What To Do:

o    In your article summary, relate the main topic(s) mentioned in the article to things you have experienced or learned about in class. Describe/summarize the topics referred to in the article and then include the facts and concepts about those topics that we have learned in class.   

o    You should make a minimum of three detailed connections between the content of the article, and what we have discussed in class.  When you make your connections, try to avoid simple or trivial connections such as: “The article talked about elements, and we learn about the elements in class for the TGIF quizzes.” Your summary should explain how the concept was used/referred to in the article AND what we have learned about the concept in class. 

You should have one paragraph per connection. Make sure you are clear about what your three connections are!

o    Don't use direct quotes in your article summary.  The summary should be a paraphrasing of the main points of the article and should be IN YOUR OWN WORDS!

ideasHow to upload your report:

Rubric for Grading Article Summary Assignments (15 Points)

 

3

2

1

0

Making Connections

(3 connections x 3 possible points each = 9 possible points)

 

Be sure to have three connections between the article and what we learned in class.  Points will be deducted for having less than three connections!

- Main chemistry concept from the article is summarized and related to what was learned in class, and when (specific lab, video, lecture, etc.)

- The concepts we learned about in class are explained and then stated how they relate to the article.

- Substantial detail and chemistry content is provided when connecting the concept from the article to what we have learned in class.

- A chemistry concept from the article is mentioned, but it either does not adequately reflect a main idea of the article, how it relates to what has been covered in class, or when is has been covered.

- Minimal detail and chemistry content is provided when connecting the concept from the article to what we have learned in class.

- A chemistry concept from the article is mentioned, but no attempt is made to either relate the article topic to other experiences or concepts talked about in class.

- No detail and chemistry content is provided when connecting the concept from the article to what we have learned in class.

- No attempt was made to connect the article to what has been discussed in class.

 

6

4

2

0

MLA Reference

(6 possible points)

Article is complete and referenced in proper MLA format.

Reference is in MLA format, but contains a minor error or two.

Reference has 3 or more errors in MLA format and/or missing substantial information.

No MLA reference was included in assignment.

 

Examples

Example #1

Click here to read actual article

While the whole idea of binary language and lasers is not really related to concepts we have talked about in chemistry class, there are several concepts in this article that are.  The article used several metric prefixes when discussing the size of things.  It mentioned that the grooves in a CD were 0.5 micrometers wide. In Unit 1, we learned that the prefix micro means "one millionth", so that means that if we took one meter and divided it into a million pieces each piece would one micrometer long.  The grooves in the CD are only half that wide!  Also, it mentioned that the CD can hold 780 Megabytes of data.  We learned that the prefix Mega means "one million."  Since bytes would be the base unit for data, which means that each CD can hold 780 million bytes of information! 

Finally, the article talks about the dye that turns dark and opaque when it is exposed to the high powered light from a laser beam.  This sounds to me like a chemical reaction.  In class we have learned that chemical reactions are always accompanied by a change in energy.  The laser beam is visible light which is actually a form of energy.  The energy from the beam must cause a chemical reaction in the dye which causes it to change to a dark, opaque substance.  In the Chemical / Physical Changes Lab, we learned that a change in color is usually evidence that a chemical change has occurred.  We can now conclude that this dye has now turned into a new substance because it has new properties (dark and opaque), and thus evidence of a chemical change. I am very curious as to what chemically happens when the CD is erased in order to be written on again. 

Reference:

Becker, Bob.  "Question From the Classroom: How Do CD Players Work?".  ChemMatters. December 2002: 2.

 

Grade

Comments

Making Connections

(out of 9 possible points)

9

Student lists two concepts from class that relate to article (reminder – you need three connections as part of your summary!  This is only an example!):  Metric Prefixes and Chemical Changes.  The student summarizes what was mentioned in the article and relates it to what was learned in class.   Notice that there is an explanation of the concept with a reference to when we learned about it in class ("In Unit 1" ... "In the Chemical / Physical Changes Lab").  The concept we learned about in class is explained and then stated how it relates to the article.

Reference

(out of 6 possible points)

6

Reference is present including all information in proper MLA format.  Be careful!  This article was only one page.  If yours was more than one page, be sure to include the page range of your article!

 

Example #2

I think this was an interesting article. I never thought about this when I had fake nails when doing chemistry labs. Now I know that I have to be very careful. This article also relates to the reactions we were learning about. It is a combustion reaction and we learned how to do those a couple of weeks ago. Something that relates to this subject is that nail polish is very flammable so that would make the risk even higher.

Reference:

"The Flammability of Synthetic Nails." Chem Matters. February 2001. Pg.14

Grade

Comments

Making Connections

(out of 9 possible points)

3

The student does correctly mention that we have learned about combustion reactions, but doesn't say any more than that.  They should mention what we learned about them.  They also need to make more than the one connection between the article and what we learned in class.

 

For example:

 "In class, we learned that combustion reactions are heat producing reactions that occur between a hydrocarbon and oxygen.  In this article, the nails would be the hydrocarbon because they contain hydrogen and carbon among other elements."  The fire from the burners provides the energy to start a reaction between the hydrocarbon (fingernails) and the oxygen in the air.  It is likely that the oxygen contained in the fingernail itself also contributes to speed up this reaction."

Reference

(out of 6 possible points)

3

Author is missing.  There are also some punctuation errors: 

  • the date should have a colon ( : ) after it instead of a period
  • for page numbers, just put the numbers. No "P's" or "Pg" or "Pp's" should be used.
  • The entry needs a period at the end.

See MLA Style Guide for proper MLA format.