Susie Goodell
Mr. Ippolito
AP Biology
9/19/17
Zimmer, Carl. “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good).” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/science/parasites-extinction-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=16&pgtype=sectionfront.
Current Event #2
For this current event, I decided to review the article “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good)” by Carl Zimmer. This piece discusses a recent study that resulted in the discovery of the horrifying fact about parasites. Over the next century, one in three parasites will face extinction. Colin J. Carlson, the lead author of the study and graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, led his team in their work experimenting with different kinds of parasites to see how global warming will affect their populations. Since parasites live in host species, but are not protected from the effects of the climate change, the team decided to study the effects of the changes on the hosts to discover how parasites will be affected. They estimated the risk that each species will face as our climate changes and discovered that some kinds of parasites will be better off than others, eventually evaluating that 30% of species could disappear in the future. These results challenge those of smaller studies which believe the opposite, that parasites and the diseases they cause will thrive as species die out. Carlson’s team also realized that some of the species that will survive may migrate to territories in which other parasites are declining and “wreak havoc” upon the inhabitants, including humans. These species such as deer ticks will cause worse disease and destruction for animalkind and humankind alike.
Parasites are extremely important to our world, something that goes unappreciated by most. The decrease in their population will lead to many changes in our environment and our food web. The author writes, “As it turns out, as much as 80 percent of the lines in a given food web are links to parasites. They are big players in the food supply.” He also suggests that it may bring harm to human health. Despite their negative connotation, parasites are extremely important and beneficial to our environment. This is why we must take precautions to protect parasites and their hosts from extinction.
I thought the author did a great job explaining the situation and the evolution of this discovery. He gave background information on parasites to make sure the readers understood the topic of the article. However, I wish he had discussed this information more towards the beginning of the article because I was confused about parasites and what they are while reading. I also wish would have liked him to put a few more quotes from the scientists about the procedure they used and how they developed the idea. Also, the author could have explained the process of the experiment or discussed the scientists’ line of thought more deeply. Although, this article was very well-written and well-structured. The author did not include too many details and wrote using terms that were easy to understand. Overall, this article was informational and detailed.
Zimmer, Carl. “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good).” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/science/parasites-extinction-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=16&pgtype=sectionfront.
ReplyDeleteSusie-
I was extremely impressed by Susie’s work on the following current event article. One thing I thought she did extremely well was describe the context of the current event, and explain the overall experiment that the article was about. With this background information, the purpose of the article became more clear. Additionally, she was able to establish her legitimacy by stating scientists names, locations for experiments, and other information directly cited from the article that justified her argument. Finally, I was extremely impressed by how she were able to explain why this topic is so important. When starting to read her article I was slightly confused as to why it would matter is parasites were to disappear, but following her description and summary of her current event, she went straight into describing why this mattered, which was extremely valuable.
One thing that I would maybe add is the author’s last name after citing a direct quote from the article. Obviously, the reader knows she was talking about her article, but to add formality to the piece, citation is always a good idea. Also, for the last paragraph, it may be helpful to add a transition word or sentence, to make sure the change from analysis to article review is less abrupt or choppy.
Overall, I thought that this current event did serve its purpose, and allowed for me to learn about a topic I had not previously thought about. In fact, one of the reasons I chose this article was because of my lack of knowledge on the subject. As soon as I began reading I realized the importance of the subject, and this it was an excellent choice for a current event article. Although I did have some confusion at the beginning, Susie was able to clear this up fairly well and I am now more aware of the problem that the extinction of parasites could cause.
Abbey Thomas
ReplyDeleteAP Biology C
Mr. Ippolito
23 September, 2017
Zimmer, Carl. “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good).” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/science/parasites-extinction-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=16&pgtype=sectionfront.
For current event #2, I read Susie’s response to Carl Zimmer’s article entitled, “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good)”. Susie did a lot of good things in her response, for example she provided a lot context on what the experiment is about and who is leading it. Along with giving context, Susie also used quotes in her piece very well. Some students will over use quotes when writing, but she only used quotes that had meaning. Lastly, Susie’s critics of the author were very in depth and showed that she took time to analysis the article.
Although there were many things that I though Susie did well on, but there are some aspects that she can improve upon. In the second paragraph, she touches upon why parasites are so important to the food web, and while it was good that she had this information, I wished there was more detail. My second improvement is similar to the first, the focus of the Zimmer’s article was the effects of climate change on parasites, so in the summary there should have been more about how the changing climate causes damage.
Before reading Susie’s analysis, I would have never thought that parasites were linked to 80% of the food web. I thought that parasites were just harmful organisms, and my ah-ha moment was reading this fact.
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ReplyDeleteSusie did a very nice job with her current event review on the article “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good),” by Carl Zimmer. I decided to review her report as I am interested in the many different ways climate change is going to affect the world. There are many good techniques she uses throughout her report. One example is how she explains the fact that parasites are not affected by the climate change directly. Susie explains that the change in climate first affects the host animals and therefore the condition of the parasites in the host body. Her focus on this factor of the original report is important as it provides background information to help the reader understand the topic at hand. Another aspect of Susie’s writing that was done rather well was when she included statistical information concerning the future fatality rate of the parasites. This input of information further aids the reader in understanding the effects climate change has on parasites. Lastly, I appreciated how Susie discussed the problems that could surface from climate change. She explained that certain parasites, such as deer ticks, could migrate to other territories and negatively affect the animal and human inhabitants of that area.
ReplyDeleteOverall, Susie’s report was extremely interesting and informative, however there are some details that she could tweak and add to make the current event report even that much better. I recommend that she explains which parasites are at risk of going extinct from the climate change of the planet. It would have been beneficial for her to go into some detail about these insects so readers could further understand how the parasite community is being affected by climate change. Also, she could have discussed how, exactly, the researchers involved in the experiment were able to conduct the extensive experiment. This would have given readers an insight on the advanced experiment and how the scientists involved were able to make it work.
Susie’s report was very informative and I learned extensively about how different parasites are being affected by the climate change our planet is facing. Before reading the report, I did not realize that parasites were being affected by the change in climate along with their hosts. Countless people across the world could be soon affected by the change in parasite patterns, and it extremely important to inform people about this topic to prevent deadly diseases in the future.
Clio Dakolias
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology: Current Event 2
September 24, 2017
Zimmer, Carl. “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good).” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/science/parasites-extinction-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=16&pgtype=sectionfront.
I read Susie’s response to Carl Zimmer’s “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good.” for Current Events #2. Susie did a great job overall explaining and summarizing the article, as well as giving her input on the Zimmer’s writing style. One thing that stood out to me was her usage and incorporation of statistics and studies conducted to help explain and back up her statements and interpretations of the article, such as using evidence found by Carlson to show how much climate change is affecting parasite populations. Using studies to prove her point really helped the reader further understand her points. She also did a great job of incorporating quotations into her review, adding them when it would have been difficult to explain a topic, and helping to simplify her explanations. Her quote stating the importance of parasites to the food chain and food itself helped cement the importance of the topic. On that note, Susie did a great job explaining the relevance of the article she chose and how it could affect all of us in the not so distant future. By explaining that parasites are essential to the environment, she stressed the relevance of her topic.
While the majority of Susie’s response was excellent, she could have done better on a couple sides. First, it would have been extremely helpful if she had described exactly what a parasite is prior to diving right into her summary, as many have heard of them, but do not know exactly what a parasite is. I also think she could have divulged into exactly how parasites would be made extinct by climate change, as this topic is not explained well. Overall, Susie’s interpretation and review of Zimmer’s article was excellent and very interesting to read.
Susie’s response to this article taught me a lot I never knew or really understood about parasites. Prior to reading her review, I always associated parasites with a negative connotation, but now I understand how important they are to the majority of the food web, and how their disappearance could be tragic.
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ReplyDeleteHannah Beldotti
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
September 27, 2017
Zimmer, Carl. “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good).” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/science/parasites-extinction-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=16&pgtype=sectionfront.
I chose to review Susie’s article on Carl Zimmer’s “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good),” because I had not heard of this topic and was intrigued. Susie did a thorough job of introducing the topic at hand in the first paragraph of her current event. In this, she provided some summary and the main points of the article. Also, she specifically quoted some of the author’s information to provide data and evidence for the reader. One example of this is when she says, “The decrease in their population will lead to many changes in our environment and our food web. The author writes, “As it turns out, as much as 80 percent of the lines in a given food web are links to parasites. They are big players in the food supply.” Another aspect of the review that was done well, was her analysis as the end. She provided criticism and praise for different parts of the author’s work. For example, she commended Zimmer’s use of background information to provide clarification, but criticized the lack of detail discussed when describing the experiment.
This current event left an impression on me as I did not realize how vital parasites are to our lives. One thing I think Susie could have improved upon would her slight vagueness when discussing how lack of parasites could change our environment and health. It would have been interesting to read about the different outcomes of that situation. Nonetheless, this current event was well written and presented and I did learn about the main point of the article; how climate change is participating in the possible “extinction” of parasites.
Charlie Gay
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Current Events 3
2 October 2017
www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/science/parasites-extinction-climate-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=16&pgtype=sectionfront.
Zimmer, Carl. “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good).” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2017
Current Events 3
I really enjoyed Susie Goodell’s review on the article, “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good)” by Carl Zimmer. I thought Susie did a great job of including the credentials of the people who were involved in the study. For example, she wrote “Colin J. Carlson, the lead author of the study and graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.” Including the credentials of Carlson allows the reader to know that he is a reliable source and that we should take careful note of his findings. I also really liked Susie’s critique of the article. Susie wrote in her review, “the author could have explained the process of the experiment or discussed the scientists’ line of thought more deeply.” I agree that there should be more information as to how the final conclusions were reached. Lastly, I really liked how Susie included stats from the article. For example, she wrote “over the next century, one in three parasites will face extinction.” I found this stat very interesting and the host of other stats that she provided also made her review a lot better.
Although Susie’s review was very well done, there were some areas that she could improve on. For example, I wish that Susie explained what parasites were before starting to talk about them. Not everyone knows what parasites are and this could bring a lot of confusion for the reader. I also saw some grammatical and spelling errors in Susie’s review, which I think took away from an overall outstanding review. These errors could easily have been fixed from reading over her work.
I chose this article because of the article title. The title “Climate Change Threatens the World’s Parasites (That’s Not Good)” really caught my eye. The title caught my eye because there is so much talk about the effects of global warming in the news, but I have never read about how parasites are affected. My moment of epiphany came when I read the stat that 1 in 3 parasites will be extinct in the next century. This stat really showed me the effects of global warming and showed me that the world needs to stop it. These results from global warming can not continue to happen, which is why we as people on this earth need to stop global warming once and for all.