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Activity 3.3.3.1 Current Events in Plastic Pollution (How Microplastics Effect Bees)

Prompt questions I asked for newest article
"From Science Daily can you summarize "Plastic pollution harms bees, review finds" answering these following questions. Clearly state the purpose of the article. Clearly state the question trying to be answered alternative ways to think about the question is it possible to divide the question into sub-questions? Clearly state the assumptions being made in the article which of the assumptions might reasonably be questioned? Clearly state the point of view of the article what are the weaknesses of this point of view? What is the Data, Information, evidence and what is the accuracy and relevancy of this data? Explain the key concepts behind the article’s reasoning explain the theories behind the article’s reasoning how is the article distorting ideas to fit an agenda? Clearly state the implications and reasoning that follow from the article."
From National Geographic can you summarize "Wild bees are building their homes from plastic—and scientists aren’t sure why" answering these following questions. Clearly state the purpose of the article. Clearly state the question trying to be answered alternative ways to think about the question is it possible to divide the question into sub-questions? Clearly state the assumptions being made in the article which of the assumptions might reasonably be questioned? Clearly state the point of view of the article what are the weaknesses of this point of view? What is the Data, Information, evidence and what is the accuracy and relevancy of this data? Explain the key concepts behind the article’s reasoning explain the theories behind the article’s reasoning how is the article distorting ideas to fit an agenda? Clearly state the implications and reasoning that follow from the article.
In the year 2019, scientists began to notice a trend in bee colonies and how these bees had begun using plastics to build their nests. "Wild bees are building their homes from plastic—and scientists aren’t sure why", written by Sarah Gibbens published by National Geographic, focuses on the behavioral observation of the bee colonies. Observing the actions, asking the question of why? Along with this, the article makes note of the uncertainty around how the usage of plastic for the bees' home will affect their health.
As time has passed, scientists have had more time to research the potential hazardous health implications for our bees. Now in ScienceDaily "Plastic pollution harms bees, review finds", ScienceDaily has found factual evidence that the plastics bees use to construct their homes are harmful. ScienceDaily's article however, does not simply focus on just how plastics harm bees. Rather, the article also focuses on the broader environmental and ecological consequences of plastic pollution on bee populations.
I had high expectations for the AI generators going into this assignment. Never before have I used AI in any previous assignments, not only in this class but my whole time as a student. I feel that your instructions were clear and precise. This allowed me to construct the perfect questions for the AI generator. This allowed me to only have to fix my questions once to get the answers I desired. There was only one thing I had hoped to be of better quality and that was the length in answers the generator gave me. However, that is my only complaint.
I have a deep love for bees and I know they are in fact one of the most important species on the planet. This topic struck a cord in me. Seeing as going through this chapter, I now believe the most prevalent problem in all of our lives and for the health of the planet overall we must do something about microplastics. This chapter has taught me the extent of the problem and how it threatens everyone's health. What shocked me last week when doing research for our last assignment, I saw a article about how microplastics were being found on bees when pollinating. I knew how some fish get caught in plastics, how birds eat plastics, and how our water was now being infected by microplastic, but never to this extent. This realization for me has been very disturbing and very informative, and it saddens me to know so many other people in my life and our society that don't know about it.
From chatgpt it was much easier to consume the content of the articles and really know all the relevant information for this assignment. These summaries saved me a lot of time, and I am now considering the option of using chatgpt never to write for me, but to help me summerize. These two articles are very different in perspective and what they choose to focus on but due to their timeline and when they were written, I believe they fit perfectly contextually next to each other. "Wild bees are building their homes from plastic—and scientists aren’t sure why", written in 2019 notices the phenomenon and tries to gather evidence of why bees are behaving in this way using plastics. Now that the scientific community has noticed this behavior, they have begun to analyze it with research and what this use of plastics will do for and for the bees. As some years pass now, speculative/ observational articles like "Wild bees are building their homes from plastic—and scientists aren’t sure why" now have proof that bees using plastics to make their hives is harmful with ScienceDaily's "Plastic pollution harms bees, the review finds". This is the biggest difference between the two and that's time. I chose these two articles because they go hand in hand. Scientists notice a phenomenon, they create hypotheses and as time passes they are able to research it and come up with actual facts. Both articles, along with this focus on the emphasis on the environmental hazards if bees are harmed. The difference is one article just confirms hypothesis from previous years.
Work Cited
OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT (April 2 version) https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/
University of Freiburg, 2024, Plastic pollution harms bees, review finds, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/10/241016115903.htm#:~:text=The%20authors%20of%20the%20study,to%20pollinate%20plants%20less%20effectively.
Sarah Gibbens, 2019, Wild bees are building their homes from plastic—and scientists aren’t sure why, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/wild-bees-building-homes-from-plastic#:~:text=Microplastics%20are%20a%20danger%20to,exposure%20to%20viruses%20or%20parasites.

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