This assignment based on Hurricane Katrina

Week 5 – Assignment 2: Presentation Outline Objective:  Organize your thoughts and the main points of your research for your final presentation Assignment Instructions:  To help you complete Assignment 3: Research Presentation, you will first submit an outline to organize your thoughts and main points. Your outline should be formatted a specific way and must contain the following elements as described below.   To prepare for this assignment, I recommend that you do the following:

• Read these directions carefully.
• Review the outline provided to you below.
• Read the grading criteria below.  The grading criteria is a detailed evaluation that I will use to assess your performance.  It also will help you understand what is expected of you as you prepare your assignment.
• Message me with any questions!

Be sure to add your name and course number to your outline. The outline format:  Your outline must be formatted as described and exemplified in the example below.  Please note that this format will be assessed in your grade:

• Use an alphanumeric sequence
• Sections should be indented and aligned
• Follow the suggested order of the required elements
• Use brief but detailed and descriptive phrases.

The required elements: Your outline should contain the following elements in this order:

1. The Introduction: this section must contain
   • Name of research topic
   • When weather event occurred
   • Where weather event occurred
   • Who was impacted by weather event
   • Why is weather event relevant and important
2. The Body (Content Sections): this section should contain
   • Weather Event:  Discuss the meteorology of what happened during your weather event.  Describe conditions seen on the ground.
   • Causation: Factors instrumental in creating favorable conditions for this weather event (i.e., surface heating, upper level disturbances, frontal convergence, etc.)
   • Societal Impacts: Discuss the short-term (i.e. evacuations, power outages, property damage, injuries, loss of life, etc.) and long-term (i.e. economic losses, homelessness, mass relocations, etc.) impacts this weather event had on society.
   • Weather Readiness: Plans to minimize, mitigate, or avoid future impacts from similar weather events (i.e. investing in weather radios or weather apps, evacuation plans, recovery centers, improving infrastructure, etc.)
3. The Conclusion Section: this section should contain four to six points that sum up the main points from the body of the outline.
   • Start your conclusive section with one sentence summarizing some basic information included in the introduction your chosen topic
   • Continue with a brief summary (1-2 sentences) summarizing what happened.
   • Include a brief note about future weather readiness.
   • Wrap up the conclusive section with a closing note that provides brief information about relevancy of your topic.
4. Reference section: This is not just the reference page; rather, referencing should occur throughout the outline as it will in your presentation.  Therefore, your outline should include both a separate reference page containing a minimum of five sources listed in proper APA reference list format AND internal citations throughout the outline where appropriate.  Please be sure to see the resources below for assistance regarding in-text citations and reference list formatting, and/or ask me if you have any additional questions.

Please make note of the following tips and tricks:

• We understand that this is a rough draft and, as your research and writing continue over the next few weeks, details may be added or changed.  Although you do not have to resubmit it to me, I recommend that you update this outline to help you best complete Assignments 3.
• Write your outline so that it has detailed bullets that you can easily then flesh out into sentences for the narration of your presentation (Assignment 3).
• After your outline is complete, I recommend that you next draft your introductory and conclusion sections for your outline.  This will ensure that all the main points of the outline are incorporated in these two framing sections of your final presentation.
• Please note that less than 10% of your outline or presentation (Assignment 3) should contain direct quotes.
• All internal citation references should be listed on the reference page, and vice versa.

Additional Resources:

• Use MS Word’s Outline Function.  Use a MAC?  Here is a video link (captioning included on the link) that you may find useful that reviews formatting in MS Word. (Setting up APA headers in Word).
• Also, please see the resources below at The Owl at Purdue site for more information on how to develop an outline:
  • Types of Outlines and Samples
  • Four Main Components for Effective Outlines
  • Why and How to Create a Useful Outline
• For more information on how to format in-text citations and references lists, the links below:
  • In-Text Citations: The Basics

Evaluation:  Please review the Outline Grading Criteria that describes how your outline will be graded.