The assignment is to choose and read one of the articles listed below. Once you have finished reading the article, you are to write a summary of the main points in the article. This assignment will be graded on how much I think that you have learned about Earth Science from reading the article. I therefore check to see that the following criteria have been met (point totals for each criterion are listed in parentheses immediately following each one):
Your summary must accurately capture the main points and concepts discussed in the article. This illustrates your ability to read, comprehend, and pull out the important information. (10)
Your summary must emphasize concepts rather than descriptions. This means the focus of your summary should be on explaining how something formed or works as opposed to just describing some thing. Descriptive information should appear in your summary only if it illustrates concepts and processes. (5)
The summary is written in your own words. I can't tell if you have learned anything if you merely copied phrases from the article (not to mention that this is plagiarism). Do not use quotes in your summary. You have learned a concept when you are able to state it in your own words. (3)
The summary must be sufficiently long. Generally this is about two pages. Summaries must be typewritten and double-spaced. I will not read handwritten submissions. Plan ahead. Do not exceed three pages in length. (2)