This document outlines the requirements for a writing assignment on an engineering issue related to a sedimentary or metamorphic rock. Students must write a formal report that is at least two pages single-spaced addressing four specific questions: defining the engineering problem and how the rock is involved, discussing the relevant rock and why it relates to the issue, presenting a case study example, and suggesting remedies. The report must be appropriately formatted, cited using the NRC reference style with at least three peer-reviewed sources, and submitted digitally by the deadline to receive a grade. Failure to meet any of the document's extensive guidelines will result in a grade of zero without resubmission.

1. GEOL 2101—Writing Assignment 2:
Sedimentary or metamorphic rocks and engineering
issues
The goal of this assignment is:
i. Researching and reporting on an engineering issue that is
important to you or society, and relating it to your coursework
After your last writing assignment, it is expected that you will
know how to find peer-reviewed and on-
line resources and use correctly and appropriately.
There will be no resubmission option for this assignment. Every
one of the required aspects listed on
the rubric will be checked first, and if any are missing or
incorrect the assignment will be returned with
a grade of zero, with no resubmissions accepted.
Every requirement has been extensively discussed and corrected
in your first assignment, you are now
expected to complete all the requirements correctly this time.

2. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!!!!!
TEAMS
You have the option of doing this assignment in a team of 2
people or doing it alone. If you choose
the team option, the page requirements are double that of a
single person assignment. Both team
members will get the same grade so it is your responsibility to
make sure both do the required work.
No after-the-fact team complaints will be accepted. Make it
very clear on the final submission who the
team members are.
TOPIC
Write a report on an engineering issue that is directly related to
a particular sedimentary or
metamorphic rock. Your report should be in the format of a
formal report to an employer (e.g. Stantec
Consulting Engineers) or government body (e.g. CBRM City
Council, Department of Natural Resources
etc.). The report should be concise, with a minimum of two (2)
pages, single spaced, 12 font, excluding

3. references and pictures or 4 pages single spaced pages for teams
(see rubric).
Required questions to be addressed:
- A definition of the problem/topic, and an explanation of how
it is an engineering problem
- A discussion of the sedimentary or metamorphic rock in
question, and a clear description of the
scientific and geological reasons why this rock is linked to the
issue in question
- A case study where you present a particular example of this
issue
- A discussion of suggested remedies/mitigation strategies or
approaches to deal with the issue
If you do not address these questions your grade will be a zero.
This is a formal scientific writing assignment, so it should
adhere to the principles of good scientific
writing: it should be factual, well-referenced, and readable.
Your writing style should be similar to what
you would expect to in a formal report, it should be rigorous
and full of information. If you are

4. uncertain about anything in this assignment, whether it is about
the topics, or plagiarism, or
references, or anything else, ask for help! Jason and I are happy
to look at drafts and make
suggestions. The CBU librarians and Writing Center are also
available for any research help you need.
DUE DATE AND SUBMISSION PROCEDURES
Your writing assignment is due in digital format on Tuesday,
November 25
th,
by 9am. All late
submissions will be docked 20% per day, up to November 28
th
, the last day of classes, after which no
assignments will be accepted and your grade will be zero.
Requirements
DIGITAL COPY: email me a digital file with your paper, to
[email protected] with all
references and figures. This should be in Microsoft Word (.doc)
or Adobe pdf (.pdf) format. You have to
use your CBU webmail account, my spam filter will reject

5. everything from other email accounts.
I will send out confirmation of receipt notices between 9:00 and
9:30 am on Tuesday the 25
th
. If you do
not get one it means your paper did not make it, and you have to
resend it. It is your responsibility to
make sure that you check whether you get a receipt notice, and
to make sure your paper makes it to
my inbox by the deadline.
FILENAME: Name your document LASTNAME.TOPIC.doc or
LASTNAME.TOPIC.pdf
This is so that I don’t have 20 papers in my inbox that are
named “mypaper.doc” or “2101.doc”
For example: VANROOYEN.TOPIC.doc
CITATIONS AND REFERENCES FOR TEXT-BASED AND
PEER-REVIEWED SOURCES
For this assignment you are required to use at least three (3)
peer-reviewed resources, and to cite
them appropriately. You may include up to two optional on-line
resources; from government,

6. museum, or university websites only.
If you do not have 3 peer-reviewed references your grade will
be a zero.
mailto:[email protected]
Acceptable resources include:
-reviewed publications of all kinds (e.g. Canadian
Journal of Earth Sciences)
of Canada, Natural Resources
Canada, United States Geological Survey)
Canadian Museum of Nature)
affiliations (e.g. university websites,
American Geophysical Union websites)
If you include unacceptable websites in your reference list your
grade will be a zero.
CITATION STYLES
The required citation style is NRC Reference Style. The pdf
“NRC Reference Styles” is posted on

7. Moodle. It can also be found electronically at
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/cjce/authors
under the “Parts of manuscript” link. The relevant citation
formats for this assign assignment are
“Journal article” (also “with URL or DOI”), “Electronic
citation” and “Citation including URL”. Note
that other classes will likely use different citation formats—pay
attention to exactly what you instructor
ask if you want the best grade possible!
If you do not use the citations properly and have them in the
correct format, both in your text your
reference list, your grade will be a zero.
RESOURCES
CBU has online resources regarding academic integrity and
plagiarism. You can find them at
http://tlc.cbu.ca/node/38. Please refer to CBU’s policy stated in
the official academic calendar at
http://www.cbu.ca/sites/cbu.ca/files/pdfs/current-calendar.pdf,
particularly pages 35 and 36.
The CBU writing Centre is a great resource, it can be found at

8. http://www.cbu.ca/writing-centre.
The following websites have more descriptions of academic
integrity, citation requirements, and
general writing advice.
http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/index.html
http://tychousa8.umuc.edu/WRTG999A/chapter5/ch5-01.html
http://tychousa8.umuc.edu/WRTG999A/chapter5/ch5-19.html
MARKING RUBRIC – see next page
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/cjce/authors
http://tlc.cbu.ca/node/38
http://www.cbu.ca/sites/cbu.ca/files/pdfs/current-calendar.pdf
http://www.cbu.ca/writing-centre
http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/index.html
http://tychousa8.umuc.edu/WRTG999A/chapter5/ch5-01.html
http://tychousa8.umuc.edu/WRTG999A/chapter5/ch5-19.html
MARKING RUBRIC
Category Comments
Is this paper original work? There is only one choice here. If
any plagiarism is found in the
final draft the whole paper will be taken to the Dean.

9. Checklist before marking: If all the elements in this list are not
present your assignment
will be returned with a grade of zero, with no rewrite option
Are there 3 peer-reviewed references? Yes – continue marking
No – grade of zero
Are any optional on-line references from
acceptable sources?
Yes – continue marking No – grade of zero
Are there correct in-text citations? Yes – continue marking No –
grade of zero
Are the references all in the correct NRC
format?
Yes – continue marking No – grade of zero
Is the paper the required length? (2p single
spaced, 12 font, or 4p double spaced 12 font,
excluding references and pictures, 4p single or
8p double spaced for teams)
Yes – continue marking No – grade of zero
Are all 4 required questions addressed? Yes – continue marking
No – grade of zero
Not done
F
Poor
D

10. Acceptable
C to B+
Good
A to A+
Total
General
- Facts correct
- Shows understanding of the subject
- Explains/uses terms and concepts correctly
- Appropriate headings
- Clarity and
- References used
/10
Content: Required questions to be addressed: Each category will
be marked separately
1) A definition of the problem/topic, and
how it is specifically an engineering
problem /5
2) A discussion of the sedimentary rock in
question, and a clear description of
why this rock is linked to the issue in
question /10
3) A case study where you present a
particular example of this issue /15

11. 4) A discussion of suggested
remedies/mitigation strategies or
approaches to deal with the issue /10
/50