The impacts of climate change on water availability in the southwestern United States

The research paper assignment is a literature review of your topic. (Links to an external site.) The purpose of the outline assignment is to scaffold your writing for the research paper. The creation of an outline is an invaluable tool in the process of writing a research paper. It will give structure to the fledgling paper and allow you to better imagine what you will need to write. Breaking the paper down into small sections also makes the process of writing far less overwhelming.
After choosing an appropriate topic and writing a thesis statement, you will need to brainstorm to get ideas on how to best support your thesis. Your outline should include each paragraph’s topic sentence to ensure each of the paragraphs is serving a specific purpose in your paper. And each statement should have an in-text citation (APA 7th edition (Links to an external site.)). A minimum of three peer reviewed sources is required for the Research Paper, but realistically, you will need at least five sources.
All writing should be in your own words. Students who plagiarize will receive a zero on the assignment and be reported to the University Academic Honesty committee.
Topic
The topic for your research paper should be in the area of environmental, earth, and/ or life sciences.
Topic examples:
Water pollution in the Central Valley of California
The impacts of climate change on water availability in the southwestern United States
Sea level rise in California
Example Outline: Example taken from Walden University Writing Center – Your outline should have a similar amount of content to this example.
I. Introduction
A. Thesis Statement: Because of their income deficit (cite sources) and general susceptibility to depression (cite sources), students who drop out of high school before graduation maintain a higher risk for physical and mental health problems later in life.
B. Current Problem: Educational attainment rates are decreasing in the United States while healthcare costs are increasing.
C. Population/Area of Focus: Unskilled or low-skilled adult workers
II. Background
A. Historical Employment Overview: Unskilled laborers in the past were frequently unionized and adequately compensated for their work (cite sources).
B. Historical Healthcare Overview: Unskilled laborers in the past were often provided adequate healthcare and benefits (cite sources).
C. Current Link between Education and Employment Type: Increasingly, uneducated workers work in unskilled or low-skilled jobs (cite sources).
D. Gaps in the Research: Little information exists exploring the health implications of the current conditions in low-skilled jobs.
III. Major Point 1: Conditions of employment affect workers’ physical health.
A. Minor Point 1: Unskilled work environments are correlated highly with worker injury (cite sources).
B. Minor Point 2: Unskilled work environments rarely provide healthcare or adequate injury recovery time (cite sources).
IV. Major Point 2: Conditions of employment affect workers’ mental health
A. Minor Point 1: Employment in a low-skilled position is highly correlated with dangerous levels of stress (cite sources).
B. Minor Point 2: Stress is highly correlated with mental health issues (cite sources).
V. Major Point 3: Physical health and mental health correlate directly with one another.
A. Minor Point 1: Mental health problems and physical health problems are highly correlated (cite sources).
B. Minor Point 2: Stress manifests itself in physical form (cite sources)
VI. Major Point 4: People with more financial worries have more stress and worse physical health.
A. Minor Point 1: Many high-school dropouts face financial problems (cite sources).
B. Minor Point 2: Financial problems are often correlated with unhealthy lifestyle choices such unhealthy food choices, overconsumption/abuse of alcohol, chain smoking, abusive relationships, etc. (cite sources).
VII. Conclusion
A. Restatement of Thesis: Students who drop out of high school are at a higher risk for both mental and physical health problems throughout their lives.
B. Next Steps: Society needs educational advocates; educators need to be aware of this situation and strive for student retention in order to promote healthy lifestyles and warn students of the risks associated with dropping out of school.