Final+Proposal

//**Senior Seminar Formal Proposal**//

Although environmental science is beneficial to the planet's well-being, I would like to know in exactly what ways it is so, aside from obvious things such as reducing the emissions from factories and cars and what-not. How is the study of environmental science beneficial to the planet's well-being, and what has improved as a result? In other words, I would like to research and learn how humans, over the course of history, studied the environments and responded to their findings accordingly? What type of technology was created? What laws and regulations were put forth to help the environment grow and stay healthy? The reason I want to know these is because I support a healthy environment, as it is crucial to the planet's well-being. In case you were wondering, I plan to major in some sort of environmental field, whether it be simply environmental science, environmental engineering, or what have you.
 * Background**

This project will (hopefully) give me a greater understanding of the nature of the work to be put forth in order to be a successful environmental scientist or engineer. It will not only be beneficial to me, but it will give others an understanding of how truly difficult it is to be truly environmentally-friendly. I want to do this project because I want to get a personal feel for how an environmental science/engineer conducts research/analyzes data on a regular basis, and how the data is used. I am hoping to address the outlined driving question through a hands-on assignment, possibly a research assignment. My final product would be the research data. Another way of addressing the driving question could be participating some clean-up effort, and showing how the clean-up improved the environment that was cleaned. Although these two topics are very broad, I will be able to elaborate more on one them once I find a topic expert and actually choose a topic.
 * Vision**


 * Goals**
 * 1) Become more knowledgeable of environmental problems and how they occur.
 * 2) As mentioned before, I would like to know what the jobs of environmental scientists and engineers are like, such as knowing how they conduct studies and record data of the studies.
 * 3) I am //hoping// for increased environmental awareness, but I highly doubt that would happen.
 * 4) I hope to finish the project in an organized and timely fashion, because I finish just about everything I do at the last minute.
 * 5) Determine whether or not the environmental field is "right for me."

Well, obviously, I will show that I have met my goals through one product, which would be the presentation. It would comprise of my research and findings of my topic, as well as my experience with my chosen project, whatever that may be. As for my second product, well, it will obviously stem from my project, which could be some sort of act of community service, or it could be some sort of science experiment. I am not totally sure what my project will be.
 * Products**

The types and amount of materials I need will vary depending on what I do for my project. If I do some hands on science experiment, the amount of resources and materials I need will be much greater, were I to do this type of project. I would probably need to deal with chemicals of some sort, and I would certainly need to be ready to record data and observations. Were I to do some sort of clean-up-type project, I would not need many resources.
 * Task Analysis**

I would like to finish the following things before the due date: 10/29: Research Paper Draft 11/11: Final Research Paper 12/16: PowerPoint Draft

I would like to finish the project before Winter Break.

My mentor is the one and only Evan Cowdery. My reasoning for choosing him is that he is brutally honest and does not sugarcoat anything. It's not like there's anything to sugarcoat for me, anyway. Although he may not be the most knowledgeable person when it comes to environmental science, he is very useful when it comes to critiquing and assessing something such as a paper or PowerPoint, and would be able to offer some helpful insight. Evan has helped me by making my thesis more specific, and that explaining to me that although environmental science may be a topic of great interest to me, I should change it to be more appealing to an audience. Evan will be of further use when it comes to typing my paper and working on my PowerPoint, because he will be able to read over my paper and PowerPoint and make corrections and offer constructive criticism and what-not. Because Evan and I see each other in school for at least two classes a day, coupled with the fact that we communicate just about every night, I do not think that communication will be an issue. I will also rely on him to keep me on task, because he is generally good at reminding me of due dates, and when there is work to be done, we normally discuss it the night(s) before these assignments are due.
 * Mentor and Topic Expert Analysis**

This project is of great personal importance to me, as I plan to major in some sort of environmental field when I go to college. This project will require great time management, which is usually my worst trait (or the lack thereof). Other skills I will need are higher-order thinking, as environmental science is not the easiest topic to comprehend. I will also need to accept that I will probably experience some sort of failure during my topic, and that I can't let that hinder my work ethic or dwell on such failures; I will have to simply try to correct whatever it is at which I do not initially succed. In terms of my presentation, I am a fairly competent speaker, and have done, with Evan, a 20-minute presentation in US History II last year, in which we really focused more on the formality and ability to present more than we did on actual content, so I do not think I will hyave trouble with the presentation.
 * Conclusion**