Research Assignment is an investigation into a sustainability/environmental issue facing society today. You chose and submitted your topic of research just after watching the video “Plastic Pollution: How Humans are Turning the World into Plastic”. Now you will perform the actual investigation, research, and reporting of your problem or issue using technical journals, magazines, news periodicals, on-line journals, etc. Your report should include the following components:

1. The first paragraph of your report will be a brief overall synopsis of the problem or issue you are investigating. Here you should state the problemandindicate the short term and long-term implications of the issue for society. Briefly (one or two sentences) state how or why this is occurring, and in another one or two sentences state what can be done about it. You can add some interesting facts in this introductory paragraph to “grab” the reader but be careful to not make this introduction to your research paper too long.

2. Discuss the issue that you introduced in your first paragraph. Be very comprehensive in your description and discussion, stating how and why it came to be an issue in sustainability. Use supporting facts, statistics, and economic analyses as appropriate. Be sure to reference any sources, facts, statistics, and analyses used in your report.

3. Discuss the implications of the issues stated in your first paragraph. Use speculations and statistics to support your claims to the societal repercussions of the issue. This part of the report should alert the reader as to the critical nature of the issue regarding sustainability and be very convincing in doing so.

4. Discuss a solution to the problem. This can be either in the form of an innovation or engineering system (such as systems presented or used to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch), or a behavioral change (such as the banning of plastic bags), or both. Discuss what you plan to do to help solve this sustainability issue. Discuss what society could and should do to solve the problem. Explainhowthe stated solution(s)will solve the problem.

5. Wrap-up your report by drawing conclusions from everything you’ve discovered or discussed. Speculate as to the feasibility of what you have presented. See if you can think of any side-effects that may occur if your proposed actions are implemented. Basically, leave the reader with a convincing “sell” of your solution to the sustainability issue you researched. Get on your “soapbox”.

6. As in any research paper, be sure to include a bibliography of the sources used in your investigation.

– Overall, this research project should not be “over-consuming” of your time. Brief and “to the point” writing is your friend here. A well-written report can be completed in four pages of 1.5 lines spaced text, and, if it’s more than six pages, it’s likely that it’s too long. Complete your paper by proofreading it a few times (and have a friend, colleague, or family member proofread it). If you can then identify all the components listed above.