2nd Semester
Honors Biology Research Paper

This semester, you have the opportunity to research in more depth a topic that interested you from our class curriculum. You may pick topics from genetics (genetic engineering, genetic disorders, genetic counseling, etc), evolution (evolution of particular types of organisms or groups of organisms, selective breeding of particular groups), ecology (living sustainably, energy for the future, growing food for our future, pollution, etc.), or bacterial or viral diseases.

  1. Project Topic Proposal (due Monday March 24) 30 points
    1. What topic are you interested in?
    2. Why does this topic interest you?
    3. Have you found adequate sources for you to do a research paper on this topic?
    4. How is this topic related to Honors Biology class?
  2. Research Paper covering the background of your topic (Due Monday May 5) 300 points (25 points extra credit added to grade for each week early this paper is submitted)
    1. 10 sources minimum including 5 professional science journals (primary sources).
    2. Sections to include:
      1. Introduction: in which your topic is introduced and you state where you are going (preview) with the paper.
      2. Findings: Organized and integrated summary of related research articles about your topic (Minimum 6 double-spaced pages. Maximum 8 double-spaced pages with 12 pt. font).
      3. Conclusion: Summarize your findings.
      4. Literature Cited : CBE style: should have sources listed alphabetically by the authors’ last names. All content within the body of the paper should be parenthetically referenced by the author’s last name, year of publication, page in appendix where information comes from (Smith, 2006, 14). Anonymous (no author listed) resources are not usable.
      5. Appendix: Please print copies of your sources (including pages used from books and its bibliography information/copyright page) and highlight (use 2 colors: 1st color for information that could be used & 2nd color for information actually used) important information you included in your paper (Include these in your binder just behind your research paper) They need to be consecutively numbered so the parenthetical references can utilize them.
  1. Defense of Paper One on One with Instructor (schedule for before school, after school, or lunch 30 minutes. Your grade will be assigned during this time)
    1. Do you understand what you wrote in your paper (vocabulary used, thoughts written)?
    2. Can you explain the content of your paper without reading it?
    3. What did you learn from this experience?
  2. Summary to Class (Due by end of semester) 70 points

    Please give a 3 minute summary to the class summarizing your findings about the topic you studied. Please have summarizing visual (poster, powerpoint, or web page) to guide your presentation.

*Rubrics and Checklists coming soon (will be similar to 1st semester research section of the project paper)