or this short paper, you will write about what sustainability means to you and how your actions and behaviors can impact the environment.
Specifically, you must address the following:
- Explain what sustainability means to you.
- Consider giving examples of your personal experiences. If you do not feel comfortable sharing your personal experiences, you may use different examples that resonate with you. For instance, you may use media or news examples that reflect what sustainability means to you.
- Describe how considering sustainability affects your daily life.
- For example, if you think about sustainability when making decisions about transportation, you may decide to use public transportation instead of driving a vehicle with no passengers. This could save you money on gas, but it might pose other issues related to convenience or time management.
- Describe decisions you could consider making about a sustainability issue like the above example, along with the positive and negative impacts of the decisions on your daily life.
- Describe how your daily actions and behaviors can impact the environment.
- For instance, if you choose to use public transportation as in the example above, your daily commute could support sustainability by reducing carbon emissions that harm the environment.
- Describe how your daily actions and behaviors related to the decisions you described above (or other decisions) can help or harm the environment.
What to Submit
Submit your paper as a 1- to 2-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. No sources are required. However, if you choose to use sources, follow APA citation guidelines when citing sources both throughout and at the end of your paper. While you will not be graded on the quality of your citations in this assignment, you may receive guidance from your instructor on how to properly cite sources.
Alternately, Brightspace allows the use of video notes. You may optionally use the Video Note tool to complete this assignment. If you use Video Note, your video should be 2-5 minutes long. If you need assistance using Video Note, please refer to the resources in the Start Here module.
Module One Short Paper Rubric
| Criteria | Proficient (100%) | Needs Improvement (75%) | Not Evident (0%) | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sustainability | Explains personal definition of sustainability | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more thorough explanation of personal definition of sustainability | Does not attempt criterion | 30 |
| Daily Life | Describes how considering sustainability affects ones daily life | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more detailed description of how considering sustainability affects ones daily life | Does not attempt criterion | 30 |
| Impact | Describes how an individuals daily actions and behaviors can impact the environment | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more detailed description of how an individuals daily actions and behaviors can impact the environment | Does not attempt criterion | 30 |
| Clear Communication | Consistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audience | Shows progress towards proficiency, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understanding | Shows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication | 10 |
| Total: | 100% | |||
