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bigchalk

Presents

A Mini-Research Sampler and Guide and for Teachers

INCLUDES:

• 100 Tested Mini-Research Topics Correlated with eLibrary Relevant Documents

• Mini-Research Critical Thinking Strategies

• Comparison of the Big6 Research Process and the eLibrary Mini-Research Process

• National Information Literacy Standards (AASL/AECT)

• National Educational Technology Standards for Students (ISTE)

June 2000

eLibrary Mini-Research

Sampler and Guide for Teachers

The mini-research process was developed in 1997 to simplify the student research process so that more educators would be motivated to integrate research activities, the Internet, and technology into their lesson planning. Mini-research is designed to provide shorter, more frequent and less formal student research activities across-the-curriculum. It is empowered through major school investments in technology, Internet connections, and access to user-friendly, natural language educational databases such as eLibrary. All of these combine to make access to educational information much easier, quicker and more comprehensive than in the past. The goals of mini-research with eLibrary are to . . .

• Infuse more critical thinking activities across-the-curriculum

• Integrate Information Literacy standards (AASL/AECT) into the curriculum

• Integrate National Educational Technology Standards for Students (ISTE) into the curriculum

• Support State Learning Standards that integrate information literacy

• Help keep traditional textbook learning up-to-date

• Leverage the school investment in technology and the Internet

• Increase the frequency of student-centered learning activities

• Develop the student skills and attitudes necessary for lifelong learning

• Prepare students for college and eventual careers in the “Information Age”

• Provide equitable access to information for students who do not have Internet connections at home

• Conserve classroom/library time with 10 Documents in 10 Minutes

To make the transition to more student-centered, discovery-style learning from more traditional teacher-centered textbook learning, teachers will need the support of new curriculum materials and staff development activities. The goal of this curriculum resource is to provide some of the teacher tools needed for this transition. This document provides an easy way for teachers to develop lessons that integrate eLibrary mini-research activities into lesson planning without compromising courses of study. Because mini-research strategies are based on degree of difficulty, teachers can select one of seven strategies that is appropriate for the grade and academic level of their students. This guide and sampler of mini-research projects for teachers contains nearly 100 research activities organized by subject area and also by critical thinking level. Each research activity is accompanied by queries that will yield a total of more than 10 documents that are relevant to that topic. This makes it easy for teachers to assign topics that support their lesson plans, saves precious classroom time, and eliminates much of the frustration that students may have in finding what they want in the traditional library or by surfing the Internet.

Listed below are 2 examples of national organizations that have recently adopted standards and lobbied for their integration with K-12 curriculum in all states. Many states have already integrated these standards that reflect the advent of the Information Age curriculum made possible by technology and the Internet in schools. Educators will be challenged to turn technology into teachnology.

National Standards For Information Literacy

The set of 9 standards and their related benchmarks were adopted in June of 1998. The standards are a result of the collaboration of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the Association for Educational Communication and Technology (AECT). AASL is a division of the American Library Association.

The goal of these standards is to increase the achievement of millions of K-12 students. The new Information Literacy standards support many of the goals of state and national technology associations as well as state learning standards, and President Clinton’s “Goals 2000.” The standards are accompanied by “Level of Proficiency” indicators to help educators determine a student’s level of success and also help identify links in their information needs, curricular content and learning. The standards will help educators develop a curriculum that meets the challenges of the 21st Century and the “Information Age.” The standards that are directly supported by mini-research with databases are:

Information Literacy

1. The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.

2. The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and competently.

3. The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively.

Independent Learning

4. The student who is an independent learner is information literate and pursues information related to personal interests.

5. The student who is an independent learner is information literate and appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information.

6. The student who is an independent learner is information literate and strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation.

Social Responsibility

7. The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society.

9. The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is

information literate and participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate

information.

National Educational Technology Standards

For Students (ISTE)

The technology foundation standards for students are divided into six broad categories. Standards within each category are to be introduced, reinforced, and mastered by students. These categories provide a framework for linking performance indicators found within the Profiles for Technology Literate Students to the standards. Teachers can use these standards and profiles as guidelines for planning technology-based activities in which students achieve success in learning, communication, and life skills.

Technology Foundation Standards for Students

If Directly Supported by bigchalk Mini-research Activities = (bc)

1. Basic operations and concepts

♦ Students demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation of technology systems.

♦ Students are proficient in the use of technology. (bc)

2. Social, ethical, and human issues

♦ Students understand the ethical, cultural, and societal issues related to technology. (bc)

♦ Students practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software.

♦ Students develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity. (bc)

3. Technology productivity tools

♦ Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity. (bc)

♦ Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, preparing publications, and producing other creative works. (bc)

4. Technology communications tools

♦ Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.

♦ Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences. (bc)

5. Technology research tools

♦ Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources. (bc)

♦ Students use technology tools to process data and report results. (bc)

♦ Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. (bc)

6. Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools

♦ Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions. (bc)

♦ Students employ technology in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real world. (bc)

bigchalk and Internet surfing

The Internet is a valuable educational tool for many student learning experiences: virtual field trips, email discussions with experts, collaborating on projects over time with students in other places, accessing a variety of original historic documents, pen-pal activities with students in other countries, using educational simulations, and participating in distance learning activities. All of these activities require well planned learning strategies and management techniques to ensure that classroom time is used efficiently and that real and measurable learning takes place.

When teachers need to access authoritative, library-quality, and curriculum appropriate educational information for research activities, many schools prefer using eLibrary rather than Surfing the Internet. eLibrary’s award-winning educational database contains only library-quality, K-12 appropriate, full-text information. Students can find the information they need quickly, giving them more time for critical thinking and writing—10% of time and effort for searching with 90% remaining for reading, analyzing, critical thinking, writing, and learning. Conserving student learning time in a typical 180 day school year is a major priority for teachers.

Whether students use the Internet or bigchalk databases, the key to learning is what students are expected to do with the information that they retrieve.

|Surfing the Internet for Research |Using bigchalk databases for Research |

|No monitoring for authority and accuracy |All library-quality publisher information |

| | |

|Navigating many different interfaces wastes time and may |Navigating an interface designed for students saves time for |

|frustrate students |learning |

| | |

|Information overload, most of it irrelevant, wastes student |Only K-12 appropriate content that can be sorted by publication, |

|time sifting through it |title, author, and date |

| | |

|No method to select age-appropriate material |All document lists can be sorted by reading level |

| | |

|Variety of graphic and text formats that may cause difficulty |All documents/ graphics use consistent, standard formats for easy|

|with printing and saving |printing and saving |

| | |

|Student use may require filters and supervision |Only kid-safe curriculum-related information |

| | |

|Advertising and graphics can distract students and slow down |No content included in the interface or in documents that |

|searching |distracts students from task |

| | |

|Dead links; many sites not updated |Content updated every 24 hours by satellite |

Use Mini-Research Strategies to

Turn Queries into Critical Thinking Exercises

Elementary School (or Beginners)

(Who, What, When, Where?)

Reports should be mostly factual, require one good source (usually an encyclopedia article), and be delivered in a summarized (extracting the most important information) or a paraphrased (synthesizing and restating the most important information) report of less than 100 words. Students should be encouraged to attach an appropriate picture or map to the report.

Middle School (or Upper Elementary/Some Experience)

(Who, What, When, Where, and How?)

Students should be required to use 2 or 3 sources. Reports can be written, oral, or created by teams. Reports should be between 100 and 200 words. Encyclopedic information is appropriate as one source only if it supports the 2 strategies listed below:

• Compare/Contrast – Students research two similar leaders, authors, artists, works of literature, countries, ideas, etc. and show how they are both alike and/or how they are different.

Examples: Russia and Poland; Humans and chimpanzees; The Bible and the Koran; Classical and contemporary music; Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt; the Ancient Greeks and the Romans.

• Critique – Students research a popular opinion, idea, practice, trend, tradition, belief or custom, and provide a logical argument for revising or eliminating it.

Examples: Eating eggs is bad for your heart; no pain, no gain; affirmative action

laws lead to lowering of standards, over time; the national debt will lead us into

bankruptcy; to succeed, all students should go to college; the Electoral College is

necessary for presidential elections.

High School (or Good Writers and Researchers)

(Who, What, When, Where, How and Why/Why Not, What If?)

Students should be required to use 3 or 4 sources. Reports can be written (200 to 300 words), oral (3 to 5 minutes) or in teams. With appropriate technology and training, a PowerPoint presentation should also be encouraged. Reports should require a summary document attached as a bibliographic reference to provide authentication. See the following Web site for more information on research models: (. resources). Strategies for mini-research should include predicting, evaluating, and persuading.

• Persuade -- Students research a controversial issue, select a position (or teachers could assign the position), and then create an argument to support their opinion.

Examples: Students should have a right to free education through college; does literature reflect or drive society? professional athletes are paid too much money; euthanasia should be permitted under appropriate controls; some illegal drugs should be legalized; the federal government should pass and enforce new gun control legislation.

• Predict – Given a recent event, discovery, law, or invention, predict what will happen in the near future. Given a past event or series of events, create a scenario that may occur in the near future.

Examples: The “Greenhouse Effect” is making the world warmer; predict what will happen if nothing is done by the year 2005; predict what sports will be most popular in 10 years and explain why; careers and jobs are changing rapidly; what jobs will be most in demand 10 years from now, and why? How will the Internet affect business, social life, and education? How will the International Space Station affect science, politics, and economics; how will the new Euro affect the economies of Europe?

• Evaluate – Given a recent (in the last 5 years) change in a law, political leader, rules/ regulations, organizational structure, invention, or discovery, summarize and evaluate the progress that may have been made in society because of that change.

Examples: The NAFTA treaty; the nuclear disarmament treaty; the introduction

of distance learning courses by major colleges; welfare reform; doing business on the

Internet; the launch and repair of the Hubble telescope.

Tailoring bigchalk Mini-Research Strategies

To Meet the Needs of Your Students

A single research topic can provide a range of mini-research activities that can be tailored with the appropriate degree of difficulty levels for all your students.

Topic: Global Warming

Query: What causes global warming

Possible Mini-Research Strategy

Expand: What is global warming? (lowest level of critical thinking)

Compare/Contrast: Compare the weather patterns in the U. S. today with the patterns

100 years ago.

Critique: What actions by society have contributed to global warming?

Predict: Predict what will happen in the future if nothing is done to reverse

global warming.

Persuade: Persuade the U. S. Government to pass laws that would help to

reverse global warming.

Evaluate: Evaluate the effectiveness of the past actions taken by government

and business to prevent further global warming. (highest level)

Mini-research critical thinking requires more than one source of information, deals with issues or solving of problems, and creates new knowledge and connections in the mind of the learner.

Mini-Research Process

Advantages of Mini-Research Activities with

1. Easier and faster for students to complete than traditional research papers

2. Takes less classroom and homework time

3. Can be assigned in any subject area because of the comprehensive databases

4. Assignment can be more frequent to reinforce critical thinking skills and Information Literacy

5. Mini-research strategies, topics, and models available for teachers

6. Mini-research activities keep textbooks current in all areas and support state academic standards

7. Summary Document model and method presents ways to help prevent plagiarism

8. Mini-research models integrate critical thinking designs into student research activities

Research Spectrum of Critical Thinking Skills

(Highest Level)

Traditional Term Paper

Evaluate

Information

Literacy

Predict



Traditional Research Mini-Research

Strategies Persuade

State/National

Standards

Critique

Compare/Contrast

Print/Paraphrase

(Lowest Level)

The Big 6 Research Process

and eLibrary Mini-research Strategies

The Big 6 is a popular, broad-based approach to research developed by Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz. Using this approach, librarians and teachers can integrate information literacy and technology into research activities from K-12 through college. More information on the Big6 can be found at

|The Big6 Research Process | Mini-research Strategies |

| | |

|1. Task Definition—What needs to be done? |There are 7 mini-research strategies that are based on 3 |

| |increasing levels of critical thinking. Coordinated teacher and |

| |student research planners help organize this step. |

| | |

|2. Information Seeking Strategies—What resources can I use? |Mini-research minimizes the time spent on searching. Using |

| |bigchalk databases saves this valuable school time and ensures |

| |equal access to information that encourages use of research |

| |activities by teachers. |

| | |

|3. Location and Access—Where can I find these resources? |eLibrary contains up to 12 million full-text documents from 6 |

| |media types, many of them updated daily. |

| | |

|4. Use of Information—What can I use from these resources? |Mini-research demands the same Big6 critical browsing/ reading of|

| |documents for relevancy. Students can easily focus on the task |

| |because all bigchalk documents are backed by publisher authority.|

| | |

|5. Synthesis—What can I produce to finish the job? |The Teacher’s Guide provides guidelines and models for the steps |

| |of organizing, synthesizing, and reporting of student |

| |research-based fact and opinion. |

| | |

|6. Evaluation—How will I know I did my job well? |The Teacher’s Guide provides guidelines for teachers to evaluate |

| |student reports based on the use of critical thinking skills |

| |employed in the process. |

All of the mini-research examples that follow are tested to provide a variety of documents that are relevant to the problem and strategy posed for your students. Additional queries with guaranteed results lists are included to motivate and support the creation of new mini-research topics. Using your course content and expertise, you can adapt these queries and research examples to create your own mini-research activities.

English/Language Arts Mini-Research Activities

The mini-research strategies of Expand and Discover are more appropriate for elementary students or secondary students who are having academic difficulty. These activities are generally described as “look it up” research that answers the questions Who, What, When, and Where. They are easier to implement, provide a broader range of topics, but involve little critical thinking. They are explained with examples on page 6.

Intermediate Level Critical Thinking Skills

Compare/Contrast – Students research two similar leaders, authors, artists, countries, works of literature, etc. and show how they are both alike and/or how they are different

1. Compare/contrast two similar speeches such as the funeral oration speech of Pericles with the Gettysburg Address of Abraham Lincoln.

Query: What is the funeral oration of Pericles

Query: What is the Gettysburg Address

2. Compare/contrast two works of literature that focus on universal themes such as justice, jealousy, redemption, survival, mercy, terror, betrayal, etc.

Query: What are the universal themes in literature

Query: Who wrote the “Grapes of Wrath”

Query: What is “Les Miserables”

3. Compare/Contrast the tall tales of Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and Pecos Bill.

Query: What is the folklore of "Pecos Bill"

Query: What is the folklore of "Paul Bunyan"

Query: Who was “Johnny Appleseed”

Query: Who was the folk hero “John Henry”

4. Compare/contrast the visions or predictions of the current world with the world envisioned by authors such as “1984” by George Orwell or “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley.

Query: Who was Aldous Huxley

Query: What is George Orwell’s, 1984

5. Compare/contrast two epic heroes in world literature. What are some of their positive traits, negative traits, code of honor, great deeds, etc.?

Query: Who was El Cid

Query: Who was King Arthur

Query: Who was Gilgamesh

6. Compare/contrast two philosophic figures in literature. What were their philosophies regarding life, death, god, family, adversity, truth, etc.?

Query: Who was Confucius

Query: What was the philosophy of Plato

7. Compare/contrast the style of authors who used similar themes in their works .

Query: What are the poems of Poe

Query: What did "Stephen King" write

Critique – Students research a popular idea, practice, tradition, custom, belief, or trend, and provide a logical argument for revising or eliminating it.

1. Critique the use of racial epithets in the novels of Mark Twain.

Query: What are the works of Mark Twain

Query: What are racial epithets in Huckleberry Finn

2. Critique the use of the technique of poetic license and give examples of its use.

Query: What is poetic license

3. Critique the authors that use “stream of consciousness” technique in their novels and

give examples.

Query: What is “stream of consciousness” in literature

Query: Who was "T. S. Eliot"

4. Critique the criteria that are used to define “classic literature”

Query: What is classic literature

5. Critique the placement of one of the novels listed on the “Best 100 Novels” of the century.

Query: What are the top 100 novels

Advanced Level Critical Thinking Skills

Persuade -- Students research a controversial issue, select a position (or teachers could assign the position), and then create an argument to support their opinion.

1. Persuade others that a book, such as Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, should not have been banned from many schools and public libraries. You can substitute any of the following books:

Query: What is a banned book

Query: What is the “Catcher in the Rye”

Query: Who was William Golding

Query: What is Slaughterhouse Five

Query: What is “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker

Query: What is “Lolita” by Vladimir Nobokov

2. Persuade others that slang and foul language add a critical dimension to today’s

literature.

Query: What is slang

Query: What is profanity in literature

Query: What is indecent language

3. Persuade others that Benjamin Franklin’s sayings in Poor Richard’s Almanack are applicable or not applicable in today’s world and give multiple examples.

Query: What is "Poor Richard's Almanack"

Query: Who was Benjamin Franklin

Predict – Given a recent event, discovery, law, or invention, predict what will happen in the near future. Given a past event or series of events, create a scenario that may occur in the near future.

1. Predict the impact of the Internet on the copyright laws and the authoring of literary

materials in the future.

Query: How does the Internet affect copyrights for literary works

Query: How do copyright laws protect authors

2. Predict the impact of television, movies, and the Internet on the development of

reading skills of American youth.

Query: Does TV affect reading skills

Query: How does watching TV affect learning to read

3. Predict the type and level of censorship that will be imposed on the use of the Internet

in K-12 schools.

Query: What are acceptable use policies in schools

Query: What is Internet censorship for minors

4. Predict the impact of the Internet based plagiarism on student writing and education.

Query: What is plagiarism in education

Query: What is Internet plagiarism

Evaluate – Given a recent (in the last 5 years) change in a law, political leader, rules and regulations, organizational structure, invention, or discovery, summarize and evaluate the progress that may have been made in society because of that change.

1. Evaluate the career and works authored by a recent recipients of the Nobel Prize for

literature.

Query: What is the Nobel Prize for Literature

Query: (Who is ???)

2. Evaluate the career and works of a recent winner of the of the Pulitzer Prize.

Query: What is the Pulitzer prize

Query: (Who is ???)

3. Evaluate the use of propaganda in history and give examples of its effectiveness.

Query: What is racist propaganda

Query: Who was Joseph Goebels

Query: Who was Thomas Paine

4. Evaluate the use of literary devices by authors to capture attention and communicate ideas. Give examples of authors and works that make effective use of these devices.

Query: What is a spoonerism

Query: What are mnemonic devices

Query: What is a simile

Query: What is a malapropism

5. Evaluate the use of satire in promoting social change in different eras. Substitute any

other authors from different eras.

Query: What is satire

Query: What is the satire of Jonathan Swift

Query: What is the satire of George Orwell

6. Evaluate the importance of the comics and cartoons to American literature and journalism.

Query: What is a comic book

Query: What are newspaper cartoons

Query: What are newspaper comic strips

7. Evaluate the fantasy works of Lewis Carrol. What was their purpose? Substitute another author of fantasy such as Ray Bradbury.

Query: Who was Lewis Carroll

Query: Who is “Alice in Wonderland”

Other English Language Arts queries that yield 10 or more relevant documents in 10 minutes. They will help teachers to design additional mini-research activities.

Reading—Fiction and Nonfiction—American Authors

Query: Who was Ernest Hemingway

Query: What are the poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Query: Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe

Query: Who was Walt Whitman

Query: What is the Nobel Prize for Literature

Query: Who wrote the “Invisible Man”

Query: Who was “Ayn Rand”

Query: Who was “Willa Cather”

Query: Who was “Emily Dickinson”

Query: Who was “Alex Haley”

Query: Who was “William Faulkner”

Query: Who was “James Michener”

Query: Who was “Pearl Buck”

Query: Who was “Maya Angelou”

Reading Literature—Fiction and Nonfiction—World Authors

Query: What is Chinese literature

Query: What is Indian literature

Query: What is African literature

Query: What is Hispanic literature

Query: What is Scandinavian literature

Query: What is French literature

Query: What is Arabic literature

Query: What is Russian literature

Query: What is Japanese literature

Query: Who was “Robert Louis Stevenson”

Query: Who wrote “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Query: Who was "James Joyce"

Query: Who was “H. G. Wells”

Query: Who was "Joseph Conrad"

Query: Who is “Alexandr Solzhenitsyn”

Query: What is Haiku poetry

Query: Who was “Robert Burns”

Query: Who was “William Wordsworth”

Query: Who was Niccolo Machiavelli

Query: Who was “Robert Frost”

Query: Who was "Leo Tolstoy"

Query: Who was "Charles Dickens"

Social Studies Mini-Research Activities

The mini-research strategies of Expand and Discover are more appropriate for elementary students or secondary students who are having academic difficulty. These activities are generally described as “look it up” research that answers the questions Who, What, When, and Where. They are easier to implement, provide a broader range of topics, but involve little critical thinking. They are explained with examples on page 6.

Compare/Contrast – Students research two similar leaders, authors, artists, countries, works, etc. and show how they are both alike and/or how they are different.

1. Compare/contrast the Greek Olympic Games with the modern Olympics.

Query: What were the Ancient Olympic Games

Query: What are the modern Olympics

Compare/contrast the military leadership of Ulysses S. Grant with Robert E. Lee.

Query: Who was General Robert E. Lee

Query: Who was General Ulysses S. Grant

3. Compare/contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation with the U. S. Constitution.

Query: What were the Articles of Confederation

4. Compare/Contrast the concepts of “Manifest Destiny” with imperialism.

Query: What is “Manifest Destiny”

Query: What is American imperialism

5. Compare/Contrast the economic systems of communism and capitalism.

Query: Who was Karl Marx

Query: What is the "Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith

6. Compare/Contrast the philosophy and methods of Mahatma Gandhi with that of

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Query: What is the philosophy of non-violence

Query: What was the philosophy of Gandhi

Query: What was the philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr..

7. Compare/Contrast the “New Deal” of Franklin Roosevelt with the “Great Society” of

Lyndon Johnson.

Query: What was the "New Deal" of FDR

Query: What was the "Great Society" of Lyndon Johnson

Critique – Students research a popular idea, practice, tradition, custom, belief, or trend, and provide a logical argument for revising or eliminating it.

1. Critique the use of SAT scores as the major method used for college admissions.

Query: What is proposition 48

Query: Is the SAT test culturally biased

2. Critique the idea of using the federal budget surplus to finance an across-the-board tax cut for taxpayers.

Query: What is the federal budget surplus

Query: What are the arguments about an across-the-board federal tax cut

3. Critique the idea that all U. S. citizens should have some form of universal health care

coverage.

Query: What is socialized medicine

Query: What is Medicaid

Query: What countries have socialized medicine

Query: What is national health insurance

4. Critique the management and financing of public schools by local control.

Query: How are public schools managed

Query: Is public school financing equitable

5. Critique the establishment of reservations to solve the “Indian Problem” during the western expansion of the U. S.

Query: What is life on an Indian reservation

Query: Why do Native Americans live on reservations

6. Critique the use of the “Electoral College” to decide the election of the presidency.

Query: What is the “Electoral College”

Persuade -- Students research a controversial issue, select a position (or teachers could assign the position), and then create an argument to support their opinion.

1. Should it be illegal to own or purchase hand guns and assault weapons in the U. S.?

Query: Are safety features on guns adequate

Query: Why are gun companies being sued

Query: Are assault weapons legal to sell

Query: What are gun control laws

Query: What are gun control laws in other countries

2. Should the immigration policies of the U. S. be more restrictive?

Query: What is the immigration policy of the United States

Query: What countries are denied immigration to the United States

Query: Are illegal aliens entitled to welfare benefits

Query: What is deportation

3. Should the federal government become more involved in public education?

Query: What is the U. S. government’s role in education reform

Query: What is the U. S. federal education funding

Query: What is the U. S. Department of Education

4. Should parents receive vouchers from government to pay tuition for schools of their

choice for their children?

Query: Is government support for private and parochial schools unconstitutional

Query: What is the voucher system for public education

Query: What are the arguments for educational choice

5. Should the government develop policies and methods to limit objectionable materials

on the Internet to children?

Query: What is the V-chip

Query: What are Internet filters

Query: What are the arguments about Internet censorship

Query: What are the legal responsibilities of schools providing Internet access to students

Query: What is an Acceptable Use Policy

6. Is violence on TV and the movies responsible for increased violence in our society?

Query: What is the impact of violence on TV

Query: What is the impact of violence in the media

7. Did the lost continent of Atlantis ever exist?

Query: Where is the lost continent of Atlantis

Query: What is the legend of Atlantis

• Predict – Given a recent event, discovery, law, or invention, predict what will happen in the near future. Given a past event or series of events, create a scenario that may occur in the near future.

1. Predict how the influence of distance learning over the Internet will affect the availability and cost of education in the future.

Query: What is distance learning

Query: Can students earn degrees through distance learning

Query: What distance learning courses are their in high schools

2. Predict how the televising of court room trials will affect the future of our justice system.

Query: What is the televising of courtroom trials

Query: What is courtroom TV

3. Predict how the Euro currency will affect the prosperity of European economies.

Query: What is the Euro

Query: What is the European Economic Community

4. Predict how the Internet will affect voting and candidate campaigning in the future.

Query: What is voting over the Internet

5. Predict how technology in the classroom will improve the basic skills of students who

have difficulty in learning.

Query: Does the use of technology improve student learning

Query: How effective is the use of technology in schools

6. Predict the role of China as a world economic and military power in 10 years.

Query: What is the economic strength of China

Query: What is the military strength of China

Evaluate – Given a recent (in the last 5 years) change in a law, political leader, rules and regulations, organizational structure, invention, or discovery, summarize and evaluate the progress that may have been made in society because of that change.

1. Evaluate the impact of welfare reform legislation on improving the lives of welfare

recipients.

Query: How effective is welfare reform

Query: What is welfare child care

Query: What is workfare

2. Evaluate the impact of the NAFTA Treaty on the economies of Mexico, Canada, and

the United States.

Query: What is the NAFTA Treaty

Query: How does the NAFTA Treaty benefit the U. S.

3. Evaluate the impact of vouchers and the charter schools movement on education for

disadvantaged students.

Query: What are vouchers for education

Query: What are charter schools

4. Evaluate the effect of the enterprise zones on the eradication of urban poverty.

Query: What are enterprise zones

Query: What are empowerment zones

5. Evaluate the use of the Internet for business on the lifestyle of consumers .

Query: What is eCommerce

Query: What is buying on the Internet

6. Evaluate the use of family planning for population control by the Chinese over the last 2 decades.

Query: What is population control in China

Query: What is Chinese family planning

Query: What is Chinese birth control

7. Evaluate the effectiveness of current U. S. immigration laws.

Query: What are U. S. immigration quotas

Query: What are immigration law reforms

Other Social Studies queries that yield 10 or more relevant documents in 10 minutes. They will help teachers to design additional mini-research activities.

The world from its beginnings to the time of the Renaissance

Query: What is the "fertile crescent"

Query: What happened in the "Bronze Age"

Query: Who was Hammurabi

Query: What was the “Iron Age”

Query: What were the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World"

Query: What is the "Rosetta Stone"

Query: What is the “Great Rift Valley”

Query: What were the Greek city-states

Query: Who was Aristotle of Athens

Query: Who was “Alexander the Great”

Query: Who was Cleopatra

Query: Who was "Augustus Caesar"

Query: What are the “Dead Sea Scrolls”

Query: What was the "Roman Empire"

Query: What was the Byzantine Empire

Query: What was the " Holy Roman Empire"

Query: What is the Caste System

Query: Who was Buddha

Query: What was the Aztec empire

Query: What was the Inca Empire

Query: What was the Mayan empire

Query: What was the kingdom of Songhai

Query: What was the Ming dynasty

Query: What was the Tokugawa shogunate

Query: Who was Charlemagne

Query: Who was “Attila the Hun”

Query: What were the “Dark Ages”

Query: When was the first Crusade

Query: Why did Marco Polo travel on the Silk Road

Query: What was the political system of Feudalism

Query: What is the impact of the “Mongol Empire”

Query: What is the importance of the Magna Carta

Query: What was the "Bubonic Plague"

Query: What were the voyages of Columbus

Western and Eastern civilization since the Renaissance.

Query: Who was Leonardo da Vinci

Query: What was the Protestant Reformation

Query: Who was Napoleon Bonaparte

Query: What was the “Age of Enlightenment”

Query: Who was “Peter the Great”

Query: What was the “Glorious Revolution”

Query: What is the “Northwest Passage”

Query: What was "French Colonialism"

Query: Who was "Kaiser Wilhelm"

Query: What was the Bolshevik revolution

Query: What were the “Axis Powers”

Query: What is the “Holocaust”

Query: What was the “Iron Curtain”

Query: What was the "Gulag Archipelago"

Query: What caused the collapse of the Soviet Union

Query: What does the "United Nations" do

Query: What is the Tiananmen Square massacre

Query: What is the war in Bosnia

United States history to 1880.

Query: What is Jamestown

Query: Who was “William Penn”

Query: Who was the pioneer Daniel Boone

Query: What was the “French and Indian War”

Query: Who wrote the “Declaration of Independence”

Query: What was the surrender at Yorktown

Query: Who was Benjamin Franklin

Query: What happened at “Valley Forge”

Query: What was the “ Monroe Doctrine”

Query: What was the "War of 1812"

Query: What was “The Trail of Tears”

Query: Who were “Lewis and Clark”

Query: When was the “Battle of the Alamo”

Query: What was the "gold rush"

Query: What was the “Gadsden Purchase”

Query: Who was General "Robert E. Lee"

Query: Who was “Ulysses S. Grant”

Query: What was the Underground Railroad

Query: What is the “Emancipation Proclamation”

Query: What is the "Gettysburg Address"

Query: What was the "Mexican War"

Query: What is the Alaska Purchase

Query: What was the “wild west”

Query: Who was "Sitting Bull"

United States history from 1880 to the present

Query: When was the first transcontinental railroad

Query: Who are the monopolists

Query: What is the Spindletop Gusher

Query: Who was Henry Ford

Query: Who was “Thomas Alva Edison”

Query: Who was “Theodore Roosevelt”

Query: What was the sinking of the Lusitania

Query: What is the “Treaty of Versailles”

Query: What was the “Roaring Twenties”

Query: What was the “Great Depression”

Query: What was the “AF of L”

Query: What was the “New Deal”

Query: What is Mein Kampf

Query: Who was Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Query: What was the “Yalta Conference”

Query: What is the “Enola Gay”

Query: What was the "Normandy Invasion"

Query: What were the Nuremburg Trials

Query: What was the “Marshall Plan”

Query: Who was General Douglas MacArthur

Query: Where is the Yalu River

Query: Who assassinated President Kennedy

Query: What was the "Cuban Missile Crisis"

Query: What was the Civil Rights March on Washington

Query: What was the “Tet Offensive”

Query: When did the Vietnam War end

Query: What is NATO

Query: What is the Nuclear Arms Treaty

Query: What was “Operation Desert Storm”

Query: What is the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Query: What is “Operation Desert Fox”

Query: What is Bosnia

Query: What is impeachment

Government and Civics

Query: What is urbanization

Query: How does the Supreme Court make a law unconstitutional

Query: What are the treatises of John Locke

Query: What is a "constitutional democracy"

Query: What is the system of “checks and balances” in government

Query: How important are "public opinion polls" to the electorate

Query: What is the “Bill of Rights” to the Constitution

Query: How is the U. S. Constitution amended

Query: What is the “Security Council” of the United Nations

Query: What is “Freedom of Speech”

Query: What is “Civil Disobedience”

Query: What is naturalization

Query: Who was “Elizabeth Cady Stanton”

Query: What is a federal budget surplus

Query: What is the Supreme Court of the United States

Query: What are "civil rights laws"

Economics

Query: What is "investment capital"

Query: What is deregulation

Query: What is the ‘International Monetary Fund”

Query: What is a "capital gain" on a stock investment

Query: What are federal government subsidies

Query: What is monetary policy by the Federal Reserve

Query: What is an economic recession

Query: What is the European Economic Union

Query: What is the Federal Reserve banking system

Query: What happens at the New York Stock Exchange

Query: What is the "balance of trade" deficit

Query: What is the “prime rate”

Anthropology

Query: What is an anthropologist

Query: What is Neolithic agriculture

Query: What is the “stone age”

Query: What is a "Cro-Magnon Man"

Query: Who was "Mary Leakey"

Query: Who was “Margaret Mead”

Query: What is Machu Pichu

Query: Who are the Amazon Indians

Query: What is a “Neanderthal Man”

Query: What is the migration over the Bering Strait

Multicultural Awareness/Ethnic Studies

Query: What are the characteristics of Chinese art

Query: Who was Buddha

Query: What are the major beliefs of Islam

Query: What are the major beliefs of Hinduism

Query: What is the Koran

Query: What is the Hajj

Query: What is Yom Kippur

Query: What is Apartheid

Query: Who was “Martin Luther King”

Query: What is Shinto

Query: What are the Upanishads

Query: Who was Confucius

Query: Who was Sojourner Truth

Query: Who was Geronimo

Psychology

Query: What is psychology

Query: Who is “Dr. Spock”

Query: Who was “Sigmund Freud”

Query: Who was “John Dewey”

Query: What is "multiple intelligence”

Query: Who was B. F. Skinner

Query: What is psychiatry

Query: What are “personality traits”

Query: What is psychoanalysis

Query: What is philosophy

Sociology

Query: What is ancestor worship

Query: What is “culture shock”

Query: Who were the Luddites

Query: What is sociology

Query: What is Puritanism

Query: What is ecumenism

Query: What is astrology

Query: What is racism

Query: What is reincarnation

Query: What is mythology

Query: What is the “glass ceiling”

Science Mini-Research Activities

The mini-research strategies of Expand and Discover are more appropriate for elementary students or secondary students who are having academic difficulty. These activities are generally described as “look it up” research that answers the questions Who, What, When, and Where. They are easier to implement, provide a broader range of topics, but involve little critical thinking. They are explained with examples on page 6.

Compare/Contrast – Students research two similar leaders, authors, artists, countries, works, etc. and show how they are both alike and/or how they are different.

1. Compare/contrast the Russian and United States space programs.

Query: What is the Russian space program

Query: What is the Mir

Query: What is the NASA space program

2. Compare/contrast hydroponics with traditional methods of growing food crops.

Query: What is hydroponics

3. Compare/contrast El Nino weather patterns with La Nina weather patterns.

Query: What is El Nino

Query: What is La Nina

4. Compare/contrast the uses of fusion versus fission methods of generating energy.

Query: What is a nuclear power generation

Query: What is fusion power

5. Compare/contrast desalinization of water with other methods of water purification.

Query: What is water purification

Query: What is water desalinization

Critique – Students research a popular idea, practice, tradition, custom, belief, or trend, and provide a logical argument for revising or eliminating it.

1. Critique the use of animals for testing experimental drugs and surgery techniques.

Query: What is animal experimentation

Query: How are animals used to test drugs

2. Critique the use of nuclear plants to supply an increasing share of the electric power in the U. S.

Query: What are alternative sources of power generation

Query: Are nuclear power plants safe

3. Critique the use of the gasoline engine to provide power for automobiles.

Query: How do gasoline engines cause pollution

Query: What are alternative fuels for the automobile

Persuade -- Students research a controversial issue, select a position (or teachers could assign the position), and then create an argument to support their opinion.

1. Should the United States be involved in the cooperative development of the

International Space Station?

Query: Should funding for NASA be increased

Query: What are the benefits of space exploration

Query: Is the International Space Station a waste of money

2. Is life, as we know it, possible on other planets?

Query: Is there life on Mars

Query: How many planets are there in the universe

Query: Is there any evidence of intelligent life in the universe

Query: What is the search for extra-terrestrial life

3. Should the United States spend billions of dollars on particle physics research?

Query: What is a quark

Query: What is quantum mechanics research

Query: What is particle physics research

Query: What is the Large Hadron Collider

Query: What is the Fermilab

4. Do environmentalists have too much influence on laws that are passed that regulate the use of the environment?

Query: What are endangered species

Query: What are the disadvantages of environmental regulations

Query: What is the EPA

Query: What is the “Sierra Club”

Query: How is business affected by environmental regulation

5. Should the public schools teach creationism in concert with evolution?

Query: What is the Scopes Monkey Trial

Query: Who was Clarence Darrow

Query: What states mandate the teaching of creationism

Query: What are the arguments for creationism

Query: Is evolution a theory

6. Is the experimental work being done with the genetic cloning of animals ethical?

Query: What are the benefits of cloning genes

Query: What are the ethical implications of genetic cloning

Query: What are the hazards of cloning genes

Query: What is transgenics

• Predict – Given a recent event, discovery, law, or invention, predict what will happen in the near future. Given a past event or series of events, create a scenario that may occur in the near future.

1. Predict how the International Space Station will contribute to an improved quality of

life for the people of the world.

Query: Should funding for NASA be increased

Query: What are the benefits of space exploration

Query: Is the International Space Station a waste of money

2. Predict how the Human Genome Project will contribute to the health of the people of

the U. S. and the world.

Query: What is the human genome project

Query: What businesses are mapping the human genome

Query: Can the human genome map be patented

3. Predict the impact of continued global warming on the United States.

Query: What causes global warming.

4. Predict the impact of solar power on energy production in the U. S. and the world.

Query: What is the future of solar power

Query: What is solar energy

5. Predict the possibility of major earthquakes in California cities.

Query: What is the San Andreas Fault

Query: What is a California earthquake

Evaluate – Given a recent (in the last 5 years) change in a law, political leader, rules and regulations, organizational structure, invention, or discovery, summarize and evaluate the progress that may have been made in society because of that change.

1. Evaluate the impact of the NASA space lab program on the lifestyle of the typical

U. S. citizen.

Query: What is space shuttle research in health

Query: What is the International space station

Query: How does the space program benefit business

Query: What are experiments in the space shuttle

2. Evaluate the effectiveness of genetic modification of food plants on increasing the supply of safe foods.

Query: Is genetic modification of food plants safe

Query: What is plant transgenics

3. Evaluate the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on our knowledge of the origins of the universe.

Query: What is the Hubble telescope

Query: What discoveries are being made by the Hubble telescope

4. Evaluate the impact of recycling programs on the environment.

Query: What are recycling programs

Query: What are the benefits of recycling

Other Science queries that yield 10 or more relevant documents in 10 minutes. They will help teachers to design additional mini-research activities.

Earth Science

Query: What causes a "tidal wave"

Query: What is a tornado

Query: What causes an earthquake

Query: What is “Mount St. Helens”

Query: What is Krakatoa

Query: What is the jetstream

Query: What causes lightning

Query: What is tectonic plate theory

Query: How are coral reefs created

Query: What is the magnetic north pole of the earth

Query: What causes the tides

Query: What causes glaciers

Query: What is celestial navigation

Space Science

Query: What is a neutron star

Query: What is the Milky Way

Query: How is the age of the universe measured

Query: How does gravity bend light rays

Query: What is an x-ray telescope

Query: What is a “black hole” in space

Query: What is the “Big Bang Theory”

Query: Who was “Robert Goddard”

Query: What is a comet

Query: What is a spacewalk

Environmental Science

Query: What are non-renewable resources

Query: What is a biosphere

Query: What causes river pollution

Query: What are the functions of a watershed

Query: What is acid rain

Query: What is the carbon cycle

Query: What is the nitrogen cycle

Query: What is the "forest conservation"

Query: How do we prevent air pollution

Query: What is the EPA

Query: What is the oxygen cycle

Query: What is the water cycle

Query: What is the “Sierra Club”

Query: Who was “Rachel Carson”

Life Science and Biology

Query: What is the agricultural revolution

Query: What caused the extinction of the dinosaurs

Query: How do plants adapt to the environment

Query: What is the interdependence of living things

Query: What is the "food chain" in an ecosystem

Query: What is mitosis

Query: What is genetic cloning

Query: What is the theory of evolution

Query: How does DNA control cell structure and function

Query: What is biological diversity

Query: What are "super bugs"

Query: What causes mutations

Query: What is bioethics

Query: What are nucleic acids

Query: What is the carbon dioxide cycle

Physical Science

Query: What is electromagnetic radiation

Query: What is quantum mechanics

Query: What is Einstein’s theory of relativity

Query: Who won the Nobel Prize in Physics

Query: Is there matter in the universe

Query: How does energy change into matter

Query: What is cryogenics

Query: What is a quark

Query: How is the "red shift" used to measure acceleration of stars

Query: What is the electromotive force

Query: How are magnetism and electricity related

Query: What is semiconductor technology

Chemistry

Query: What are the halogen elements

Query: What is organic chemistry

Query: What is a biochemical reaction

Query: How are isotopes used

Query: How are the inert gasses used

Query: What is absolute zero

Query: What is an alchemist

Query: What is the periodic table of the elements

Query: What is a half-life of a radioactive element

Query: Who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Query: What is the chemistry of carbon

Query: What is the kinetic molecular theory

Technology Applications in Society

Query: What is the Fermilab

Query: What is a mohole

Query: What are organ transplant banks

Query: What is the human genome project

Query: What happened at Stonehenge

Query: What is the “Gregorian Calendar”

Query: What is a laser beam

Query: What are telecommunication satellites

Query: What is a seismograph

Query: What is a global satellite positioning system

Query: What is North Sea crude

Query: What is a bathysphere

Query: What is the transatlantic cable

Query: What is the Chunnel

Query: What is the “Alaska Pipeline”

Query: What is the “Panama Canal”

Query: What is the “Three Gorges Dam”

World Famous Scientists and Inventors

Query: Who was Jacques Cousteau

Query: Who was Thomas Alva Edison

Query: Who was Alexander Graham Bell

Query: Who was “Buckminster Fuller”

Query: Who were the Wright Brothers

Query: Who was “Jonas Salk”

Query: Who was Marie Curie

Query: Who was Charles Babbage

Query: Who was Enrico Fermi

Query: Who was Leonardo da Vinci

Query: Who was Copernicus

Query: Who was Albert Einstein

Query: Who was Alfred Nobel

Query: Who was Niels Bohr

Query: Who was Hideki Yukawa

Query: Who are Luis and Walter Alvarez

Query: Who is Susumu Tonegawa

Query: Who was Francis Crick

Query: Who was Linus Pauling

Query: Who was Vladimir Zworykin

Query: Who was Johann Christian Doppler

Health & Fitness Mini-Research Activities

The mini-research strategies of Expand and Discover are more appropriate for elementary students or secondary students who are having academic difficulty. These activities are generally described as “look it up” research that answers the questions Who, What, When, and Where. They are easier to implement, provide a broader range of topics, but involve little critical thinking. They are explained with examples on page 6.

Compare/Contrast – Students research two similar leaders, authors, artists, countries, works, etc. and show how they are both alike and/or how they are different

1. Compare/contrast homeopathic medicine with traditional medical practice.

Query: What is homeopathic medicine

Query: What is alternative medicine

Query: What is traditional medicine

2. Compare/contrast the low-fat diet with the low-carbohydrate diet.

Query: What is a low fat diet

Query: What is a low carbohydrate diet

Critique – Students research a popular idea, custom, belief, or trend, and provide a logical argument for revising or eliminating it.

1. Critique the use of Creatine for improving physical strength.

Query: What is creatine

2. Critique the values of society that may promote anorexia and bulimia among young women.

Query: What causes anorexia

Query: What are eating disorders of young women

3. Critique the laws that prevent assisted suicide.

Query: Who is Dr. Kevorkian

Query: What is euthanasia

Persuade -- Students research a controversial issue, select a position (or teachers could assign the position), and then create an argument to support their opinion.

1. Persuade taxpayers that more money should be spent on the prevention and treatment

of AIDS.

Query: Is there a cure for AIDS

Query: What causes AIDS

2. Persuade state legislators that money from the tobacco lawsuit settlement be used by the states exclusively for public health programs.

Query: What is the tobacco lawsuit settlement

Query: How do states spend tobacco lawsuit funds

• Predict – Given a recent event, discovery, law, or invention, predict what will happen in the near future. Given a past event or series of events, create a scenario that may occur in the near future.

1. Predict the impact of cosmetic surgery on the lifestyle of Americans.

Query: What is cosmetic surgery

Query: What is liposuction

Query: What are hair transplants

2. Predict how telecommunications and the Internet will affect the practice of medicine in the future.

Query: What is consumer health information on the Internet

Query: How do doctors use the Internet

Evaluate – Given a recent (in the last 5 years) change in a law, political leader, rules and regulations, organizational structure, invention, or discovery, summarize and evaluate the progress that may have been made in society because of that change.

1. Evaluate the actions that have been taken to decrease smoking among teenagers. Are

they working?

Query: What is teenage smoking

Query: What are anti-smoking campaigns

2. Evaluate the use of organ transplant surgery on the quality of a patient’s life and on society.

Query: What is organ transplant surgery

Query: Is the organ transplant system fair

3. Evaluate the impact of the irradiation of food on lifestyles of the future.

Query: What is the irradiation of food

Other Health & Fitness queries that yield 10 or more relevant documents in 10 minutes. They will help teachers to design additional mini-research activities.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Substances

Query: Is nicotine addictive

Query: What is binge drinking

Query: What is “crack cocaine”

Query: Is marijuana addictive

Query: What is cirrhosis of the liver

Query: What are amphetamines

Community & Consumer Health

Query: What is Medicare

Query: What is the AMA

Query: How are youth educated about health hazards

Query: How does the "FTC" regulate consumer health products

Query: What is the FDA

Query: Who is the Surgeon General of the U. S.

Query: What is the National Institute of Health

Query: What is managed health care

Query: What are consumer health labeling guidelines

Query: What is Oregon health care

Query: What are generic drugs

Diseases and Disorders

Query: Is there a cure for Cancer

Query: What is gene therapy

Query: What are some ways to prevent hepatitis

Query: What is laser surgery

Query: What is “high blood pressure”

Query: What is diabetes

Query: What is nearsightedness

Query: What is asthma

Query: What are designer drugs

Environmental Health

Query: How does smog affect public health

Query: What is radon poisoning

Query: What is “lead poisoning”

Query: What are reverse osmosis water purifiers

Query: What are the dangers of asbestos

Query: What is the environmental superfund

Emotional Health

Query: What is stress management

Query: What is high risk behavior

Query: What are some ways to build self-esteem

Query: What are conflict resolution skills

Query: What is peer mediation

Query: What is grief therapy

Food and Nutrition

Query: What is irradiation of food

Query: What is the FDA

Query: What are anti-oxidants

Query: What is eating healthy

Query: What are junk foods

Query: Are fried foods good for your health

Family Life

Query: What is prenatal care

Query: What is adoption for childless couples

Query: What are fertility drugs

Query: What are single-parent families

Query: What is elder care

Query: What is a hospice

Query: What is day care

Healthful Lifestyles

Query: What can vitamin supplement do for your health

Query: What is homeopathic medicine

Query: What diseases are most prevalent among poor people

Query: What is “responsible drinking” as shown in beer commercials

Query: What is date rape

Query: What is a chiropractor

Query: What is acupuncture

Human Body Systems

Query: What is the human body

Query: What is the nervous system

Query: What is the brain

Query: What are “goose bumps”

Query: What is baldness

Query: What are glands

Query: How do we smell odors

Query: What is blindness

Query: What is a muscle

Query: What is perspiration

Query: What are warts

Query: Why do we dream

Query: How does the tongue taste food

Human Growth and Development

Query: What is geriatrics

Query: What is puberty

Query: What is a fetus

Query: What is menopause

Human Sexuality

Query: What are dominant and recessive genes

Query: What is a fetus

Query: What is the human reproductive system

Query: What is sexual abstinence

Query: What is birth control

Query: What are sexually transmitted diseases

Query: What are fertility drugs

Physical Activity and Fitness

Query: What is aerobic exercise

Query: How is fitness measured

Query: What is a personal fitness instructor

Query: What is walking for fitness

Query: What are isometric exercises

Query: What is fitness equipment

Safety, First Aid, and Survival

Query: What is the Heimlich maneuver

Query: What is first aid for snakebite

Query: How do you treat frostbite

Query: What is first aid for swallowing poison

Query: What is first aid

Query: What is frostbite

Query: What are flu symptoms

Query: What is a “smoke detector”

Query: What is a “carbon monoxide detector”

Query: How do you stop bleeding

The following formats are recommended for mini-research Written Reports because they save time and simplify the report for students and teachers.

Summary Document Model

(Attached to Reports Instead of Bibliography to Discourage Plagiarism)

By ROBERT LEE HOTZ and THOMAS H. MAUGH II, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Biotech: the Revolution Is Already Underway Dolly the cloned sheep made headlines. Los Angeles Times Sunday April 27, 1997 Home Edition Part A, Page 1 Type of Material: Non Dup; Main Story; Series; Chronology Series: IN OUR OWN IMAGE: Life in a genetically engineered world. * First; in a series

In creating Dolly from a single adult ewe cell, researchers at Scotland's Roslin Institute crafted the latest living invention to mark the crossroads of science and human values.

These experimental creations are more than laboratory curiosities. Indeed, the seeds of the new biology are being sown across millions of farm acres this year, and its fruits are appearing on supermarket shelves

and in medicine cabinets in hundreds of thousands of homes. The biological revolution is altering--in ways that we have yet to recognize--our image of ourselves.

For many scientists, cloning offers an unprecedented opportunity to engineer new life forms more efficiently, to revive endangered species and to explore treatments for a host of human diseases. However, critics in the United States and around the world have argued that cloning oversteps the bounds of morality, offering humanity too much power to manipulate living things. And the prospect of cloning human beings, they say, is repugnant.

"I am wondering if it is not time to set some limits on science," said Lori Andrews of Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology, an authority on genetic engineering and reproductive

technologies.

Last month, a coalition of health experts and ethicists urged Congress to enact measures protecting people against abuse of genetic information to deny jobs, promotions, insurance coverage or other benefits. Eighteen similar measures have previously been introduced without success.

Copyright © 1997, St. Louis Post-Dispatch George Will; Washington Post Writers Group, CLONING CREATES MORAL AMBIGUITIES, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 27 Feb 1997, pp. 07B.

Now, what if the great given - a human being is the product of the union of a man and a woman - is no longer a given? The news from Scotland could have immense consequences for mankind's moral life - for thinking about "ought" propositions.

This subject is an invitation to playful imagining that soon turns serious. Imagine five Michael Jordans playing five other Michael Jordans. But, then, what makes him him is not just his genetic material but his competitive character, his fierce integrity. How much of character is genetically influenced or determined?

The nature vs. nurture argument continues. As the twig is bent: Would a cloned Jordan be Jordan without whatever it was about his family, and about North Carolina, that helped young Michael become the man?

And what about the soul? Is there such a thing? Is there a ghost in the machine, or only a machine? Are they right who say, "I do not have a body, I am a body"?

In his essay "Making Babies: The New Biology and the `Old' Morality" Kass noted that technological corollaries to the pill - babies without sex - involve not just new ways of beginning life but new ways of understanding and valuing life. Connections with parents, siblings and ancestors are integral to being human, although not to being a sheep. Can individuality, identity and dignity be severed from genetic distinctiveness, and from belief in a person's open future? When Hiroshima occasioned anxious talk about the dangers of physics, Einstein replied that the world was more apt to be destroyed by bad politics than bad physics. Dolly raises the stakes of biology, but also of philosophy.

The first page of your report should look like the model below, using in-text references that refer back to your summary document. Mini-research report are usually150 to 300 words (in secondary schools) and are written by the student after conferencing with the teacher and using the summary document for major ideas and information.

Model of Page 1 with In-Text References

The Ethical Implications of Genetic Cloning

This is a model of the format used for a mini-research report . It summarizes how the cloning of a sheep named Dolly, in Scotland, opens up a new world of ethical controversy as well as wonderful opportunities for mankind. It requires the student to (1) query eLibrary to get relevant information, (2) browse each article to determine its significance to the mini-research report strategy, (3) save the significant articles, (4) copy and paste citations and significant information to a summary document (which is attached to the written report), and then (5) create a final report, using in-text references, that connect the student’s work to the appropriate eLibrary sources. (Hotz)

The teacher’s research strategy motivates and focuses the student’s search in Electric Library. The teacher will also have to provide some guidance in querying ELibrary with key words, to get the most relevant information without wasting time. Saving information to disk in a school environment is preferred over printing each article because it saves paper, ink, and time on the front end of research, and then, saves some keying and keying mistakes on the back end, or final report. For schools who have computer lab(s) and/or library computer access for students, saved articles can be browsed in detail, off-line, saving on-line costs, and freeing computers that are on-line for more student research. (Will)

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