CAMPAIGN TOUR 2008 August 28, 2008
Posted by Ms. Klemundt in Help with Assignments.add a comment
For students in Ms. Fumic’s U.S. History class, here are the links to some sites that might help you with your research. You might also want to check your public library to see if they have travel books about your state. Travel guides usually include historical information, some statistics and demographic information, and sections about various cities or regions in the state.
There are 3 databases that Res subscribes to that might be helpful:
- Britannica Online (http://school.eb.com
- CQ Researcher (http://www.cqel.com)
- Readers’ Guide Full Text Select (http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/)
You will need our usernames and passwords from the blue sheets that were on the table when you came into the library this morning. If you didn’t get one, stop by the library and pick one up.
Here are the other links. Refer the handout for more information on how each site.
-
Statistical Abstract of the United States (http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract.html)
-
StateMaster.com (http://statemaster.com)
-
USA.gov (http://www.usa.gov)
-
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Vote 2008 (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/)
-
Cities Around the World (http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/cities/)
Please stop by the library if you are having trouble with your project.
FINDING A TOPIC August 27, 2008
Posted by Ms. Klemundt in Science Fair, Web Resources.add a comment
Here are the links from the library presentation on Finding A Topic for your Science Fair Project.
Some helpful Science Fair Guides:
- Today’s Science (http://www.2facts.com) Science Fair Guide and Doing Experiments sections; login and scroll down to “Curriculum Tools”
- Internet Public Library Science Fair Project Resource Guide (http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/projectguide)
- Librarians’ Internet Index (http://www.lii.org); search for “Science Fair” or “Science Project”
Use the books in the Res Library (on the red cart)) and books at your public library to look for possible topics. Browse the science magazines and also general interest magazines for more ideas. In a previous post I listed the web links for the Illinois Junior Academy of Science site and the California state science fair site. Reading abstracts of previous Science Fair winners may spark your imagination.
Use the Science Reference Center database to search for ideas and also to check if your possible topics are researchable. If you don’t have the username and password for this database or for Today’s Science, stop by the library and pick up a blue sheet.
And don’t forget to talk with your teacher! He or she is an invaluable resource in this whole process.
SCIENCE FAIR August 17, 2008
Posted by Ms. Klemundt in Science Fair.add a comment
Although you still have a few more days of vacation, those of you in Honors Science classes this year might want to start thinking about your Science Fair project. Here are some ideas about how to get started. In the coming weeks, we will be posting more helpful ideas here on the blog as well as working with you through your Science classes.
There are many books of ideas on Science Fair projects that have been published. While it’s true that a majority are written for upper elementary students, they might help you find some starting points. If you’re feeling motivated, you can go to your local public library this week and take a look at their collections. We will also be pulling a number of books from the Res Library collection this week so they’ll be ready for you to browse when you start school next week. Stop by the library to take a look at what’s available.
It’s a good idea to come up with a couple of topic options for yourself. Then do some background reading on each of the topics to help you determine what’s most interesting to you and what would be a valid Science Fair topic. Talk with your teachers early on in your project to make sure your idea is doable. A good source for background material is the EBSCO Science Reference Center, one of Res’ subscription databases. You will need the Res Username and Password from the blue sheets available in the Library in order to access this database. (If you happened to put your blue sheet from last year in your Res scrapbook — you do have a Res scrapbook, don’t you? — that username and password will still work. If you are a freshman, stop by the Res library on Thursday or Friday and we’ll be happy to give you the information.)
Two good websites for ideas are the Illinois Junior Academy of Science homepage (scroll down along the left-side menu and take a look at the Best in Category Abstracts) and the California State Science Fair Project Listings. For both sites, the “Senior” division is for high school students.
Although it is probably geared more for elementary school students, a good basic introduction to Science Fair is the Internet Public Library’s Science Fair Project Resource Guide. The “Tools and Research” tab takes you to a number of links to other helpful sites.
Hopefully these resources will get you started! We plan to offer some mini-lessons in the library on specific topics related to your Science Fair Project research, including using our subscription databases and creating a bibliography. Listen to daily Announcements or check this blog for topics and times. And always remember that Mrs. Roy, Mrs. Johann, and I are available to help you locate books, articles, and web resources for your Project. Don’t hesitate to stop by and talk things over.
NEW STEPHENIE MEYER BOOK August 4, 2008
Posted by Ms. Klemundt in New books in the Library, Reading Recommendations.add a comment
In case you missed the news, the 4th and final book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released on August 2. There are already 292 holds for it on the Metropolitan Library System catalog! I’m going out tomorrow to try and score a copy for the Res Library so we have it ready when school begins. I know that a ton of you are fans, so let us know if you did anything special to celebrate the release of the book. And mark your calendars now because the movie version of Twilight is scheduled to be released in December.
