Return to Human Geography GEO 300 main page.
Check your syllabus to determine Due date for completed paper.
From
your
textbook, select 2-3 concepts in Human Geography (chapter topics,
sub-chapter
topics). Ask a good question, research
it, and explain your answer.
No
duplicate questions among students. An
outline
is due including a title, a research question, and at
least five annotated sources. Consult
your syllabus for outline due date.
Turn
in a
well-written 7-10 pages that are typed, double-spaced, one-inch margins,
12
point Times New Roman font, with a bibliography that includes at least
ten
sources (no more than half from the Internet). At
semester’s end, each student will have 10
minutes of class time to present their explanation to the class
(not
merely read the paper out loud). Consult your
syllabus for paper due date.
The
key to any good Explanation Paper is to pick a good
question. Blend concepts that you
learn in class to produce a question that is interesting to you
personally, for
instance. The question must be broad
enough to allow you to research widely, yet focused enough to prevent
the paper
from becoming too long.
This paper could
form the foundation for further research in an Honors Paper or could
complement
research in another class.
Your
work must be original and it is not to be duplicated
(entirely or in large part) for, or from, any of your other classes. Familiarize
yourself with the definition below:
****
PLAGIARISM
means to take and use another
person's words, ideas or inventions and pass them off as your own. Plagiarism is CHEATING and will result in
severe penalty to your grade. Do not
plagiarize.
Here
are questions suitable
for an Explanation Paper (though I encourage you to create your own).
How
has the concept of relative distance changed over the
past 200 years? Why?
How
might society be different if more people had to farm to
feed their families and couldn't rely on supermarkets?
How
has modern transportation changed the ways that diseases
have diffused?
What
is the process of acculturation for immigrants to our
area of the country, and what is expected of them?
What
are the most important push/pull factors (pick a
country) today; how have they changed in recent decades?
How
far should a government be able to go to reduce or
increase population growth?
What
spatial characteristics might help to explain why Judaism,
Islam, and Christianity originate in the same area?
Does
militant fundamentalism have a spatial (geographic)
component?
Choose
3-4 folk culture traditions and argue why (a
particular) society should preserve them.
How
did the rise and role of American football in the 1920s play
such a big part in popular culture?
How
do rising populations affect subsistence agricultural
systems?
A
wide variety of questions could be asked relating to
women’s roles in folk culture, society, and religion.
What
are the varying levels of technology that have diffused
and now predominate in selected parts of the world?
Why
do humans choose to live in areas of known natural
disasters?