RJA #11c: Thesis Statement Check

Comment 1
Comment 2

RJA #11b: Visual Aids

Visual Aids-

1. A Table that lists endangered species
2. A chart that shows how may species mankind has known to have evolved
3. A graph that shows how many different species of animals that have become extinct
4. Pictures of different species that have evolved from one form to another
5. Comparisons using pictures of an animal that has evolved compared to an animal that has stayed constant throughout our history.
   

RJA #11a: Introduction

This week is a week of importance because it is the celebration of Darwin's "Origin Of Species" 150th anniversary. One hundred and fifty years ago Darwin wrote a book that began to change the perspectives and ideas of the world in a tremendous way that incorporates science into the meaning of life. Darwin's theories of natural selection and evolution still to this day play a major part in our societies. When discussing endangered species and natural selection there seems to be a problem in our society because our society preserves endangered species, however If Darwin were to see that humans are protecting endangered species he would surly have objected to the idea. The preservation of endangered species should be stopped if the theory of evolution is accurate because natural selection would create situations in which certain species are forced to either adaptation or become extinct, survival of the fittest would also ensure that the strong survive and the weak become hunted to provoke an evolution that balances the components of nature.

RJA #10b: Argument

Research Question- Should endangered species be preserved if the theory of natural selection holds true?

Thesis- The preservation of endangered species should be stopped if the theory of evolution is accurate because natural selection would create situations in which certain species are forced to either adaptation or become extinct, survival of the fittest would also ensure that the strong survive and the weak become hunted to provoke an evolution that balances the components of nature.

Reason 1 - Natural Selection would create a situation of either adaptation or extinction

Evidence 1- Certain species throughout our history have either evolved or become extinct due to climate change, predator movements, and even scarcity.

Evidence 2- It is accurate to say that one can trace the origins of a species back to millions of years ago and quite possible say that their forms and shapes have evolved to be this present form today we see, such as crocodiles, birds, lions, etc.

Reason 2- Survival of the fittest would ensure that the strong survive and the weak become hunted to provoke an evolution that balances the components of nature

Evidence 1- If one were to observe nature in its purest form, even back millions of years ago, nature is always changing and to provoke this change there must be temptations that force species to evolve to keep nature's balance and develop counter prey qualities

Objections 1- Humans have been the number one species to cause more than any other species combined to become extinct

Objection 2- The preservation of endangered species should be preserved because we live in a world where diversity is important and we want to keep every species alive --> Conservatives

RJA #10a

Research Question- Should endangered species be preserved if the theory of natural selection holds true?

Precise Claim- The preservation of endangered species should be stopped if the theory of evolution is accurate.

Reasons/ Blueprint-

• Natural Selection would create a situation of either adaptation or extinction
  
• Survival of the fittest would ensure that the strong survive and the weak become hunted to provoke an evolution that balances the components of nature

Complete Thesis Statement-
The preservation of endangered species should be stopped if the theory of evolution is accurate because natural selection would create situations in which certain species are forced to either adaptation or become extinct, survival of the fittest would also ensure that the strong survive and the weak become hunted to provoke an evolution that balances the components of nature.

RJA #9: Evaluation of Sources

Books
1.
Title- The evolution of Darwinism : selection, adaptation, and progress in evolutionary biology
Website
Author- Timothy Shanahan
Publisher- Cambridge University Press
Copyright- 2004

Evaluation- This book is written by a renown author and is also published in a credited school so the credibility of the author is very much supported by Cambridge. After reading an overview of this book, I imagine it to contain general information about Darwin and natural selection that could prove valuable if I have not come across it yet. Another thing about this book is that is was recently published, in 2004 so the information found here could prove to be useful for the fact that it is new and updated.

2.
Author - Steve Parker
Website
Title of the article: Charles Darwin and evolution
Place of publication (include state if needed): United States - New York
Publisher- Harper Collins
Publication Date- 1992

Evaluation- This is a book I found on our auraria campus website and it seems like a book about general information about Darwin and his life. When reading the overview I got a sense that this book is more about the life of Darwin and his acomplishments, so this book could prove to contain valuable information about the life of Darwin. The publisher in this book is Harper Collins which is a highly renown company so the credibility of this book cannot be questioned, however the book was published in 1992, meaning newer information discovered will not be present in this book.
Periodical
3.
Name(s) of author(s)- Shannon S. Moon
Title of article- Pondering the Origins of Big Thoughts
Website
Title of periodical- Newsweek
Volume and issue number (if available)- Vol. 152 No. 04
Pages on which article appears- Pg. 16

Evaluation- This periodical I found on a database in our auraria campus, Lexis Nexis did not prove to be quite useful. This may be because the article is from a magazine and therefore not so academic, however the article is in Newsweek, a very popular magazine viewers are acquainted with. For academia purposes, this article is not effective and I do not think I will use it in my research paper because it is entertainment not educational.

4.
Name(s) of author(s)-Jonathan Rosen
Website
Title of article- When science doesn't douse faith
Title of periodical- USA Today
Pages on which article appears- Pg. 11A
Evaluation- Similar to the previous periodical, I also found this periodical on Lexis Nexis but it does differ in the fact that this periodical is in a newspaper instead of a magazine. The credibility of the newspaper USA Today cannot be doubted. After completing the article I found it to be very bias and full of opinions which makes it not useful for my research paper due to the fact that I need science to support my ideas, not opinions.

Websites
5.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_2.htm
Evaluation- This website is one of my favorite websites because it gave me a very good place to start off in my research and provided me with much information about natural selection and Darwin. This site is credited because it is from a non profit organization, .edu.

6.
http://www.biology-online.org/2/10_natural_selection.htm

Evaluation- As I was browsing the internet I found this highy treasurable website that explains the theory of natural selection in more depth and the website does a great job with visuals as well as comparasions to get a good comprehension of natural selection. The site is highy credited because it is a .org which is a non profit organization and it is also from biology-online, a directory that is renown and used by many users.

Internet Research Project

WolframAlpha

Wolfram Alpha is a search engine/directory for based off of algorithm functions. Well this means that it is a site that actually a sort of calculator for questions. You put in a question and it computes it then spits back out results, however it is not a search engine because there is only one result so it acts like a directory. One can also open up the directory page on the site and browse through there. The strengths of this site is that it will find general knowledge and algorithm functions. The downside to this site is that there are not very many results one can browse through which makes the relevancy horrible. All in all this is a great site for general knowledge but not for academic research.

RJA #8c: Multimedia

Resource searched or tool used
FlickrStorm

Keywords used
Darwin and Evolution

Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
Operator- And

Date of search
10-14-09

Number of hits
~70

Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)
1

RJA #8b: Social Media

Resource searched or tool used
FeedMil

Keywords used
Darwin and Endangered species

Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
Operator- And

Date of search
10-14-09

Number of hits
250
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)
1

Resource searched or tool used
Blogscope

Keywords used
Natural Selection and Endangered species

Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
Operator- And

Date of search
10-14-09

Number of hits
263

Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)
2

RJA #8a: Websites

Resource searched or tool used
Kartoo

Keywords used
Natural Selection (and) Endangered Species Evolution Adapt

Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
Keyword Search> Categories> Evolution> Adapt

Date of search
10-8-09

Number of hits N/A

Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)
3

Resource searched or tool used
MetaCrawler

Keywords used
Natural Selection (and) Endangered Species

Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
Keyword Search> Advanced

Date of search
10-14-09

Number of hits N/A

Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)
2

Resource searched or tool used
Yahoo Directory

Keywords used
Darwin and Natural selection

Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
Keyword Search> Science> Biology> Evolution

Date of search
10-14-09

Number of hits
293

Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)
4

Resource searched or tool used
Closer Look Search ( Invisible Search Engine)

Keywords used
Endangered Species and Natural Selection

Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
Keyword Search> Health

Date of search
10-14-09

Number of hits N/A

Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)
1

Resource Searched
Wolfram Alpha

Keywords Used

• Darwin
• Evolution
• Endangered Species
  
• Natural Selection

Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches)
Wolfram Alpha is a search engine that uses computations and algorithms to acquire an answer for one's output. It is a simple engine that calculates one's search in a mathematical manner. The types of searches used for this engine consists of short keywords and computations.

Date
October 1, 2009

Number of hits
1-5

Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5)
Relevance depends on what you are looking for and since this site computes searches the relevance depends on the research. This site contains simple infomation so on a scale the relevance of hits would be about 3

RJA #7c: Field Research Plan

For my field research I plan to be conducting one or several interviews with professionals in the field. My subject is Darwin and endangered species, to acquire accurate and precise information I plan to be interviewing professors or majors in the science department to get an idea of their standpoint on my topic as well as other information I find relevant. Another type of person I should interview would be an animal rights activists or a zoo keeper to get the other perspective of my argument.

Questions

1. What is your standpoint on Darwin's theory of natural selection and the idea of preservation of endangered species?
2. In a modern world today, is Darwin's theory of natural selection widely present in our society?
   
3. What is the overall purpose of preservation of endangered species and why is it important?
4. Who decides on the decision of preservation of endangered species and what species get to be preserved and not preserved?
   

RJA #7a: Internet Research Tools

What Search Engines I Use:
Google
Auraria Library
LexisNexis
Academic Search Primer

Why I use These Tools:
I use Google regularly for most of my searches that are not academic based and even if they are, I use Google to get a good starting point for my academia subjects.
Auraria Library catalog is a search engine I use to find books and articles that I need for academia
I've recently been using Lexis Nexis and the Academic Search Primer to find online articles, newspapers, or other prints for academic purposes

Advantages And Disadvantages
Comparisons of these different search engines turn out with advantages and disadvantages such as Google is a good place to start with any research but it lacks relevancy and academic information. Other search engines such as Lexis Nexis is a great tool for scholarly articles and information but it lacks other random non scholar information, thus is why one needs different search engines to enhance one's research and take it to another level.