Contents of this page:

Projects

Requirements

Getting started

Project/Student names

Projects

The research projects are an opportunity for you to learn about an air pollution topic in more depth and to share your knowledge with classmates and with the instructors. Start your research early to ensure success, and feel free to discuss your research or the rough draft of your paper with us at any point.  This project forms one quarter of your course grade, so you should expect to spend a lot of time on it.  Your research must be extensive, your writing must be of high quality, and your poster presentation must be clear.

You will do the projects in pairs. Each project will consist of a single poster (combined effort) and individual short papers on some focused aspect of the project. (For example, if you chose the topic on “Trends in NOx emissions in the U.S.”, one of you might write a short paper on what the trends are and the regulatory aspects that have lead to these trends, while the other might write a short paper on the technological advances that have permitted reduction in NOx emissions).

By Friday, October 28, please find a partner and identify at least 2, and preferably 3, topics that you would like to study. Send an email (one per group) to jaegle@atmos.washington.edu or beckya@atmos.washington.edu with the names of the partners and your ranked choice of topics. Indicate if the topic is from the list below (give the number) or if it is your own idea. Some of the topics below have an *; in the case of those topics, please identify the focus of the topic.

Dates:
Choose partner and topic:  Oct. 28
Paper due (W and no W): Nov. 28
Poster presentations: Dec. 5 & 6
Final paper due (W only): Dec. 9

Requirements
You will be evaluated on two major components:  the written paper (15% of your course grade) and your poster presentation (10% of your course grade).

Students (in teams of 2) will read about the details of a specific topic in air pollution and write up their findings in a paper.  They will also summarize their findings on a poster.  Individual papers should be at least 1000 words in length (equivalent to 4 double spaced typewritten pages).  Students taking ATMS 212 as a writing course will be required to submit a 10-page (2500 word) paper which they will have the opportunity to edit in response to suggestions from the instructor. For more info on the "W" requirement, click here . 

Individual Papers (minimum 1000 words; due on November 28)
The written paper must be a solid piece of writing.  You will be evaluated primarily on content, including structure and accuracy, but we also expect correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and construction. The paper should include a title, an introduction, a discussion of the subject matter, and a conclusion. Supplementary tables or figures are encouraged and datasets, references, and other sources of information used in the paper should be listed in sufficient detail at the end so that an interested reader will know how to locate them. Use at least three references (unless you are commenting on a book, in which case the book alone is probably enough).  Your references may include complete URLs, with date accessed, but at least one reference should be from a printed source. You must list all of your references, and any direct quotes must be indicated as such.

Please be really careful about your referencing. If you copy any exact wording from one of your sources, you must cite the source in your text. If you fail to do so, you run the risk of being accused of plagiarism. Even if you're paraphrasing in your own words something that is clearly one scientist's idea or opinion, you must mention the source. But much of what you write in your papers will hopefully represent your own synthesis of what you've learned in your own reading and through talking with other members of your group. It will represent not just the opinion of one scientist but the prevailing views of the scientific community. This kind of writing does not (at least for this course) require extensive referencing within the text, but you still must include a list of references at the end of your paper.

Length: about 4-8 pages (minimum 1000 words), not including references.

If you are working with a partner, each of you must submit individual papers.

"W" credit

Poster Presentations

Your poster should be designed to fit and mounted on a 3’ x 4’ piece of paper or lightweight poster board. The poster should contain at a minimum:

• Title and names of authors (underneath the title)
• Abstract (1 paragraph) – this is a summary of what your poster is about
• At least four figures, two from each person’s part of the project; these figures may be photographs, sketches or graphs. The figures should each have a short caption (label).
• Connecting words as necessary. The poster is supposed to tell a story so help the viewer understand the story by connecting the figures.
• A summary statement (1-2 paragraphs). What are the most important things you learned and what to communicate to the viewer.
  

Check out this web site for some good ideas for poster construction.

Topics
The tabled below includes is a list of topics you can choose from.  In most cases we can point you to references to get you started.  You are certainly welcome to come up with
your own topic, as long as it has some connection to climate and provides the opportunity for some analysis and/or original thought. Let us know what topic you have chosen by Oct 28.

Local air pollution issues:
1) Air quality in Puget Sound for recent years
2) Air quality winter burn ban
3) Local visibility
4) Ecosystem effects of nitrogen deposition
5) Megacities and air pollution (case studies, choose one of the following: Beijing, Bombay, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Calcutta, Delhi, Jakarta, Karachi, London, Los Angeles, Manilla, Mexico City, Shangai, Tokyo)
6) Clean coal technologies
7) Fuel and fuel additives
8) Diesel engines, are they good or bad for air pollution?
9) Air pollution in art
10) Air pollution in literature

Regional air pollution issues:
1) Surface ozone trends over the United States
2) Trends in emissions over the U.S. (you can choose one or two of the following: NOx, CO, CO2, hydrocarbons)
3) Visibility in National Parks
4) Air pollution and health
5) Arctic air pollution
6) History and effectiveness of US Clean Air Act

Global scale pollution issues:
1) The Kyoto protocol to regulate greenhouse gas emissions
2) The Montreal Protocol and its amendments: is it working?
3) What is the expected impact of global climate change on  water resources, ecosystems, coastal zones, human settlements, insurance, or human health?
4) Discuss the moral and ethical dimensions of climate change
5) The role of non governmental organizations in air pollution legislation
6) What are the prospects for renewable energy?  You could focus on solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, fuel-cell vehicles, or biofuels, ...

Getting Started
Your textbook has a lot of relevant information scattered throughout the various chapters.  You can also refer to the class web site links, and do your own searches in the literature or on the web. Let us know if you have any trouble finding relevant references.

 Last Updated:
10/03/2005