Writing science for the general public

In this exercise, you will practice communicating a scientific study to a general audience by taking a recent primary scientific journal article in animal behavior and translating it into a compelling science news story. First, you will need to develop a deep understanding of the study itself to gain insight into what is the “big picture”. As you develop your story, you will find that writing for the public is very different from the careful, calculated manner in which you are taught to report your findings for other scientists. In the second part of the exercise, you will have the opportunity to receive and provide peer feedback to help you learn the balance between jargon-heavy overly detailed reports and oversimplified stories that diminish or misrepresent the importance of the study.