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Final : Background Research Paper

Article by Judy Fisher: How to Get an A

pdf document with this information: click here

•4+ pages of good information, well written, in student's own words; you must know and understand what you are talking about.
• grade research paper will be double spaced/ final notebook paper will be 1.5 spacing
•One inch margins
•12 point (Times) or 12 point (Helvetica) type (for PC) 12 pt for Macs
•Written in third person- NO YOUs (pts will be lost for yous!)
•Cite references for all specific information and facts that are not common knowledge, for all quotations, and for all research results. USE FOOTNOTE format
•Include numbered bibliography for all references used and cited; Place them in ALPHABETICAL ORDER!! No more than ONE encyclopedia article; include periodicals; include recent resources (last 5 years).

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SEARCH:
Locate books, periodicals, television references, web sites, and human resources which might help you learn more about your subject. READ about your topic before attempting to design an experiment. Write out bibliographic references in standard form for all resources used.
See the end of this page for standard bibliographic format. Before turning in this part of the assignment organize all references in alphabetical order by last name of authors. All references with NO authors follow the alphabetized references with authors. Those references without authors are alphabetized by the first letter of the first word in their titles. TV programs and interviewed consultants are listed last.

THE FINAL WRITTEN RESEARCH PAPER
PLEASE FOLLOW THIS FORMAT! USE YOUR CARDS!!

Once a topic has been approved, the student may start researching their topic. A thorough understanding, thus serious research, is crucial to the success of the project. Often, through research, a student will develop their question even more and the project will get better and better. Before beginning the paper, students will spend over 2 weeks recording their research on note cards and creating a bibliography. There are 5 parts to the research paper, along with a few essential rules.

RESEARCH PAPER PARTS: Brief summary

1) Introduction: A description of the problem being investigated; NOT a question. State how (not why) the experimenter (you!) selected this problem.

2) Previous Research: What has been done by others in this field, or on related topics? This section should cite specific experiments, 3 or 4 that you have read about. For each include a short 3-4 sentence summary indicating what was done (the problem), what they found out (result, conclusion), and who did it. This section is ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT and will be 50% of your paper. Tie this previous research in with your project and tell how it led to or influenced your hypothesis. Include your hypothesis in bold type.

3) Techniques and Resources: Write a synopsis of your experiment - NOT numbered procedures, but a one paragraph summary or general view of what you will do, or what you might tell a friend about how you were going to conduct your experiment, but in more formal language. Describe the techniques that must be mastered in order for you to conduct this experiment, and a discussion of the resources and assistance that might be required.

4) Core Science Knowledge: This section should include core scientific information that you need as background to understand the specific research papers and technical information that you used in planning and conducting your experiment.

5) Conclusion: Summary of key points that were made in above sections, NOT in same words. Include relevance, key research leading to hypothesis and an ending or phase out.

ESSENTIAL RULES

  • No “I”s or “you”s - write from the 3rd person
  • Minimum of 4 pages of solid information
  • Double space
  • 12 point, regular font (no pretty or cool ones)
  • EDIT, EDIT, and EDIT (no spelling mistakes!)
  • USE YOUR NOTES & CARDS!!
  • Cite references (footnotes) for all specific information & facts that are not common knowledge, for all quotations, and for all research results
Create a numbered bibliography for all references used and cited