Dear Sophomores,

Like our dear Mr. Bigweld once said, “See a need, fill a need,” which in other words means if you notice a something in the world that you can improve, then do it! Our theme for the second half of our semester has also been “What responsibility do I have to my community?” With those themes in mind, we are now going to begin a week long research project of your choice. This should be a topic that is important to you and would give you great personal satisfaction when researching.

Click on this link Problem Solution Research Paper for more details!

We have the entire week reserved in F8A, and I expect you to use all of that time to research and develop your research paper.

Objective 1. Learn to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources of information.

Objective 2. Properly cite reliable sources in your research.

Objective 3. Learn to use saclibrary.org and its research tools, including GALE and EBSCO.

Objective 3. Organize research using an outline

Objective 4. Publish your research with a wider audience

Objective 5. Create a works cited page in APA style

Objective 6. Reflect on the process and learn from your experience.

 

Tuesday: Identify a viable problem/solution research topic using saclibrary.org and by clicking on “RESEARCH” then “STUDENTS K-12” then “OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS IN CONTEXT.” Once you click on that link, you will be asked to input your library card number and password. This is something that you should have in advance.

Once you have access to OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS try the “BROWSE ISSUES” button at the top of the screen. You’ll find hundreds of topics. Click on one that interests you. Click on several. It’s an amazing resource for seeing different perspectives on one topic! And best of all, you can cite your sources from right there!

Once you find your topic, begin learning everything you can about it! Oh, and be sure to copy your cited sources into a Google Doc as you go along. That way, you have your sources cited as you discover them, and that’s much easier than trying to remember, “oh which website did I visit?”

Wednesday: Identify factors that contribute to the problem; identify naysayers, and develop rebuttals. Click on this link for an example.

Thursday: Use my sample outline to begin developing your research paper. The outline is meant to give you an idea about how you might organize your ideas/research, but it is not meant to be prescriptive and tell you exactly how to write your paper.

Friday 1/20: Develop your research paper. Complete your works cited page.  Entries must be properly cited using AP
A style. A sample APA style research paper can be found at Purdue University. Pay attention to the use of (dates) in the paper, the “References” page and the abstract.

1. All cited sources should be included in APA style https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
2. Use easybib.com to format your citation or use EBSCO

Friday 1/27: Your final draft will be due, complete with the three parts: abstract (100-200 words), research paper (600-1000 words) and “References” page with your citations.

Monday of next week will be our review day; however, if you want to start reviewing now, I suggest looking at your daily guiding questions. The final exam will take the entire two hours and you will have an opportunity to show your knowledge of all the content, approaches, and skills we have learned this semester. I’ll publish a review guide later this week!

Thank you for all of your hard work!

Kind Regards,

Mr. Coey