BIOL180 Assignment 3: The Final Presentation
BIOL180 Assignment 3: The Final Presentation
For this assignment, you will use the “species” you chose for the Week 2 Mini-Presentation.
Objective: Develop an audio-narrated PowerPoint presentation based on the research you have conducted about your chosen species.
Before You Start:
To prepare for this assignment, I recommend that you do the following:
Read these directions carefully
Read the BIOL180 Final Presentation Grading Rubric.pdf.
The grading rubric is a detailed evaluation that I will use to assess your performance. It also will help you understand what is expected of you as you prepare your assignment.
Use your own words (paraphrase). For help with paraphrasing, please review the ‘Quoting and Paraphrasing’ help in the Trefry Library Writing@APUS Center.
Note that your Turnitin report similarity score should be under 20% (not including references) and free of paraphrasing issues. Review the color-flagged text on your report, fix any issues, and resubmit again before the deadline (this assignment is set to unlimited submissions until the deadline).
Note that less than 10% of your work should contain direct quotes.
Email me with any questions!
Assignment Instructions: Putting it all together, you will develop your presentation based on the work you submitted for all of the steps to date as well as the instructor feedback you were given.
Final Presentation requirements:
Your presentation will be submitted as an audio-narrated PowerPoint, narrated by you, the student. You cannot use “text-to-speech” programs or technologies that do the narration for you unless noted as an approved accommodation in a current DSA letter you have furnished to me. For instructions on how to create audio narration in PowerPoint, see the following link: Record a Slide Show With Narration. Audio narration is a requirement!
Proper use and pronunciation of scientific terminology are required. For help with pronunciation, see this link: Cambridge Dictionary
There must be visual elements (e.g., photos, videos, graphs, figures).
Your presentation must contain approximately 10-15 slides (excluding reference and title slides) and run approximately 5-10 minutes.
Text is organized using concise phrases typed on each slide and properly cited.
Work that is improperly cited and referenced or lacking either proper in-text citations or references may not be accepted for credit.
Be sure to add your name, date, class name, instructor name, and project topic to the TITLE SLIDE.
The required topics/subtopics: Your presentation should contain the following in the order listed below. Remember to follow the instructions in the colored box which corresponds to your organism type.
MICROORGANISMS:
The Introduction Section
Organism Introduction
The common and scientific name of your organism. Please see this link to help with scientific names if needed: How To Write Scientific Names of Organisms
Where you observed your organism (country, state, park, zoo, etc.)
A brief discussion on why you chose your organism
If possible, a picture and/or video of you safely observing your species in the field. If not possible, search the Internet for an image (and remember to cite your source for the image) in a typical habitat.
The Body of the Outline
Physical Description
You must include a brief physical description of your selected species. You can use your personal observations. If you cannot safely observe your organism, you must research.
size, coloring, etc. (e.g., Differences between male and female, juvenile and adult.)
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Life Cycle: describe the life cycle of your organism. The life cycle refers to the series of changes that happen from the beginning of life as your organism develops and grows into a mature organism. Please see here for some hints on the Life Cycle. If you have any questions on this, please ask!
Reproduction: You must discuss the reproductive strategies of your organism. For example, discuss how your microbe undergoes asexual reproduction.
Structure and Function
Please select one organ system of your organism that you find to be particularly interesting and describe both the anatomy and physiology of that system.
If you have selected a bacterium or a fungus, the concept can be more complex. Please contact me directly for more help is needed.
Energy Ecology
If you can observe these, that is best. If not, research.
What are the food sources? Types? Amounts? Temporal pattern of feeding?
Habitat
Where your organism lives. This does not refer to a city or state, but rather the natural environment in which your organism lives.
You should consider abiotic factors, such as soil, water, etc., as well as biotic factors, such as predators, hosts, etc.
The Conclusion Section
This section should contain four to six points that sum up the main points from the body of the outline.
Start your conclusive section with one sentence summarizing some basic information about your chosen organism (name and geographical distribution).
Continue with a brief summary (1-2 sentences) about the life cycle and any particular body structures.
Include a brief summary (1-2 sentences) about the ecological role of your chosen organism in its ecosystem.
Wrap up the conclusive section with a closing note that provides brief information about a unique fact and/or behavior of your chosen organism.
Reference Slides and Internal Citations – must contain the following:
Internal Citations – These are not listed on a separate page, but rather are placed throughout the presentation via in-text citations anytime you paraphrase, use direct quotes, or use visual/audio components from other sources. Therefore, all source material should be cited.
Reference Slides –
Include a final “References” slide listing a minimum of five (and no more than 10) academically and scientifically credible sources used for facts shared in your presentation.
Include a final “Media References” slide listing all images, videos, graphs, audio elements, etc., used within your presentation.
All references listed on the reference slides should be cited internally within the presentation, and vice versa.
NOTE:
These sections and your title slide are not included in the slide count for your presentation.
Do not include the summary/evaluation sections from Assignment 1: Annotated Bibliography; simply list the references utilized in your presentation in APA format on the reference slides.
Work that is improperly cited and referenced or lacking either proper citations or references may not be accepted for credit.
PLANTS/FUNGI:
The Introduction Section
Organism Introduction
The common and scientific name of your organism. Please see this link to help with scientific names if needed: How To Write Scientific Names of Organisms
Where you observed your organism (country, state, park, zoo, etc.)
A brief discussion on why you chose your organism
If possible, a picture and/or video of you safely observing your species in the field. If not possible, search the Internet for an image (and remember to cite your source for the image) in a typical habitat.
The Body
Physical Description
You must include a brief physical description. You can use your personal observations. If you cannot safely observe your organism, you must research.
size, coloring, leaf arrangement, flower color, etc.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Life Cycle: describe the life cycle of your organism. The life cycle refers to the series of changes that happen from the beginning of life as your organism develops and grows into a mature organism – seed stage, germination stage, mature stage, and so on. Please see here for some hints on the Life Cycle. Plants can be a bit more complicated, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Reproduction: You must discuss the reproductive strategies of your organism. Are there any specific structures or cells involved in reproduction? Are the flowers specialized?
Structure and Function
Please select one organ system of your organism that you find to be particularly interesting and describe both the anatomy and physiology of that system.
If your organism is a plant, here is a list of the general plant organ systems
If you have selected a fungus, the concept can be more complex. Please contact me directly for more help if needed.
Energy Ecology
If you can observe these, that is best. If not, research.
How does your plant harvest the energy from the sun? How does it store the energy?
Habitat
Where your organism lives. This does not refer to a city or state, but rather the natural environment in which your organism lives.
You should consider abiotic factors, such as soil, water, etc., as well as biotic factors, such as predators, hosts, etc.
The Conclusion Section
This section should contain four to six points that sum up the main points from the body of the outline.
Start your conclusive section with one sentence summarizing some basic information about your chosen organism (name and geographical distribution).
Continue with a brief summary (1-2 sentences) about the life cycle and any particular body structures.
Include a brief summary (1-2 sentences) about the ecological role of your chosen organism in its ecosystem.
Wrap up the conclusive section with a closing note that provides brief information about a unique fact and/or behavior of your chosen organism.
Reference Slides and Internal Citations – must contain the following:
Internal Citations – These are not listed on a separate page, but rather are placed throughout the presentation via in-text citations anytime you paraphrase, use direct quotes, or use visual/audio components from other sources. Therefore, all source material should be cited.
Reference Slides –
Include a final “References” slide listing a minimum of five (and no more than 10) academically and scientifically credible sources used for facts shared in your presentation.
Include a final “Media References” slide listing all images, videos, graphs, audio elements, etc., used within your presentation.
All references listed on the reference slides should be cited internally within the presentation, and vice versa.
NOTE:
These sections and your title slide are not included in the slide count for your presentation.
Do not include the summary/evaluation sections from Assignment 1: Annotated Bibliography; simply list the references utilized in your presentation in APA format on the reference slides.
Work that is improperly cited and referenced or lacking either proper citations or references may not be accepted for credit.
ANIMALS:
The Introduction Section
Organism Introduction
The common and scientific name of your organism. Please see this link to help with scientific names if needed: How to Write Scientific Names of Organisms
Where you observed your organism (country, state, park, zoo, etc.)
A brief discussion on why you chose your organism
If possible, a picture and/or video of you safely observing your species in the field. If not possible, search the Internet for an image (and remember to cite your source for the image) in a typical habitat.
The Body
Physical Description
You must include a brief physical description. You can use your personal observations. If you cannot safely observe your organism, you must research.
size, coloring, etc. (e.g., Differences between male and female, juvenile and adult.)
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Life Cycle: describe the life cycle of your organism. The life cycle refers to the series of changes that happen from the beginning of life as your organism develops and grows into a mature organism. Please see here for some hints on the Life Cycle. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Reproduction: You must discuss the reproductive strategies of your organism (e.g. release of gametes by a fish or hermaphroditic reproduction in earthworms), mate choice, mating displays, mate competition, and mating systems.
Structure and Function
Please select one organ system of your organism that you find to be particularly interesting and describe both the anatomy and physiology of that system.
If your organism is an animal, here is a list of the general animal organ systems
Energy Ecology
If you can observe these, that is best. If not, research.
What are the food sources? Types? Amounts? Temporal pattern of feeding? Specific handling or processing of food items by the organism (e.g. the way a squirrel manipulates an acorn)
Habitat
Where your organism lives. This does not refer to a city or state, but rather the natural environment in which your organism lives.
You should consider abiotic factors, such as soil, water, etc., as well as biotic factors, such as predators, hosts, etc.
The Conclusion Section
This section should contain four to six points that sum up the main points from the body of the outline.
Start your conclusive section with one sentence summarizing some basic information about your chosen organism (name and geographical distribution).
Continue with a brief summary (1-2 sentences) about the life cycle and any particular body structures.
Include a brief summary (1-2 sentences) about the ecological role of your chosen organism in its ecosystem.
Wrap up the conclusive section with a closing note that provides brief information about a unique fact and/or behavior of your chosen organism.
Reference Slides and Internal Citations – must contain the following:
Internal Citations – These are not listed on a separate page, but rather are placed throughout the presentation via in-text citations anytime you paraphrase, use direct quotes, or use visual/audio components from other sources. Therefore, all source material should be cited.
Reference Slides –
Include a final “References” slide listing a minimum of five (and no more than 10) academically and scientifically credible sources used for facts shared in your presentation.
Include a final “Media References” slide listing all images, videos, graphs, audio elements, etc., used within your presentation.
All references listed on the reference slides should be cited internally within the presentation, and vice versa.
NOTE:
These sections and your title slide are not included in the slide count for your presentation.
Do not include the summary/evaluation sections from Assignment 1: Annotated Bibliography; simply list the references utilized in your presentation in APA format on the reference slides.
Work that is improperly cited and referenced or lacking either proper citations or references may not be accepted for credit.
*Writing Expectations: Apply scientific concepts and use scientific terminology correctly. Utilize proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. For help with pronunciation, see this link: Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary.
Additional Resources:
**Please Note: If you use Office 365 (which is free through the University), you will need to download the software to your computer in order to add audio narration! The online version of PowerPoint does not have audio narration capability. If you are using a Chromebook or Apple product that does not allow you to download Office 365 to your device, please reach out to Classroom Support to assist you.
Presentation Tips and Guidelines
APA – In-Text Citations: The Basics
APA – Reference List: Basic Rules
Sample Presentation (Keep in mind that this is a sample presentation for biology using a format other than PPT with audio; PowerPoint with audio is the required format for your presentation)
Evaluation: Please review the BIOL180 Final Presentation Grading Rubric.pdf that describes how your presentation will be graded. NOTE: Regarding the scoring of the rubric, ALL criteria in a box must be met to earn the points assigned to that box.
Submission Instructions:
You must submit your Presentation as a “Microsoft PowerPoint” presentation (rather than a .pdf or some other presentation slide program) AND title your file name as FirstnameLastname_BIOL180_Assg3.pptx. Otherwise, you will not receive credit for your assignment. Approved file types are: .ppt or .pptx
Upload your assignment for grading by selecting the “Add a File” section.
The new screen will prompt you to select the “My Computer” button so you can locate the MS PowerPoint file of your Presentation on your computer.
Find the file and double-select on it.
Select “Continue”.
Double-check to ensure that your Presentation was successfully uploaded as an attachment.
When you have completed this assignment, type “Completed” in the rich text editor box below. This signifies to me that your work is ready to be graded.
Select the “Submit” button.
Your Presentation is automatically submitted to Turnitin with your submission: Presentations will be automatically added to and checked against the standard Turnitin repositories. Originality reports will be returned to the faculty and student in roughly 15 minutes of the submission. Multiple submissions are allowed before the due date. If you wish to learn more about and how to access Turnitin.com, a plagiarism detection website, resources are available from the APUS Online Library, APUS Writing Center HERE.
NOTE: If you have trouble uploading your PPT file directly to the classroom as directed above (e.g., your file may be too large), you can save your presentation to One Drive in Office 365 and upload the link here instead. Select HERE for instructions on uploading files and sharing links on One Drive. Reach out to [email protected] if you run into any issues.
Presentation Tips and Guidelines
1. Use Assignment 2: The Outline to start preparing your presentation by outlining
your ideas. Flesh out that outline by identifying specific subject matter, photos and
videos you want to include. Storyboarding, a way of sequencing and organizing
your ideas for delivery in the presentation, is a great way to help with the process of
preparing a presentation. Here is a link on storyboarding:
https://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/starttofinish-storyboarding/
2. Organize your presentation in a logical sequence. Be consistent in your format (use
of titles, fonts, background, overall look from slide to slide). Use font types, sizes,
and colors that are easy to read.
3. Consider writing out your presentation first and practice your narration prior to
recording. Be sure to project your voice so it can be heard well, enunciate, and
pause where applicable. When recording your narration, be relaxed, don’t worry if
you stumble here or there, but you should rerecord if you have too many “errors” in
your run.
4. Proofread and review your final product to ensure it is the final product you are
prepared to present to the class and submit for grading.
5. Make sure all photos and videos are working if embedded into your presentation.
And a last note on citation….
6. Make sure all videos, photos, figures, graphs, or research are cited properly in your
presentation.
a. HOW TO CITE AN IMAGE if you know the photographer’s name:
i. Photographer Last Name, First Initial (Photographer). (Year, Month
Day of Publication_. Title of Photograph [digital image]. Retrieved from
URL
ii. Example: Smith, J. (Photographer). (2010, January 1). Title of Picture
[digital image]. Retrieved from www.apus.edu
b. HOW TO CITE AN IMAGE if you do not know the photographer, the title or the
date of creation:
i. [Untitled illustration of topic]. Retrieved Month Day, Year from URL
ii. Example: [Untitled image of a running cat]. Retrieved January 1, 2010
from www.apus.edu
c. HOW TO CITE A VIDEO
i. Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. OR Author Screen Name.
(Year, Month Day of video post). Title of Video [Video file]. Retrieved
from URL
ii. Example: Smith, J.K. (2010, January 1). Title of Picture [Video file].
Retrieved from www.apus.edu
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