Find an article on a contentious scientific issue in the news- examples could be fracking, climate change/solutions, GMOs, species conservation, etc.  While I prefer it to be environmental in nature, you can also chose a current topic that relates to social issues, and thus environmental issues, such as disease outbreaks, like the current concern over Ebola.
Once you have chosen your article, use the critical analysis handout (critical-thinking-kruse) to analyze the article for its evidence and biases. What is/are the main conclusion(s)?  Assumptions? What evidence does the author use? Is it scientific? Does the author or person referenced in the article show biases? Do they persuade the reader towards one conclusion or another? Is the evidence balanced? What are the consequences or implications of the article’s conclusions? When thinking about these questions, you can do some additional research and/or think about the course readings to back up what you conclude. The analysis should be 300-500 words.

Due: on blog before class on 10/17