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Grade 9 Social Studies Research Project - Canada's involvement in the World Wars: Overview

This guide will assist you in working through the Research Cycle while completing your assignment.

Table of Contents for Unit 4

To Complete Unit 4

Getting Started

For this project you are expected to follow the research cycle to develop an essay or other product focused on Canada's involvement in one of the World Wars. Depending on your teacher you will have been asked to gather information about a regiment that fought in World War II or to focus on a battle in World War I.

In this guide you will be provided information about the research process as well as resources for your research. The links will take you to specific information about the research cycle or for formatting in Word. Please note that the handouts for each lesson are on the right of this box.

Please pay attention to your specific teacher's requirements. They are slightly different.

Also, notice that there is a separate page about locating resources for World War I and a separate page about locating resources for World War II.

Timeline and steps

Step 1: Clarify the question

For specific information about this step in the research cycle, please review the information on the Clarify the Question page of the Research Cycle LibGuide.

  • Ask a lot of questions to ensure you understand the scope of the assignment and what is required.
  • Identify your key terms/concepts
  • Brainstorm
  • Map it out
  • Do some background research to learn about sub-topics and language used.

By Conestoga College Library Resource Centre

Step 2: Gather Information - Research and Notetaking

For specific information about this step in the research cycle, please review the information on the Gather Information page of the Research Cycle LibGuide.

It is very important that you gather your information in a formal way and track where you found it so you can review the source if needed in the future. Gathering information, therefore, involves a number of steps:

  • Developing searches - knowing how to locate information in a book, periodical, website, database
  • Noting where the information came from.
  • Taking notes.
    • Make it clear when you are paraphrasing, summarizing, or directly quoting from your source
    • Remember to provide the page number, section, or paragraph number so you can get back to the original source if needed

By Chris Bourg.

Step 3: Evaluating Information

For specific information about this step in the research cycle, please review the information on the Evaluating Information page of the Research Cycle LibGuide.

 

Outline: Step 4: Organize and Evaluate

Before you start writing your paper it is a good idea to organize the structure and check if you have enough information. In otherwords, create an outline. For specific information about this step in the research cycle, please review the information on the Organize page of the Research Cycle LibGuide.

Putting it all together: Writing the Rough Draft

Many students think that once the paper is written that the work is done. That's not the case. It is very important to edit and reflect on the assignment to make sure that all the necessary components are provided - including checking citations and grammar.

For specific information about this step in the research cycle, please review the information on the Presenting Research page of the Research Cycle LibGuide

Handouts for Checkpoint 1 : Clarify the Question

Handouts for Checkpoint 2 - Outline