Introduction
Now that you have completed the learning activities and discussion for Module 3, you are ready to do Assignment 3. This assignment is graded out of 100 marks and is worth 15% of your final course grade.
Note
For this assignment, strong essays include use of scholarly articles and/or reputable reports; keep in mind that use of some peer-reviewed articles as references is required in the final project. Refer to the Course Guide for information about TRU Library services and guidance for conducting research at a distance.
For general guidance on research, including evaluating information from websites, see TRU Library’s “Evaluating and Citing Sources” web page. You may also want to consult TRU Library’s “Human Geography” research guide.
The criteria for evaluating web resources, which you should use when evaluating all information from the Internet, will help you to formulate your critique.
For help with academic citations, consult TRU Library’s “APA Citation Style Guide (7th Edition)” web page.
Instructions
The assignment has two sections:
Section A: Short Critical Reflections (30 marks)
Section B: Video/Slideshow (70 marks)
Complete both sections in one document.
Review the Criteria for Evaluating Assessments to learn about the expectations for your responses and how marks will be awarded.
Section A: Short Critical Reflections (30 marks)
Select one of the assigned readings in each topic in Module 3 and write a short critical reflection (about 250 words) for each (approximately one page, double-spaced). See below for a list of assigned readings (refer to Module 3 for complete Activity details):
Topic 1: Overview of a Changing Climate at a Regional Scale
Activity 1: An Overview of BC Regions
McGillivray, B. (2020). Geography of British Columbia: People and landscapes in transition (pages 12–27).
Gifford, R., Brown, C., Baron, C., Clement, D., Melnychuk, N., Nelson, H., Sales, L., & Spittlehouse, D. (2022). British Columbia (pages 6–10).
Activity 3: BC’s Climate Risk—A High-Level Assessment
British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. (2019, July). Preliminary strategic climate risk assessment for British Columbia – Summary of results.
Topic 2: Impacts on the Natural Environment and Humans
Activity 4: Impacts on Human Health
Berry, P., Schnitter, R., & Noor, J. (2022). Climate Change and Health Linkages (Sections 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6).
Dickson, C. (2022, June 7). Hundreds died because they couldn’t escape B.C.’s extreme heat. Alerts wouldn’t have saved them, advocates say.
Topic 3: Adapting to Climate Change
Activity 7: Case Study in Transportation
Lemmen, D., Lafleur, C., Chabot, D., Hewitt, J., Braun, M., Bussière, B., Kulcsar, I., Scott, D., & Thistlethwaite, J. (2021). Sector Impacts and Adaptation (pages 532–539).
University of Victoria. (2022, February 15). Scientists Link 2021 BC Floods to Human-Induced Climate Change.
Activity 9: Barriers, Challenges, and Opportunities
Government of Canada. (n.d.). Map of adaptation actions.
You will hand in a total of three critical reflections (3 pages). There are 10 marks for each reflection. You may find it helpful to use one or more of the focus questions included in the activity as a guide.
The critical reflection should present your own thoughts and responses to the reading. Thus, it is an interaction between the ideas in the reading and your own interpretation and response to what you have read.
The critical reflection is a polished piece of writing that will be assessed using the criteria specified in the Criteria for Evaluating Assessments. It should include an introduction, a body that presents your thoughts clearly and logically, and a conclusion. You may write in the first person, but be sure to refer to some of the ideas that are introduced in the reading.
Optional
For one of your reflections, you may use one of the online atlas tools introduced in the course. Select a location and, using atlas and climate tools as provided, present some summarized predictions for climate scenarios in drier or wetter conditions, across four seasons. What might be some climate extremes? What might be some of the impacts on human and natural systems?
Section B: Video/Slideshow (70 marks)
Using some of the concepts introduced in Module 3, you will produce a video or slideshow with voice over on a topic related to the regional impacts of climate change. You may use content from the required readings (any module), but you must include at least two new references as well. Please see the “Appendix 3: Additional Resources” section in the module as well for ideas. Be sure to have a “Resources Used” page or slide at the end.
A strong video/slideshow will incorporate the elements necessary to understanding or interpreting potential regional impacts of climate change in a region of your choice.
Demonstrate and illustrate these four content areas:
Potential variation in climate change variables (precipitation, etc.)
Projected impacts (frequency, intensity).
Discuss elements of life which will be most impacted (health, economy, habitat).
Identify potential adaptation strategies.
Note
If submitting a video, please DO NOT attach videos directly in the assignment submission point. Use the Embed Kaltura Media button in the text editor as shown here: Kaltura Video Upload Instructions
Make sure you start with an introduction and end with a conclusion.
You may want to use obvious section breaks (headers, or narrative) that indicate shifts between the four topics above.
You may also want to take one or two examples as illustrations. For example, agriculture in general is a broad topic, but it could be narrowed by looking at agriculture in the Fraser Valley or specifically blueberry farming, or something similar.
Be sure to cite sources of any images you use that aren’t yours.
If submitting a video, it should be at least 4 minutes but not more than 6 minutes in length, while a slideshow submission should be 8 slides in total (not including a “Resources Used” slide).
Options for selecting a geographic region:
If you live in BC, you are certainly encouraged to select your local area, supplemented with some of the tools (and others you find) introduced in Module 3.
If you live elsewhere, you may still select an area in BC (a region). You can use the Web to do research and acquire images.
If you would like, you can take the concepts presented in the module and apply them to a region of your choice from any part of the globe.
Take a look in Module 3 to see some resources, including ClimateData.ca, Plan2Adapt, etc.
Please see the Criteria for Evaluating Assessments to guide you for how marks are assigned.
Be sure to reference your work and paper format using APA Citation Style (for example, with a slide at the end). See TRU Library’s “APA Citation Style Guide (7th Edition).”
Assignment Submission
When you have completed your responses, submit the document and video/slideshow to your Open Learning Faculty Member by clicking the “Add submission” button below. You should upload one word-processed document for Section A with all your responses clearly labelled. If submitting a video for Section B, please see the Kaltura Video Upload Instructions document, otherwise upload one slideshow file. Use a file naming protocol that contains: YourName_Assignment3_GEOG3991.
