15. Getting Started! Your Name:_______________ Your Topic: _________________ Your Research Question: (What do you want to know about when you finish this project?) ________________________________________________
16. Dictionary Home Use the dictionary at Searchasauras Kids. For example, if you are researching the life cycle of a frog, look up “frog”. Write down the definition of your word here: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Click on “home”. Write your suggested search term in the search bar. 1) How many results do you get? ___________________________ Choose one of the first ten results. 2) What is the title of this magazine or encyclopedia article?_______________________________ 3) What is the source of your article? (Where was it originally published?) ____________________________________
17. 4) How is your article described? Write down two subject terms I read the abstract Yes No Does this article answer my research question? Yes No Yes No 5) Does this article pass the five finger test? If yes, print the article out! Next week … you’ll underline the information that answers your research question. You’ll take notes from the article. You’ll start exploring other sources such as websites and books!
Editor's Notes
Today we’re going to learn to use the online databases to find articles about our topics. You will begin searching today. We’ll search multiple sources: websites, books, databases, etc. When you have notes from multiple sources, you can begin to write a picture book for your book buddy about your topic.
To get to the databases, navigate to the homepage. Click on library.
Next, click on Kids Databases
We’re going to use Searchasaurus for kids
Start by clicking on dictionary. To get practice using the dictionary you are going to search for the definition of your topic. E.g. I am researching the life cycle of the Sequioa. So I need to look up the definition of sequioa and write this down as my first step.
Type sequoia first. Then click dictionary button to search for the definition.
Write down the definition of your subject first. Then click on home.
Search using search term suggested on worksheet for your topic. How many results do you get? Write this down. Explain topic can be too big, or too small. If too broad, too many results. If too narrow, no results. Subject can be made smaller by time, by location, or conceptually. For example, I’m researching frogs. To narrow my topic I could search for just frogs in brazil. I could narrow my topic by searching for just frogs in the 1850s. I could search for frogs in brazil in the 1950s. There is a way to make a search that only brings these results. You can also limit by concept. Choose the first result. Read the abstract. What is an abstract? Define (define summary) Summarizes the main points or findings. Summary: shortened or condensed form. From the abstract, can you tell if this article will help you learn about your topic? Why are some words in bold? Explain how the database searches for the words you put in the search bar. What is the source? Where was this article originally published? Click on the full text. Does this answer my topic? Five finger rule. If yes, print, underline, and take notes. Live demo. Choose result two.
I’m choosing the second result. What is the title? What is the source? Where was this article originally published? On what page? When? Subject terms: this article is described by what subject terms? If the article is helpful, try searching the terms used to describe it. (How do you say life cycle of a frog (my topic) in database (a language the database will understand?) What is an abstract? Define. How can reading the abstract help us as researchers? Why are some words in bold?
