Beyond the Textbook: Reading for Science Pathfinder
Created by K Crossley 2/5/07; revised 4/7/10
BOOKS
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You can find science in almost all fiction and nonfiction books. Good science fiction books are based on real science, so are usually good choices for this project. Check with your teacher if you are unsure about whether the book you have chosen is acceptable. You will find a suggested starting list in a webpage titled “Reading for Science: Booklist.”
There is a cart of fiction and of nonfiction books available in the media center to help in your book selection. Please remember, the cart and booklist are just a starting point – there are many more books available that will work for this project.
NoodleTools: You must create a NoodleTools bibliography for this project with a minimum of 3 different sources. NoodleTools hints are below in red.
SUBSCRIPTION DATABASES
The subscription databases we recommend are listed below. You can also use any online source available at Hoover. You can use the links below and get the login/passwords on the green sheets given you early this year OR look on Edline on the Departments/Media Center page and open the document called “Online Resources.” There are links for all the online sources here along with the passwords you need.
Remember that your research must be current, published in 2008 or later. Below are the subscription databases we recommend. You can e-mail articles home to yourself by using the database e-mail function.
Encyclopedia Britannica – An encyclopedia is always a good place to begin your research. Here you will find basic information that will help you decide how to continue your research. Use the “Search All Levels” box. If you use the Encyclopedia Britannica (on far left), you can click on “Index Entry” to see what is contained within the article OR related topics.
NoodleTools: Encyclopedias are considered a reference source – not duplicated from a printed work.
Science Resource Center – Here you will find a list of science topics which you can click on. This list may also help you identify which type of science your book mention is associated with. You can also use the search box above. At the top, you can choose what kind of source you will use (reference, magazines, etc.). In the listing of the article, it tells what year it was written, so you can eliminate any before 2008 immediately.
NoodleTools: Look at the source tab at the top of your results to decide how to cite your article. Cite anything under “Reference Materials” using this path: reference source → online → other → Yes, I will provide publication details → database is Science Resource Center → do NOT enter a URL. Look at the “source citation” at the bottom or information at the top of the article for citation information.
ELibrary – Click on “My Products” to get to ELibrary. Once again, at the top you can choose what kind of source you want to use. You can also choose as your date range “after 01/01/2008.” Use the search box at the top. Look for the date of the article on the left of the results list.
NoodleTools: Look at the icon next to your article title on the search page. That will tell you if the article is from a newspaper, book, magazine, etc. Then look at the top of your article to find the information you need to create your citation. To see the correct citation (and use it for creating your own), click on “Citation View” in the bar above the article title. Database is ELibrary.
SIRS Knowledge Source – Click on “Keyword/Natural Language” and use the search box. You can choose what type of source to use, and also see the date of the article on the results list. For citation information, look under “Source” at the top.
NoodleTools: Look at the top of the article you are using to see what type of source this article came from (magazine, newspaper, etc.). That will tell you what type of citation you must use.
Student Resource Center – Use the search box and click on “Keyword” for the best results. Look on the left of the webpage for Subject Terms to help you narrow or broaden your search. On the results list you can check the date of the article.
NoodleTools: Look at the top tab and the 2 lines at the top of your article to see what citation type you should use. For Reference (except for encyclopedias) follow this path: reference source” → online → other → Yes, I will provide publication details. The “title of reference source” is the book or encyclopedia listed on the second line at the top of the article. The database is “Student Resource Center.” Do NOT enter a URL for any database. Academic Journals are citation type “Journal.”
WEBSITES
You may NOT use any free search engine such as Google or Ask.com. You may use the teacher-approved search engine NetTrekker:
Science Daily A useful science news website.
NetTrekker – Use the search box to find websites about your topic.
NoodleTools: Cite each individual website as a webnsite (DO NOT cite NetTrekker).
