ORIENTATION LECTURE
0.3
LECTURE OUTLINE
Weekly Deadlines
 Materials Taxonomy
 Assignment 1

Name
Orientation
Lectures (Ava ilable on the
web-site
Orientation Lecture
Introduc tion to Concept Maps
Assignment 1
Requi red Book Reading
None: but make sure that you buy the textbook
Animations
None: but che ck out the fil es in the Lessons 1 fo lder.
Assignments Due This Week
Assignment 1 is due on Wednesday ( second week ), at
mi dnight.
Prac tice Quiz
None
End of Unit Quiz
None
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
An Introduction to
Assignment I
THE HOME-PAGE ON ANGEL
THE OBJECTIVE
To write a 200+ word essay, which will be
an introduction to the chosen material.
 The material for the lecture, but not the
first assignment, 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.
Accessed 06/16/2008
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. Accessed 06/16/2008
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.
