ENGINEERING 100W LAB ASSIGNMENT Dr Thalia Anagnos Objectives of Assignment Persuade Dr Jane Lubchenco Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere that she should place ocean acidification high on her agenda Use the correct format for a business letter Write paragraphs that each develop an idea and use a topic sentence to introduce that idea Compile information from multiple sources and create an organized argument Cite Sources and use quotes correctly Background Dr Jeff Koseff Director of the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University spoke on Friday February 6 about coral reefs their importance and the research being done to understand how they function In his presentation he talked about ocean acidification and how that can lead to dissolution of coral reefs Koseff 2009 In addition to attending his talk you were asked to look at several web sites dedicated to understanding and protecting coral reefs Assignment President Obama has nominated Dr Jane Lubchenco to serve as the next Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere In this position she will head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA NOAA www noaa gov is the federal agency responsible for monitoring and researching the health of our oceans coasts and atmosphere The mission of the agency is To understand and predict changes in Earth s environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation s economic social and environmental needs NOAA n d Assuming that Dr Lubchenco s nomination will be confirmed by the United States Congress her first task will be to establish a set of priorities for the agency to pursue in the coming years She will be consulting with her own advisors and with prominent scientists from around the world In addition she will be interested in what the American people think You now know about the importance of coral reefs and the stresses that impact their health particularly the potential for ocean acidification to dissolve coral reefs Write a letter to Dr Lubchenco and provide her with information that will convince her that she should place a high priority on researching and monitoring ocean acidification You might consider including who you are and why you are writing to her why coral reefs are important the interaction of climate change and ocean acidity and the potential impact of increased acidity on coral reef health Her address is The Honorable Jane Lubchenco Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 1401 Constitution Avenue NW Room 5128 Washington DC 20230 Refer to your notes and feel free to include quotes from the speaker or other resources A variety of resources related to coral reefs can be found on the class web site www engr sjsu edu tanagnos ENGR100W click on Assignments Guidelines The assignment must be turned in at the end of this class period and a copy MUST BE TURNED INTO TURNITIN COM The letter must be typed on the computer Complete the business letter with 12 point Times Roman font 1 and line spacing and 1 inch margins Page 1 ENGINEERING 100W 1 2 3 4 LAB ASSIGNMENT Dr Thalia Anagnos Write a letter from you to Dr Lubchenco that addresses the points listed Number your pages Cite references in APA style Include a References section at the end of your letter with properly formatted references Proofread your document before you print it Sign it at the end after your salutation and hand it Grading Proper format of a business letter Introduction introduce self and indicate letter purpose and scope Discussion of coral reef importance and threats Conclusions providing your recommendations about what she should do References properly cited and plagiarism avoided Correct grammar spelling and punctuation Total 2 2 3 2 2 4 15 points References Koseff J 2009 February 6 Turbulent times in our coral reef systems Lecture notes ENGR 100w San Jose State University NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration n d About NOAA Retrieved February 7 2009 from the NOAA web site http www noaa gov about noaa html Page 2
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