Guest danielvalen Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 hi everyone, about a week ago me and my classmates needed to write about a specific topic. i chose the venus fly-trap because it interested me. well today i got my essay. my teacher wrote, on my essay , that i copied from wikipedia.org i of course denied it. and now he wants to give me an F on that extremely large assignment. so i did some research today on the internet to see if i really copied the assigment from that site ,but i couldnt find anything copied. could you please help me and and see if i really copied the essay? it would be highly appreciated. here is my essay: what is a carnivorous plant? It is just what it sounds like. A carnivorous plant is a plant that actually eats small, living insects. On type of these plants is the venus fly-trap. This plant ,the venus fly-trap, is what this essay is about. Many people may know a generous amount of information about this plant, but certainly not all of it. As you read this essay you will discover many interessting facts about this essay. the venus fly-trap grows in a very small geographical area.they are found in a 700-mile region on the coast of north and south carolina. although the plant is found in such a small area, the venus fly-trap has captivated people all over the world. The venus fly-trap is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid movement. some plants that are able to use this rapid movement capabilities are the Mimosa, telegraph plant, sundew and the bladderworts. Venus fly-traps cannot live in high temperatures. the venus fly-trapsould be kept in 65-70 degree temperatures. so why is it called the venus fly-trap? this may sound very strange but the name comes from a pegan goddess named venus. venus, the goddess , represents love and money. Many people adore this plant but, not because of its beauty, but because of its actions. although the plant is very colorful and exotic looking, people love the plant because it feasts on living insects. imagine if you were a small insect looking for food. when you find it, this large cage closes on your entire body. the cage (the venus fly-trap leaf) doesnt let go untill it fully digests your entire body.so, how does it do it? well that is a very simple question. the venus fly-trap has a sweet sap like scent on its trap. the insect then goes thinking its going to eat. when the insect touches one of the six trigger hairs, the venus fly-trap closes and traps the insect. the venus fly-trap then digests its food untill the only thing that is left is the skeleton of the creature. the time it takes for the plant to re-open depends on the size of the insect. the venus fly-trap does not really need to eat insects to survive, it can survive on only drinking water. when the venus fly-trap is ready, it will give a flower or flowers. The flower then is pollinated and produces seeds. there are many species or mutations on this plant around the world. the venus fly-trapis endangered because of the many people who want to take it home, feed it insects , and then it dies on their backyards . this plant is very fragile a very fragile plant and if you buy one, dont let it die. much information about this eerie plant was was stated in this essay . Now the reader understands why this is such an interresting plant in many ways. thank you for your time and efforts on reading this "carnivorous plnats: Venus fly-trap" essay. please post!!!and thanx for your time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In My Memory Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Daniel, hi everyone' date=' about a week ago me and my classmates needed to write about a specific topic. i chose the venus fly-trap because it interested me.well today i got my essay. my teacher wrote, on my essay , that i copied from [i']wikipedia.org [/i] i of course denied it. and now he wants to give me an F on that extremely large assignment. so i did some research today on the internet to see if i really copied the assigment from that site ,but i couldnt find anything copied. could you please help me and and see if i really copied the essay? it would be highly appreciated. here is my essay: what is a carnivorous plant? It is just what it sounds like. A carnivorous plant is a plant that actually eats small, living insects. On type of these plants is the venus fly-trap. This plant ,the venus fly-trap, is what this essay is about. Many people may know a generous amount of information about this plant, but certainly not all of it. As you read this essay you will discover many interessting facts about this essay. the venus fly-trap grows in a very small geographical area.they are found in a 700-mile region on the coast of north and south carolina. although the plant is found in such a small area, the venus fly-trap has captivated people all over the world. The venus fly-trap is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid movement. some plants that are able to use this rapid movement capabilities are the Mimosa, telegraph plant, sundew and the bladderworts. Venus fly-traps cannot live in high temperatures. the venus fly-trapsould be kept in 65-70 degree temperatures. so why is it called the venus fly-trap? this may sound very strange but the name comes from a pegan goddess named venus. venus, the goddess , represents love and money. Many people adore this plant but, not because of its beauty, but because of its actions. although the plant is very colorful and exotic looking, people love the plant because it feasts on living insects. imagine if you were a small insect looking for food. when you find it, this large cage closes on your entire body. the cage (the venus fly-trap leaf) doesnt let go untill it fully digests your entire body.so, how does it do it? well that is a very simple question. the venus fly-trap has a sweet sap like scent on its trap. the insect then goes thinking its going to eat. when the insect touches one of the six trigger hairs, the venus fly-trap closes and traps the insect. the venus fly-trap then digests its food untill the only thing that is left is the skeleton of the creature. the time it takes for the plant to re-open depends on the size of the insect. the venus fly-trap does not really need to eat insects to survive, it can survive on only drinking water. when the venus fly-trap is ready, it will give a flower or flowers. The flower then is pollinated and produces seeds. there are many species or mutations on this plant around the world. the venus fly-trapis endangered because of the many people who want to take it home, feed it insects , and then it dies on their backyards . this plant is very fragile a very fragile plant and if you buy one, dont let it die. much information about this eerie plant was was stated in this essay . Now the reader understands why this is such an interresting plant in many ways. thank you for your time and efforts on reading this "carnivorous plnats: Venus fly-trap" essay. Wikipedia - Venus Flytrap: The Venus Flytrap is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid movement, such as Mimosa, the Telegraph plant, sundews and bladderworts. The mechanism by which the trap snaps shut involves a complex interaction between elasticity, turgor and growth. In the open, untripped state, the lobes are convex (bent outwards), but in the closed state, the lobes are concave (forming a cavity). It is the rapid flipping of this bistable state that closes the trap[2], but the mechanism by which this occurs is still poorly understood. When the trigger hairs are stimulated, an action potential (mostly involving calcium ions) is generated, which propagates across the lobes and stimulates cells in the lobes and in the midrib between them[3]. Exactly what this stimulation does is still debated: cells in the outer layers of the lobes and midrib may rapidly secrete protons into their cell walls, loosening them and allowing them to swell rapidly by osmosis and acid growth; alternatively, cells in the inner layers of the lobes and midrib may rapidly secrete other ions, allowing water to follow by osmosis, and the cells to collapse. Both, either or neither of these mechanisms may play a role[4]. If the prey is unable to escape, it will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the lobes, and this causes a further growth response that forces the edges of the lobes together, eventually sealing the trap hermetically and forming a 'stomach' in which digestion occurs. Digestion is catalysed by enzymes secereted by glands in the lobes. Digestion takes about 10 days, after which the prey is reduced to husk of chitin. The trap then re-opens, and is ready for re-use; however, it is rare for a single trap to catch even three insects in its lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blike Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I don't understand this post. You know if you copied, you don't have to "research" to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danielvalen Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 i know i didnt copy, but my teacher thinks i did. so im looking for the closes to copying i did. if you get wat i mean. and thanx:In My Memory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danielvalen Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 do you really think i deserve an ''F'' just for that. i mean , im only in 8th grade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 aww shit. i lifted an image off of wikipedia for my dissertation, and reading this thread, i think i forgot to credit it. nipples. anyway... taking other's work and passing it off as your own is cheating and, if you were a professional, could result in you or your enployer being sued, which is why schools punish you quite abit for it (and it stops you from learning) also, note that copying doesnt just mean copying word-for-word. if you used wikipedia as a template for the article, that still counts as copying. having said that, i'd guess that you used more than one source... your essay and wikipedia disagree about, for example, the habitat size (700 and 100 miles respectively), so i'd suggest gathering all of the sourses that you used and showing your teacher to try and convince him that you didnt just use wikipedia, and treat whatever penalties come from copy/pasting that one paragraph as a lesson. For the record, this is one of many reasons why you should site your sourses within the text1, to cover your own arse against accusations of intelectual theft. [edit]what's 8th grade?[/edit] --------------- 1: Gumby McGoo, 'reasons why you should cite', 1952 <-- like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s pepperchin Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Plagiarism on any level is stealing someone else's work. But the actual question here is did you use wikipedia as one of your sources? and if you did why didn't you quote it. Most kids in 8th grade (not that I'm making an excuse for you) that plagiarize because they don't realize that they have written something word for word after they recently read it somewhere. The only solution I can suggest for you is to go to your teacher and tell them that you didn't intend to plagiarize and that you would like an opportunity to write a new report on a new subject. I would also talk to the teacher about citing sources so that it doesn't happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 So is it just fluke that your essay and Wikipedia have exactly the same wording? Maybe your classmate updated the Wikipedia article to include what you did in your work... or maybe your classmate copied it straight off there. Either way it is two seperated sentences and as Dak said you disagree on other figures (e.g. 700 vs 100) so I wouldn't give it an F. Copying is still a big thing though and is quite serious. If you look for other differences in your article and wikipedia's then maybe you could show your teacher that you were not copying as some of what you say disagrees with wiki. But you might wanna find out how those sentences ended up the same on both your essay and wiki. I dunno what 8th grade is but if it's anything like year 8 (in the UK) then that would make you like 13 or something. I wouldn't have expected someone that age to get penalised so badly for something like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danielvalen Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 ive allready told him if i could rewrite it but he said i couldnt. i dont think it is really fair that i studied for a whole week just so he could throw my grade in the trash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danielvalen Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 thanx 5614 for your reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s pepperchin Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 I would let you write a new paper but as your teacher it is his call what to do. The only other suggestion is to have your parents go to school and complain about how the issue is being handled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herpguy Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 You didn't copy anything exacly the way it was from wikipedia.org, so I would still give you credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genecks Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Here's a lesson that you should learn well: Very few thoughts are original; always source if you can. Anybody who says he or she is original, better be pretty top-notch. Otherwise, that person is full of himself or herself. Here's a quote: "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." - Oscar Wilde If you truly did not plagerize(sp?), then tough shit for the teacher. That is the problem with the Internet these days. One day, all persons will have the same damn thought, posted somewhere on the Internet, and each person will claim copyright infringement; however, I assume you did copy. Also, who is to say Wikipedians don't plagerize. Exactly! You did learn the facts from somewhere, and you did not source those. Always source information unless it is common sense. Common sense= what the class should have learned over a duration while being in the class or what is covered in the class thoughout the term. Maybe you did; maybe you did not. Only you truly know. I'm not going to side with you here. I can only provide the tools in defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnB Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Okay, the first passage highlighted by IMM is very similar in wording to the Wiki entry, but the second? How many different ways can you describe the digestive process of the Flytrap in one sentence? Not many. It digests the insect until only the shell/skeleton/chitin is left. That's what happens. As others have said, you need to cite your sources. Also, you picked an interesting topic, so you need to make it interesting. On the "F", I would suggest seeing your teacher and again stating you didn't copy from Wiki and ask what passages made him think you did. Then ask for advice on ways to improve your essays. Having said that, Daniel some thoughts from the only man to ever get an "N-" on an essay at my school. Seriously. The venus fly-trap is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid movement. What does this mean, can they walk quickly? You perhaps should clarify this as it sounds like you're describing a Triffid. so why is it called the venus fly-trap? this may sound very strange but the name comes from a pegan goddess named venus. venus, the goddess , represents love and money. So what? Venus may be the name of a Greek Goddes, by why was the name applied to the plant? Where does love and money come into carnivorous plants? the venus fly-trapis endangered because of the many people who want to take it home, feed it insects , and then it dies on their backyards . this plant is very fragile a very fragile plant and if you buy one, dont let it die. It may help to explain why it is so fragile and what common mistakes people make in their care and feeding. One website I looked at pointed out that you never feed a flytrap hamburger as the fat content of the mince will kill the plant. All in all though, I think you did a good job. I'm afraid I must leave it at that as a cat is using my left leg as a scratching post and I need to find something to stop the bleeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danielvalen Posted April 29, 2006 Share Posted April 29, 2006 i showed my teacher the writing i sorta copied, and i think he is going to give me a better grade. thanks everyone for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted April 29, 2006 Share Posted April 29, 2006 So you did copy that bit then? If so let this whole thing be a lesson and don't do it again. If you have to and are allowed to then state your source/where you got it from. Then it is a quote and no big deal. Although if you are meant to be writing a project yourself quoting someone else may not be suitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danielvalen Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 he gave me a 50%, thats ok..it was better than before, Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Answer my question!!! (in the post above yours - did you copy it?) 50% is better than before, obviously, but still.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danielvalen Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 i may have copied this a little without knowing it. "The venus fly-trap is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid movement. some plants that are able to use this rapid movement capabilities are the Mimosa, telegraph plant, sundew and the bladderworts." but i surely did not copy this: "the venus fly-trap then digests its food untill the only thing that is left is the skeleton of the creature." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Demosthenes- Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 i may have copied this a little without knowing it. "The venus fly-trap is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid movement. some plants that are able to use this rapid movement capabilities are the Mimosa' date=' telegraph plant, sundew and the bladderworts." but i surely did not copy this: "the venus fly-trap then digests its food untill the only thing that is left is the skeleton of the creature."[/quote'] The article's history for April did show anyone adding: "The venus fly-trap is one of a very small group of plants that are capable of rapid movement. some plants that are able to use this rapid movement capabilities are the Mimosa, telegraph plant, sundew and the bladderworts." So what is much more likely is that you got the idea from an encyclopedia or other resource which the wikipedia editor also used. This is what I think happened. Just show your resources, and show quotes, and you should be good in later assignments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest danielvalen Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 thanks everyone for your great advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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