Where Does Our Power Come From?
Gr. 9 Science Energy Debate Summative
The Task
- You will be assigned a role by your teacher. You will either be part of the Ministry of Energy or you will be part of a lobby group (coal, hydro, nuclear, natural gas, solar, or wind) advocating for a new source of energy for Ontario.
You must research the following independently:
A. How do we get energy from the specific source?
B. Where are the best locations to obtain the greatest amount of energy from this source?C. How much will it cost to build and develop this source of energy?
D. What are some Pros and Cons of all energy sources?
2. You will participate in a town hall debate where you will have the opportunity to present you proposal, defend your proposal, attack (in an appropriate manner) opponents' proposals, and make an educated decision on which energy source will be used for Ontario.
3. Your requirements are as follows:
1. If you are a Lobbyist you:
- must prepare an opening statement (<3 min), closing statement (<3 min), and notes that you can use to present and defend your proposal (MUST BE TYPED)
- must prepare questions to ask the other lobbyists of different sources
- must submit your own research notes
- must submit your own bibliography
2. If you are a Ministry representative you:
- must prepare a scoring chart to help determine the optimal source of energy for Ontario
- must prepare questions to ask the lobbyists
- must make an educated decision following the debate with reasoning
- must moderate the debate
- must submit your own research notes
- must submit your own bibliography
4. After the debate, all students will complete a reflection stating their decision on the best energy source and explain why.
Research - The Library Catalogue
The first place you want to search is the library catalogue. Below are the two of the ways that use can use to search our library catalogue:
- Go to the applications page and click on the "Library Catalogue - Louise Arbour"
- Go to the Library Learning Commons MyClass page and click on the Library Catalogue (You can access this one from home as well).
Once you are at the main page, enter the subject/keywords of the topic that you are searching for. Keep in mind that spelling is really important! If you spell the word that you are looking for incorrectly, the system will assume we do not have it. We may not have books for some of the topics that you are looking for, but this is a good place to start! For this assignment, many of the books have been pulled for you so check the cart to see the books that we have for your topic. If you have not chosen a topic as yet, the cart might be a good place to start to get background information on your topic.
Research - Finding the Databases
Sometimes books on your topic can be hard to find because your subject area might be really new or specific. This is where searching the databases can be really helpful! There are two ways to get to the databases:
- Go to the applications page and click on "Library Catalogue - Louise Arbour". Then click on Library eResources. Click on eResources. Click on Intermediate/Secondary. Then you will find all of our databases.
- Go to the Library Learning Commons MyClass page through your BYOD. Click on BYOD login. Click on MyClass (the green icon). Click on the Library Learning Commons MyClass icon. Click on databases from home. Then you will find all of our databases.
BYOD Main Page
Link to the Library Learning Commons MyClass Page
Library Learning Commons MyClass Page
The Databases - How to Find the Information That You Need!
Finding the databases that you need to find what you are looking for can sometimes be a little tricky! Therefore, we have put together a list of databases that we think are going to best meet your needs for this assignment. Below is the list of recommended databases to start your search:
- Britannica Online - The School Edition
- Canada in Context
- Canadian Points of View
- General Science Collection
- Science in Context
- Science Reference Centre
These databases are the ones that you should focus on as they are most relevant the topics that you are researching. All of the databases are great sources of information. They are better than a random search on a website because you can find a lot of information here that has been written by experts in the field. You should not have to use Google for any of your research for this assignment. The databases will have what you need to get your work done!
Be aware of the search terminology that you are using. For example, searching for "hydro" may produce less results than searching for "electricity" or "hydroelectricity". Try to keep your search as general as possible, at least initially, until you find some information and then narrow your search from there. If you are getting too much information try putting words like "hydroelectricity" and "Ontario" together. This will help narrow down your search.
Please keep in mind that you cannot click the links below to get to the databases. You will need to go to the Library Learning Commons MyClass page to get there or you can click on the secondary eResources link below.
Creating a Works Cited Page
No research would be complete without an accurately formatted works cited page. Since this is a science based research project, you will be using APA as your method for creating your citations. It is important to keep track of the information that you use as you go along with the creation of your assignment. Waiting until the very end could be a problem, especially if you can't remember where you got the information from! Be sure to email your information to yourself or save it to your Google Drive.
On the Library Learning Commons MyClass page, under Class Resources, we have a number of tools that you can use to help you track your sources and create a proper works cited page. You can also use the databases to help you complete your works cited page by clicking on SourceIt. This database is Peel Board approved in terms of being a great tool to help you.
One of the easiest tools to use when creating a works cited page is Citation Machine. If you go towww.citationmachine.net , you can input your book, magazine, website, film or other resource and the citation will be created for you! Please keep in mind that if some parts of the citation are missing, you can easily fill them in using Citation Machine.
Finally, many of the databases create the citation for you! When you are in a database and you are looking at an article, look to the top or the left of the article to find a citation tools like (in some databases it will look like a check mark). If you click on that link and select APA formatting, the citation will be created for you and then you can copy and paste it into your works cited page.
When completing your works cited page, there are a few key things to remember:
- It should be in alphabetical by author's last name. If there is no author, then it should be in alphabetical order by whatever letter comes first in the citation.
- The second line should be indented. You can do this by pressing "Enter" and then "Tab".
- You do not have to number your citations.
- You do not have to put your list of citations into categories (i.e. books, magazines, websites, etc.).
- You should only include resources that you actually used in your research. If you looked at it, but did not use it, it should not be included in your works cited.
WORKS CITED EXAMPLE – APA FORMAT
Works Cited
Atwood, M. (2003). Oryx and Crake. London: Bloomsbury.
Harris, J. (2002). Five quarters of an orange. Boston, MA: Harper.
Packer, A. (2003). The dive from Clausen's Pier. New York: Vintage Books.
Policy.ca. (2000-2006). Retrieved March 1, 2007, from http://www.policy.ca.
Westerfeld, S. (2005). Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse.