Unit 3

Survivors!

Assignment

Research Step 2: Search

Where will you look for information?


When you do research, you always look in several places. Getting information from only one source does not supply you with enough perspectives or points of view.

  • This stage is about finding places to get information. You don’t start writing information until the next step.

  • When you are in this planning stage, you do not read everything in the resource (whether it is a book or website or magazine or whatever). You only scan through to see if the resource will be useful to you in answering your questions. For example, scan titles of chapters to see if an aspect of your topic is addressed. If so, record the title of that book and chapter so you can read it later.

  • When you have found several good resources, you record their bibliographical information (title, date and place of publication, publisher, URL, etc.) in your Research Plan. You will use the resources in the next step.

  • Finding one or two sources from each type of media (one or two books, one or two websites, one or two videos, etc.) usually provides important information for your research topic.
Open

Open Your File

Go to your Documents folder and open your Research Plan worksheet that you have saved there.

Places To Look For Information

There are many places to look for information.

A few of them have been listed below.


Ask a staff member at your local library to help you find information about your chosen topic.


He or she will be able to help you find information in books, magazines, DVDs, and other sources. Scan through the resources you find, and take home the ones that seem like the best ones to answer your questions. Remember to write down the titles and authors of the books, as you will need this information later.

Websites and Online Tools

Click the coloured tabs to view the Websites and Online Tools for this assignment.

Websites

Websites


  • Do your own search for your topic, and you will likely find lots of resources you like. There are many, many other websites, of course. Some suggestions of good search engines to try are as follows:
  • Try different search terms when you are looking on the Internet to get a different selection of sites.
  • A good word to include in your search terms is kids, such as habitat kids, or arctic habitat kids. Including the word kids will make the search engine look for sites you will be able to read and of a suitable interest level.
  • Don’t get carried away. You don’t need to use 37 different websites.

These websites may help you find what you are looking for:


Remember to write down the name and web address of each site you decide to use. You will need this information later.

Online Tools

Online Tools


If you are researching a habitat that can be found near where you live, you may be able to interview a representative of your local government’s environmental department.


A person like this could supply you with excellent information. Don’t think your phone call would not be welcome – employees are always happy to answer questions from citizens! If you use a person as a resource, write down their name and job title, as you will need this information later.

Look in the following websites for videos about your topic:



Try different search terms to be sure you are looking in all the right places. You don’t need to use the word kids in these sites as they are meant for kids. If you find something good, write down the name of the video and the web address, as you will need this information later.

Can you think of any other places to look?


Research is about finding what you want to know anywhere you can. If you find another place to look, great!

  1. Chosen your topic and written it down in your Research Plan.
  2. Decided what questions you will explore, and written them down in your Research Plan.
  3. Submitted your Research Plan to your teacher.
  4. Made your list of research resources and written them down in your Research Plan.

Go to the next page for step 3.