THE BIG QUESTION GETTING STARTED ON YOUR RESEARCH

THE BIG QUESTION ? GETTING STARTED ON YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT

Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? Objectives: The learner will: • break his/her Big Question down into searchable terms. • look for resources (books, databases, internet) to begin to explore the Big Question THE BIG QUESTION Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? GETTING STARTED UNDERSTANDING YOUR QUESTION Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

WHY IS IT CALLED “THE BIG QUESTION? ” Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? • Questions that, throughout history and across the world, people have sought to answer – Philosophical question – No right answer – Usually not a simple answer – Speaks to the Human Condition – Thematic • Because of this, keep your question in mind as you watch the news, listen to the radio, read the news. People continue to grapple with these questions! Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

WHAT ARE ARTIFACTS? Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? • Artifact—item made by a human being, typically of cultural or historical interest • In this case, you are looking for works (books, short stories, poems, news articles, movies, etc. ) that are of interest because they EXPLORE your big question in some sort of way • Will your artifact answer your question directly? – No! Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? SEARCHING: STEP 1 FINDING SEARCHABLE TERMS Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

BREAKING DOWN YOUR BIG QUESTION --WORKSHEET Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? Your Big Question: Example: Why are there haves and have-nots? Identify concepts within your topic: (Tip: Keep it simple; one word or phrase per concept). wealth AND poverty AND income inequality Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? Brainstorm synonyms, alternate spellings, and related topics for each concept: Wealth Poverty Income Inequality Rich Affluence Prosperity Abundance Poor Indigence Homelessness Scarcity Economy Equity Minimum Wage “One Percent” Buddy Break! Pair up with the person you are sitting with and share what you have so far. Help your buddy come up with concepts and key words! On your EXIT TICKET, write down two of your best keywords. Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? SEARCHING: STEP 2 FINDING RESOURCES: BOOKS, DATABASES, WEBSITES Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

BOOKS • Search for books using Alexandria Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? • To get to Alexandria, go to: Tuscarora—Library—Search School Catalog • Using your keywords from your chart, do an ALL WORDS SEARCH • When you find a book that looks like it may be helpful, click on it to see summary, and then Show Copy Information to see where it is located in the library o HINT: When you are looking at the Bibliographic Record (Book Information page), look under SUBJECTS for more subject headings which will give you more sources. o Click on a subject to find more books Buddy Break! Go to Alexandria and do a subject or all words search on your topic. Help each other select one book that each of you feel will be helpful. Write the title and author of that book on your EXIT TICKET. Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

DATABASES Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? • LCPS databases are all accessible at school without a username or password. Go to: Tuscarora, Library, Subscription Databases by Subject • At home, use the username lcpsh and the password is high, unless it is INFOTRAC, for which you ONLY need to put in the password (“high”) when it says “Please enter your library ID, barcode, or other ID” and then click “Proceed. ” • From the Tuscarora Library Page, click on Subscription Databases by Subject and choose the subject area of your topic. • Browse through the databases to see which one may be helpful to you. Consider topic and type of information needed. Buddy Break! Look at the databases with your buddy. Which ones look like they may be helpful to you? Explore them and then write on your EXIT TICKET two which you feel will be helpful.

SEARCHING WITHIN THE DATABASES Smart Searching Techniques: Putting Your Keywords Together in an Advanced Search Query Combine your keywords with the three Boolean Operators: AND, OR, NOT Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? AND will make your search smaller. If you are retrieving too many records on your topic, try adding another search term with the operator AND. Example: wealth AND poverty OR will make your search bigger. If you are retrieving too few records on your topic, try adding another search term with the operator OR. Example: wealth OR affluence NOT will exclude a word from your search results. If you are retrieving too many records on an unrelated topic, try eliminating a word with the operator NOT. Example: dolphins NOT (football OR NFL) ( ) use parenthesis to group synonyms or similar keywords together in long queries. Example: (poverty or poor) Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

ADDITIONAL SEARCHING TIPS • Choose “Advance Search” to narrow your results: Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? – Phrase Searching: Use quotation marks '' to search for two or more words in exact order - a phrase. • Example: “income inequality“ – Truncation: Use an * asterisk after the root of a word to find various endings of a word. • Example: econ* will retrieve economy, economics, economical, etc. • Note: not all databases support truncation • Note: some databases may use ! or ? as a truncation symbol – Wildcards: A wildcard character searches for any character in its place. • Example: wom*n will retrieve woman and women • Full-Text: Look for a Full-text limiting button to limit your results to Full-text documents only. • Academic, Peer-Reviewed, or Scholarly: Look for the option to limit your results to scholarly articles. • Email: Look for the option to email yourself an article. You’ll have the article and citation information in your email. • Citation: Look for the ‘Cite’ link or the citation at the end of an article to copy and paste for your bibliography. Many databases have this feature. Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

TRY IT! Poetry and Short Story Reference Center On the left hand side, under “Browse, ” select Theme. Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? Look through themes to find ones that most closely match your keywords. Click on theme and see what works address that theme. Choose one and explore! Literary Reference Center Under the search box, click on Advanced Search. Use your Boolean operators to search two key terms. Browse your results. Buddy Break! Using the search techniques discussed, search either of the two databases above. Find an article in one of them that may be helpful to you and write it down on your EXIT TICKET. Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? INTERNET Not all internet sites are created equal! You must make sure when you are searching for a website to use for research it is authoritative and reliable. Think about these things: Purpose—What is this site trying to do? If it is anything but INFORM you, be careful! Audience—Is this article appropriate for high school student research? Subject—Is this adequately addressing your Big Question? Structure—Has this website been updated? Is it free of distracting pop-ups? Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

SOME PLACES TO START. . . Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? This I Believe • A popular NPR series. We have two collections of these essays in the library (170 THI), or you can find the series at http: //thisibelieve. org/ – On the left hand side, click on Explore—Browse by Theme – Look for your keywords! **Visiting reputable news sites on a regular basis is a great way to look for articles. As these are questions we continue to grapple with, they continue to be addressed! New York Times Learning Network • Available at http: //learning. blogs. nytimes. com/? _r=0 • Search for keywords in search box • On a recent visit, I opened to this article: What Are the Best Things in Life and Are They Free? National Public Radio • Go to www. npr. org • Type in keyword in search circle Catl otop right of page sing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question

Buddy Break! Essential Question: The Big Question Research Project. . . Where do I start? ? ? Using the search techniques discussed, search one of the internet sites listed above. Find an article in one of them that may be helpful to you and write it down on your EXIT TICKET. CLOSING Good luck with your research! Please remember we are here to help!!! Turn in/show your teacher your EXIT TICKET!!! Closing activity: Identify searchable terms and sources you can use to explore your Big Question