Science - Research Project

Are you seeking science topics for inspiration or as a catalyst for developing a rich and interesting science question for your Science research project? 

Try these sources of information to provide you with some potential ideas or inspiration to get started ...

• Browse through current science journals (on display in the library)

• Watch TEDTalks

• TedEd Talks - talks for students

• Listen to ABC radio science podcasts

It's important to choose a topic that interests you or  something that you are curious about. Speak with your Science Teacher for assistance in developing your focus question or in determining a topic that is appropriate for research. 

This guide provides you with instruction about how to access to a wide variety of information sources for your Year 10 Science Research Project.  It is recommended you start your research with the library's resources first (e.g. books, databases, journals, and videos). After you have used these resources and become more familiar with your topic, you will then be better placed to  apply this understanding to resources you access  online via the internet. 

Once you have formulated your focus Question and have a clear definition of your task, you can begin your research by utilising the library catalogue, eLibrary, to locate information resources. 

As you view each record in the catalogue take note of the Subject Headings. These can be clicked on to lead you to other resources in the library which may be relevant to your research.   (This list below with Dewey Numbers is helpful in identifying areas in the collection to browse for books on the shelves as well as identifying subject terms to search in eLibrary).

Further assistance can be found in this document for students with commonly asked questions: Year 10 Science Research Project FAQ.

Keyword searching: Tips, advice and Boolean searching

Before entering your keyword search, think carefully about your choice of keywords. Unlike searching the catalogue by subject headings, where resources that are related to one another by subject matter are grouped together, keyword searching can return a wide range of results (some of which may be relevant but others not). You have to be prepared to spend some time refining your keywords, reviewing your results, trying different combinations of keywords, identifying synonyms that can be interchanged with other words, and repeating this process until you find the most relevant, useful articles for your research. In other words, don’t expect to obtain perfect results on your first search. To successfully use online databases, you need to spend time investigating, analysing and evaluating the results of your search and then repeating this process again, and possibly many times over as you uncover and gain a deeper understanding of your project as you go through this process. Research is not a linear process but may involve you exploring information in many different directions.

PLEASE NOTE:

Understanding and learning how to search using Boolean techniques will help you search online databases and the internet more effectively. Below is some helpful tips on Boolean searching and a short video. 

TIPS FOR IMPROVING KEYWORD SEARCHING:

Use Boolean search terms

Here’s a simple introduction to the basics of Boolean searching. Boolean searching allows you to formulate searches where 2 or more terms are used. It helps you to search more effectively and efficiently.

Þ      OR: The use of “or” will broaden your search. For example, searching for information on “solar energy” or “solar power” will return results where either or both keywords appear.

Þ      AND: The use of “and” will limit your search. For example, searching for information on “whales” and “Australia” will only return results where both keywords are used.

Þ      NOT: The use of “not” can be used to exclude information. For example, searching for information on “whales” and “sharks” not “Pacific Ocean” will return results in articles where both the terms whales and sharks appear but exclude any results where the term Pacific Ocean also appears.

Use Quotation marks

Þ      Use quotation marks if you need to keep terms together. For example, “cane toads” will search for articles where this term appears together. If you simply searched cane toads without the use of quotation marks, you would obtain results with articles with the word “cane” or “toads” in them but not necessarily together.

Use Truncation

Þ      Another useful tip is the use of the asterisk (*) to truncate your search term.  For example, teen* would return teens, teenager, teenagers.

USING WIKIPEDIA

If you use Wikipedia, please refer to this Google Slide which has advice and tips about how to use Wikipedia with care. It is recommended that you start with Simple English Wikipedia first. 

Website directories can be helpful when you wish to browse for information on a particular topic. Here are a few web directories to explore:

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

• Virtual Learning Resources Center

Google is the most popular search engine. However, it is not the ONLY search engine available, and it is recommended that you complement your internet research with other search engines. You could try:

• DuckDuckGo (recommended when you want to exclude your location and previous search history)

• Bing

• Kiddle

• KidRex (this site draws its results from Google but tends to exclude commercial sites which is helpful for students. More education-based and organisation sites appear in page results)

• WolframAlpha

• Ecosia

Metasearch Engines

A metasearch engine is a search tool that allows you to search across several search engines at once and then aggregate results into one list. Some metasearch engines search popular search engines and others search lesser known search engines. You could try the following metasearch engines:

• Dogpile

• Info.com

• startpage

• Yippy

Get help with referencing for your assignment. Click here. 

The following websites are useful resources when looking for CC licensed images:

• CC image search: best resource for teachers when looking to find CC licensed images.  It also gives you the attribution for the image!

• Compfight: uses the Flickr search tool that can filter for CC licensed photos. 

• CSIRO's Science Image: contains over 4000 science and nature images. 

• Encyclopaedia of Life: contains over 2.9 million images depicting life on Earth. Some, but not all, of this content is CC licensed.  

• Google Images: allows searches for CC licensed images through its advanced search function by setting the “usage rights” parameters to be “Free to use, share, or modify”.

• Pixabay

• Unsplash

More help is available: