The Assignment: This multi-genre research project deals with characters and themes found in your class novel, On the Beach (The destruction of mankind through an accidental nuclear war). The specific topics that you will investigate must be generated from the list below of general topics, which are relevant to current issues on national defense, nuclear arms, and homeland security. You will use MLA style format throughout your paper. You will include a works cited page of at least ten secondary and primary sources (at least 4 primary). Expository writings require that you research and compare current writers' political thoughts through analysts of their writings found in reputable magazines and news journals and newspapers. Topic List: Select one: General Topics -- Develop a question on a specific topic and find your answer through research of a specific topic ( Mrs. Angus must approve your research question.)
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Whenever you start a research or classroom project it is important to plan how you want to accomplish your mission. There are many ways to achieve your goal of an A+ project, but there are also a lot of obstacles in your path. Knowing how to find and evaluate information is a valuable skill and is an essential part of the research process. The skill is called Information Literacy. At Westminster High School we recommend the Big 6© and COWS information literacy models for student research. If you make a habit of following these methods, you will successfully navigate reference books, books and non-text material, and not be fooled by false information or overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge available on the Internet. Use the Big 6 Research Paper Organizer © (1999) to help you complete your assignment. It uses the Big 6 format. Follow the directions given in the organizer and by Mrs. Angus. You can type directly on the organizer and then download the information to a disc or print it out. There is a section for each of the six steps of research.
Step #1: Task Definition A good way to get started. What does your teacher want you to do? Make sure you understand the requirements of the assignment. In order to define your task you must form your task around an essential question. Once you have formed your essential question you must decide what information you think you will need to support that question. You do this with supporting questions. To learn more about supporting questions look at "What kinds of questions did you ask today?" Remember there are several types or levels of supporting questions: Memory questions (Level 1), Convergent Thinking questions (Level 2), Divergent Thinking questions (Level 3), and Evaluative questions (Level 4). There is a worksheet you can print out to help you form your questions. Make sure your supporting questions use more that one type or level of question!
Step #2: Information Seeking Strategies This means that you need to make a list of all the possible sources of information that will help you answer the questions you wrote in Task Definition above. AND: Step #3: Location & Access Figure out where you will get these sources. Beside each source, write its location. If it is a web site, list its web address. Try to use those that your teacher or librarian have linked or book marked. This will save you time. If your source is a person, figure out how you will contact him or her and make a note of this. For Step #2 and Step #3 you should use the COWS information literacy model. COWS is an acronym to help you remember the ORDER you should look for information.
And if all else fails:
Lets look at each of these and how you can find and use them for your research.
When doing research, always start with current reference books, textbooks and non-fiction library books. Learn some basic information about your subject and start a list of "keywords" you can use to gain more information on your topic. Use the library's OPAC to check your resources.
Remember: When doing research you need to look at the second page of cataloging and review the "notes" section of the page to find out information about the book. Also use the "subject" section of the page and look at the subject headings listed for the book. Using these subject headings is an excellent way to narrow or broaden your subject search. They can also provide you with additional keywords to use in searching for your topic. Use your bookbag while doing research using OPAC. It helps keep your research on track, provides you bibliographic information for your project, and will save you time in locating information in the library. Hints!
Some of the Reference Books you could use are:
Use these resources every day! If you need them the usernames and passwords are provided. Our online resources are:
and
The Gale Group resources has five different databases: (All will provide you some information on your topic.)
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To learn more about each of the databases their descriptions are listed below: Student Resource Center-Gold (SRC-Gold) is the librarians' choice for "if I could only take one database to a desert island list, Student Resource Center Gold would be it." This database has a little bit of everything. It pulls form over 1,000 magazines, newspapers, and reference books. It also has primary sources and thousands of multimedia graphics (even some video clips!). SRC-Health Module provides everything you wanted to know about health but were afraid to ask. An excellent science resource that doesn't try to sell you something and gives you answers to questions about health that would normally be blocked by the HBUHSD filters. A database on medical and health-related topics that include diseases, treatments, diagnostic equipment, and major historical figures in the fields of medicine, chemistry, biology, and related areas. Includes a timeline describing over 500 events from the history of medicine and health sciences, and 300 photographs and diagrams. Student Edition, (Formerly SuperTOM), is designed for high school students, with access to a variety of indexed and full-text magazines, newspapers and reference books for information on current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center draws on the acclaimed social issues series published by Greenhaven Press, as well as core reference content from other Gale and Macmillan Reference sources to provide a complete one=stop source for information on social issues. Access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to web sites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles. The Virtual Reference Library has actual reference books online that you can view as a PDF or web document, your choice. Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely 24/7. Books In Our Collection: American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present 2nd ed., 4v, 2000 Nonfiction Classics for Students 5v, 2001 Novels for Students, v. 1 - 24 Poetry for Students, v. 1 - 24 Encyclopedia of Bioethics 3rd ed., 5v, 2004 WEB FEET is a research tool designed to help you save time and find the best resources available on the Internet. It is not a search engine, but rather collections of pre-selected sites reviewed by librarians, educators, subject-area specialists, and editors. It offers you the best Web sites for thousands of curriculum areas, general knowledge topics, and common personal interests. Marina subscribes to WEB FEET Core collection, which has web sites for middle school to adult. This site has a Borrower ID that you need to get from Mrs. Bowen, the librarian, Mrs. Rice, the Library Assistant, or your teacher. The Encyclopedia Britannica Online is our newest database for our school. It includes:
Using keywords search up to three sets of encyclopedias. This resource also has streaming video. World Geography Online will provide you everything you ever wanted to know about any country in the world. The CLIOview section will allow you to statistically compare countries in a variety of areas. This site will also provide daily UPI news stories focusing on events from around the world. Feature Stories, Terms of the Day, and Holidays & Celebrations are also included as part of the web site. If you need help in getting the most out of any of these resources, check the "Search Tips" for each.
W =
All of the web sites listed in this resource have been reviewed by librarians, teachers, or subject specialists and are good to use in research. Click on the web title and it will tell you what you can find on the site as well as what grade level should use the site. You will also find additional keywords, and Dewey and LC numbers to help you locate information in the library that is on the same subject. The URLs listed will take you directly to the site.
and if all else fails -- S = How to Find a Specialized Search Engine for Your Topic If you use a search engine to find material you must always evaluate the site you wish to use. To help you in evaluating your site use the Web Site evaluation Guide.
Step #4: Use of Information Engage the source (read it, listen to it, view it, touch it!) and take out the relevant information. If you can't understand any of it, be sure to ask Mrs. Angus to help you. It's OK not to understand, it's not OK not to ask for help. Make sure that you check out "Ideas About Note Taking and Citing Sources" from the Big 6.
Step #5: Synthesis You will need to:
A Writing Process Organizer can be printed out and used to develop a successful writing project!
Step #6: Evaluation To evaluate your product you will need to:
Here are some additional pages and sites to help you put your paper together and evaluate your product. Style Guides Copyright Information The Big 6 Rubric Editing Checklist Research Project Final Evaluation Form
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