End-of-Semester presentations Counts for 10% of final class grade (in addition to 25% which comes from lab grade) Will begin the week of Dec 1 st and 3 rd Each student presentation will cover a peer-reviewed experimental journal article in ecology or related fields

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Experimental articles vs. Review Articles Experimental articles: -have a “materials and methods” section -present new results, usually including tables and figures -are relatively limited in scope, focused on using data to evaluate a small number of hypotheses.

Experimental articles vs. Review Articles Review Articles: - Give a broad overview of a topic, usually including many sub-topics - Summarize the experimental work of many other people

Experimental articles vs. Review Articles For the presentation topic, choose an experimental article, not a review. You are also encouraged to consult review articles to get ideas for topics, background information, and as references.

Word of caution: Some articles are very math-intensive. You are responsible for explaining the content of the article you choose, so select wisely.

FORMATPossible Points Length: no shorter than 7 min, no longer than 10 min.5 Material presented is clear and logical, including correct pronunciation of technical words. 10 Speaker uses slides to highlight key points, but does NOT read directly from slides. Adequate fonts and font colors are used so that slides can be read easily. 15 All references are appropriately cited5

CONTENTPossible Points Presentation summarizes a peer-reviewed scientific journal article20 Central research question (hypothesis) of the journal article is clearly articulated 15 Key methods used to test the hypothesis are described, using figures if appropriate 10 Data / results of the paper are presented clearly and summarized10 Speaker articulates why this research topic is interesting and important to the study of ecology / environmental science 10

Assignment Choose 1 experimental article to review for your final presentation. the article as an attachment to no later than November 1 st. If you decide to switch to another article later on, that’s fine.