Learning Goal: I’m working on a environmental science question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
I have to create my annotated bibliography for a literature review paper that I will be writing later on in the semester. My topic follows and my assignment is at the bottom.
This was my proposal: In my literature review, my focus will be on how planting native plants can reduce the intensity and frequency of sand and dust storms. It will investigate how plants are able to harden the soil through increased soil moisture and prevent wind erosion, which further limits sand and dust storms. My review will also thoroughly discuss the multiple health and environmental effects associated with dust storms and how plants can mitigate these effects. These storms can cause multiple environmental health hazards and can carry respiratory pollutants and allergens over large distances, affecting communities far away from the source of dust and sand particles. Additionally, these storms can negatively effect plants, agriculture, and wildlife. This is done since these storms can cause the loss of plant tissue, reduce crop production by covering seedlings in dust, and affect marine life as the sunlight is blocked out by the dust cloud.
https://public.wmo.int/en/resources/bulletin/airborne-dust-hazard-human-health-environment-and-society
https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/planting-trees-helped-end-dust-bowl-crop-subsidies-reward-farmers-who-rip-them#:~:text=the%20Dust%20Bowl.-,Crop%20Subsidies%20Reward%20Farmers%20Who%20Rip%20Them%20Out.,that%20devastated%20the%20Great%20Plains.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/rising-heat-drives-crippling-sandstorms-across-the-middle-east/#:~:text=A%20perfect%20sand%20and%20dust%20storm&text=The%20Middle%20East%20and%20North,in%20productivity%2C%20the%20report%20says.
https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/focus-areas/environment/sand-and-dust-storms
This was the professor’s response:
Overall Feedback
Interesting topic! A couple thoughts: I would try to geographically bound your topic (e.g., to a biome or set of countries). Also, when accessing literature, make sure that the majority of sources are from peer reviewed journals – it seems that many of the sources on this list are not peer reviewed. A few white papers or even news articles are okay, but you should be mostly drawing from the scientific literature in your annotated bibliography and subsequent writing. Perhaps one of your conclusions will be that more research needs to be done on the topic if the literature in this space is thin!
ASSIGNMENT:
Annotated Bibliography. Students will create an annotated bibliography of the most relevant sources of information related to their chosen topic, and based on the content of the sources in this bibliography, publish a thesis statement that will form the core of the literature review.Due: Thursday Sep 22, 2022
Length: 10-20 sources and associated annotations, plus thesis statement
Content:Sources and Annotations.Source Formatting. Sources should be consistently formatted using a single reference style (e.g., APA, Chicago).
Source Content. All sources should include author, title, date, source (e.g., journal name), and information needed to identify the specific reference (e.g., URL, chapter or page numbers, doi).
Annotation: Summary. Report on the content of the source, such as the main arguments or the topic covered. The length of the annotation will vary depending on the source, but 100-200 words is a typical range.
Annotation: Assessment. Evaluate the source, commenting on its utility, reliability, bias, and/or differences/similarities with other sources.
Thesis Statement. Summarize initial conclusions about the major trends across all sources.
