Punctuation and capitalization

From the Commas, Semicolons, and Colons video; the video will start automatically in browsers where autoplay of audio is enabled. If the video doesn't immediately begin, click the pause button and then click play.

In North American Academic English, sentences are comprised of independent and dependent clauses. Independent clauses contain a subject and a verb, and as their name suggests, they can stand alone without additional information e.g., the sun is shining. Dependent clauses also contain a subject and a verb, but they are incomplete sentences that need an independent clause to make sense e.g., which is a pleasant surprise. Together, independent and dependent clauses create full sentences e.g., The sun is shining, which is a pleasant surprise.

If you're following the conventions of North American Academic English, you can use a colon:

• To join two independent clauses and to emphasize the second clause (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 156) e.g., Flooding caused road closures on January 28, 2016: Highway 1A and Cowichan Bay Road were both affected by washouts (Harnett, 2016).
• After an independent clause when it is followed by a list, a quotation, appositive, or other idea directly related to the independent clause e.g., To complete my assignment, I need to finish three more tasks: check my APA formatting, review my grammar, and read the entire document one more time.

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Harnett, C. (2016, January 28). Crofton-area road closed by washout; Trans-Canada traffic flowing. Times Colonist.  http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/crofton-area-road-closed-by-washout-trans-canada-traffic-flowing-1.2160792