Biology Current Events - Science News Magazine

Biology Current Events

Find your news article

The purpose of this activity is to encourage you to pay attention to important science news that you may encounter on TV, Radio, Internet news sites, and social media. For this activity, you will focus only on online news sites and/or social media as your source of news. You can find many interesting and important biology-related headlines every day of the week. You are being asked to find one current news story within the field of biology that is of real interest to you. 

I suggest that you consider for a moment where you typically read your science-related news online. It might be Buzzfeed, Apple News, Facebook, Twitter, an online news paper (e.g., Arizona Daily Star, L.A. Times, New York Times, etc.), or perhaps a Cable TV news site (e.g., CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc.).

If you are having trouble finding an article related to biology, or just are not sure where to begin, try going to some of the following online news sites:

· Science News Magazine

· Science Daily

· NPR science news

· Google science news

· Yahoo science news

1. From what source(s) do you typically get your science-related news? Do you consider their information reliable? Why or why not?

2. What is the title of your article? On what date (day/month/year) was it published online?

3. Why did you find this particular article interesting? In other words, what caught your attention, thus leading you to choose to share it?

4. In what way does your article relate to the field of biology? (Remember that your article must relate to this field.)

5. What is the full URL of your web-based source? (copy the whole web address; I need to be able to visit your site!)

6. In your own words, write a brief summary of what happened or was learned. In other words, what significant finding is being reported? (your answer must be at least 10 complete and meaningful sentences long, and MUST be in your own words; you will not get credit for sentences that you just copy/paste from the article!)

7. Who is the author of the research or the person(s) who made the discovery? Do you know whether or not they are from an educational institution, such as a university or college, or a state or government agency? If so, which one? Do you know anything about their credentials?

8. Is a scientific study presented? If so, has it been published in a scientific journal? Which one? Do they give you a link so that we may view the original journal article (primary source)?

9. What evidence is being presented to back up their findings? Any numbers and / or statistics given?

10. Do you trust their findings? Do the findings seem plausible?

11. Is this a positive or negative news source? In other words, is it a "good thing" or a "bad thing" being reported? Explain.

· If it is a good thing, explain how it could potentially add to your quality of life and / or that of others. Who benefits?

· If it is a bad thing, what if anything has been suggested to fix the situation or make things better? What is your opinion on what should be done?

·12. Does what is being reported cause you any fear or distress? Explain.

13. Were you already aware of this news before reading the article, or was this something that you had not seen or heard of before?