SAS 004 Homepage

Instructor

Grading info

Syllabus

Movie Logs

Sci Essay

Study Guide

Online TA Help


Last updated: 09/24/08
 		test

SAS 004: Water in Popular Culture

Online TA

To facilitate your learning of the subject material for this course, this page has been set up to allow you to ask the professor questions about the readings, lectures, discussions, or other appropriate topics. Your questions and their answers will be posted (anonymously) here, so that all students may benefit from the answer, since it is likely that several people are wondering about the same thing.

Before sending in your question, be sure to re-read the appropriate textbook section, re-visit the corresponding lecture notes, and consider any relevant handouts. Please take the time to carefully phrase your question so that it may be properly answered. The more specific and well-phrased the question is, the more direct and useful the answer will be to yourself and your classmates.

Send your question to gpast(at|symbol)ucdavis.edu

Questions and Answers


Q: For the movie logs, do you just want notes from the reading as well as on the movie?
A: The movie log for each movie asks for something different, so they are not all the same. Ideally, you should take notes on your log during the movie and then add additional comments based on your understanding of the reading.

Q: please explain the structure of the word charting exercise?
A: When you do word charting, the goal is to identify the causes and consequences of a problem. In the center of the word chart is the key word or phrase. Above that are boxes with arrows leading into it. The arrows mean that the boxes represent things that *cause* the key phrase. Each of those boxes has a title phrase to categorize it. You are supposed to identify individual examples of each category. Similarly, the arrows below the key phrase indicate that the phrase in turn impacts other categories of things. You need to itemize examples of those as well. For example, consider the word chart for "The River". The key phrase was "River Flood". Above that was "Societal Factors". So you need to identify societal factors that *cause* floods. To do that, you might find some ideas from the movie or from the reading. If those are insufficient, try going onto your favorite web search site and type "societal factors causing floods". That will give you plenty of ideas of examples of such factors. Note that "Environmental Impacts" are consequences that affect the totality of surroundings outside of the human experience. Anything human-centric could not be considered an environmental impact. For example, crops destroyed by a flood would be a socio-economic impact, not an environmental impact. It is ok to use phrases or bulleted lists on the word chart.

Q: Could you please clarify what are "Global" and "Local" factors on the word chart for Endless Summer?
A: The key phrase for The Endless Summer is "Perfect Breaking Wave". The boxes above that are where you identify the variables that create such a wave. The chart is suggesting that the variables can be grouped into two categories. Global factors are those variables that relate to worldwide environmental conditions. Local factors are those conditions that are unique to a particular location. In the movie, the narrator states many times key factors that create a perfect wave. He also names different types of waves. The consequences of waves follow in the lower boxes. they are not discussed in the movie, but some are mentioned in the reading and some can be found searching on the web.

Q: On the Endless Summer movie log, are you really asking for the environmental impacts of waves or did you mean the impacts of surfing?
A: I meant the impacts of waves. Waves impact the environment. Similarly, waves impact our society. Think that through, search on the web, and write down your thoughts.

Q: For the science essay, would it be appropriate to reference a personal story in my paper, and if so, what would be the best way to incorperate it in and cite it correctly.
A: In a science essay, it is appropriate to provide some motivation for your essay in the introductory paragraph. Your story could work there, if kept brief. You could then come back to that at the very end. I'd avoid using it as supporting evidence for anything. In terms of citation, if you are telling the story from your experience, then you don't need a citation. If it came from someone else, then the citations would read "(name, pers. comm.)". So if you heard it from John Smith, then it would be (John Smith, pers. comm.). The phrase "pers. comm." is short for "personal communication.

Q: How do I know whether the fact I want to mention in my essay needs a citation?
A: You do not inherently know any scientific facts when you are born, so anything you present in your essay should be back by an appropriate citation. A single citation may be used to cover several sentences in a row. You may cite textbooks for many basic facts that you want to mention. When in doubt, always take the side of using a citation.


Options: SAS 004 Homepage, Instructor, Grading info, Syllabus, Movie Logs, Sci Essay, Study Guide, Online TA Help.