Janet O’Donnell
Biology 1:
How to Annotate Scientific Readings
Information literacy topic: “Taking notes”
Follow links to find this activity guide online at:
Amity website→High School→AHS Library Information Center
Find Online Stuff→By Subject→Science→Class Projects M-Z→O’Donnell
1. Objective: To practice a strategy for taking notes when reading an article that will help you understand, retain, and communicate what the article is about.
What do you think annotation is? Why do we annotate articles?
2. “What is the main idea of the whole article? How do I find it?”
3. Read all the titles and sub-titles of the article. Then read the introduction of the article. Skim a little further down if you need to.
Now write a “Tweet” SUMMARY (in your own words) of less than 20 words explaining what the whole article is about. Post it in this Google form.
4. Read the 1st main paragraph (“Self-Generation”).
Underline key words as you read.
5. Go back to the paragraph, and do the following:
Connect main sentences/summaries when needed with arrows (write note on arrow about how they are related).
Circle sentences or ideas you don’t understand to find out what they mean.
Draw a box around unknown vocabulary. Look up in this online dictionary and write the meaning.
5. Read the main paragraph of the second section (“Self-Maintenance”).
Underline key words as you read.
7. Use the method we discussed to write a summary sentence of the EVERY paragraph of the article. Follow each step, in order:
1. Identify main idea of whole article, write it down (look at titles, 1st/2nd paragraphs). (We already did this today.)
2.Underline/highlight key words, summarize each paragraph (only highlight/underline a few words)
3. Connect main sentences/summaries when needed with arrows (write note on arrow about how they are related).
4.Circle sentences or ideas you don’t understand to find out what they mean.
5. Draw a box around unknown vocabulary. Look up in this online dictionary and write the meaning.
6. Add your personal analysis/judgement to summaries when needed (not your “feelings”)
Moving on:
Write a SUMMARY of the ENTIRE article. Include each part below.
a. Name of article/publication date/source.
b. 1-2 sentence “summary” of what the article is about (purpose of work/study/argument: what is it about and why was it done or written?)
c. Discussion of whole article:
Authors purpose (rephrase why was the project was done or the article written)
Method or broad, general details of work/study/argument (how did they do it/what do they say about it?)
Significance (why is it important to the field?)
Personal observations and your own analysis about the information (NOT superficial statements, like “it was interesting”). Try to connect to other important issues you have heard about.
Materials you may need:
Article: “The Purpose of Life” (see attachments)
Annotation instructions (print)
Article of the week instructions
Framing Guide for writing a summary
More complete information on how to write a journal article summary.
O’Donnell
Biology (9th Grade)
Finding and Evaluating Open Web Sources
Information literacy topics:
Determining best sources
Searching strategies for information
Evaluating sources
Using technology tools
Objective: To learn to find relevant and reliable open web research sources, to evaluate these sources for reliability, and to use appropriate technology tools.
1. Go to the activity guide online at:
Amity website→High School→AHS Library Information Center
Find Online Stuff→By Subject→Science→Class Projects →O’Donnell →GMOs: Evaluating Web Sources
2. Skim this article:
3. Respond to this statement, by finding at least 3 reasons to show that it is true.
“This article is reliable and appropriate for research.”
4. Share reasons why this website is appropriate for research (why the information here can be trusted).
Discuss the evaluation criteria.
5. Brainstorm and list various search terms from a topic phrase.
“Are there compelling scientific or other reasons to require labelling all food products for their GMO content?”
Think of key words or recognized phrases specific to the topic:
GMO, genetically modified organisms, label, labelling
Think of synonyms
Think of the most important terms
Think of terms that might sometimes be too limiting
Use “...” for phrases, ANDs, ORs, and parenthesis to structure search
Sample search terms: GMO, “genetically modified”, labelling
6. Now do your own search for a reliable research site.
6.a. Submit 3 different web sources on this FORM, and complete the evaluation information.
6.b. Be prepared to discuss your findings.
Evaluation Criteria
Who created it? Is this person (or organization) a qualified, reputable, expert? Is she authoritative (reliable)?
What is the information like? Is it accurate, giving complete coverage, well-written, well-organized? Does it cite its sources? Are those sources reliable?
Where is the information from? Where is the site stored? Remember that just having a page stored in a university does not mean the university backs your information.
Why was the information or site created? Was the goal to present information objectively in a balanced way? If it aims to convince, does it address different points of view? Do the presenters have an identifiable political, ideological, or commercial goal that might slant their information?
When was it created? Is it current? (sometimes currency/recent is not important)
Conclusion: reliable for your purpose? YES/NO?
Where do I find this information:
Who -- Look in and follow-up people and organizations in:
About / Contact / “byline” (credits) / bottom of page / sidebars /
What -- Read and analyze content information in:
Titles / Text / Citations and References
Where -- Look in and follow-up on site and organization information in:
About / Contact / URL / Domain name
Why -- Look in and follow-up on author, site, and organization information in:
Text
When -- Look in:
bottom of page / sidebars / subtitle / “byline” (credits)