36004 Topic: SCI 207 Our Dependence upon the Environment Number of Pages: 2 (Double Spaced) Number of sources: 4 Writing Style: APA Type of document: Essay Academic Level:Undergraduate Category: Environmental Issues Language Style: English (U.S.) Order Instructions: Attached Week 1 - Term Selection Forum Please choose a single term from the Week 1 TermsPreview the document list and post the term you've chosen in the forum below. A term can only be chosen once, so please be aware of the previously chosen terms by reviewing the table below prior to posting your preferred choice to validate it is not already taken. If you choose and post a term that has been chosen by a student who posted prior to you, you will be required to choose a new term from the remaining list. This activity is first to come first serve, so please make sure to choose a term early in order to have your preferred options. Terms Name apex predators biodiversity biodiversity hotspot biome carrying capacity coevolution Convention on Biological Diversity deforestation desertification ecological resilience ecosystem services ecotourism endangered species Endangered Species Act endemic species extinction food chain food web Half-Earth Project habitat fragmentation habitat loss invasive species IUCN Red List of Threatened Species keystone species native species overexploitation poaching restoration ecology threatened species trophic cascade Return to Week 1 - Assignment 2 > USE THE EXAMPLE BELOW: Week 1 - Assignment 2 Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part 1 of 4: Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapters 1 and 4 in the Turk and Bensel’s Contemporary Environmental Issues textbook (2014). The purpose of this assignment is twofold: first, to enable you to explore a term (concept, technique, place, etc.) related to this week’s theme of sustaining Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems; second, to provide your first contribution to a collective project, the Class Sustainable Living Guide. Your work this week, and in the weeks that follow, will be gathered (along with that of your peers) into a master document you will receive a few days after the end of the course. The document will provide everyone with a variety of ideas for how we can all live more sustainably in our homes and communities. To complete this assignment, you will Select a term from the list of choices in the Week 1 - Term Selection. Reply to the forum with the term that you would like to research. Do not select a term that a classmate has already chosen. No two students will be researching the same topic. Download the Week 1 Assignment TemplatePreview the document and replace the guiding text with your own words based upon your online research. Please do not include a cover page. All references, however, should be cited in your work and lis.

1. 36004 Topic: SCI 207 Our Dependence upon the Environment
Number of Pages: 2 (Double Spaced)
Number of sources: 4
Writing Style: APA
Type of document: Essay
Academic Level:Undergraduate
Category: Environmental Issues
Language Style: English (U.S.)
Order Instructions: Attached
Week 1 - Term Selection Forum
Please choose a single term from the Week 1 TermsPreview the
document list and post the term you've chosen in the forum
below.
A term can only be chosen once, so please be aware of the
previously chosen terms by reviewing the table below prior to
posting your preferred choice to validate it is not already taken.
If you choose and post a term that has been chosen by a student

2. who posted prior to you, you will be required to choose a new
term from the remaining list.
This activity is first to come first serve, so please make sure to
choose a term early in order to have your preferred options.
Terms
Name
apex predators
biodiversity
biodiversity hotspot
biome
carrying capacity
coevolution
Convention on Biological Diversity
deforestation
desertification

3. ecological resilience
ecosystem services
ecotourism
endangered species
Endangered Species Act
endemic species
extinction
food chain
food web
Half-Earth Project
habitat fragmentation
habitat loss

4. invasive species
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
keystone species
native species
overexploitation
poaching
restoration ecology
threatened species
trophic cascade
Return to Week 1 - Assignment 2 >
USE THE EXAMPLE BELOW:
Week 1 - Assignment 2
Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part 1 of 4: Sustaining
Biodiversity and Ecosystems

5. [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapters 1 and
4 in the Turk and Bensel’s Contemporary Environmental Issues
textbook (2014).
The purpose of this assignment is twofold: first, to enable you
to explore a term (concept, technique, place, etc.) related to this
week’s theme of sustaining Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems;
second, to provide your first contribution to a collective project,
the Class Sustainable Living Guide. Your work this week, and
in the weeks that follow, will be gathered (along with that of
your peers) into a master document you will receive a few days
after the end of the course. The document will provide everyone
with a variety of ideas for how we can all live more sustainably
in our homes and communities.
To complete this assignment, you will
Select a term from the list of choices in the Week 1 - Term
Selection. Reply to the forum with the term that you would like
to research. Do not select a term that a classmate has already
chosen. No two students will be researching the same topic.
Download the Week 1 Assignment TemplatePreview the
document and replace the guiding text with your own words
based upon your online research. Please do not include a cover
page. All references, however, should be cited in your work and
listed at the end, following APA format expectations.
In the template, you will
Define the term thoroughly.
Clearly, relate the term to the week’s theme.

6. Explain how the term affects living things and the physical
world.
Relate the term to the challenge of achieving environmental
sustainability.
Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps
a technique or technology that might promote it.
Suggest two specific actions we can take to promote
sustainability in relationship to this term.
Provide detailed examples to support your ideas.
Please do not include a cover page, or even place your name
directly on the work. In addition to submitting this assignment
to Waypoint, you will also be submitting it for anonymous peer
review by classmates in Week 2.
The Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems assignment
Must be a minimum of three paragraphs in length (not including
title, any quoted text, or references) and formatted according to
APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA
Style resource.
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice resource
for additional guidance.
Must use at least two credible and/or scholarly sources in
addition to the course text. To receive optimal credit, use at
least one scholarly source from a peer-reviewed academic
journal. To aid you in your research, and particularly in locating
scholarly sources via the Ashford Library or using Google
Scholar, please review the following Ashford videos and
tutorials:

7. Scholarly and Popular Resources
Database Search Tips
Research, Keywords, and Databases: An Overview
Accessing Full Text and Citation in Google Scholar
The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table
offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you
have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate
for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your
instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a
specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document any information used from sources in APA style
as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your
Paper guide.
Must include a separate references list that is formatted
according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing
Center. See the Formatting Your References List resource in the
Ashford Writing Center for specifications.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be
used to evaluate your assignment.
Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources
Source type
What is it?
Examples

8. Best used for
Scholarly
A source was written by scholars or academics in a field. The
purpose of many scholarly sources is to report on original
research or experimentation in order to make such information
available to the rest of the scholarly community. The audience
for scholarly sources is other scholars or experts in a field.
Scholarly sources include references and usually use language
that is technical or at a high reading level.
*Note: Different databases may define “scholarly” in slightly
different ways, and thus a source that is considered “scholarly”
in one database may not be considered “scholarly” in another
database. The final decision about the appropriateness of a
given source for a particular assignment is left to the instructor.
Scholarly Journals
• Journal of Management Information Systems
• American Journal of Public Health
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
Scholarly Books (published by a university press or other high-
quality publisher)
• Shari’a Politics: Islamic Law and Society in the Modern
World
• The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War
• The Hidden Mechanics of Exercise: Molecules That Move Us

9. Journal articles:
• Recent research on a topic
• Very specific topics or narrow
fields of research
• NOT good for an introduction to
or a broad overview of a topic Books:
• In-depth information and research on a topic
• Putting a topic into context
• Historical information on a topic
Peer Reviewed
A publication that has gone through an official editorial process
that involves review and approval by the author’s peers (experts
in the same subject area). Many (but not all) scholarly
publications are peer reviewed.
*Note: even though a journal is peer-reviewed, some types of
articles within that journal may not be peer-reviewed. These
might include editorials or book reviews.
Refer to “Scholarly Journals” examples
Books go through a different editorial process and are not
usually considered to be “peer reviewed”. However, they can
still be excellent scholarly sources.
Refer to “Scholarly Journals” description

10. **Note: some publications (such as some trade journals) can be
peer-reviewed but not scholarly. This is not common.
Credible
A source that can be trusted to contain accurate information that
is backed up by evidence or can be verified in other trusted
sources. Many types of sources can fall into this category.
*Note: The final decision about the appropriateness of a given
source for a particular assignment is left to the instructor.
Refer to “Scholarly Journals” examples. Also:
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Books
• Trade journals or publications
• Government websites
• Websites from educational institutions (like universities)
• Websites or other publications from reputable organizations
(like the Mayo Clinic)
• Encyclopedias (general or subject)
Many websites could be considered credible. The more
information provided about the source, the more likely they are
to be credible. Look for information about the author and/or the
organization, how recently it was published, the intended

11. audience, the intended purpose, and whether there is evidence
of bias.
• Basic/general/background information about a topic
• Current events
• Local news
• Statistical data
• Information about specific
organizations or companies (look at the organization’s or
company’s website, or look for articles in newspapers or trade
journals)
• Government information
• Information about popular culture
• Opinions or commentaries
• Topics of general interest
Ashford University Library, June 2015, CR 0130415
AS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT I CHOOSE APEX PREDATOR
FOR THE Week 1 Assignment Template below:
Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part One of Four:
Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Instructions: Using the term that you have selected from the list
provided in the classroom, please complete the following

12. template. Create a minimum of 5 to 7 well-crafted sentences per
paragraph. In your response, you are expected to cite and
reference, in APA format, at least two outside sources in
addition to the class text. The sources must be credible (from
experts in the field of study); scholarly sources (published in
peer-reviewed academic journals) are strongly encouraged.
Delete these instructions before submitting your work to
Waypoint.
Your Term:
Instructions: In the first paragraph;
•
Thoroughly define your term.
•
Describe how the term relates to this week’s theme. Provide
specific examples.
Delete these instructions before submitting your work to
Waypoint.
[Enter your information here]
Instructions: In the second paragraph;
•
Discuss how the term affects living things and the physical
world.
•
Explain how the term relates to the challenge of achieving
environmental sustainability.
•

13. Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps
a technique or technology that might promote it?
Again, be as specific as possible and include examples to
support your explanations.
[Enter your information here]
Instructions: In the third paragraph;
•
Determine at least two specific actions that we can take in order
to promote environmental sustainability in relation to this term.
Be creative and concrete with your suggestions. For example,
you might recommend supporting a particular organization that
is active in the field of your term.
•
Consider actions that might be taken
1) on the individual level, in our daily lives;
2) at the community level;
3) via national and global organizations working on behalf of
the environmental issues associated with your term; and/or 4) at
the ballot box (though voting).
[Enter your information here]
After proofreading your assignment carefully, please submit it
to the Peer Review Site. After you have done so, please also
submit a copy of your work to Waypoint