The document provides suggested topics for homework assignments in ECS 111. It lists 20 possible topics that students can choose from for a written essay. The topics cover a range of subjects including wild animals and ecosystems, biomes, soil profiles, population models, energy, diseases, environmental laws, and climate change. Students are instructed to choose one or two topics and write a complete essay with references from peer-reviewed sources.

1. ECS 111 November
2016
These are suggested homework. You may also choose any of
the articles introduced in class as a review topic. As discussed
in class, you should not try and answer all of these. Choose one
or two and do a complete essay on them. References should not
be random blogs, but juried articles or news items from
archived media such as NYT or the Economist.
1) Choose a wild animal and discuss its basic habitat and its
role in this ecosystem or set of ecosystems. What is its current
status relative to conservation concerns? What constitutes its
primary food source?
2) Describe one of the major biomes found on earth. Include a
discussion of its primary physical and biological attributes.
3) Compare and contrast two of the types of soil profiles
discussed during the class. Discuss their distribution and the
role they have in maintaining their associated ecosystems.
4) Discuss von Humboldt’s observation that the different
biomes seen as one goes from the equator to the poles are also
found with altitude in mountain systems. Why does this vary
depending on which side of the mountain range is considered?
Provide some examples.
5) Consider the following population equations.
Compute the steady states and discuss them. What type of
system is this?
6) Discuss the immigration issues currently facing the European
Union. How are these being handled by the various member
states? Is this a threat to the EU itself? What are the
consequences of these demographic shift in the Middle East?
7) Write an essay on the use of fire by human cultures. You

2. might approach this broadly or focus on a particular culture
such as the native Americans or the bantu of Africa.
8) What factors are involved in the transition of a forest
ecosystem into a grassland? Consider the anthropogenic place in
such transitions. What are the evolutionary issues here?
9) Consider a form of energy. Discuss the history of its
exploitation and future use.
10) Consider the transport of energy and how technology has
influenced particular types of energy sources. How have
economics changed the exploitation of this type of energy?
11) Choose a particular disease and discuss its consequences for
human health. Describe its role in history and its modern
manifestations.
12) Read the section out of Keohane and Olmstead (2016) on
competitive markets (pgs 70-78). Choose a commodity such as
the one they use, coffee, and discuss the nature of the global
market.
13) Using the principles in question 12) discuss the concept of
competition in energy markets. How does this change if one is
considering transportation costs versus electrical power? (Note:
here you might peruse the index for energy topics they
introduce. The section of scarcity starting on page 100 is also a
useful place to start.)
14) Consider the Keohane and Olmstead (2016) treatment of the
economics of habitat management as it pertains to
implementation of the Endangered Species Act. See their pages
224-230.
15) The common cold is a malady the effects humans through
the world. It is associated with various viruses that all lead to a
definable set of symptoms involving the upper respiratory track.
Write an essay on this disease. The topic is immense. A simple
Google Scholar search yielded 3.3 million citations! Therefore,
you need to focus. In a quick survey of the citations, you might
think of one of the following issues.
· The overall review of its nature and impacts (see Heikkinin
and Järvinen (2003).

3. · Stress and cold susceptibility
· Vitamins such as vitamin C and the cold
· Economics of the cold; either economic loss and/or earnings
from cold relief products
· Build a simple model such as those introduced in the lectures
for colds in a population.
16) Discuss the sustainability of the fossil fuel industry and the
problem of their use as we move into the future.
17) Produce a simple editorial style essay on the possible
impacts or future climate change on agriculture. To focus you
essay, you might restrict yourself to on agricultural sector, such
as grains, fisheries, or meat production.
18) Consider the different impact of climate change on the
different global biomes. Why are some impacted more than
others? What specific biodiversity losses are expected due to
global warming?
19) Write a short review of an environmental law. Explicitly
introduce the major provisions in the law. Discuss, briefly, its
legislative and implementation history.
20) Discuss the rise of the “God committee” in relationship to
the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Why was this provision
added to the ESA? Where has it been invoked?
Title of Report in Initial Capital Letters:
Times New Roman (24 point, Boldface) and
No more Than Three Lines

4. Your Name
Clayton State University
Date
Title of Report in Initial Capital Letters:
Times New Roman (18 points, Boldface) and
No More Than Three Lines
Your Name
Clayton State University
Date
Summary
All reports should include a one- or two-paragraph summary.
This summary should stand alone (no reference to figures or
tables in the text) and present the most important results of the
work. The line spacing for this paragraph is to be single-spaced,
with a single blank line between the heading and the text. Use
block paragraph format in the Summary and throughout the
paper.
Table of Contents
Summary i

5. 1. Introduction 1
2. Second Heading X
2.1. First Subheading X
2.2. Second Subheading X
2.3. Third Subheading X
3. Third Heading X
3.1. First Subheading X
3.2. Second Subheading X
4. Fourth Heading X
5. Conclusions X
Appendix A: Title of Appendix A X
Appendix B: Title of Appendix B X
References X
Notes on Table of Contents (TOC): Number of headings and
subheadings can vary for each report. The page numbers
displayed in the TOC are right justified using a right tab (see
ruler). Use lower-case Roman numeral page numbers (i, ii, iii,
etc.) for summary and TOC pages. No page number is used on
the cover page. The body of the report is page numbered using
Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.).
4
1. Introduction
Use the Introduction section to orient the audience with
sufficient background to understand the problem. This section

6. should clearly address what problem is being solved, why the
problem is important, and the vision/aims of the work presented
in this paper. 2. Page Layout
All papers must follow the following layout:
· 8 1/2" X 11" paper
· Top and bottom margins: 1.00"
· Left and right margins: 1.00"
· Single-spacing in a single column
· No indentation - use a single blank line to separate paragraphs
· Full text justification (i.e. block format)
· Page numbers are centered at bottom of page
· No page number on cover page
· Use lower-case Roman numeral page numbers (i, ii, iii, etc.)
for Summary and TOC pages.
· The body of the report (starting with Section 1. Introduction)
is page numbered using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.).
3. Style Guidelines
A few notes on writing style for technical reports:
· Use formal language. Do not use casual phrases or sayings.
· A technical report is not a short story or a mystery novel or a
diary. The reader should see the key information first, then
learn how it was determined. Use logical order, not
chronological order
· Give enough information so that the experiment can be
reproduced by another person of equal competence. Be
discriminating in what is included. Be particular in detail but
also conscious about not including irrelevant information.
· Be precise in the descriptions of materials, methods,
measurements, and means of analysis.
· Write in 3rd person. Do not use words such as “you,” “I,”
“our,” “we,” or “my.”
· Avoid writing in the passive voice. Write in the active voice.
The following websites address the subject of passive and active
voices in technical writing.
·
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html

7. · http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/passivevoice.html
· Avoid writing in past tense. Write in present tense unless
discussing results reported in earlier papers. Use consistent
tense throughout the paper.
· Do not use contractions such as “don’t,” “can’t,” “won’t,” or
“couldn’t.”
· Avoid using footnotes.
· Explain abbreviations before use. Expand all acronyms on first
use.
· Numbers ten or less are spelled out: "It consists of three
fields", not "3 fields".
· Be sure to proofread and carefully check spelling and
grammar.
· Here are some links to technical report writing guidelines,
tips, and example reports.
· http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
· http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/documents/ce-trpt/4. Text
Sections and Headings
At least one paragraph of text should follow a main heading
before a sub-heading occurs.
4.1. Text Sections and Headings
Text should be organized into sections and subsections, with an
Introduction and a Conclusions section being advisable. A
single line should separate paragraphs; no indentation should be
used. Font guidelines are as follows:
· Section Headings: Numbered, 14 point, bold, Upper and Lower
Case, left-justified; leave one blank line above only.
· Section Sub-headings: Numbered, 12 point, bold, Upper and
Lower Case, left-justified; leave one blank line above only. If
sub-headings are used, there must at least two sub-headings.
· Regular text: 12 pt. Times New Roman, full justified, with a
single line between paragraphs. Text is single spaced.
· Do not allow a heading or sub-heading to stand as a widow
line at the bottom of a page. If this situation occurs, insert a
page break before the heading or sub-heading.
4.2. Bullets

8. Bullet guidelines are as follows:
· First level bullet.
· Second level bullet.
· Third level bullet.
5. Figures, Tables, and Their Captions
Tables and figures should be included in the main text (see
Figure 1 and Table 1), as close to the point of their introduction
as possible. Never insert a table or figure in the middle of a
paragraph; tables and figures should appear after the end of the
paragraph in which it was initially introduced in the text. It is
noted that figure and table numbering should be independent.
Captions guidelines are as follows:
· Figure captions: 12 point Times New Roman, centered; place
below the figure, leave one blank line above and below. For
example, see Figure 1 below.
· Table caption: 12 pt. Times New Roman, centered; place
above the table, leave one blank line above only. For example,
see Table 1 below.
Figure 1: Example figure for demonstration
This is an example paragraph to demonstrate the guidelines for
the figure and table captions.
Table 1: Example table for demonstration
Conservative
Epoch
Improvement (%)
Six epochs
Federation run time
1.1

9. 0.44
62.8
Number of time advance messages exchanged
9470
1027
89.2
Number of checking messages exchanged
34302
23533
31.4
Arrange bulky and repetitive data in tables and graphs, and
refrain from regurgitating in the text all of the data presented in
the graphics. Explain the graphics but do not merely repeat
them verbatim in the body of the report. Direct the reader to the
important and most interesting parts of the table or graph.
6. Equations
Equations should be indented and numbered consecutively
throughout the entire paper, with the number in parentheses,
positioned flush to the right margin. Leave one blank line both
above and below the equation. Equations should be prepared
with an Equation Writer (e.g. Microsoft Equation 3.0). See
Equation (1) below for the demonstration.
(1)
Be sure to define all variables used in equations. If an equation
only contains a few variables, these can be defined within the
body of the text immediately before or after the equation.
However if several variables are used in an equation, they
should be defined outside the text. As an example, see equation

10. (2).
(2)
Where: EOQ = Economic Order Quantity (units)
K = fixed ordering cost ($)
λ= annual demand (units/yr)
h = inventory holding cost ($/unit/yr)
Do not ‘write out’ the equation in the text but rather explain the
general purpose of each equation. For example, do not write
“equation (1) shows the EOQ is the square root of two times the
fixed ordering cost, K, multiplied by the annual demand, λ,
divided by the inventory holding cost, h.”References
I prefer you use the APA citation/reference style. Please see the
following websites for the proper way to reference sources both
within the text and in the reference list at the end of the
technical paper (and, yes, I know these websites are not
referenced correctly according to APA guidelines).
· http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/apa
· http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
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