Finding Good Resources
Want to learn how to use the questions below to evaluate sources? Play our Resource Detector game below!
Play Resource Detective
See our favourite resources
Learning New Science
STRATEGY 1
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Look the article over to find the key sections.
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Look for the big ideas.
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Read the introduction or abstract first!
STRATEGY 2
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Context is key!
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Finding a scientific article too confusing? Maybe you are missing context and vocabulary for it. My advice is to find another similar article which you can read to figure out where your article fits in!
STRATEGY 3
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Talk to friends!
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I learn best in a group, and sometimes you might be able to understand an article best if each of you tackles a small section of it.
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Try summarizing one section each then sharing the information from it with your team.
STRATEGY 4
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Watch videos!
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In videos information is synthesized and presented in a different medium. This might help you understand the content from a different perspective
STRATEGY 5
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Reach out to professionals.
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Sometimes you might have to ask a teacher to help clarify information for you! They’re the experts and they might help you understand the information by breaking information down into smaller pieces.
Reading Scientific Papers
SECTIONS OF A SCIENTIFIC PAPER:
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Title: Main topic of the article
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Authors: Who contributed to the article
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Introduction: Main themes and questions
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Methods: How they did it
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Results: What they found
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Discussion: What do their results mean?
Try to fill in this table using an article from our resource list!
Check it out here!
Citing your sources
Check out these generators:
Citation Generators:
Citation Guides:
Why?
Why do I have to cite the sources that I use?
There are two main reasons:
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To give credit to the people who created the information/wrote the article/conducted the research
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To let others see where you found your information, letting them check the source for themselves​
How?
There are a number of ways that you can go about citing your sources. We have compiled a list of our favourite ways to cite our sources below!
The most important thing to note is that each time you cite your sources you should try and use a consistent citation style throughout your document/video/paper. Here are the most common styles for each subject area:
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English/Language: MLA
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Social Sciences/Education: APA
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Humanities: Chicago Notes and Bibliography
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Science: Chicago Author-Date