Research is the process you go through to find information about a topic that interests you. This guide explains some basic tools needed to find and record information. It gives advice about how to conduct a research project and also provides many suggestions for developing a presentation of the topic.
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A list of skills that you will use during research projects includes finding resources, choosing topics, writing and note taking, summarizing, organizing ideas, scanning, planning, and interpreting data.
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Of course, the real quality of a project is determined by the personal characteristics you bring to it-things like patience, motivation, accuracy, neatness, humor, persistence, and creativity. There are no handouts that teach these things, but they are perhaps the most essential ingredients of a successful project.
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1. Outlining: it sorts ideas and facts into categories.
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2. Bibliographies: is a standard method for recording where information came from.
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3. Notecards: are used to record and collect information.
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4. Where to go for information: Libraries, Newspaper, State agencies or teachers.
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5. Fact sheet: to record information that will be included in a presentation or report.
Where in the United States Are You
Use two number lines to locate points on a plane. Locate places in the United States. Construct a vertical number line and a horizontal number line on a map of the United States. Use this system to locate points in the United States.
Material
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Map of the United States
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Atlas
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Globe
Objectives
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Locate points on a number line
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Locate points on a plane.
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Divide the plane into four regions called quadrants
Procedure
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1 Make a single number line and mark off the population of some cities.
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1 Place the population of your hometown on the number line.
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1 Make a number line and plot the distance from the state capitol to your hometown.
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1 Mark the location of the center of the United States, somewhere in Kansas. At the center of the United States make a horizontal, and vertical number line. Explain what the Origin of a coordinate system is.
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1 Mark the location of your hometown on the map of the United States. What is the distance from the two number lines to your hometown?
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1 Divide the map of the United States into four regions. What are the names of regions 1, 2, 3 and 4? (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest) Explain Quadrants?
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1 How far North of the point in Kansas is New Haven? How far East?
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1 The following requires adding the coordinates of various cities to that of New Haven:
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How far North of Atlanta is New Haven? (Add the N-S coordinate, Kansas to
Atlanta to the N-S coordinate Kansas to New Haven.)
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How far West of New Haven is Seattle? (Add the E-W coordinate, Kansas to
Seattle to the E-W coordinate, Kansas to New Haven.)
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1 Scales: Measure with a ruler the distance from New Haven to Los Angeles. Use the map scale to translate that into miles.
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1 How far south of New Haven is Los Angeles? How far West of New Haven is Los Angeles? Add the two. Is that the distance from New Haven to Los Angeles that you measured with the ruler? Why not?
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1 Use Pythagoras' Law (a squared + b squared = c squared, where a is the N-S difference and b is the E-W distance) to calculate the distance from Los Angeles to New Haven. Is that the distance that you measured with the ruler? Explain how Pythagoras' law, and not simple addition is used to find distances.
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1 Coordinates on a sphere: Show students a globe. Students should know, or be introduced to, the geographic terms North Pole, South Pole, and Equator. This may be some student's first experience with latitude and longitude. Explain how latitude and longitude act as grid lines on a sphere. Begin with a brief discussion of these terms, mentioning that the lines perpendicular to the equator are called 'meridians' and are used to measure longitude. The circles parallel to the equator are called 'parallels' are used to measure latitude.
Projecting the Rate of Population Growth
The purpose of this activity is to familiarize students with the size of Connecticut's population, the rate at which it is currently growing and the historical pattern of growth. This exercise asks students to analyze data in order to prepare them for a discussion of birth and death rates as they determine rate of population growth.
Materials
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Connecticut Registration Report
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City Kids Count (Table 1. Infant mortality rate 1991 - pg 108)
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Connecticut State and County Population Estimates Source (CEIS populations statistics) http://www.state.ct.us./ecd/research/ceis/population/projections.html
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Calculator
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Worksheet
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Basic math formulas sheet
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IDB Summary Demographic Data
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http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbsum.html
Objectives
Students will:
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1. Understand the effect of the rate of population growth upon the state of Connecticut.
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2. Interpret a line graph.
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3. Demonstrate the relationship between birth and deaths.
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4. Find the percent of population increase or decrease.
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5. Find the doubling time of population growth with percentages.
Procedure
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1. Calculate the population growth rate for the state of Connecticut from 1970 to 1990.
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2. Using Table 1 shows the infant mortality Rates in 50 cities in the United States. Have students construct graphs of the 4 regions infant mortality rate?
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Take the population of the state of Connecticut in 1980 and increase the population yearly by 3%, 4% and 5% until the population doubles.
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2. Make a prediction of the state of Connecticut's population what will it be in the year 2200.
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3. Graph your conclusions.
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4. Discuss doubling of the population.
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5. Have students look at (Java Version of the PoPClocks)
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http://www.census.gov/apsd/www/html/clock.html
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6.Look at world population growth rate.
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A Cause of Poverty
In this activity students will think about and respond to an important issues-is teenage pregnancy and childbearing a cause of poverty. Students will discuss the issue with their classmates, read and evaluate several sources of information related to poverty. Write a letter in which they take a position on poverty. Students will use skills and knowledge they have learning in their language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and other classes.
Materials
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Teenage Pregnancy and Poverty
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City Kids Counts
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Connecticut Registration Report
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Article on teenage pregnancy and childbearing
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Basic math formula
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Earth Matters Students Research Guide
Objectives
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1. Promote the concept of "Kids teaching Kids."
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2. Discuss, as a class, the importance of accurately recording sources of
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information used in research.
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3. Present what they have learned to the rest of the class.
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4. Discuss and analyze the project upon its completion.
Procedure
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1. Give students the Student Research Guide it introduces them to the general requirements of a research project.
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2. Have a discuss about what kind of thing's research is used for and why it is important for a person to be able to find information, record it, put it into some kind of order, and present it to other.
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3. Arrange the class into small groups of three or four students each.
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4. Provide students with some source materials containing several pieces of information related to teenage pregnancy, childbearing and poverty.
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5. Students begin their research, using sources that are available or that they
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have provided themselves.
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6. Each member of the small group will compose a letter to their congressperson to inform him/her of position.
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7. The student will present their letter to the whole class.
Reading List
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Teenage Pregnancy and Poverty: The Economic Realities
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http://www.bookconnection.com/books/0823922499.html
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Listen Up! Teenage Mothers Speak Out
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http://www.bookconnection.com/books/0823922545.html
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Adolescent Pregnancy
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http://www.cfoc.org/pregncy.html
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Teenage Pregnancy
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http://cbs1.cornell.edu/Pam380598/teenagepregnancy.html
