Write your interdisciplinary natural sciences critical analysis essay based on the criterion in these assignment instructions: Unit 6.2 NS Critical Analysis Essay InstructionsPreview the document. When completed, upload your assignment into the dropbox labeled “UNIT 6.2 – NS Critical Analysis Essay Dropbox.”

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College of Professional and Continuing Studies
University of Oklahoma

LSTD 3003 – Interdisciplinary Inquiry
Unit 6.2 Natural Sciences (NS) Critical Analysis Essay

After you have read the article Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous–Tertiary Extinction by Luis
W. Alvarez, Walter Alvarez, Frank Asaro, and Helen V. Michel, please write a 500-word
interdisciplinary analysis essay based on the article. You do not need to go online or to the
library to find information about this topic. All the information you need is within the article that
is provided. You should read, review, and critically analyze the information in this article. You
do not need to go online or to the library to find information about this topic. All the information
you need is within the article that is provided. We want you to read, review, and critically
analyze the information in this article. Your quizzes in this course, have focused on APA citation
style. You will need to cite this one reference at the end of your paper and make in-text citations
throughout your paper using APA citation style.

PRIMARY SOURCE – Please make a special note. The article you are reading is a “primary
source.” A primary source is original research written by the person who conducted it. If
someone were to write an article “about” this article that would be considered a secondary
source. Understanding this distinction is very important in academic research.

When you write a critical analysis essay, you do not need to be an expert on the topic. Your task
is to evaluate what the author has written. For the essay to be interdisciplinary, it must include
more than one discipline. Those disciplines are specified in the instructions below.

THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY (INSTRUCTIONS)
When writing this essay, please use the five-paragraph approach. In this case, each paragraph should be
approximately 100 words long. This is by no means the only formula for writing such essays, but for this
assignment, it serves our purposes well. This method consists of:

1. Add a title page with all the information that is highlighted in yellow on the title page of
the “APA Sample Paper” that is provided.

2. Do NOT include an “abstract” page. An abstract it not necessary for the purposes of this
essay.

3. PARAGRAPH 1 (100 words) – An introductory paragraph
Clearly and concisely states the paper’s purpose, which is engaging, and thought
provoking. Your introductory paragraph should answer these two questions: 1) What is
the nature of the work (type, purpose) and what is the primary message(s) of this work?
2) What problems is the author trying to solve and what are the primary issues that the
author is addressing?

4. Three evidentiary body paragraphs (paragraphs 2-4). Analyze the following disciplines
and their role in discovering that a meteor hitting the earth may have caused the
extinction of the dinosaurs as featured in the article.

a. PARAGRAPH 2 (100 words) – Dr. Luis Alvarez is a physicist. Physics,
geology, and chemistry all played an important role in discovering that a
meteor colliding with the earth, may have caused the extinction of the
dinosaurs. What role did physics play in making that discovery?

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b. PARAGRAPH 3 (100 words) – Dr. Walter Alvarez is a geologist. Physics,
geology, and chemistry all played an important role in discovering that a meteor
colliding with the earth, may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. What
role did geology play in making that discovery?

c. PARAGRAPH 4 (100 words) – Drs. Frank Asaro and Helen Vaughn Michel are
chemists. Physics, geology, and chemistry all played an important role in
discovering that a meteor colliding with the earth, may have caused the
extinction of the dinosaurs. What role did chemistry play in making that
discovery?

WRITING TIP: Do NOT write a summary or “book report” of the article. That is NOT the purpose of a
critical analysis essay.

5. PARAGRAPH 5 (100 words) – A conclusion paragraph

In your conclusion, describe what you have learned that you did not know before and
perhaps what you can use in your personal and professional life based on your critical
analysis of this article.

6. Add a “REFERENCES” page as formatted in the sample paper on page 9. In this case
the only citation we have is the one article provided.

FORMATTING: Double spaced, Times New Roman font, 12 point text, and one-inch page margins.
College-level writing is expected. The paper will be graded for content, grammar, spelling, punctuation,
and sentence structure.

College of Liberal Studies
University of Oklahoma

LSTD 3003 – Interdisciplinary Inquiry

Unit3
Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences Analysis Essay

What killed the dinosaurs?

Paleontology is the science of the forms of life existing in former geologic periods, as
represented by their fossils. Ever since paleontology came into being scientists have been asking
the question, what killed the dinosaurs? How did they go extinct?

One of the great stories in the history of interdisciplinary exploration and discovery is that of Dr.
Luis Alvarez and his theory that a six mile wide asteroid crashed into the earth 65 million years
ago and wiped out the dinosaurs (almost overnight in geologic time). In the June 6, 1980 edition
of Science magazine, Dr. Alvarez, along with a team of researchers (his son geologist Walter
Alvarez and chemists Frank Asaro and Helen Vaughn Michel) published the article
Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous–Tertiary Extinction, which they felt proved this
theory. This article revolutionized the way that scientists thought about the dinosaur extinction
event.

What follows is that very article (Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous–Tertiary Extinction)
that started it all. Please read it carefully. Pay close attention to the role theses disciplines played
in creating this new knowledge (physics, geology, chemistry, astronomy, paleontology) as you
will be asked to write your interdisciplinary essay over this article. As you read please be
observant of a couple of important things. First, you may find parts of it difficult to follow. This
is a good example of how scholars talk to each other. His audience is fellow paleontologists so
try to think of yourself as a person in that profession as you read. Second, notice the citations
throughout the paper and the list of references at the end. The reason we are asking you to do the
“research and documentation” assignments in each unit is because proper documentation is a
must in academic research. Notice the priority Dr. Alvarez gives it throughout the paper.
We now present Doctors Luis Alvarez, Walter Alvarez, Frank Asaro, and Helen Vaughn Michel.