Week 6: winding down rain garden work; on to coffee cup
Hello. Do not forget tonight's last peer collaboration in Eli Review. Complete on time for each other. Please.
Couple of items to clarify:
- Checklist is guidance. I modified the entry on authoritative sources (thank you, K, for question).
- If you are unclear about something, write a note at the beginning of your final submission. Grading can be a conversation and a learning moment. You are used to evaluative grading. Summative grading is a practice that values learning over perfection.
- People are still confused about all the elements of the evaluation paragraph. Let's chat in class-->
- You can "stack" or ask some of your sources to do double duty. Example:
- If you find a Davis paper that address both the stormwater and pollution categories with logos of numbers/details, then one peer reviewed source works here. I am asking you to provide a detail about EACH of the two problems. Note again, the power of thinking about that counting out strategy that neatens your writing. Is a way to help reader experience lfow and coherence.
- Stacking can also work with the two examples I ask you to provide. Why examples? People experience a sense of completion and clarity when you provide examples for definitional work, especially.
- Variation with your referral links also helps you with stacking. You could provide example(s) in the illustrating paragraph. Heck, with skill, you could provide an example in the first paragraph. Take care, though, to honor the cognitive wedge.
- You can also punt and just please the two curated links at the end, making clear that you are sending the reader to quick visuals of local rain gardens. Remember to use Maryland and/or Mid Atlantic examples.
- You can "stack" or ask some of your sources to do double duty. Example:
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On to the problem-solution memo, aka Assignment 2. Jane the boss is pleased with your rain garden work. As a follow up, the governor asked about which disposable coffee cup is better for the environment? This is our research question, aka CONJECTURE from stasis theory. Stasis always begins with a question.
For Wednesday, read for 15 minutes on the web about this question. We will also note the craptastic AI-assisted take over of the famous Google algorithm. I will point you to better ways, summarized below.
OPTIONAL for Monday but here is Wednesday's note, early; If you are ready to prep for the coffee cup memo, here are the two researchers who hold founding ethos about the two cup choices:
- Martin Hocking, research chemist at University of Victoria, BC, Canada. By Research Gate, you can see many of his articles over an incredibly long academic career. Here are the two foundational articles he published that compare the embodied energy of Styrofoam and paper hot beverage cups
- 1991 research results article (read abstract, as you likely will hit a paywall Springer.
- 1994 follow-up research letters (ditto above on pay wall but at Jstor, you get preview and not an abstract)
- Charles Moore, marine biologist and oceans advocate, discovered these patches and began this line of inquiry:
- Algalita Foundation
- His list of publications here (Moore is typically not listed in Research Gate as he left academia to focus on ocean plastic).
Suggestion: skim read for 15 minutes about Moore and Hocking,, with some attention paid to knowing enough to discuss this coffee cup recommendation memo. This NEW memo content is more complex and wide-ranging. Transitions are a way to thread the cognition for our busy readers. Your first memo focused on the definition stasis, with a evaluation move at the end.
Marybeth Shea
Lots here!
Jane wants a problem-solution memo (aka a short recommendation report) about the type of disposable coffee cup we use in our firm. Therefore, we need to frame this work with the stasis of policy (what ought we do) that is the recommendation goal. Also, recall that the Governor is interested, too.
Let's start by reading this short science news article from Science Daily.
Back to our boss: Jane wants a coffee cup policy for the office that is "green." OK, that is the content for your invention. Here is rough working arrangement (paragraphs types/jobs):
POLITE OPENING, with your recommendation that previews your final policy paragraph in first person.
CONJECTURE PARAGRAPH Problem description (our office situation, with quantifiers), with reference to national. international size of the problem (referral link is fine). Is a global problem/local solution (policy) frame.
CONTEXT PARA(s) Environmental problems (energy efficiency ->climate change AND/OR persistence of plastic in ocean -> food chain disruption). Depends on your frame that choice-- leading to.
YOUR WEIGHTED PROBLEM SOLVING METHOD (revealing your pre-analytical frame or bias); use first person to say that this is your frame to address the question (conjecture that gives rise to this report).
DEFINITION-->CAUSE/EFFECT information (here, the type of coffee cup you choice/based on frame, sets you up to address the cause/effect (Stasis 3) that can be examined by using life cycle assessment/analysis.
Coffee cup types (how many? You likely did this earlier when you descrive/define the problem. Three types of cups in two classes (reusable v. disposable, where the disposable have two types: paper or plastic (styrofoam).
PIVOT PARA from background INFORMATION to ANALYSIS PARAS; Decision criteria (HINT: Life cycle analysis, and define this; use an EPA source) HERE, this definition helps us move to the VALUE paragraphs, like the Davis paragraph/rain garden memo. We will need some authortative, formal citation for this work.
CAUSE/EFFECT continued (system) -->VALUE (Harm or benefit)
Martin Hocking's work on life cycle analysis of paper v. Styrofoam OR
Charles Moore's work on size of ocean garbage patches
POLICY/ RECOMMENDATION (restate your recommendation, with qualifiers, as one does in science land)
Science/Research support (remind about evidence discussed above in VALUING PARAGRAPHS)
Qualification (concede reasonableness of the other position)
Concrete examples (2): give two cases of use type.
Sentences that can help you as topic sentences or transitions sentences between paragraphs
Any analysis of coffee cup choice requires use of life cycle analysis.
Life cycle analysis -- also known as cradle-to-grave -- helps capture the entire environmental effect from origin and inputs through use and, importantly, to disposal.
In my analysis, I weight [name environmental problem] more heavily than [the other problem].
Life cycle analysis can help us understand this difficult question about coffee cup sustainability
We have two choices in coffee cups: paper or plastic (Styrofoam).
Martin Hocking conducted the first -- and to date only -- peer-reviewed analysis of the energy embodied in coffee cup choices.
Charles Moore is among the first to alert us to the huge problem of persistent ocean plastic.
We will work through the above over the next two weeks, using stasis theory.
Lesson on paragraphs, here for early in your memo, in the definition/description move (STASIS 2) where we also need to address context. Skill?: Coherence in a paragraph (sample content but the paragraphs might not be complete for the purposes of your coffee cup paper):
"Meh" paragraph
Plastic and paper cups pose problems for recycling. Ceramic cups are very energy intensive to produce. Recycling seems environmentally-sound. Paper does not degrade deep within most landfills and the plastic coating is also difficult. Not all plastic can be recycled. You need to check the bottom of the container. Landfills are increasingly full. There is a huge "patch of garbage" in the Pacific Ocean. Supply chains of garbage recycling, especially plastic do not really work.
Note: can you see the compare/contrast move here, even in this meh or necessary draft version?
Better paragraph
Paper and plastic both pose disposal problems. First, not all plastic can be recycled. Check the bottom of the plastic container. "No. 1" and "No. 2" types can be recycled by most facilities. Second, paper does not degrade deep within most landfills because of low oxygen conditions. The plastic coating also interferes with decay. Landfills are increasingly full. There are several huge "patches of garbage" in the Pacific Ocean. Recent analysis suggest that China is a source of this garbage.
Note: do you see a place for a referral citation, using the Seattle news article posted earlier? Can you find a more general article that you can refer to, about the limits of recycling and landfilling? Recall that this information, now, at this level of detail is common knowledge, even if you do know this.
Even better paragraph (can you see the re-thinking of content as well as sentence-level revision)
Paper and plastic both pose disposal problems. First, not all plastic can be recycled. Check the bottom of the plastic container. "No. 1" and "No. 2" types can be recycled by most facilities. Second, paper does not degrade deep within most landfills because of low oxygen conditions. The plastic coating also interferes with decay. Landfills are increasingly full, with paper and plastic part of the waste stream. Not all plastic is recycled or landfilled. According to the Algalita Foundation, huge "patches" of garbage in the Pacific Ocean are further evidence of of the environmental harm posed by plastic.
Notes: 1) is that referral link well curated? do you see another place for a referral citation? Should we build a new paragraph with this iNY Times nformation or this 2022 Science Daly piece noted earlier.
Marybeth Shea
Happy Friday.
I am reading rain garden memos as they appear in the ER "parking lot," which is a Writing Task location I use for this final version. Please recall that you have a week from March 1 to complete. Send me an email, when you post, so I am invited to read, grade, comment and contact you with your four grades.
For reading in preparation for the coffee cup memo, here are terms and web locations that will help you. Recall, that the entire world is rethinking search norms now that AI is taking a larger presence in Google searches.
- life cycle analysis, aka, life cycle assessment (Wikipedia and/or EPA government website)
- Styrofoam, a type of plastic (Wikipedia, this industry short web exhibit explainer)
- paper/paper cup production (Wikipedia, this Sciencing explainer -- pay attention to the polymer coating)
- microplastics (Wikipedia; and try this NIH page with abstract of 2014 research article with Chesapeake Bay watershed focus; bonus? UMD prof, too)
- aquatic plastic (See the Algalita link from Wednesday above)
I hope these links help. Another place that could be helpful is Science Daily, an authoritative compilation of science article summaries. Note: the search engine is sometimes wonky. Here is a recent, good-news piece on how boiling water can improve the safety profile of drinking water for microplastics.