ENV395Y0 2014

Field Course in Ecuador: Amazon, Galpagos, and Andes

TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT
Due on July 4, 2014

Please write a 3,000- to 5,000-word Term Paper (approximately 10-15 pages) on a topic of
your own choice that is directly relevant to some aspect of the field experiences we had and
the environments and issues we were exposed to while in Ecuador. The Term Paper is worth
35% of the overall course mark.
In order to receive the best possible guidance, please have your term paper topic approved
by one of us before we leave Ecuador.
The Term Paper:
is intended to be a research paper in Science or Social Science style (more information
will be forthcoming on the details of this);
must be written in a scholarly style, with scholarly citations and referencing (either MLA
or APA style is acceptable);
should involve the development and support of an academic thesis statement (although
there is some flexibility in how to approach the thesis statement or research question
please see additional comments, below);
must be double-spaced, no fewer than 3,000 words and no more than 5,000 words, with
normal margins and standard font size; the word count comprises the text only, and does
not include the cover sheet, abstract, figures, maps, reference list, or appendices;
must be page-numbered;
must include an Abstract, approximately 200 words in length, which effectively and
concisely summarizes the content of the paper;
must include a cover page with all relevant information (paper title, your name, your
student number, course number/designator, and date submitted);
should include figures, tables, maps, or diagrams that are relevant to your topic, with their
sources fully referenced in a scholarly style;
must be carefully proofread (if you are not going to read your own paper carefully, why
should we?); marks will be deducted for excessive typos and spelling mistakes;
must be submitted digitally to our course Blackboard site by 11:59 p.m. on July 4, 2014
(see Assignments > Term Paper for the submission folder); consistent with University
policy, a penalty of 10% per working day will be levied against all late submissions;
must, above all, be your own work, produced specifically for the purpose of this
assignment and this course (visit our course Blackboard site to read the handout on How
To Avoid Plagiarism if you have not yet read it).

Additional Comments and Writing Tips:
You will receive an offer of assistance from the Woodsworth College Academic Writing Centre,
with a promise of rapid turn-around time. On our course Blackboard site we have provided a
copy of two guides from WCAWC: Writing in the Social Sciences, and Writing in the Sciences.
Each contains a general introduction to techniques for good writing, including many links to
online resources and suggested texts on good writing. Each guide also contains practical,
detailed instructions on writing projects specific to each academic discipline.
You are invited to upload drafts of your term paper to the Academic Writing Centres online
system, logging in with your UTORid via the Centres website: www.wdw.utoronto.ca/writing.
Within 48 hours, your draft will be returned with detailed comments and advice from one of the
Centres expert instructors. (NOTE about timing: The 48 hours may refer to business days; it


might be advisable to submit the paper for comments several days in advance, so that it is
returned to you in time to make use of the advice.)
Two guides from WCAWC that will be posted on our Blackboard site provide useful
information about the typical format for Social Science and Science papers, and the ways in
which they differ from papers in the Humanities. The section to look at most closely, in each
case, is the section entitled Research Paper. The two guides provide detailed information
about how Social Science and Science research papers are typically structured; what kinds of
sub-headings are typical; how to format MLA and APA citations and reference lists; and how to
develop and defend a strong thesis statement.
You can also use some of the papers in our Course Reader as models for organizing your
paper, and to check the tone of the scholarly or journal writing style. (Some of the readings
are not appropriate models because they are book chapters, which are organized differently
than research papers in scholarly journals.)
For Science papers, the article by Beniston on Climatic change in mountain regions from the
journal Climatic Change provides a good model, although you dont need really to number the
sections of your paper. The paper by Bush and others on Fire, climate change and
biodiversity in Amazonia is another model that has a fairly straightforward structure. For
Social Science papers, the article by Surez and others on Oil industry, wild meat trade, and
roads from the journal Animal Conservation is a good model with a fairly straightforward
structure. The article by Bremner and Perez on Human Migration and the Sea Cucumber
Crisis in the Galpagos Islands from the journal Ambio is also a good model. Note, however,
that some of these papers include a Methods section, which you will not need, since you
didnt do any field work or experimentation for the paper.
Thesis Statements and Research Questions:
There is some flexibility in how to approach the thesis statement. Basically, a thesis statement
is the answer to your research question. In Social Science papers it is often typical to state the
thesis up front at the beginning of the paper, then present evidence in defense of the thesis
in the main body of the paper, and finally return explicitly to the thesis in the Conclusions
section of the paper. In Science papers it is often more typical to begin with the research
question, and then bring forward evidence and discussion in the body of the paper; the
answer to the research question (that is, the thesis statement) never actually makes an
appearance until somewhere near the end of the paper, or even in the Conclusions.
You can choose either of these approaches whichever is more familiar and more
comfortable for you.