Biology Question

Learning Goal: I’m working on a biology project and need a sample draft to help me learn.

Part 1: Summary
In this assignment, you are going to summarize what you have read in your paper into a short 1-paragraph summary (5-8 sentences) in plain language. What does plain language mean? Plain language means it is largely free of jargon or the jargon is explained, there are only the necessary details to get the point across of what was done in the paper, and there is a connection to why this work matters.
To see how this will be graded please view the rubric at the bottom of this assignment. Please note the length, style, grammar, and content guidelines in the rubric.

Part 2: Methods Flow Chart
So far this quarter you have done some deep reading of the whole paper and tried to summarize it in plain language. For this assignment, we are now going to go back and dig a little deeper into the methods of your paper. Everything that researchers do has a purpose and it can take a lot of reading to fully understand why and how a research experiment was done. To help you grapple with this, I want you to create a flow chart of the major methodologies that the researchers used and then offer a brief note for each step about why or what they should learn from each step. Note that I don’t want a recap of the nitty-gritty details of the experiment. Rather I want you to focus on the WHY of the method. What did the authors learn by performing that task or method? For those of you with papers that don’t exactly fit the single experiment format, pick one question answered in the paper and do the assignment using the methods for that one question. Be sure to pay careful attention to the rubric to make sure you get all the points for this assignment.

RUBRIC
2pts FORMAT: A two-column slide with a flow chart and short statements for each element in the flow chart. A template is provided; you can use this or something similar that you create.
5pts CONTENT: The major steps of the methods are included in the flow chart. The words in the flow chart should be the name of the method or technique. The annotation in the second column should be a 1-2 sentence brief statement about what the method will tell the authors (see example).
A minimum of 3 steps should be included. Try to focus on the main methods.
Units should be given wherever possible
You do not need to include a lot of detail about the method itself, just the name of the method is sufficient.

Part 3: Figure Summary
In this assignment, you are going to do a deep analysis of 1 of the figures in your paper. Your analysis consists of annotating your figure and a short summary paragraph similar to what you did for your summary paragraph a few weeks ago. Below you will find a detailed rubric and example like I provided last time.
Part 4: Tell me what you learned
For this final assignment, I am going to ask you to throw out the rule book and demonstrate your learning to me in any reasonable format that you prefer that meets the criteria outlined in the rubric. You have done a lot of work to understand a challenging paper this quarter. This is your chance to show off your new knowledge and skills!
Learning Objectives:
1) Communicate the main results and implications of your scientific paper to a lay audience.
2) Practice different forms of scientific communication.
3) Bring your own creative strengths to demonstrate your learning to your teaching team.
Some ideas: a song, cartoon, movie, poem, drawing, podcast, blog, or a 2-minute science speed talk.
Some (minimal) ground rules:
1) Presentations must be 2 minutes long or shorter (1 minute is better!). This is a strict requirement.
2) The work must be your own, but you may recruit others to assist you if needed.
3) You must include the citation for your paper somewhere in the presentation.
If writing a song is not your thing…NO WORRIES! What can you do? You can practice an increasingly common form of science communication: This format will consist of 2-3 slides and a voice-over 1-2 minute explainer of your paper. You can see an example of this format at the bottom of this assignment.

ATTACHMENTS
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