SCI207 Ashford Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems Week 2 – Assignment 3 Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part 2 of 4: Sustaining our Agricultur

SCI207 Ashford Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems Week 2 – Assignment 3

Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part 2 of 4: Sustaining our Agricultural Resources
[WLOs: 1, 4] [CLOs: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, please read Chapter 3 in the Turk and Bensel’s Contemporary Environmental Issues textbook (2014).

The purpose of this assignment is twofold: first, to enable you to explore a term (concept, technique, place, etc.) related to this week’s theme of sustaining our agricultural resources; second, to provide your second contribution to a collective project, the Class Sustainable Living Guide. Your work this week, and in the weeks that follow, will be gathered (along with that of your peers) into a master document you will receive a few days after the end of the course. The document will provide everyone with a variety of ideas for how we can all live more sustainably in our homes and communities.

To complete this assignment,

You will first need to select a term from the list of choices in the Week 2 – Term Selection Forum. Reply to the forum with the term that you would like to research. Do not select a term that a classmate has already chosen. No two students will be researching the same topic.
Next, download the Week 2 Assignment Template and replace the guiding text with your own words based upon your online research. Please do not include a cover page. All references, however, should be cited in your work and listed at the end, following APA format expectations.

In the template, you will

Define the term thoroughly.
Clearly relate the term to the week’s theme.
Explain how the term affects living things and the physical world.
Relate the term to the challenge of achieving environmental sustainability.
Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps a technique or technology that might promote it.
Suggest two specific actions we can take to promote sustainability in relationship to this term.
Provide detailed examples to support your ideas.

The Week 2 Assignment

Must be three paragraphs in length (not including title, quoted text, or references and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. resources.
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. resource for additional guidance.
Must use at least two credible and/or scholarly sources in addition to the course text. You will need to cite the following at minimum:
The class textbook, or provide a URL formatted according to APA standards to the resource in case your term was not in the text.
A scholarly source
A credible source.
To aid you in your research, and particularly in locating scholarly sources via the Ashford Library or using Google Scholar, please review the following Ashford videos and tutorials:
Scholarly and Popular Resources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
How to Use FindIt@AU (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Database Search Tips (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Research, Keywords, and Databases: An Overview (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Accessing Full Text and Citation in Google Scholar (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper guide. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Must include a separate references list that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications. Monoculture Farming
Definition – What does Monoculture Farming mean?
Monoculture farming is the raising of a single crop within a specified area. Most of the
commercial farms in the US are now monoculture in nature, with crops like corn and soy
taking top billing. This is in contrast to the traditional method of farming, which relied on
multiple crops being planted within a specific area.
Many indoor farms growing medicinal herbs and flowers are considered to be
monoculture farms.
MaximumYield explains Monoculture Farming
Monoculture farming is a relatively new technique, but one that has taken hold of the US
farming system. It is now the basis for most of our agriculture. Really, it is nothing more
than the practice of intensively growing a single crop within a specific area. This is
completely at odds with the traditional method of farming, which allowed the growing of
multiple crops.
Many examples of monoculture farming can be found today. Corn and soy production
are both very common, and most farms will “specialize” in one plant type. For instance,
an Iowa corn farmer will grow corn exclusively, while a Georgia farmer might grow soy
beans only.
The problem with monoculture farming is that it eliminates biological controls provided
by mixed crop gardening, and it also causes soil degradation. In a traditional farm,
different plant species require different levels of nutrients, and many also replace
depleted nutrients.
Within a monoculture system, depleted nutrients must be replaced through the
application of fertilizers instead. Because plants are more susceptible to pests in this
type of farming, significant amounts of pesticides must also be applied.
Monoculture farming also hurts biodiversity. For instance, growing biologically identical
plants can create problems when the environmental conditions in a particular area
change. Because plants are not allowed to adapt naturally to those changes, it can
result in widespread crop failure.
Week 2 Assignment Template
Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part Two of Four:
Sustaining Our Agricultural Resources
Instructions: Using the term that you have selected from the list provided in the classroom,
please complete the following template. Create a minimum of 5 to 7 well-crafted sentences per
paragraph. In your response, you are expected to cite and reference, in APA format, at least two
outside sources in addition to the class text. The sources must be credible (from experts in the
field of study); scholarly sources (published in peer-reviewed academic journals) are strongly
encouraged. Delete these instructions before submitting your work to Waypoint.
Your Term:
Instructions: In the first paragraph;
•
Thoroughly define your term.
•
Describe how the term relates to this week’s theme. Provide specific examples.
Delete these instructions before submitting your work to Waypoint.
[Enter your information here]
Instructions: In the second paragraph;
•
Discuss how the term affects living things and the physical world.
•
Explain how the term relates to the challenge of achieving environmental sustainability.
•
Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps a technique or technology that
might promote it?
Again, be as specific as possible and include examples to support your explanations.
[Enter your information here]
Instructions: In the third paragraph;
•
Determine at least two specific actions that we can take in order to promote environmental
sustainability in relation to this term.
•
Be creative and concrete with your suggestions. For example, you might recommend supporting
a particular organization that is active in the field of your term.
•
Consider actions that might be taken
1) on the individual level, in our daily lives;
2) at the community level;
3) via national and global organizations working on behalf of the
environmental issues associated with your term; and/or 4) at the ballot box
(though voting).
[Enter your information here]
After proofreading, please submit a copy of your work to Waypoint.

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