User:HannahWV/sandbox

Article Evaluation
Article: Clay

Content

The Identification section needs expansion. Currently, there are two subheadings: "x ray diffraction" and "chemical". Both have only one sentence each.

Additionally, the "Historical and Modern uses" section needs expansion, as it does not discuss any modern uses of clay related to health and wellness, despite the fact that clays are commonly used around the world for these purposes.

Tone

The tone of the article is mostly neutral, however there is more information about ancient uses of clay than modern uses. Additionally, the article concentrates more on industrial uses than agricultural ones.

Sources

One of the pages cited was a USGS site (https://pubs.usgs.gov/info/clays/), and another was from "ScienceLearn.org). Ideally, scholarly sources would have been used.

Talk

On the talk page, the problems with the Identification section are noted. Users also noted that their edits were removed, and asked for clarification. Additionally, the article is rated as B-class.

Environment of Canada
Content

The article's content is relevant to the topic, but requires a lot more elaboration. The article is not divided up into sections due to the lack of content.

Tone

The tone of the article is biased towards federal efforts to improve the environment in Canada, and does not discuss any of the ways that Canada is contributing to the rise greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, it states that "In 2011 United Nations said Canada's environment was the best in the world" without providing any critique.

Citations

The prior claim about the UN was not cited, and the entire article only has one citation.The only citation that was given is from the Canadian government website, which explains the bias present in the article.

Johannesburg Declaration
Content

The article's content is all relevant, but does not give enough context to make it valuable. In order to make the article more well rounded, it should include the historical context leading up to the declaration, the political actors involved, and the current state of the declaration.

Tone

The tone of the article is neutral because it only lists the contents of the declaration.

Citations

Most of the points are properly cited, except for one that has a citation that is formatted incorrectly.The citations are all official UN documents, which is useful for the content of the declaration, but not for larger context.

Greenfield land
Content

This article's content is very scarce. This is interesting to note, especially when comparing it to the lengthy content in the Wikipedia articles for Greenfield and Greyfield sites.

Tone

The tone of the article is neutral, however the content is skewed towards discussing the relevance of greenfield land for the cable industry, as opposed to other industries.

Citations

There are no citations in this article

Content Gap

 * 1) Content Gap: information is not found on the archive. It can be identified when an article is searched for but not found.
 * 2) A content gap may arise because of a lack of reliable sources. To remedy content gaps, articles should be reviewed and experts' participation should be encouraged.
 * 3) For the most part it does not matter who writes for Wikipedia, so long as they do their research. Mistakes are remedied through community review. However, if somebody has a conflict of interest, they should not contribute to a Wikipedia article on their subject.
 * 4) Being unbiased means that points of view are documented and explained in an impartial matter. Reliable sources should be used. Both sides of an issue should not be given equal weight if there is a lack of evidence on one side (e.g. climate change).

Copyedit an Article
Greenfield Land

Corrected run on sentence - changed to "Greenfield land can be unfenced open fields, urban lots or restricted closed properties. They are kept off limits to the general public by a private or government entity."

Also removed brackets in the sentence, "A greenfield development is a welcome opportunity for a cable operator to choose (and install) new equipment."

Peer Review
User: Yunxin Song

Article: Urban heat island

Overall, this article has a neutral tone and draws on a variety of credible sources from the natural and social sciences. The information is well organized, however some sections could be combined under the same heading in order to improve readability. For example, the "mitigation" and "mitigation policies, measures and other strategies" sections could be combined. Additionally, as noted in the article, the examples all draw from the US. The History section is particularly lacking in content. It mentions that first investigated and named the phenomenon but did not name it, but then does not state who did name the phenomenon.

User: Jlee4199

Article: Sustainable agriculture

This article provides an in-depth look at sustainable agriculture, drawing on a variety of sources from different disciplines. The lead section of this article is lacking in content however. As noted on the Wikipedia page, it does not provide an adequate overview of the article's key points. The sections of the article are well-organized, and provide a clear flow of information. Additionally, there is a good balance amongst the sections. The article could, however, use more diverse sources. The "sustainable intensification" section only draws from one source, and could therefore use more balance.

Responding to Peer Review
Hi Yunxin,

Thank you for the peer review! I'm glad that you find the structure of the article to be well-organized. I agree that it would be good to provide more detailed land about the characteristics of clay such as porosity and distribution.

Thank you for sending your thoughts!

- Hannah

Reflective Essay
Over the course of this assignment, I had the opportunity to find, edit, and fine-tune a Wikipedia article about clay. Throughout the project, I had the opportunity to evaluate other people’s contributions and consolidate my own knowledge. The process of constant feedback and review was vital to this project, and made it different from many of my other university assignments.

During the article evaluation, I learned that the content of Wikipedia articles varies greatly. While some articles have been reviewed extensively and contain up to date, accurate information, others have major content gaps and structural issues. Since Wikipedia relies on community-based knowledge, there is no way to ensure that contributors update all articles. However, it is possible to search for article stubs that are lacking significant information. This is how I selected my article for the assignment.

To critique my article, I first looked at the table of contents to determine the general scope of the information. From a first glance at the subheadings, the article appeared to be well structured and the scope seemed strong. However, once I read through the article it became clear that some of the sections had significant information gaps. I also read through the comments that other editors had made to identify areas that needed attention. From this process, I decided to focus on editing the “identification of clays” section because it had the least information.

My edits consisted of adding information about the process of X ray diffraction for identifying different types of clays. I began by looking at primary research, which I then consolidated by looking through reviews. Before I added my contributions, the article only had one sentence describing the use of X ray diffraction. I provided a summary of the process, how it works, and why it is important for identifying clays. These were valuable contributions because they filled in a significant content gap in the article.

In the first of my two peer reviews, I found that the article had a neutral tone and drew on credible sources, but that the structure of the article could have been improved. I noted that the structure of the second article that I reviewed provided a good flow of information, but that the article could use a more diverse range of sources. Additionally, I found that the article lead could be improved. I received feedback from a classmate who suggested that I give more information about the characteristics of clay such as porosity and distribution. While this was not directly related to the section of the article that I was editing, I agreed that it would have been a valuable contribution to the article. I did not receive any feedback from Wikipedia editors, but I will continue to monitor the page to see if people engage.

The Wikipedia assignment is different than other assignments that I have completed throughout university, mainly because of the intended purpose and audience. It is unusual to have the opportunity to actively contribute to a public body of knowledge while completing an undergraduate degree, since typically this is reserved for experts. However, it is important to remember that even though I am not an expert in any field, my undergraduate degree has given me knowledge that not everybody has access to. It is therefore important to share what I know. This is especially important in fields such as environmental science, where public understanding can be highly skewed. Providing access to free, clear, and accurate information is a vital step for increasing public awareness.

However, Wikipedia also has its flaws. Due precisely to its community-based format, a great deal of misinformation can be circulated and it is up to other contributors to moderate the mass amount of information. This is what makes the feedback and review process vital. The feedback process is an important part of knowledge generation that often gets ignored in undergraduate classes, so it was interesting to have the opportunity to give, receive, and integrate feedback from peers.

This assignment has given me a greater appreciation for the process of sharing and consolidating information, and has motivated me to continue engaging in the generation of community-sourced knowledge.

X-Ray Diffraction Techniques
X-ray diffraction can be used to determine the structure and composition of clay minerals. It is beneficial for identifying fine-grained minerals that are difficult to determine by sight.

X-ray diffraction works by bouncing X-ray beams off of a slowly rotating soil sample. The mineral structures in the soil diffract the light and reflect it back, and the pattern of reflection can be used to determine the structure and concentration of clay minerals in the sample. Kaolin, mica, and chlorite structures have specific formations that can be detected using X-ray diffraction.

To undergo X-ray diffraction, a small rock sample must first be ground into a fine powder. There are two main types of X-ray diffraction: bulk powder analysis and clay fraction analysis. Bulk powder analysis uses whole rock samples to determines the bulk clay content within the soil. Clay fraction analysis, on the other hand, involves separating clay particles based on particle size. By analyzing the clay fraction, scientists are able to determine the type and relative proportion of clay mineral types. Fractions of either <2µm or <16µm are most commonly used for clay fraction analysis.

Chemical Properties
Clays can be identified by their unique chemical properties, including their large available surface area for chemical reactions, capacity for ion exchange, and swelling capacity.

Clays are highly reactive due in part to their small grain size. Chemists classify clay colloids as having a diameter of less than 1 μm. The smaller the particle size, the more surface area is exposed per unit of soil. Since clays have small grains, they have a large exposed site for adsorption, catalysis, precipitation, and other chemical processes.

Clays are also characterized by their ability to exchange ions. The internal and external surfaces of clay colloids usually have negative electrostatic charges. Positively charged ions, otherwise known as cations, are attracted to the negatively charged surfaces of clay colloids. Cations are constantly vibrating near the surface of the colloid through the process of adsorption. Sometimes, individual cations break away from the colloid surface and move into the soil solution. They are then replaced by positively charged ions from the soil solution in a process called cation exchange. The process of cation exchange is fundamental for nutrient cycling and soil fertility.

Some clays are also able to swell. Depending on the strength of the bond between the clay sheets, water and cations are sometimes able to enter the spaces between the layers, which causes the clay to expand. Some types of clay, such as kaolinite, have layers that are bound tightly through hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding between layers limits expansion because cations and water are unable to enter between the layers. However, other types of clays, such as montmorillonite, have layers that are more loosely bound by oxygen-to-oxygen and cation-to-oxygen bonds. Water and cations are able to enter the spaces between layers, making the layers move apart and causing the clay to swell.