LECTURE 0.3
LECTURE OUTLINE

Weekly Deadlines
 Weekly Reading
 Materials Taxonomy
 Assignment 1
UNIT#
Name
0.2
Orientation 2
Lectures
Wednesday: The Oxygen Essay
Required Book Reading 1
(For the end-of-UNIT quiz)
Required Book Reading 2
(For the first UNIT Practice
quiz)
None.
Animations
Part A: Prologue
Preamble
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
None: but check out the UNIT 1 folder in the “LEARN
folder.
Assignments Due This Week
Writing to Specification I, is due on Wednesday, at
midnight.
Camera-Ready Review
Article (CRRA)
Nothing due this week, but check out the information in the
“DELIVER” folder.
Practice Quiz
None
End of Unit Quiz
None
WEEKLY READING


Preamble: Abstract
The preamble defines Materials Science and
Engineering in terms of the fundamental studies of
physics and chemistry, and introduces the three icons
that will be used throughout the book:
 "The Materials Science Tetrahedron"
 "The Materials Science Time-Tree”
 “The River of Paradise”
WEEKLY READING
 Chapter

1: Abstract
The reader is introduced to the "World of
Materials" through the analysis of a 17th
Century cottage and a 21st Century classroom
building. Examples are given of metals,
ceramics, and polymers. The student is
exposed to the major microstructural
techniques that will recur through the book.
WEEKLY READING
 Chapter

2 Abstract:
Chapter 2 provides the basic classification of
materials. Working definitions of metals,
ceramics, and polymers, together with
semiconductors, for example, are presented in
this chapter.
Materials
are
Metallic
Non-Metallic
are
and ar e
Inor ganic
Organic
and ar e
are
Crystalline
and ar e
are
Naturally
Occurring
are
Rocks
FossilFuels
Synthetic
and
may be
and may be
Minerals
Amorphous
Plant/Animal
Fiber
Metal
Ceramic
are
are
combine
to
Composites
Polymer
THE THREE ASSIGNMENTS

The three assignments should be completed on your
own, and submitted online, on or before the due date
given on the assessment schedule. The first assignment
is due this Wednesday.
 Assignment I is inside the “Deliver” folder.
Assignment I will be submitted as an ANGEL quiz.
THE HOME-PAGE ON ANGEL
THE ASSIGNMENT FOLDER
WRITING TO SPECIFICATION
I
An Introduction to
Assignment I
THE OBJECTIVE

To write a 200+ word essay, which will be an
introduction to the CRRA.
 The material is “Oxygen”
 To rank the use of English in the essay
according to a sequence of “Grading
Questions”
 To re-write the essay
THE RESOURCES
[1] WebElementsTM, the periodic table on the WWW.
Mark Winter: The University of Sheffield and
WebElement Ltd., UK © Mark Winter, 1993-2006.
 http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/
O/key.html
 [2] “Oxygen”. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Licensed to the public under the GNU Free Documentation
License. Page last modified Aug.11, 2005.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen

THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

1. Does the first sentence of the essay
accurately introduce and/or reflect the subject
matter of the essay?
 No. The first sentence: “Oxygen has been
around for a long time, and not many people
know that it was first formed from the
metabolic action of primitive anaerobes.”,
does not introduce the content of the essay.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

2. Is the text grammatically correct, properly
punctuated, and free of spelling/typographical errors?
 No. The English is poor but, I believe, grammatically
correct. However, the third column of the table is
headed “pbb by atoms”, when it should be “ppb by
atoms”. The third paragraph starts with the word
“To” when it should be “Too”. In the same sentence,
“tetrogenic” should be “teratogenic”.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

3. Is the essay free of inconsequential
verbiage?
 No. The author begins two sentences with “In
fact….”. Example, last sentence, first
paragraph:
 “In
fact, oxygen is the third most abundant
element in the sun…”
 Unless the author deals routinely with
speculations, the phrase is useless, or
inconsequential verbiage.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

The second sentence of the second paragraph
reads: “Oxygen is actually present in many
organic compounds.” The word “actually” is
redundant; either oxygen is, or is not present in
many organic compounds.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

4. Is the essay free from colloquialisms: words
or phrases that are part of the vernacular?
 No. The sentence, “Oxygen has been around
for a long time, and not many people know that
it was first formed from the metabolic action of
primitive anaerobes.” (first sentence of first
paragraph) is conversational/colloquial and
practically meaningless. The phrase “not many
people know” is somewhat insulting!
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

5. Is the essay free from hyperbole, or
exaggeration?
 No. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph,
“It is no exaggeration to say that oxygen has
changed the history of the world forever”,
although arguably true, is pure hyperbole.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

6. Is each sentence, free of non sequitur, e.g.,
does the second part of a sentence bear a
relationship to the first part?
 No. The sentence “Because oxygen is highly
reactive, it is found in the atmosphere as O2 or
O3 (ozone)”, consists of two phrases which are
supposedly connected through the use of the
word “Because”. However, the second phrase
is not a consequence of the first.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

7. Is the content presented in a logical fashion? For
example, does one sentence flow naturally from the
one preceding?
 No. Logic is wholly lacking. For example, in the
fourth sentence in the first paragraph, “…oxygen is
the third most abundant element in the sun, and in
excited states, is responsible for the red and green
colors of the aurora,” the author jumps from the
abundance of oxygen in the sun, to its effects on the
northern/southern lights.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK: PLAGIARISM

8. Is the essay clearly the work of the author,
i.e., is it free of plagiarism?
 No! The author is guilty of plagiarism, and
should be reported to the Office of Judicial
Affairs.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK: PLAGIARISM

The second paragraph, “Oxygen atoms are
present in water (H2O)…” is taken word for
word (with one minor alteration) from ref
[1], vid:
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK: PLAGIARISM

Oxygen atoms are present in water (H2O) and water is essential to all
life. Oxygen is actually present in many organic compounds. Most
organisms use oxygen for respiration. While oxygen (O2) is necessary
for life, oxygen as ozone (O3) is highly toxic. On the other hand, ozone
is an important component of the atmosphere (the ozone layer) and
helps to shield us from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun [2].

“Oxygen atoms are present in water (H2O) and water is essential to all
life. Oxygen is also present in many organic compounds. Most
organisms use oxygen for respiration. While oxygen (O2) is necessary
for life, oxygen as ozone (O3) is highly toxic. On the other hand, ozone
is an important component of the atmosphere (the ozone layer) and
helps to shield us from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun.”
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK: PLAGIARISM

The table is taken from ref [1] and is not cited – this is also
plagiarism. Note that the table should have both a table
number and a table heading.
Abundanc e
Universe
Sun
Meteorit e (carbonaceou s)
Crustal Rocks
Sea Water
Stream
Human
ppb by weight
10000000
9000000
410000000
460000000
857000000
880000000
610000000
pbb by atoms
800000
700000
480000000
600000000
331000000
333000000
240000000
ACCEPTABLE CITATION
PRACTICE

Note that the citation reads “adapted from…”,
because I changed the units from ppb to wt%
Table 1.
Abun dances of Oxygen: Weight % (adapted fro m ref [1]).
Universe
Sun
Carbona ceous Me teorit e
Crustal Rocks
Sea Water
Stream
Human Body
1.0
0.9
41.0
46.0
85.7
88.0
61.0
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK: PLAGIARISM

The sentence “To much oxygen causes convulsions,
pulmonary changes and tetrogenic effects [1]…” should
enclose the phrase “convulsions, pulmonary changes and
tetrogenic effects” in quotation marks, as it is a direct
quotation from reference [1]. Even though the author
attributes the information to the correct source, he/she does
not indicate that it is a direct quotation.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK: PLAGIARISM

If I find evidence that anyone in the class is
guilty of plagiarism, I will report him/her to
the Office of Judicial Affairs, and he/she
will receive a failing grade in the class.
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK

9. Is the essay free of scientific errors?
 Yes. Something has to be OK!
THE GRADING QUESTIONS, PLUS
FEEDBACK
10. Is the text of the required length – 200
words minimum (the minimum excludes
tabular material, references, figure captions,
etc.)?
 Yes. The word-count, text only, is 217.
