Ecology for Architects student work

My Ecology for Architects course requires students to complete a Term Paper with the following objectives:

1. Identify an ecological and/or environmental problem that is caused by the designed/built human environment.
2. Describe the root cause(s) of this ecological and/or environmental problem.
3. Discuss your proposed solution(s) to this problem.

Students submit a proposal before completing the final paper.

Term Project Proposal
One of the things that I try to teach my students to do is to organize their research and thoughts before they begin to write. For this assignment, students are asked to create a concept map that:

1. Shows the sources that you used to inform your project and the ideas and information provided by these sources;
2. Shows all of the key ideas and concepts needed to understand the problem that you plan to investigate;
3. Explains all of the potential solutions you plan to consider; and
4. Connects the sources that informed your project (from “A” above) to an exploration of your focal problem (from “B” above) to the potential solutions you plan to consider (from “C” above).

The complete guidelines for this assignment can be found here. Below are some of the best student Term Paper Proposals that I have received, downloadable as PDF’s:

Concept Map of Concrete Impacts © Ashley Hickman (Spring 2014)

Final Term Paper
After receiving feedback on their proposal and refining their topic, students write their paper. The complete guidelines for this assignment can be found here. Below are some of the best student Final Term Papers I have received, downloadable as PDF’s:

“Hypoxic Zones in Northern Gulf of Mexico” © Hetal Karani (Spring 2014)

All of this work is used with permission of the students who produced it. Please respect the intellectual property rights of these students by not using their work without their permission. If you would like to contact any of the students who produced this work, contact me.