Creative Educator
Design a Rainforest Postcard
Send your class on an expedition through the rainforest! Along the way, they will write informational postcards to demonstrate what they've learned. Each team will be responsible for one of five rainforest regions. When they return from...
Curated OER
Ancient Cultures News Broadcast
How does geography influence daily life? Guided by an essential question, class groups select and then research an ancient culture, and develop a news broadcast about the geographical setting and its impact on the culture. Teams select...
Curated OER
Fruit or Vegetable?
Watermelon is a vegetable? A tomato is a fruit? Believe it or not, this debate is decades old. Groups examine rulings by the US Supreme Court, the USDA, and state statutes before developing their own criteria to use when labeling the...
Curated OER
Harvest the Wind
Wind is a natural resource available around the world. Help your pupils appreciate the power and importance of wind by researching wind farms, making pinwheels, and designing windmills.
Curated OER
DNA Blueprint for Life
Did you know that meat tenderizers contain DNA cutting enzimes? Did you know that you can isolate your own DNA? Or the DNA of fruit? Explore with your learners the DNA world with a series of experiments using readily available materials...
US Mint
The Growth of a Nation
Young historians explore the identity of the early United States in this four-part instructional activity series. Working in groups of three, students research the political, economic, and cultural atmosphere of each member of the...
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum
Using Truman Trivia as a Springboard to Research and Oral Presentation Skills
Students research Truman Library website and gather ten trivia facts. They prepare a short oral presentation on one of their questions, scoring each other on speaking and listening skills. Then they create a Truman campaign button.
Curated OER
Just Lookin' For a Home
What is a boll weevil? Your class can find out that and more by following the activities included here. Pupils read an article, sing a boll weevil song, add to the song with their own original lyrics, illustrate the song, study the...
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
Purdue University Owl: Research: Where Do I Begin?
The 21st century has made access to information easier than ever. Purdue offers tips on how to narrow your research field when trying to sort through this information. Click on the links in the sidebar to learn about the different types...
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: If You've Seen One Source, You've Seen Them All. Right?
This is a tutorial teaching the difference between primary and secondary research sources. It provides specific examples and asks students to answer questions along the way. Java is required.
Other
The New Guide to Writing
This site contains several helpful suggestions for writing a research paper including a schedule which breaks down the process into several smaller parts. Students can set reasonable deadlines for themselves. Also, this site outlines one...
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: Information Elimination: Lesson on Narrowing the Topic
This is a tutorial which focuses on how to narrow the topic for expository writing, how to determine what information to keep or eliminate, and what questions to ask yourself. Students respond to questions throughout. A comparison is...
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: Bibliography Blunders
This tutorial focuses on how to complete a bibliography using MLA style. It gives specific directions and examples for various types of entries such as magazines, books, encyclopedias, and web pages. It also gives specifics for the...
University of California
University of California: Sections of the Research Paper
This site presents and defines the general parts of a research paper: title, abstract, introduction, material and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments, and literature cited. Several helpful questions are presented to the reader...
FNO Press
Fno.org: The New Plagiarism
Subtitled "Seven Antidotes to Prevent Highway Robbery in the Electronic Age," this article is particularly addressed to teachers who assign research projects.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Career Investigation
For this lesson, students will research careers related to their highest interests.
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School: Basic Steps in the Research Process
A comprehensive list of the important steps in researching and writing a report or project. Includes links to tip sheets for each step.
Other
University of Washington Libraries: Starting Research
If you need help knowing where to start your research, or if you're a teacher looking for a way to help students understand the research process, this resource is terrific. Interactive tutorials on a number of topics offer review quizzes...
Colorado State University
Colorado State Writing Center: Choosing and Refining Topics
An in-depth and exhaustive reference from Colorado State, detailing every possible issue within the context of topic selection and refinement in writing. Includes multiple nodes and bullets under each section (links on the right)....
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Choosing and Narrowing a Topic to Write About (For Research Papers)
This tutorial focuses on choosing a topic for research and then narrowing it down to a workable thesis statement. It starts with information about choosing a topic and the 3 steps involved and then provides 3 steps to narrowing the...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Developing a Research Question
This tutorial focuses on picking a research question, beginning with a slide show that defines the term, tells how it is different than a research topic, and provides information for evaluating your research question by answering a list...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Developing Research Questions: Focus Your Research
This tutorial focuses on why it is important to have a question in mind before beginning research; how to pick a research question based on personal interests or finding gaps; and choosing a topic that is interesting, researchable,...
Other
Oslis: Learn How to Do Research, Find Information, Cite Sources
Excellent site outlining each step for Internet research at the middle school and secondary levels. This site focuses on a variety of information literacy topics, from how to research, find and evaluate information, and cite sources....
Other
Oslis: Research Process
Excellent site outlining each step for Internet research for grades 6-12. This site focuses on writing a research paper from selecting a topic through to the final paper. Click on Cite My Sources to get the electronic citation machines....