The research paper, a favorite among students and parents or a struggle that can take a lot of time to research and write? It is often a struggle, but many students have said this is where they learned the most during their time with the project. They learn about all different types of science topics and how to research, write note cards and outlines, and how to cite information, something that will be useful for the rest of their education. Here are some steps on how to write the actual paper and how to cite sources in text.
Before we begin, it may be useful to review what a background research paper is and is not. This post offers an explanation on just that. That post also explains how outlines can be helpful as well.
Once students have completed an outline, then have students write a paragraph or more on each section of the outline. If the student has struggled to create an outline ask questions and encourage research to find more to put on the outline. Sometimes it is helpful to start writing as the student may discover more concepts to write about as they move forward. Here is a sample outline with a sample paragraph. This piece of the outline and paragraph would be an example of one of the paragraphs in the body of the paper.
Quick background note: This project is on the effect of motor oil on plants. This is an excerpt of an outline.
III. What is motor oil? (Strong topic idea, may be in statement or question form)
A. Definition
B. What is made of?
C. Different types
Now using research that the students have found, begin writing a paragraph expanding on the topics in the outline. Sometimes students may have to complete more research as they write if they find out they do not have information on topics included in the outline. For example, I may have research on the definition and different types of oil, but not on what it is made of. Now the student, instead of struggling with what to search can be specific and search, "what is oil made of?". Please refer to this post on how to do an advanced search in Google.
Paragraph example:
Motor oil is used in many different vehicles like cars and buses that have engines. The oil prevents the pistons from hitting or rubbing up against the engine (Learn About Chemicals Around Your Home). Motor oil comes mostly from something called crude oil. Used motor oil can also have chemicals in it from moving through the engine like magnesium, copper, and zinc (Learn About Chemicals Around Your Home). There are different types of engine oil and they are mostly based on weight, body, and viscosity. Some examples are "5W, 10, 10W, 20, and 20W" (Oil Consideration to Lengthen Engine Life).
The parenthesis show that the sentence or sentences are information that I paraphrased or directly quoted (the one with the quotation marks) from a source, in this case two websites. This would be just one paragraph of a six or more paragraph paper. A paper on this topic might include information on motor oil, the type of plants that would be used in the experiment, and oil pollution.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Science Fair Research Paper Planning: The use of Outlines
What is the science fair research paper? What is it not?
What it is: a paper written about the important concepts related to the particular science fair idea. It is a third person (no I, me, or we) formal writing that is written using research from resources like books and websites. The paper helps the student learn all the background information about their project so that he/she can write an informed or educated hypothesis and to help the student better understand what happens during the experimental phase of their project. Students will have to cite their research (write where they found their information) within the writing. Students will use parenthetical citation (a fancy way of saying parenthesis) in their paper to cite their sources. More information will be provided to help students do this, but in looking at the example provided in this post you can see the parenthesis.
What it is not: a paper specifically about the person's experiment, including what they are doing, their results and any conclusions.
Here is a sample of a research paper. This does not include a cover page, but will give a good idea of what a research paper may look like.
The question for many is, how do we get from resources like websites, encyclopedias, and books to a 1 1/2 to 2 page research paper. The answer is organized research. Organizing the research into manageable pieces can be very helpful. How is that done?
Several different ways. One way is to use note cards and literally group the note cards with similar information into piles. This is a great visual way to help students "see" their different paragraphs.
One important piece of information to keep in mind is when ever a student finds a piece of information from a resource, the student needs to write down where that information came from. Even if the student changed the words around, that information still needs to be referenced or cited in the paper.
Another helpful way that can be used separately or even better with note cards is an outline. An outline helps the student break their paper down into smaller pieces. A well written outline makes the paper much easier to write. Also when writing the student can use the outline to write one paragraph at a time, making it easier to work on the paper over several days, which helps the paper seem not as intimidating.
Here are two examples of outlines done this year.
What it is: a paper written about the important concepts related to the particular science fair idea. It is a third person (no I, me, or we) formal writing that is written using research from resources like books and websites. The paper helps the student learn all the background information about their project so that he/she can write an informed or educated hypothesis and to help the student better understand what happens during the experimental phase of their project. Students will have to cite their research (write where they found their information) within the writing. Students will use parenthetical citation (a fancy way of saying parenthesis) in their paper to cite their sources. More information will be provided to help students do this, but in looking at the example provided in this post you can see the parenthesis.
What it is not: a paper specifically about the person's experiment, including what they are doing, their results and any conclusions.
Here is a sample of a research paper. This does not include a cover page, but will give a good idea of what a research paper may look like.
The question for many is, how do we get from resources like websites, encyclopedias, and books to a 1 1/2 to 2 page research paper. The answer is organized research. Organizing the research into manageable pieces can be very helpful. How is that done?
Several different ways. One way is to use note cards and literally group the note cards with similar information into piles. This is a great visual way to help students "see" their different paragraphs.
One important piece of information to keep in mind is when ever a student finds a piece of information from a resource, the student needs to write down where that information came from. Even if the student changed the words around, that information still needs to be referenced or cited in the paper.
Another helpful way that can be used separately or even better with note cards is an outline. An outline helps the student break their paper down into smaller pieces. A well written outline makes the paper much easier to write. Also when writing the student can use the outline to write one paragraph at a time, making it easier to work on the paper over several days, which helps the paper seem not as intimidating.
Here are two examples of outlines done this year.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
How to Use Advanced Search in Google
Sometimes students have a hard time sorting through the millions of different websites that are out there on the world wide web. One way to help this is by using the advanced search on Google.
First, open Google. Then click on the settings button pictured here. Then click on advanced search.
There are several different options once you have opened the advanced search. Here are a few:
Use the first section to be more specific on the words that you want used or not used in the search:
Fill this box in with the type of URL ending that you are looking for. Information on .edu or .gov websites tends to be more reliable than on .com or .org websites. I have had more success using one ending at a time.
Ever tried to find a power point online? File type is another option. This can limit your search to pdf files, word doc files, power point files, and others including swf or flash files used in multimedia.
First, open Google. Then click on the settings button pictured here. Then click on advanced search.
Use the first section to be more specific on the words that you want used or not used in the search:
Another option that is very helpful is the site or domain box pictured here:
Fill this box in with the type of URL ending that you are looking for. Information on .edu or .gov websites tends to be more reliable than on .com or .org websites. I have had more success using one ending at a time.
Another option is reading level. There are three levels that you can sort your searches by: basic, intermediate, and advanced.
Ever tried to find a power point online? File type is another option. This can limit your search to pdf files, word doc files, power point files, and others including swf or flash files used in multimedia.
The last item on advanced search is related to usage rights. These help you find images and websites that allow you to use them in presentations of your own.
Once you have completed it, just click on the advanced search button
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