Writing About Biology

Objective:
Writing about scientific principles and phenomena is an increasingly important skill in the 21st century. This assignment is designed to help you understand a major concept covered in this unit while also helping you develop your science writing skills. One key to effective science writing is explaining how science can be used in everyday life. You’ll do this in a 500-600 word paper. You should:
1) Formulate and answer a question (potential concepts for questions are Mitosis, Meiosis, Heredity and Life Cycles; Fungi and Fungal Diversity; Animals and animal evolution). Sample questions from past units are: What is natural selection and how is it important to current human populations? What are some of the roles of steroids in humans, and why are they biologically important?
2) Explain how this applies to your life. Write a 500-600 word essay answering this question, and discuss how the information could be useful to you in your own life. Explain why the information is relevant to your life and useful for you. Be sure to explain how the information applies to you personally and give examples.
Examples of applications from past units: Natural selection is the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. Natural selection is important in your own life because bacteria can evolve antibiotic resistance via the process of natural selection. Steroids play important roles in membrane structure and cell signaling. In your own life, your doctor may prescribe a steroid treatment to reduce the swelling associated with an injury or other inflammatory ailment. This assignment requires that you formulate your own question and approach, so do not use the sample questions or specific examples provided above for your paper. Great ways to start questions that will help you think deeply in this class include: How do/does ______ ? Why is/are _______ ? What is the difference between ______ ?