Intermediate: research sources about animals

For your presentations about strange animals, here are some websites you might use for research:

• Ultimate Ungulates website (for hoofed animals)
• San Diego Zoo website
• University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
• Bristol Zoo Gardens animal fact sheets
• African Wildlife Foundation
• Grzimek’s animal life encyclopedia – UALR library – Ref QL7 .G7813 2003

Pre-University: Writing a Thesis Statement

Thesis Statement:
The “topic sentence” for your research paper

• Should be a single sentence
• Should be a positive statement of some fact which is not too obvious (not so general that it is meaningless)
• Must be general enough to cover all the information you talk about in your paper
• Must contain an idea that can be supported with research

Examples and resources

• Not merely fact, not merely opinion
• Characteristics of a good thesis statement
• Examples
• Types and examples (OWL at Purdue)

Practice writing thesis statements
With groups in class, write possible thesis statements and three main support points for one of the following topics:

• Water Pollution
• Elephants in Captivity
• The Computer in Modern Family Life

Do your thesis statements meet the criteria in the previous list?

Pre-University: Evaluating Internet Resources

1. Why do we need to evaluate what we find on the internet?

Not all sources are equal. If you use unreliable sources in your research paper, readers may find your paper unreliable, too.

More details on this page from Purdue University Libraries and Purdue OWL (Evaluating While Reading and Print vs. Internet Sources).

2. How can we tell if a source is good or not?

It’s not always a matter of “good” or “bad” information – you just need to know where the information comes from, who is sharing it,  and with what purpose it’s being presented. Then you can decide if you will use the information, and how you will use it. Use these criteria to evaluate a source:

• Author (credibility – why should you believe him or her?)
• Accuracy (does the information match other good sources?)
• Perspective (does the author have a bias?)
• Forum (does the place the information was published have a bias?)
• Date (how recent is the information?)
• Purpose (why did the author write this?)

3. Use the following sites for practice:

• http://www.geocities.com/americansforcloningelvis/
• http://www.humancloning.org/
• http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/whatiscloning/

• http://www.forces.org/evidence/pharma/index.htm
• http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=22542
• http://smokingsides.com/

• http://en.wikipedia.org
• http://teeveepedia.teevee.org (Read “A Message from Our Founder”)

Pre-University: research paper format

Modern Language Association Formatting and Style Guide

This site has information about how to format your research paper. At the left side of the page there is an index of topics, including

• In-text Citations
• Works Cited page: Basic format, sample works cited page
• Specific examples like books, periodicals, and electronic sources/web publications.

Other examples and resources:

Sample title page

Sample pages of a research paper using parenthetical notes (MLA style)

Basic rules for parenthetical notes (MLA style)

Works Cited documentation (MLA style) – rules and examples of many types

References and Citations in Word 2007 – screen captures of how to insert citations using the new Word software