Your final project will be a personal reflection and action

Prompt

Your final project will be a personal reflection and action plan paper on one or two natural resources that you would like to focus on to make personal changes, from the general categories of animals, plants, water, air, soil, minerals, food, and energy sources. This assignment moves beyond recycling and packaging reduction to a real and significant lifestyle change regarding natural resource use.

In addition to providing background information on your proposed personal changes, your action plan requires you to include how you would execute your plan. This will help to ensure that scope and feasibility for your plan exist.

For example, if you were to get rid of all toxic cleaning supplies in your home, what steps would you need to take? What resources would you need? What costs would there be? How would you go about accomplishing these steps and goals?

The following critical elements must be addressed in the final paper.

1. Provide an introduction that describes the topic. Specifically:
   1. Define the scope of the topic. What are the natural resources involved? How were they created? How are they used and obtained?
   2. Briefly indicate the importance of this topic to:
      1. You personally
      2. American society
      3. The global community
2. Section 1: History and Contemporary Viewpoint. Include and build upon your Section 1 submission (Background, Historical Awareness in America, Historical Awareness Globally) from Milestone Two by incorporating instructor feedback and by adding:
   1. A synopsis of the historical development of the topic from inception through modern‐day usages, both in American culture as well as the global culture, focusing on the most significant developments and contributors to the topic.
   2. A timeline of the most significant developments and contributors (e.g., scientists, activists) to the topic to provide a summary of the most important events and who was involved.
3. Section 2: Local Real‐World Applications and Specific Steps. Include and build upon your Section 2 submission (Opportunities and Hurdles) from Milestone Two by incorporating instructor feedback and by adding:
   1. A synopsis of the opportunities for change and the hurdles that you will have to overcome.
   2. Outline an action plan of specific steps that you will need to take to make the change happen. All projects should include the following, plus any additional items that are project‐specific:
      1. The short‐ and long‐term costs to implement your change (for example, monetary, social, time, effort, etc.)
      2. The personnel and/or skills needed and availability (e.g., electrician, local politicians, HOA managers and members, construction crews, yard work)
      3. A timeframe (e.g., time necessary for planning stage, implementation stage, most limiting time‐based action items, etc.)
      4. Local laws and regulations (e.g., local and state water laws, HOA regulations, organic designation laws, etc.)
4. Section 3: Global Significance, Impact, and Applications. Compare and contrast local (i.e., local to you) versus global application of your chosen topic as well as the global significance and impacts for this type of change locally and globally. Depending on your topic selection, this may include comparisons to both a developed country and a developing country or between two widely differing areas of America. Specifically:
   1. Describe two key differences between your chosen comparison communities (i.e., your own and another). They might concern the cost of making a change, skilled personnel needed and availability, or differences in local laws and regulations. For example, in California there may be many local regulations/laws that have to be addressed before you could disconnect your home from city water and sewage to use your own water‐recycling system, whereas in a city in Pakistan there may be no regulatory oversight.
   2. Describe two key similarities among your chosen comparison communities (including your own). For example, in both California and Pakistan, finding skilled labor and the right equipment for an in‐home gray water recycling system might be difficult.
5. Conclusion
   1. Summarize the use of natural resources and environmental impacts relevant to your selected topic.
   2. Describe what skills and resources are required to address this topic.
   3. Reflect on how your knowledge of the topic has changed over the course of your research, ensuring that you address instructor feedback.

Milestones

Milestone One: Topic Selection and Paper Outline
In Module Two, you will submit your chosen topic to the instructor and provide an outline of the three required sections of the final paper, including potential references, for instructor approval. The topic may come from the list provided in the Milestone Two Rubric document, or it can be self‐designed. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric. Formative feedback received from the instructor should be applied to subsequent work. The final paper will not be accepted without topic approval.

Milestone Two: History, Contemporary Viewpoint, and Real‐World Applications
In Module Five, you will submit a document with two sections: Historical Development and Real‐World Applications. In the first section, you will summarize your research on the historical development of the topic from inception through modern‐day usages—both in our American culture as well as the global culture (comparing to as many other cultures as necessary, but at least one). You may select the most significant developments and contributors to the topic. In the second section, you will explain the real‐world application of your chosen topic in your current location. This milestone will be graded separately using the Milestone Two Rubric, and feedback will be provided for revisions to the final paper.

Final Submission: Final Paper
In Module Seven, you will submit your final paper. Include an introduction outlining the topic and what the reader can expect within each of the three sections. The paper should consist of the introduction, the three sections of research you conducted over the course of the term, and a conclusion, which will be a reflective analysis of what you learned from the research you conducted. The final project should be cohesive and polished and take into consideration feedback provided by the instructor throughout the term. This submission will be graded using the Final Project Rubric.

What to Submit

Written components of project must follow these formatting guidelines when applicable: title page, double spacing, 12‐point Times New Roman font, one‐inch margins, and a references page in APA style. The final paper should be cohesive and polished and take into consideration feedback provided by the instructor throughout the term. The paper should be at least 10 and no more than 15 pages, excluding the cover sheet and references page. You must incorporate at least 10 scholarly resources, using two to four resources per section. Proper APA formatting is expected for all elements of the document, including references.