ENV330 Ecotopia Project Guidelines The Ecotopia Pr

ENV330
Ecotopia Project Guidelines
The Ecotopia Project consists of two phases, (I) a group
presentation, and (II) an individual research
paper.
I. Group Presentation
In the group presentation, students will collaborate to create an
ecologically-sustainable society. The instructor
will randomly place students into groups named after the six
major biomes:
1. Temperate Deciduous Forest
2. Temperate Grassland
3. Northern Coniferous Forest
4. Tropical Rain Forest
5. Tropical Grassland
6. Tundra
Each group will create a PowerPoint presentation to be shared
with the class. Groups should think of a
creative name for their society (for example “Green Paradise”).
Each participant should prepare at least two
slides for each responsibility (“secretariat/cabinet position”) in
their portfolio (group of cabinet responsibilities).
Each group should begin their presentation with a brief
description of their biome. The presentation should

include some collaborative slides that explain overall themes
and ideas, in addition to the slides created by
each member to cover their particular cabinet responsibilities.
The presentation should also include
introductory and concluding slides.
Individual group members will be responsible for several
aspects of creating their sustainable society within
the biome—their portfolio. (For the second part of the project,
each individual will write a research paper on
their portfolio of responsibilities.) Since everything in nature
and the environment is connected to everything
else, each individual will need to coordinate and negotiate the
details of how the entire sustainable society will
be created. For example, the geography, ecology, and weather
conditions of the biome will determine which
sustainable forms of renewable energy should be used in that
society. The type of energy used will determine
waste and ecological protections necessary. For example, if you
use nuclear energy, then you will have to
figure out how to deal with radioactive waste for tens of
thousands of years! Moreover, your agricultural,
fishery, and livestock decisions will impact your land use
planning, waste recycling, food supply, and ocean
ecosystem health, and your policies regarding global climate
change will impact environmental security.
Ecotopia cabinet positions (responsibilities): Students are
responsible for their portfolios and coordinating
with other members of their teams to make sustainable decisions
in their biome. There will be overlapping
responsibilities and concerns. You can form ad hoc task forces
to negotiate sustainable solutions.
Equally divide up the following cabinet positions into
portfolios. Each student will have several cabinet

positions in their portfolios. Negotiate within your group for
your choices of positions. All cabinet positions must
be filled:
1. Secretary of Sustainable Energy
2. Recycling Czar (waste, toxic waste, nuclear waste,
environmental hazards)
3. Secretary of Sustainable Agriculture and Humane Livestock
Policy Czar (food, soil, pest
management, livestock)
4. Secretary of Sustainable Transportation
5. Secretary of Aquatic Sustainability and Water Czar (oceans,
lakes and rivers, fisheries, aquaculture,
sewage)
6. Secretary of Sustainable Forestry, Parks and Recreation
7. Secretary of Mineral Sustainability
8. Secretary of Sustainable Economic Policy
9. Secretary of Sustainable Industrial and Business Policy
10. Sustainable Tax and Revenue Policy Czar
11. Secretary of Environmental Protection and Chair of
Environmental Ethics Advisory Board
12. Clean Air Czar

13. Secretary of Sustainable Cities (urban planning, building
codes, zoning)
14. Secretary of Biodiversity and Natural Capital
15. Population Policy Czar
16. Global Climate Change Czar
17. Environmental Politics Advisor
18. Secretary of Sustainable Trade
19. Secretary of Environmental Security (considers the effects
of potential environmental degradation on
global geopolitics, water scarcities, environmental refugees,
potential armed conflict over scarce
resources)
20. Chair of Seventh Generation Protectorate (considers effects
of decisions on future generations)
Group discussion boards: The instructor will assign students to
groups during the first week of class. In the
Course Home menu, a discussion board has been created for
each group that only the members of that group
(and the instructor) can access. Group members can use this
discussion board to communicate and share
files, although a collaboration tool such as Google Docs may
also be beneficial. Group members should
exchange contact info and establish how they will communicate
with each other as soon as possible.
II. Individual Research Paper
Each student will write a 1500-word (minimum) paper covering
their portfolio of responsibilities for their

Ecotopia group. The paper should include several diagrams and
figures and utilize the following: double line
spacing, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font,
footnotes or endnotes, and a references cited
section.
If you include phrases, sentences, or paragraphs that did not
come straight from your own mind, then you
must enclose them in quotation marks and add a
footnote/endnote. If you fail to do so, you are committing
plagiarism
1
, a serious violation of the Saint Leo Honor Code. If you put the
ideas of your sources into your own
words you still must use footnotes/endnotes to give credit to the
author(s) of the ideas. Do not cut and paste
from the Internet without properly citing your source. Without
quotation marks and footnotes/endnotes, you
have plagiarized.
Students should use either MLA or APA format for preparing
citations, references, and footnotes/endnotes.
See the course Resources section for further information about
MLA and APA.
Due Dates and Submission Requirements:
Module 2: Begin communicating with group members to
determine team responsibilities.
Module 3: Each student submits individual research paper
project report to Dropbox and posts on assigned
group Discussion Board. (This Dropbox is linked to Turnitin.)
Module 5: Each student submits copy of group presentation

progress report to Dropbox.
Module 6: Each student submits individual research paper to
Dropbox (The Dropbox is linked to Turnitin.)
Module 7: Each student submits group presentation to Dropbox
and also attaches a copy of his/her group
presentation to a post in the Ecotopia Discussion Board located
under Module 8 in the course menu.
Be sure to include the group name (biome) in the file name and
on the subject line of the post. Each
student then provides feedback to at least two group
presentations. Instructions for this are included in
Module 7.
1
See http://webster.commnet.edu/mla/plagiarism.shtml for
definition
Module 8: Each student posts responses to the feedback
provided during Module 7. Instructions for this
are included in Module 8.
Grading Rubrics:
Ratings
Exceptional Significantly exceeds expectations
Superior Exceeds expectations
Excellent Expectations met perfectly
Very good Expectations met very well
Good Expectations met well
Above average More than just basic expectations met

Average Basic expectations met
Below average Less than basic expectations met
Poor Significantly less than basic expectations met
Marginal Barely meets expectations
Failure Minimal expectations not met
Group Presentation
Criteria for Evaluation F
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Sustainability of society 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Scientific accuracy 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Creativity 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Collaborative integration 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Quality of slides/citations/grammar 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Total 100 points
Individual Research Paper
Criteria for Evaluation
F
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Creativity 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Citations/grammar 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Total 100 points
EVN330 - Research Paper Progress Report
ENV330 – Environmental Studies: Creating Sustainable
Societies
Individual Research Paper Progress Report
What is a progress report?
A progress report is a document that explains in detail how far
you’ve gone towards the completion of a
project/research paper. It outlines the activities you’ve carried
out, the tasks you’ve completed, and the
milestones you’ve reached.
Elements of the progress report:
um your paper should
have the below sections. In your
progress report include any information you have already
gathered for your research paper. Also
see your “Ecotopia Project Guidelines” for additional
requirements.

1. Introduction
A. Introductory Statement
B. Thesis Statement (most often, a thesis contains three
points)
2. Body
A. Cabinet Position
a. supporting evidence/discussion
B. Cabinet Position
C. Cabinet Position
D. Other areas of responsibility
in your Portfolio
3. Conclusion
A Restatement of Thesis
B. Compelling Conclusion
4. Citations – APA Style

Teacher Name:
Student Name:
________________________________________
CATEGORY 4 3 2
Amount of
Information
All topics are
addressed and all
questions answered
with at least 2
sentences about each.
All topics are
addressed and most
questions answered
with at least 2
sentences about each.

All topics are
addressed, and most
questions answered
with 1 sentence about
each.
Quality of Information Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. It includes
several supporting
details and/or
examples.
Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. It provides 1-2
supporting details
and/or examples.
Information clearly
relates to the main

topic. No details
and/or examples are
given.
Mechanics No grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation errors.
Almost no
grammatical, spelling
or punctuation errors
A few grammatical
spelling, or
punctuation errors.
Organization Information is very
organized with well-
constructed
paragraphs and
subheadings.
Information is

organized with well-
constructed
paragraphs.
Information is
organized, but
paragraphs are not
well-constructed.
Sources All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented in the
desired format.
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented, but a

few are not in the
All sources
(information and
graphics) are
accurately
documented, but
many are not in the
Date Created: Dec 05, 2020 01:15 pm (CST)
Research Report : Individual Research Project ENV 330
1
One or more topics
were not addressed.
Information has little
or nothing to do with
the main topic.
Many grammatical,
spelling, or

punctuation errors.
The information
appears to be
disorganized. 8)
Some sources are not
accurately
documented.
Research Report : Individual Research Project ENV 330
Part 1:
You must submit a brief outline of your Ecotopia individual
research paper and include citations for two sources. Individual
Research Paper Progress Report attached on how this is to be
formatted. Due Saturday 2/5/2022.
You will create a PowerPoint presentation that consists of at
least two slides for each responsibility (“secretariat/cabinet
position”) in their portfolio (group of cabinet responsibilities).
The presentation needs to include a brief description of the
biome (Tropical Grassland). The presentation should include
some collaborative slides that explain overall themes and ideas,
in addition to the slides that cover the particular cabinet
responsibilities. The presentation should also include
introductory and concluding slides.
You will be responsible for several aspects of creating the
sustainable society within the biome—the portfolio. (For the
second part of the project, You will write a research paper on
the portfolio of responsibilities.) Since everything in nature and
the environment is connected to everything else, you will need

to coordinate and negotiate the details of how the entire
sustainable society will be created. For example, the geography,
ecology, and weather conditions of the biome will determine
which sustainable forms of renewable energy should be used in
that society. The type of energy used will determine waste and
ecological protections necessary. For example, if you use
nuclear energy, then you will have to figure out how to deal
with radioactive waste for tens of thousands of years!
Moreover, your agricultural, fishery, and livestock decisions
will impact your land use planning, waste recycling, food
supply, and ocean ecosystem health, and your policies regarding
global climate change will impact environmental security.
Cabinet Positions to be included in the portfolio:
2. Recycling Czar (waste, toxic waste, nuclear waste,
environmental hazards)
5. Secretary of Aquatic Sustainability and Water Czar (oceans,
lakes and rivers, fisheries, aquaculture, sewage)
12. Clean Air Czar
15. Population Policy Czar
16. Global Climate Change Czar
Part 2:
Individual Research Paper Each student will write a 1500-word
(minimum) paper covering their portfolio of responsibilities for
their Ecotopia group. The paper should include several diagrams
and figures and utilize the following: double line spacing, one-
inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font, footnotes or
endnotes, and a references cited section. If you include phrases,
sentences, or paragraphs that did not come straight from your
own mind, then you must enclose them in quotation marks and
add a footnote/endnote. If you fail to do so, you are committing
plagiarism1 , a serious violation of the Saint Leo Honor Code.
If you put the ideas of your sources into your own words you
still must use footnotes/endnotes to give credit to the author(s)
of the ideas. Do not cut and paste from the Internet without
properly citing your source. Without quotation marks and
footnotes/endnotes, you have plagiarized. Students should use

either MLA or APA format for preparing citations, references,
and footnotes/endnotes. See the course Resources section for
further information about MLA and APA.
Module 8: Each student posts responses to the feedback
provided during Module 7. Instructions for this
are included in Module 8.
Grading Rubrics:
Ratings
Exceptional Significantly exceeds expectations
Superior Exceeds expectations
Excellent Expectations met perfectly
Very good Expectations met very well
Good Expectations met well
Above average More than just basic expectations met
Average Basic expectations met
Below average Less than basic expectations met
Poor Significantly less than basic expectations met
Marginal Barely meets expectations
Failure Minimal expectations not met
Group Presentation
Criteria for Evaluation F
a
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re

M
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e
p
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a
l
Creativity 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Collaborative integration 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Quality of slides/citations/grammar 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Total 100 points
Individual Research Paper
Criteria for Evaluation
F
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G
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S
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e
p
tio
n
a
l
Creativity 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Citations/grammar 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Total 100 points

ENV330 Ecotopia Project Guidelines The Ecotopia Pr

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