Trident Research

WELCOME TO THE SEVENTH GRADE
TRIDENT RESEARCH CENTER!

TRIDENT project: WHAT YOU CAN DO

In this project, you will be choosing a current event topic, exploring it, figuring out what issue that surrounds it (the problem), what's being done about it, and what you can do about it.

Research process

Following the Steps of the Research Process:

Explore: You will be spending the first few days of your project EXPLORING topics to see what you are interested in. You can use any source you want during the EXPLORE phase (including Wikipedia)
Ask: You will be narrowing down your topic and structuring it by figuring out what you want to know and what questions to ask.
Select: Use keywords to find relevant sources and use TRAC and FANTA to make sure they are the best sources to use. Keep track of your sources in your MyBib bibliography.
Extract: Gather information based on the questions you came up with in step 2.
Connect: Use the information you collected to answer your questions.
Create: Summarize what you learned about your topic, the problem, and possible solutions to the problem in an infographic.
Reflect: Reflect on the research project and what went well and could have gone better.

Step 1: Explore

Start here:

PROCON.ORG

ProCon.org is a website providing pro and con information on more than 80 controversial issues from gun control and death penalty to illegal immigration and alternative energy.

This is a great place to get an overview of the pros and cons of topics you're interested in.

Then go here:

OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS

Similar to procon.org, this database presents all sides of important controversial issues. This database is published by Gale and provides news, magazine, reference, audio, video, and more information from trustworthy sources.

This is a great place to get in-depth information about the pros and cons of topics you're interested in.

Step 2: ask

Identify the problem you're trying to solve - this is your big "question."

For example, if your topic is Banned Books, your problem might be:
Books are challenged based on an individual’s beliefs, but this affects all people’s ability to read them.

Now that you've identified that limiting access to books based on individual opinions and feelings is a problem, figure out why. Your response might be something like:
People have different beliefs based on upbringing, experience, religion, and other elements that have made them the way they are. Nobody should be able to limit what others have access to based on their own beliefs. Additionally, if we limit access to information, people won't have a chance to learn, grow, and potentially expand their horizons.

Once you've completed this part in the Trident Packet (step 4), complete the Google Form to the right.

Supporting Questions

Thinking about the "Questioning" activity we did in class, Identify what smaller, supporting questions you will need to answer in order to find the "answer" to your problem.

Submit those questions in the google form linked here.

Step 3: Select

Now that you're reading to start answering your questions, you need to pay attention to the sources you're using.
You've already used Procon.org and the Opposing Viewpoints database (two great sources!). Don't forget about the rest of the library databases.