The research Introduction & Background requires you to (1) select a national park for your research project, (2) describe the park\’s physical geography (state, city, landscape, highest peak, lowest valley, water bodies, flora, fauna, etc.., (3) describe the history of the national park (when did it become a national park, who was president at the time, who manages the park, etc.., (4) highlight the research question: How has the physical geography (species population, landscape, etc..) of {National Park Name} changed from [19xx] to {20xx] as a result of climate change?
The focus of this research project is to understand the processes of how the earth\’s terrain forms and how climate change has impacted natural features over time.
This week you will work on developing the Introduction and Background section of your research paper. The introduction will guide the reader from a general understanding of the landscape, region/location, and native plants and wildlife to a specific topic by stating your research question. The research question gives your reader the explicit question your research will answer. For example, \”This research paper will examine the impacts of climate change on Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard populations at Joshua Tree National Park from 1990-2010\”. You will need to cite the sources in a Works Cited section at the end of your paper using MLA formatting style guides.
To gain a better understanding of the tools geographers use to interpret and analyze changes in the natural environment, follow the link below to view historical imagery of Lake Mead in Colorado from PLANET. Make sure to use the slider feature to compare the imagery from different times. (see the slider tool in the image below, click and drag the slider left and right to move between the two datasets) View imagery from PLANET Here: