User:1smithmon/sandbox

Article evaluation ("Climate change in Canada")

 * The statistics section is out of date and the article doesn't mention recent efforts to fight climate change
 * Starting paragraph should be longer and more about science/statistics of climate change instead of the politics regarding it
 * The Observed impacts section has a paragraph long quote from EEEC, which I think should be written in the writer's own words
 * "Climate change melt ice and increases the mobility of the ice. In May and June 2017 dense ice – up to 8 metres (25ft) thick – was in the waters off the northern coast of Newfoundland, trapping fishing boats and ferries." This paragraph from the Observed impacts section has bad grammar and punctuation, and I don't think it fits well in this section
 * Might be bias against liberal government by saying "the Liberal government that later signed the accord took little action towards meeting Canada's greenhouse gas emission targets" (no citation for this claim)
 * Impacts on forestry section doesn't have any links
 * A citation for Emissions section did not open
 * Article is rated C and is supported by two WikiProjects
 * People in talk section want less about CO2 and more about other emissions. Some people think the title should be CO2 impacts in Canada instead of climate change
 * A view point that wasn't represented is that Canada may be benefitting from climate change, as mentioned in the talk page. They argue that there is a real threat of an ice age in Canada and we need the planet to stay warm to prevent it as long as possible.

DRAFT
These are the topics I'd like to add or expand on:

How is sand formed? The article briefly touches on this, but I think it's very important to expand it and talk about how sand gets to beaches and the ocean. I'll include that 80% of sand comes from eroding mountains, travelling through streams and rivers until it reaches the shore.

Is sand different from different sources? I'd like to explain why only beach/ocean sand can be used for building, making desert sand mostly useless

Is it used to make glass? Glass isn't mentioned much in the article, so I'd like to add a section on how glass is produced from sand, and initiatives to recycle glass back into sand to use for building

Sandblasting and its dangers The part about sandblasting needs to be expanded. I'll include how it uses sand and the dangers

Add miming section There is another Wiki article about sand mining, so a section summarizing it will be beneficial to add

Saudi Arabia They have used up all their own sand and now have to import billions of dollars worth, mainly from Australia. They also build artificial islands, so I'd like to touch on that too

India They have extremely destructive and dangerous methods of extracting sand. One is that people dive down up to 50 feet and pull up a bucket of sand, the other is dredging which is destroying the environment. I can talk about the sand mafia too which attack people for trying to stop their mining, and the regulation in place to try to stop the illegal mining.

Other building alternatives An alternative to sand is rocks being artificially crushed into the consistency of sand, which works the same but destroys the environment

Destruction of ocean The article already talks about this but I'd like to emphasize that only a small layer of sand covers the ocean. When this is sucked up it kills everything living there which disrupts the whole food chain

SOURCES

https://link-springer-com.proxy.library.carleton.ca/book/10.1007%2F978-94-017-9144-1

http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.library.carleton.ca/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=ocul_carleton&id=GALE%7CCX3727802118&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOXikTyZxPA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9HFdITVR5w

Peer Review

An excellent choice for an article. A very interesting fact about the quantity of sand that originates from mountain erosion. I hope this can be backed up by a valid reference. The links to the Youtube videos should bring the user directly to the point that you wish to use as a reference. The situations in India and Saudi Arabia are interesting, and a good idea to add to the article. It adds a good side-note that the user may be surprised to have enjoyed learning. Generally good plan

Final Draft
Sources:

Rocks erode/weather over a long period of time, mainly by water and wind, and their sediments are transported downstream. These sediments continue to break apart into smaller pieces until they become fine grains of sand. The type of rock the sediment originated from and the intensity of the environment gives different compositions of sand. The most common rock to form sand is Granite, where the Feldspar minerals dissolve faster than the Quartz, causing the rock to break apart into small pieces. In high energy environments rocks break apart much faster than in more calm settings. For example, Granite rocks this means more Feldspar minerals in the sand because it wouldn't have had time to dissolve. The term for sand formed by weathering is epiclastic. http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.library.carleton.ca/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=ocul_carleton&id=GALE%7CCX3727802118&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon

Sand from rivers are collected either from the river itself or its flood plain, and accounts for the majority of the sand used in the construction industry. Because if this, many small rivers have been depleted, causing environmental concern and economic losses to adjacent land. The rate of sand mining in such areas greatly outweighs the rate the sand can replenish, making it a non-renewable resource.

Sand dunes are a consequence of dry conditions or wind deposition. The Sahara Desert is very dry because of its geographic location and is known for its vast sand dunes. They exist here because very little vegetation is able to grow and there's not a lot of water. Over time, wind blows away all the fine particles, such as clay and dead organic matter, leaving only sand and larger rocks. Only 15% of the Sahara is sand dunes, while 70% is bare rock. The wind is responsible for creating these different environments and shaping the sand to be round and smooth. These properties make desert sand unusable for construction.

Beach sand is also formed by erosion. Over thousands of years, rocks are eroded near the shoreline from the constant motion of waves and the sediments build up. Weathering and river deposition also accelerate the process of creating a beach, along with marine animals interacting with rocks, such as eating the algae off of them. Once there is a sufficient amount of sand, the beach acts as a barrier to keep the land from eroding any further. This sand is ideal for construction as it's angular and of various sizes.

Marine sand (or ocean sand) comes from sediments transported into the ocean and the erosion of ocean rocks. The thickness of the sand layer varies, however it's common to have more sand closer to land. This type of sand is ideal for construction and is a very valuable commodity. Europe is the main miners of marine sand, which greatly hurts ecosystems and local fisheries.

Case studies:

Dubai: In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the use of sand has been very demanding in the construction of infrastructure and creating new islands. They completely ran out of their own reserves and now import most of their sand from Australia. There have been three projects to create artificial islands needing more than 835 million tonnes of sand, which costed more than $26 billion USD.

Reflective Essay
Critiquing articles: During the article evaluation assignment I familiarized myself with the rating system of Wikipedia. I looked at the difference in quality between "C" rated articles, and that of "A" and "FA". I could see all the hard work that goes into creating good Wikipedia articles, and how many people volunteer their time to contribute. For the assignment I picked the "C" rated article "Climate Change in Canada" and examined the different criteria, such as bias, up to date, relevance, citations, etc. There was a lot that needed to be improved and I noted some specific examples. For my chosen article, "Sand", I employed the same methods while reading the article to get an idea of what I'd like to change and add. I also looked at other articles about minerals and rocks to see what headings they incorporated, which gave me the idea to add a "Sources" heading.

Summarizing your contributions: I added a heading called "Sources", where I talk about how sand is formed and the different environments it comes from. I will also talk about the negative impacts of sand extraction to the environment and humans and give specific examples. I would also like to briefly talk about sandblasting and its dangers, building alternatives and why desert sand can't be used in construction. I think these additions are valuable because they will add to the understanding about sand and its applications. When researching these topics, I found them very interesting and leaned new things myself too. My contributions won't change the information already written but add new sections and additional explanations along with examples.

Peer review: I think the peer review was very useful, but maybe done too early. I still hadn't drafted all the contributions I wanted to make. For my first peer review I suggested my classmate focus on adding broad topics, instead of specifics, since his article was very limited. I gave some ideas for topics to include and let him know one of his sources wasn't reputable and that the article had some spelling mistakes. For my second peer review the student had already written paragraphs to add to the article, so I provided feedback and suggestions, such as word choices. Also, to fix typos and add sources. I suggested she added a few topics as well. The peer review I received from my classmate questioned a lot of the reliability and usefulness of the ideas in my draft, making me think more carefully about each one. He also suggested some topics to add. Overall, I think the peer review was helpful to me.

Feedback: I did not receive any feedback from other Wikipedia editors.

Wikipedia generally: I learned a lot from contributing to Wikipedia about my topic, sand, and about the process of how the articles are made. A Wikipedia assignment is better than a regular one, in my opinion, since the research and contribution can be used by everyone. For a regular term paper, it's only read once and then discarded. This motivates me to do a good job to help other people wanting to learn about sand, and to add knowledge to the website. Wikipedia can be used to improve public understanding of sand by showing the importance of it in everyday life, and explaining the risks involved in using it. Sand is a widely used resource, so I think it's very important everyone has a basic understanding of its sources and uses.