Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences Critical Analysis

After you have read the article Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous–Tertiary Extinction by Luis W. Alvarez, Walter Alvarez, Frank Asaro, and Helen V. Michel, please write a 500-word interdisciplinary analysis essay based on the article. You do not need to go online or to the library to find information about this topic. All the information you need is within the article that is provided. You should read, review, and critically analyze the information in this article. You do not need to go online or to the library to find information about this topic. All the information you need is within the article that is provided. We want you to read, review, and critically analyze the information in this article. Your quizzes in this course, have focused on APA citation style. You will need to cite this one reference at the end of your paper and make in-text citations throughout your paper using APA citation style.

PRIMARY SOURCE – Please make a special note. The article you are reading is a “primary source.” A primary source is original research written by the person who conducted it. If someone were to write an article “about” this article that would be considered a secondary source. Understanding this distinction is very important in academic research.

When you write a critical analysis essay, you do not need to be an expert on the topic. Your task is to evaluate what the author has written. For the essay to be interdisciplinary, it must include more than one discipline. Those disciplines are specified in the instructions below.

THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY (INSTRUCTIONS) When writing this essay, please use the five-paragraph approach. In this case, each paragraph should be approximately 100 words long. This is by no means the only formula for writing such essays, but for this assignment, it serves our purposes well. This method consists of:

1. Add a title page with all the information that is highlighted in yellow on the title page of the “APA Sample Paper” that is provided.

2. Do NOT include an “abstract” page. An abstract it not necessary for the purposes of this essay.

3. PARAGRAPH 1 (100 words) – An introductory paragraph Clearly and concisely states the paper’s purpose, which is engaging, and thought provoking. Your introductory paragraph should answer these two questions: 1) What is the nature of the work (type, purpose) and what is the primary message(s) of this work? 2) What problems is the author trying to solve and what are the primary issues that the author is addressing?

4. Three evidentiary body paragraphs (paragraphs 2-4). Analyze the following disciplines and their role in discovering that a meteor hitting the earth may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs as featured in the article.

a. PARAGRAPH 2 (100 words) – Dr. Luis Alvarez is a physicist. Physics, geology, and chemistry all played an important role in discovering that a meteor colliding with the earth, may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. What role did physics play in making that discovery?

 

 

 

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b. PARAGRAPH 3 (100 words) – Dr. Walter Alvarez is a geologist. Physics, geology, and chemistry all played an important role in discovering that a meteor colliding with the earth, may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. What role did geology play in making that discovery?

c. PARAGRAPH 4 (100 words) – Drs. Frank Asaro and Helen Vaughn Michel are chemists. Physics, geology, and chemistry all played an important role in discovering that a meteor colliding with the earth, may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. What role did chemistry play in making that discovery?

WRITING TIP: Do NOT write a summary or “book report” of the article. That is NOT the purpose of a critical analysis essay.

5. PARAGRAPH 5 (100 words) – A conclusion paragraph

In your conclusion, describe what you have learned that you did not know before and perhaps what you can use in your personal and professional life based on your critical analysis of this article.

6. Add a “REFERENCES” page as formatted in the sample paper on page 9. In this case the only citation we have is the one article provided.

FORMATTING: Double spaced, Times New Roman font, 12 point text, and one-inch page margins. College-level writing is expected. The paper will be graded for content, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure.