Background Research

• In order to make decisions or design experiments, you have to have relevant and reliable background information​

  • Relevant = Relating to the question

  • Reliable = Comes from a trustworthy source

• Published non-fiction books

• Websites:

  • Site that end in: .gov, .org, .edu for reliable information

  • Science journals like JAMA, Nature, New England Journal of Medicine

  • News sites: New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, CBS, CNN

• Articles:

  • PRIMARY Source: written by the team that did the experiment. Tends to be very technical

  • SECONDARY Source: Written by someone who read the primary article. Tends to be easier to understand

• Create a Doc with all the sites you visit and find helpful.

• Copy and paste the URLs in the Doc.

• This list will be the beginning of your bibliography

​Write Sites Down

• Use these for background information.

• For YouTube, watch videos with sources in the caption.

• These WON'T be used as sources

• You CAN use the references you find as sources.

​Wikipedia, YouTube

• Kahn academy for understanding science principles (Air pressure, chemical reactions, gravity, ect.)

• Google Scholar for Primary articles.

• How Stuff Works

Helpful Sites