Ms Brandolini — Environmental Biology 2025–2026
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Environmental Biology · Capstone Project

Teach Us Something New

This project takes the place of your final exam. It is the summative assessment for the course.

You become the expert. Research one environmental issue we did not cover this year, then teach the class about it through a recorded presentation. Pick something you actually want to understand. By the end of this project, you will know more about your topic than anyone else in the room — including me.

Style: Do It the Way We Do It in Class

This project is asking you to give the kind of presentation I give every day. That means:

  • Hold the spectrum on responsibility. Not every cause has a villain. Some actors deserve real blame. Some are trapped in structures they didn't build. Most are somewhere in between. "Who's the bad guy" is a dead-end question. "Who is responsible, who should be held accountable, and who bears the consequences" is the better question.
  • Real images only. Real photographs, real data, real maps. No AI-generated images.
  • Direct tone. Talk to the class like the audience is smart and can handle real complexity. Don't dumb it down. Don't moralize.
  • Don't let doom overshadow solutions. Hold both urgency and agency. There are real solutions — give them their due.

What You Will Do

Create a 6–8 minute recorded presentation with slides that walks the class through your environmental issue in four parts.

The Problem

~1 minute
  • What is the problem? Define it clearly.
  • What causes it? Be specific — explain the mechanism, not just the activity.
  • Who discovered it, and how? Name a scientist or research group, give a year, and describe the evidence that revealed the problem.

The Science

~1.5–2 minutes

This is a biology class, so you need to teach us the underlying science. Your topic must connect to at least 2 concepts we covered this year — you'll identify these at the topic-approval stage.

  • What biological, chemical, or physical processes are involved? Explain the mechanism at the level of cells, molecules, ecosystems, or whatever scale matters for your topic.
  • Use the vocabulary correctly. If your topic involves photosynthesis, food webs, pH, symbiosis, bioaccumulation, the carbon cycle, or any other biology concept — name it and explain it.
  • Summary depth is enough — but it has to be accurate. You don't need graduate-level detail, but you do need to show you understand how the problem works, not just that it exists.

The Impact

~1.5 minutes
  • What are the downstream effects? Trace the chain — what does this problem cause to happen next?
  • What is the scope and scale? Is this a local, regional, or global problem? What changes when you zoom out or zoom in? Systems nest inside systems.
  • Who or what is affected? Ecosystems, species, human communities. Be specific. "Everyone" is not an answer.

The Solutions

~2–3 minutes

Every environmental problem has three kinds of solutions. The type of solution tells you where in the causal chain you're acting.

Type What it does
Preventative Stop it before it starts — act on the cause
Reparative Fix what broke — act on the immediate damage
Restorative Heal what was damaged — act on the longer-term recovery of the system

For each of your three solutions, answer:

  1. What is the specific solution?
  2. What part of the problem does it address?
  3. What are its limits — what does it not fix?
Required first step

Topic Approval

You must get your topic approved by [DATE] before starting research. Submit through Canvas:

  • Your topic
  • 1–2 sentences on why you chose it
  • At least 2 biology concepts from our class you'll need to explain (look at the suggested topics table for examples — every good topic connects to course content)
  • One source you've already found

Proposing your own topic that's not on the list? Come talk to me before you submit. I want to make sure your topic has enough biology in it to work as a final — some environmental issues sound interesting but turn out to be mostly policy or economics with little biology to explain. We'll figure it out together in 5 minutes of conversation.

Topics already covered in class (you may NOT pick these): ocean acidification, air pollution, ozone depletion, biodiversity loss, freshwater contamination / Flint crisis, microplastics in food webs, acid rain.

Suggested Topics

Pick one of these, or propose your own. If you're proposing your own, talk to me first — not every environmental topic has enough biology in it to work as a final.

Topic Biology you'll need to explain
Light pollution and ecosystem disruptionCircadian rhythms, predator-prey relationships, migration cues
A specific invasive species (lionfish, kudzu, emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly)Competition, niches, food webs, ecosystem services
Pesticide drift and pollinator collapsePollination, mutualism, biomagnification, food production
Mountaintop removal miningHabitat loss, watershed runoff, soil ecology
Coral bleachingSymbiosis (zooxanthellae), photosynthesis, thermal stress
Antibiotic resistance in wildlifeNatural selection, evolution, bacterial reproduction
E-waste and heavy metal contaminationBioaccumulation, biomagnification, cellular toxicity
Permafrost thaw and methane releaseCarbon cycle, greenhouse effect, decomposition
Topsoil loss and soil erosionSoil ecology, decomposers, plant biology
Eutrophication and ocean dead zonesNitrogen / phosphorus cycles, algal blooms, dissolved oxygen
Deforestation in a specific region (Amazon, Borneo, Congo Basin)Carbon cycle, photosynthesis, biodiversity, water cycle
Nuclear contamination (Chernobyl, Fukushima, Hanford)Radiation effects on cells, mutation, food web concentration
DesertificationSoil ecology, plant biology, water cycle

Sources & Submission

Sources

  • At least 3 credible sources.
  • At least 1 must be from a scientific journal, government agency (EPA, NOAA, USGS, NASA, NIH), or research university.
  • News sources are okay for context but should not be your only sources.
  • Wikipedia is for orientation, not citation. Use it to find better sources.
  • Include a References slide at the end of your presentation.

How to Submit

  1. Record your presentation using Canvas Studio (instructions in module).
  2. Upload your slides as a separate PDF.
  3. Submit through the Capstone Project assignment in Canvas.
Due: [DATE]

Rubric

32 points total

Criterion 4 — Mastery 3 — Proficient 2 — Developing 1 — Beginning
Problem & Cause4 pts Problem clearly defined; cause explained with accurate mechanism Problem and cause stated with minor gaps Problem stated but cause vague or partly inaccurate Problem unclear or cause not addressed
The Science4 pts Underlying biology / chemistry / physics explained accurately with correct vocabulary; mechanism is clear Science mostly accurate; some vocabulary used correctly Science attempted but vague, partly inaccurate, or vocabulary misused Science missing or significantly inaccurate
Discovery4 pts Scientist / group, year, and evidence all clearly explained Two of three elements clearly explained One element clearly explained Discovery not addressed or inaccurate
Impact & Affected4 pts Multiple downstream effects traced; scope clearly identified (local / regional / global); specific ecosystems / species / communities named Effects, scope, and affected parties identified with some specificity Effects or affected parties identified but scope vague or missing Impact not clearly addressed
Three Solutions8 pts All three types correctly identified; each solution clearly explained with what part of the problem it addresses and its limits All three types identified with mostly clear analysis Two types identified clearly, or all three identified but analysis weak One type identified, or solutions miscategorized
Sources4 pts 3+ credible sources, including 1+ from journal / agency / university; properly cited 3 credible sources, citation complete 2–3 sources but credibility uneven or citation incomplete Fewer than 2 sources or sources not credible
Communication4 pts Clear speech, organized slides, stays within 6–8 min, visuals support content Mostly clear, mostly organized, close to time limit Some clarity issues OR organizational issues OR off time Hard to follow OR significantly off time

Tips for Success

  • Pick a topic with good sources. If you can't find 3 credible sources in 20 minutes of searching, pick something else.
  • Read before you write. Spend at least 2–3 hours reading before you make slides.
  • Understand the science before you film. If you can't explain how the problem works at the biology / chemistry level in your own words, you're not ready to record yet.
  • Practice out loud. Record a draft, watch it, fix the parts where you get stuck.
  • Use visuals. Diagrams, photos, maps, charts. A picture of an algal bloom teaches more than a sentence about it.
  • The "limits" question matters. Showing what a solution doesn't fix is what separates a B from an A.

Student Checklist

Use this to track your work.

Topic & Research

  • Topic submitted for approval
  • Topic approved
  • Found 3 credible sources
  • At least 1 source from journal / .gov / research university
  • Read all sources, took notes

Slides

  • Title slide (your name, topic)
  • Problem and cause
  • Discovery (who, when, how)
  • The science: how it works (mechanism, vocabulary)
  • Impact and who / what is affected
  • Solution 1: Preventative
  • Solution 2: Reparative
  • Solution 3: Restorative
  • References slide
  • Visuals on every content slide

Recording

  • Practiced once
  • Recorded final version
  • Length is 6–8 minutes
  • Uploaded to Canvas
  • Slides PDF also uploaded

Sentence Frames

Use these if you need them. They're scaffolding, not a script.

For your topic approval

  • "I want to research ______ because ______."
  • "This connects to our class because we learned about ______ and ______."
  • "I'll need to explain ______ when I present this topic."

Defining the problem

  • "The problem I am presenting is ______."
  • "______ is a problem because ______."

Explaining cause

  • "This problem is caused by ______."
  • "When ______ happens, it leads to ______."

Discovery

  • "______ discovered this problem in ______ by ______."
  • "Scientists found out about this when ______."

The Science

  • "The biological process behind this problem is ______."
  • "This works at the level of ______ (cells / ecosystems / molecules / populations)."
  • "The key vocabulary for understanding this is ______, which means ______."
  • "When ______ happens, it causes ______ at the cellular / ecosystem / molecular level."

Impact

  • "One downstream effect is ______."
  • "This problem affects ______, especially ______."
  • "The scale of this problem is ______ (local / regional / global)."
  • "If you zoom out, you also see ______."

Solutions

  • "A preventative solution is ______. It addresses the cause by ______."
  • "A reparative solution is ______. It tries to fix the immediate damage by ______."
  • "A restorative solution is ______. It helps the system recover by ______."
  • "This solution does not fix ______."

Closing

  • "The most important thing to know about this problem is ______."