climate and how do they interact with one another? Research these complex interactions with a focus on how feedbacks modulate or enhance the forcing of climate change. Hurricanes: What might influence the frequency and intensity of hurricanes? What are the physical phenomena that influence hurricanes and how do they interact with one another? Is there is link between climate change and hurricanes? Research these complex interactions with a focus on both mechanistic and historical perspectives. iiWriting Assignments in Science A-30 Questioning the Science: How to Write a Critical Summary Assignments: 1.1: Introduction to the critical summary (one 1-page paper) 1.2: Critical summaries in your topic (one 2-page paper) The one-page critical summary is a powerful tool for understanding scientific texts. By taking a close look the research on an issue, you will build a solid foundation for discussion of the scientific term paper. This is a critical summary because you are not only reading the text; you are questioning it in the same skeptical way that scientists evaluate their own and others’ work. You will turn in two critical summaries of scientific texts during the first half of the semester. Your task in the critical summary is to identify and summarize the main scientific findings and supportive evidence in the text. These fall into four categories: 1. Hypothesis: What specific ideas are being tested in the scientific study? What questions are the authors seeking to answer? 2. Observation: What was measured? What physical data is presented? What methods were used? 3. Prediction: Do the authors make a prediction or extrapolation into the future? How? Based on what physical principles or observations? 4. Uncertainty: How confident are the authors in the resulting observations or predictions? What are the main sources of uncertainty? How general are