How to Write a Cause and Effect Biology Research Report
A cause and effect paper will require you to identify a cause or happening and elaborate on the effect or effects that are produced as a result. Such an essay can be written about almost any topic, but, as with science, they shouldn't be over simplified. One cause can have multiple effects and, vice versa, many causes might lead to the same effect. For biology students, it is better for the student to analyze a few simple cause and effect points while briefly acknowledging the complexity of the subject.
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Instructions
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Choose Your Topic
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1
Choose a topic for your essay that you find interesting and you know a sufficient amount about to research and write about effectively. Your topic will determine what kind of cause and effect format you will be writing in.
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Determine if your essay topic represents a single cause with multiple effects, multiple causes with a single effect or a chain reaction.
For example, a single cause with multiple effects might be smoking marijuana. Smoking marijuana is the single cause while the effects include biochemical impacts on the brain, impaired reaction time, short term memory loss, and lung damage from resin and smoke.
Multiple causes with a single effect could be pollution. Causes include factories, cars and power plants releasing harmful chemicals, all leading to the pollution of the environment.
An example of a chain reaction might be deforestation as it degrades the natural ecosystem. The initial cause is that trees are cut down, animals flee their habitat, then soil is eroded, rainfall declines and the environment as a whole becomes dessicated and arid.
Determine which one of these best fits your topic or how you will narrow your topic to fit one of these simplified categories. Note that almost never do you have a single cause with a single effect.
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Outline your paper using one of the formats described above. If you are choosing a single cause and multiple effects, you may choose to describe the cause in your introduction and focus on three or four of the effects in your body paragraphs. If you are choosing multiple causes with the same effect you would do the opposite, first outlining the effect in the introduction and then discussing some of the multiple causes in the body paragraphs. If you are writing about a chain reaction, you may describe the chain in brief in your introduction and then, with more detail, explain the steps in separate body paragraphs.
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Flesh out this outline using your research and reference materials and your own original writing. Do not neglect to cite your sources and create a correct works cited page for the end of your essay.
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Proofread your essay, paying careful attention to your transitions. Because this style of essay focuses on cause and effect, you want to make sure that your connections between ideas (causes and effects) are clear. Use words and phrases like "because of this," "therefore," "consequently," "since," and "due to."
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Tips & Warnings
Teachers are far better at catching plagiarism than most students are at plagiarizing. Learning to write well is an invaluable skill and with practice you will find your own voice and your own style without resorting to copying from the Internet.
References
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