II. Required Sections of Paper (Use these Section Headers)

Title (Concise and capturing your research question)

Abstract (What you studied, Why and how you studied the topic, and what you concluded. Note: this is written last!)

Introduction (General background to problem, why this biodiversity issue is of interest.)

Purpose of study (What part of issue you have addressed and why. This is your research question/hypothesis. This section should inform the reader about the significance of the issue)

Methods (How you went about addressing problem and conducting your research)

Results (Statement of what you found…no interpretations in this section.. should present the “facts” about your issue as indicated by several references)

Discussion (Your interpretation of the results, how your findings agree and/or conflict with previous findings, weaknesses of your study)

Conclusions and Recommendations (Description of your findings, conclusions, and new contributions to knowledge, as well as areas for future work)

References Minimum of 4 scholarly resources for each competence. (This typically means resources in peer-reviewed journals from University Libraries, NOT WEBSITES, POPULAR MAGAZINES, OR OUTDATED BOOKS FROM PUBLIC LIBRARIES!)

Length: 6-7 pages (excluding figures and references), “typed” and double-spaced (abstract may be single spaced, approximately 8 lines in length). Font should be no larger than 12 pt. and no smaller than 10 pt. Use 1″ margins and note that page length begins with the text and does not include the title page. Please emphasize quality over quantity. To do a reasonable job on the topic and receive a high grade on the paper will usually require the maximum length.