Organizing Information Using The So-called Problem-Solution Structure
The most common way of organizing information is the so-called problem-solution structure which is illustrated in the following:
Situation: I was cleaning up our backyard.
Problem: I saw a plastic bag clogging the opening of a drainageway.
Solution: I removed the plastic bag from the opening of the drainageway.
Evaluation: I prevented the flooding of our backyard.
So the problem-solution structure consists of the four components above. You will notice that simple fairy tales as well as laboratory reports and research papers generally consists of these four components.
Note of the function of each:
Situation - states the situation which gives rise to the problem
Problem - states the problem
Solution - states the solution to the problem
Evaluation - states evaluation of the solution to the problem.
Read the selection below and identify the four components of the problem structure.
The population of the Philippines has grown tremendously in recent years. When our population grows, greater demands are also made on our natural resources to meet the increasing needs of our population. Thus, more houses have to be built; more food crops have to be raised, adequate clothing has to be provided to millions of Filipinos.
These needs have to be met by accelerated industrialization of our country which has created a problem in our environment. More factories and industrial plants have caused congestion and pollution of our air, waters, and land. With more houses to be built, there has also been unrestricted cutting of our forests, resulting in floods and droughts.
The government has been alerted to the alarming pollution of our environment. Logging laws have been passed to regulate the cutting of trees in our forests. A systematic reforestation program has been implemented to restore what have been once our rich and green mountains and forests.
While laws against unrestricted logging have been passed by Congress and a systematic program for waste disposal has been undertaken, these steps will offer only short-term solutions. This problem has to be confronted through a coordinated effort of all government agencies in each region to avoid a fragmented solution to the problem.
Below are groups of four sentences which represent the problem-solution structure. Arrange these jumbled sentences in correct sequence by writing Sn for situation, P for problem, S for solution, and E for Evaluation
A.
- Cardboard, plastic and wooded structures which shelter squatter families now line what used to be our beautiful sea fronts and river banks.
- We can bring back beauty and life to our waters again if we succeed in solving the squatter problem.
- Relocation sites have to be developed for these homeless population.
- Our rivers and lakes are dying from organic wastes and non-biodegradable materials clogging our waters.
B.
- Most of our current sources of energy are non-renewable.
- Alternative sources of energy have to be developed.
- Our modern age has been using energy three times as much as our ancestors did.
- But we lack the technical know-how to develop them.
C.
- Population has grown tremendously during the last decade.
- Unrestricted logging has denuded our forests.
- There is lack of strict enforcement of laws.
- A total ban on logging has to be enforced.