Wikipedia:United States Education Program/Courses/Behavioral Ecology (Joan Strassmann)/2014 Assignment3

Behavioral Ecology Wikipedia Assignment 3 Due 25 September 2014 Get back to course page

WikiProject Assignment 3
Behavioral Ecology, Biology 472, Strassmann

In this assignment you will add at least (meaning it can be more) 7 scientific references and 1000 words to an existing Wikipedia entry, or begin a new one. ''Each person should do her own independent assignment. Only after they are done does the rest of the team check the work. This is not a group assignment. However you can talk with each other to help you decide what to work on.''

When is it due? Thursday 25 September 2014 11:59 PM

What is it worth? It is worth 150 points out of the 700 total for the entire Wikipedia assignment.

What exactly do I turn in? You turn in a document on Blackboard named Wiki25September as a .pdf with the following:


 * 1. Your name.


 * 2. The honor code.


 * 3. Names of others in your group (two or three names), and what they did on your paper.


 * 4. Your topic, including chapter in Davies, Krebs, West, specific topic, and organism.


 * 5. Links to your Wikipedia entry which should be live on Wikipedia.


 * 6. A paragraph describing exactly how you exercised your fact checking, writing, or Wikipedia expertise. If asked, you should be prepared to provide further documentation on this, so save copies of edited work or similar. (20 points).


 * 7. Paste into the document your 1000-word entry along with the 7 references (130 points).

What do I do? In this assignment you will further use your expertise in behavioral ecology to improve Wikipedia. Focus on the entry of a single organism under the Vespidae WikiProject that you have chosen. We provide a list of likely wasps, but you are free to choose others if there is enough information on them. The organism that you choose should have information in the literature on how it exhibits the kinds of behaviors discussed in your chapter. You should discuss what exactly the animal does that is of interest and why they have evolved to do it. Remember to follow the general format we have created for Vespidae species pages.
 * Make sure to include the course banner and the Vespidae wikiproject banner on your article's Talk page.
 * Make sure your page is not an orphan!

Should I add headings in the Wikipedia entry? Yes. Wikipedia prefers relatively short chunks of text, 200 to 600 words. Headings are key to helping readers navigate through the page. You should also be sure to keep the outline at the beginning of the entry up to date, reflecting any new headings you have added.

Can I change areas of the Wikipedia entry on this organism that are not behavior? Yes, you can change anything you like on this or other organisms. You may add things that are missing like geographic distribution, diet, taxonomy, appearance, or links to Wikimedia photos, for example. Your goal is to provide a complete Wikipedia entry on your wasp, with focus on the behaviors of your chapter, but other behaviors are welcome if you come across cool things in other areas. Anything you add should follow the Wikipedia principles, hold a neutral tone, and be well referenced.

Can you give me some examples of good work on Wikipedia in this general area? OK, here are a few. The entry for the Monarch butterfly is pretty good. One of my students, Ben Ong, brought the piece on the American white ibis a lot of the way towards being a Good Article, then a Featured Article. I want all of you to reach the standards of Good Articles, given here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GACR#Criteria.

How do I get a draft of the assignment from my partners so I can serve my role as Wikipedia expert, writing expert, or fact checker? Ask them for their assignment. Give them your assignment so they can do their role. Leave time to do this before the final deadline, because you will have to revise your entry according to their comments, or get help uploading the work. You might consider having a last session together so you can contribute your role efficiently and chat with them as you do it. Teamwork works well with frequent face-to-face contact.

Do I have to actually change something on Wikipedia? Yes. Add your modifications to the appropriate page. Include the course banner. Briefly describe what you have done on the talk page for your topic.

Do I have to include images of the organism? Yes, and these must not be taken from any source that is not Creative Commons licensed. The best way to be sure is to search for images on Wikimedia and then use only those with clear licensing as Creative Commons and available. You can also ask me and I might have an image you can use, but then you would have to deal with getting it up there with CC permissions.

Can I delete stuff that is already there in the article? Yes, you should delete anything that is incorrect, or is not referenced. You should also delete anything that is under copyright and taken improperly. Be sure you explain your deletes in the talk page.

Can I copy information that I find from another source? No, that would be plagiarism. You can neither copy content entirely, nor just change the words around while keeping the general structure and ideas of another person. If you do this, the penalty will be severe, in accord with Wash U rules. If you detect plagiarism in any work already up on Wikipedia, or by a classmate, let the honor council for your section know, or you can tell me or a TA.

Grading Rubric
150 points

Work getting full points will be carefully referenced, clear, well written, and detailed.