Form a hypothesis and inquiry questions
Find, select and read a range of texts to
Develop note making skills
Develop ways to evaluate texts for reliability
Bring together ideas to make conclusions, judgements and recommendations
Research skills are important so that you don't accept FAKE NEWS as fact
Research skills are important so that when you come across a problem, you know what to do to help you figure it out
Below is an example from a former student of Waitara High School discussing the importance of not taking someone's word for it, make sure you're listening to the experts
This is a quote from Shakespeare and it is very relevant 400 years after he wrote it. When he wrote this, in the play The Merchant of Venice, he was referring to a character that could not be trusted to tell the truth. Today, that character is the media - you can't always trust that it is telling the truth.
Consider this story on the left from Waitara High Student Claire Nickson, who was our Dux, from when she worked for the Met Service (this story is taken directly from her facebook page with her permission).
This means that you have to carefully check your facts and check if can trust the source. For example, if a story in the newspaper ever says that they asked Weatherwatch for information, I won't trust it, 'cause they aren't experts.
Before you go any further and to be sure that you know what you are doing, click on the underlined hyperlinks to read through THE TASK and the THE EXEMPLARS to get an overview of what you are doing.
An issue is a problem that needs solving. There are many different types of issues going on in the world today.
If you pick one that you feel strongly needs to be addressed but don't know an awful lot about, that will set you up nicely for a solid research process.
Below are 3 videos to give you an idea of what you could potentially research about. If you choose to brainstorm some different issues, that's fine too.
Watch these videos, and then go into your Google Classroom and complete Section One: Research Proposal - Parts A, B, C and D.
After you have picked an issue, your next mission is to make a hypothesis.
A HYPOTHESIS is a prediction. It is a statement that takes one firm side of the argument and is a PREDICTION of what you think you will find out.
The information is in this link. The activities on Google Slides below on what a hypothesis is and how to make one are in this link.
After you have completed these activities, check your understanding with your teacher and then complete Section One: Research Proposal - Parts E, F and G. in your Google Classroom.
Before we go any further, we need to know that we CAN research our hypothesis and questions.
Using the key words from your question, search for some sources on Google and the SKIM and SCAN to see if they would be helpful.
Note taking is an essential part of the research process.
If this is not done properly, you cannot do the rest.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE NOTE TAKING:
You only need to use bullet points
Take down the title, author, publisher, date published and page numbers (if applicable)
Only note down the main ideas of the source THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS
If you cannot find any information for 1 of your questions, just write "no information"
If you cannot find the author or date of a source, just write "unknown"
You need a minimum of 3 answers per question and a minimum of 6 sources overall.
If one of your questions doesn't have three answers, you can look for an extra source that answers that question only.
Watch these videos to help you with each part of the notemaker:
STOP!
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING BY COMPLETING THIS
Be sure to check your answers after you complete the quiz.
Once you have watched the video, make a start of Section Two: Notemaking. Check in with your teacher once you have completed ONE source to check you are doing it right. The two charts below are the ones mentioned in the video to help you do your source evaluation.
This Google Slides presentation explains what it means to "present your findings"
The big THREE elements are:
Conclusions
Referencing
Bibliography
These 3 elements will be taken care of as long as you complete Section Three: Final Conclusions and Section Four: Bibliography in your Google Classroom properly. Do not start these until you have completed THE SEPARATE CONCLUSIONS PLANNER TEMPLATE and it has been checked off by your teacher.