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Name:______________________________
ELA Teacher:________________________
SS Teacher:__________________________
7th Grade
PathfinderELA-Social Studies Research Paper
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Have you selected a turning point in American history?
You can use US History in Context to help you find an event of interest.
To find US History in Context, open this link: http://tinygaleurl.com?x3i6c2e

What is the event that you have selected?_____________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

This is an inquiry based research paper, which means that you must create a question
about your topic that relates to how this event was a turning point in history
To create a driving question, you need to think about the cause and/or effect of the event
that you selected as it made its mark on history. Or you can compare and contrast one
event to another event.

Examples:
How did the atomic bombs dropped on Japan help to end WWII in the Pacific?
How were the American native peoples impacted by the arrival of the Europeans?
How are the ways people traveled 100 years ago and the way they travel today different
or similar?
How did Franklin Roosevelts federal policies help to end the Great Depression?
.

What is your driving question that relates to the event that you selected?
________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
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To search for information in an index or online, you will need to use keywords to help
you find information. To help you locate important keywords for your topic, try
instagrok. http://www.instagrok.com/
Each bubble may work as a keyword or open the concepts tab and see the list of words.
What key words will you use to search for information for your topic? Can you list four
here?
1. ___________________________________
2.___________________________________
3.___________________________________
4.___________________________________
Books:
Go to the Library OPAC and begin a subject or keyword search to find a book in the
library. If you follow a Destiny Quest search, you can search the shelves of the library
before you walk in the door.

What call numbers or Dewey decimal numbers did you find listed in the OPAC for your
topic? List 3 if possible.
1. _______
2._______
3._______
Use the Library OPAC to find a book and complete the following information (if there is
no book available on your topic, please write that in place of the book title):

Book Title:_____________________________________________________________

Author/s or Editor/s if no author:_____________________________________________

Publisher:_________________________________ Copyright date:_________________

Place of Publication:_________________________

What is the call number for this book?_____________________

Is this book from the non-fiction or reference collection?_________________________

Look in the index to find the pages that might have information for you. What pages
numbers did you find that might offer you information?
1.____
2. ____
3. ____
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List 3 facts from this book that may be of help for your topic:

______________________________________________________ page #______

______________________________________________________ page #______

______________________________________________________ page #______

Encyclopedias:
At PFTSTA, if you want to use an encyclopedia, you need to look online. Electronic
encyclopedias include all the articles from the print versions plus thousands of additional
articles, learning resources, and research tools.
To find the Britannica Online Academic Edition follow this link
http://academic.eb.com

To find the World Book Online Reference Center follow this link
http://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/home

Name of the encyclopedia you used:___________________________________

Title of article:__________________________________________________

Author/s of article:_______________________________________________

Copy and paste the URL for the article that you found:____________________________

Date of publication:_______________

Date you accessed this information, day month year:___________________

After you have read the encyclopedia aritcle, take notes jotting down three important
aspects about this event. Do not use complete sentences.

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Write two sentences paraphrasing or summarizing from the notes that you took from
the encyclopedia.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Databases:
You can use Gale US History in Context to help you search for information about your
event. In this database you can find reference books, newspaper articles, journal articles
and more.
To find US History in Context, open this link: http://tinygaleurl.com?x3i6c2e

Title of article:____________________________________

Author or Editor:_________________________________________________________

Title of book/:_____________________________________________

Date published, day month year:_________________________ Volume # if any_______

Date you accessed this article, day month year: ___________________

Use the bookmark tool at the top of the page to find the URL. Copy and paste the URL
for the article that you found:_____________________________________________

What did you find out about your event in this source? Write down in your own words 2
new things that you learned:

1. __________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________

Reference Books Online:

Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database that contains over 600 reference books in
electronic format. Search here for chapters or sections that will give you information on
your topic.
Follow this link to find GVRLhttp://tinygaleurl.com?2rz6obp

Title of article or chapter:___________________________________________________

Author/s or editor/s if no author is given ______________________________________

Title of reference book:____________________________________________________

Date of publication:_________________
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Date you accessed this information, day month year:___________________

Use the bookmark tool at the top of the page to find the URL. Copy and paste the URL
for the article that you found:_____________________________________________

Use this reference book to fill in the following blanks:

List the name of 3 people who played an important role in your topic:

1. _____________________
2._____________________
3._____________________

List 3 dates that are important to your topic:

1. _____________________
2._____________________
3._____________________

List 3 places that are important to your topic:

1._____________________
2._____________________
3._____________________

Now that you have done some research on your topic, can you develop some questions
that you plan to answer in your paper? List 3 different questions.

1. __________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________

Works Cited/Bibliography:
1. Credits the author where you found your information
2. List all the resources that you used.
3. Follow MLA 8 format.
4. Use Noodle Tools to help create your citations. bit.ly/pftstaNoodleTools

Show that you know how to use Noodle Tools. Go to Encyclopedia Britannica and find
an article related to your topic. Use the cite tool in Britannica to open the citation. Copy
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and paste your citation as a source into your Noodle Tools project. Once your citation is
in Noodle Tools, you will print as a google doc. Copy and paste the information on the
google doc below.

The first line begins at the left margin, and the second line is indented 5 spaces. Double
space between all lines.

________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________