how to do research grade 5

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Finally, a guide for upper elementary teachers that will show you how to teach research reports in a step-by-step format!

If you are struggling with teaching the research report process, you are not alone. Seriously, we’ve all been there!

I spent several years avoiding research reports for my 5th grade writers or simply depending on the Library-Media Specialist to teach the research process.

One year, I decided to take the plunge and teach my students how to research a topic and write a research report.

The process was clunky at first, but I learned a lot about how students approach research and how to guide them from choosing a topic to completing their final copies.

Before we discuss the HOW , let’s talk about the WHY .

research reports for 5th grade and 6th grade

Why You Should Be Assigning Research Reports to Your 5th and 6th Grade Students

I have three main reasons for assigning research reports to my students.

First, the skill involved in finding reliable sources and citing sources is valuable.

Beginning in 5th grade, and possibly even before, students need to be able to discern the reliability of a source . They should be able to spot propaganda and distinguish between reputable sources and phony ones.

Teaching the procedure for citing sources is important because my 5th grade students need to grasp the reality of plagiarism and how to avoid it.

By providing information about the sources they used, students are consciously avoiding copying the work of authors and learning to give credit where credit is due.

Second, by taking notes and organizing their notes into an outline, students are exercising their ability to find main ideas and corresponding details.

Being able to organize ideas is crucial for young writers.

Third, when writing research reports, students are internalizing the writing process, including organizing, writing a rough draft, proofreading/editing, and writing a final draft.

When students write research reports about topics of interest, they are fine-tuning their reading and writing skills.

How to Teach Step-By-Step Research Reports in Grades 5 & 6

As a veteran upper elementary teacher, I know exactly what is going to happen when I tell my students that we are going to start research reports.

There will be a resounding groan followed by students voicing their displeasure. (It goes something like this…. “Mrs. Bazzit! That’s too haaaaaaard!” or “Ugh. That’s boring!” *Sigh* I’ve heard it all, lol.)

This is when I put on my (somewhat fictional) excited teacher hat and help them to realize that the research report process will be fun and interesting.

Teach students how to choose a topic and cite their sources

Step 1: Help Students to Choose a Topic and Cite Sources for Research Reports

Students definitely get excited when they find out they are allowed to choose their own research topic. Providing choice leads to higher engagement and interest.

It’s best practice to provide a list of possible research topics to students, but also allow them to choose a different topic.

Be sure to make your research topics narrow to help students focus on sources. If students choose broad topics, the sources they find will overwhelm them with information.

Too Broad: American Revolution

Just Right: The Battle of Yorktown

Too Broad: Ocean Life

Just Right: Great White Shark

Too Broad: Important Women in History

Just Right: The Life of Abigail Adams

Be sure to discuss appropriate, reliable sources with students.

I suggest projecting several examples of internet sources on your technology board. Ask students to decide if the sources look reliable or unreliable.

While teaching students about citing sources, it’s a great time to discuss plagiarism and ways to avoid it.

Students should never copy the words of an author unless they are properly quoting the text.

In fact, I usually discourage students from quoting their sources in their research reports. In my experience, students will try to quote a great deal of text and will border on plagiarism.

I prefer to see students paraphrase from their sources because this skill helps them to refine their summarization skills.

Citing sources is not as hard as it sounds! I find that my students generally use books and internet sources, so those are the two types of citations that I focus on.

How to cite a book:

Author’s last name, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Date.

How to cite an internet article:

Author’s last name, First name (if available). “Title of Article or Page.” Full http address, Date of access.

If you continue reading to the bottom of this post, I have created one free screencast for each of the five steps of the research process!

Teach students how to take notes on their research topics

Step 2: Research Reports: Take Notes

During this step, students will use their sources to take notes.

I do provide instruction and examples during this step because from experience, I know that students will think every piece of information from each source is important and they will copy long passages from each source.

I teach students that taking notes is an exercise in main idea and details. They should read the source, write down the main idea, and list several details to support the main idea.

I encourage my students NOT to copy information from the source but instead to put the information in their own words. They will be less likely to plagiarize if their notes already contain their own words.

Additionally, during this step, I ask students to write a one-sentence thesis statement. I teach students that a thesis statement tells the main point of their research reports.

Their entire research report will support the thesis statement, so the thesis statement is actually a great way to help students maintain a laser focus on their research topic.

Teach students how to make an outline for their research reports

Step 3: Make a Research Report Outline

Making an outline can be intimidating for students, especially if they’ve never used this organization format.

However, this valuable step will teach students to organize their notes into the order that will be used to write the rough draft of their reports.

Because making an outline is usually a new concept for my 5th graders, we do 2-3 examples together before I allow students to make their outlines for their research reports.

I recommend copying an outline template for students to have at their fingertips while creating their first outline.

Be sure to look over students’ outlines for organization, order, and accuracy before allowing them to move on to the next step (writing rough drafts).

Teach students how to write a rough draft of their research reports

Step 4: Write a Research Report Draft

During this step, each student will write a rough draft of his/her research report.

If they completed their outlines correctly, this step will be fairly simple.

Students will write their research reports in paragraph form.

One problem that is common among my students is that instead of writing in paragraphs, they write their sentences in list format.

I find that it’s helpful to write a paragraph in front of and with students to remind them that when writing a paragraph, the next sentence begins immediately after the prior sentence.

Once students’ rough drafts are completed, it’s time to proofread/edit!

To begin, I ask my students to read their drafts aloud to listen for their own mistakes.

Next, I ask my students to have two individuals look over their draft and suggest changes.

Teach students how to create final drafts of their research reports

Step 5: Research Reports – Students Will Write Their Final Drafts!

It’s finally time to write final drafts!

After students have completed their rough drafts and made edits, I ask them to write final drafts.

Students’ final drafts should be as close to perfect as possible.

I prefer a typed final draft because students will have access to a spellchecker and other features that will make it easier to create their final draft.

Think of a creative way to display the finished product, because they will be SO proud of their research reports after all the hard work that went into creating them!

When grading the reports, use a rubric similar to the one shown in the image at the beginning of this section.

A detailed rubric will help students to clearly see their successes and areas of needed improvement.

Once students have completed their first research projects, I find that they have a much easier time with the other research topics assigned throughout the remainder of the school year.

If you are interested in a no-prep, step-by-step research report instructional unit, please click here to visit my Research Report Instructional Unit for 5th Grade and 6th Grade.

This instructional unit will guide students step-by-step through the research process, including locating reliable sources, taking notes, creating an outline, writing a report, and making a “works cited” page.

I’d like to share a very special free resource with you. I created five screencast videos, one for each step of the research report process. These screencasts pair perfectly with my Research Report Instructional Unit for 5th Grade and 6th Grade!

Research Report Step 1 Screencast

Research Report Step 2 Screencast

Research Report Step 3 Screencast

Research Report Step 4 Screencast

Research Report Step 5 Screencast

To keep this post for later, simply save this image to your teacher Pinterest board!

Hi, If i purchase your complete package on grade 5/6 writing does it come with your wonderful recordings on how to teach them? Thanks

Hi Gail! The recordings on this blog post can be used by anyone and I will leave them up 🙂 The writing bundle doesn’t come with any recordings but I did include step-by-step instructions for teachers. I hope this helps!

Thank you for sharing your information with everyone. I know how to write (I think, haha), but I wanted to really set my students up for success with their research and writing. Your directions and guides are just what I needed to jar my memory and help my students become original writers. Be blessed.

You are very welcome, Andrea! Thank you for this comment 🙂

Hi Andrea, I am a veteran teacher who has taught nothing but primary for 25 years. However, this is my first year in 5th. I’m so excited to have found your post. Can you direct me to how I can purchase your entire bundle for writing a 5-paragraph essay. Thanks, Sue

Sure, Susan, I can help with that! Here is the link for the 5th Grade Writing Bundle: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/5th-Grade-Writing-Bundle-3611643

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Five Ways to Teach Research Skills to Elementary School Children

Search engines can streamline the process of teaching basic research to elementary schoolchildren who require expert guidance on how to navigate the Web — and the earlier, the better.

Elementary school is when kids first begin to learn how to learn. Kids start using search engines quite early on, making elementary school the perfect time to teach research skills that become a foundation for a lifetime of learning.

The base skill for all schoolchildren is the ability to sift content for relevance and accuracy. Here are five ways teachers can help improve this skill in elementary-age children.

1. Define the task

What exactly must be researched? It’s very easy to get lost if children do not know precisely what they are looking for. In elementary school the subjects may be relatively simple, but they still must be defined accurately to aid in the search.

Teachers should talk with students about what they will be looking for and how to get specific results. The more specific they can get, the easier it will be to come up with search terms.

2. Discover keywords

Elementary school students may not fully grasp the concept of keywords, so they’ll need to be instructed in this foundational aspect of search technology. Search engines perform well only if correct keywords are used, and students need to learn how to come up with those words to get the results they need.

Keywords are typically based upon the most common approach to discussing a subject. Often, it will take some trial and error to discover just what keyword combination yields the desired results. Teachers can create a whole lesson around keywords, including what they are, how they work and how to find them.

3. Use appropriate tools

Google and Bing are probably the most popular search engines, but they may not be the best for teaching research skills to young people. Teacher Mary Beth Hertz recommends one of the more popular search engines for students, Sweet Search, whose results are screened by experts. Using something like Sweet Search may make it easier to teach research skills by weeding out a lot of the chaff that so often comes up on the more popular engines.

4. Teach about source hierarchy and evaluation

Elementary students can comprehend the tiers of legitimacy related to information-gathering. Teachers can explain about primary sources, original research and the reliability of information found on the Web. Kids can learn about how information travels from research papers to news sources to blogs and so on.

By going through examples, teachers can demonstrate the way various information sources find their information and present it to the public, and how to determine which information is best to use for their projects.

Children may not need to cite abstracts from scientific research papers, but they can learn to seek information more intelligently.

5. Take notes and compile information

The complexity of note-taking skills will depend on the students’ grade level, but even kids in the younger grades can learn to take pencil to paper and record the most important pieces of information they gather. The better they get at finding quality sources, the easier the note-taking will become.

Students should also learn how to cite their sources appropriately.

Setting up a lifelong skill

Learning research skills at a young age will give students a skill that will serve them over a lifetime. This skill will not only be useful in school, but in their everyday lives as they attempt to absorb ever-increasing amounts of information. Teachers will do their students a great service in teaching these skills.

Writing Research Papers

This research writing unit of study is designed to guide your students through the research writing process.

This is a free writing unit of study from the curriculum corner..

This research writing collection includes mini lessons, anchor charts and more.

Mention the words “research writing” in an intermediate classroom and you might be met with moans & groans or perhaps even see fear in the eyes of some students.

In all seriousness though, writing can be intimidating for many children in our classrooms.

Guided and focused your mini-lessons can be helpful for students. Also, the more examples you can get students to interact with, the more they will understand the expectations. Finally, the more modeling that you do for them, the more they can view writing as less overwhelming.

Download the free resources to accompany this unit of study at the bottom of this post.

Lesson Ideas for Writing Research Papers:

Lesson 1: Noticings

Begin by getting your students familiar with what research writing looks like.
Have them work in pairs or small groups to read pieces of research writing. They will record their “noticings” about the writing.
Then, come together in a community circle to discuss and create a class anchor chart.
You will find a blank anchor chart and one with noticings already recorded.
Here is a link we found that contains some student-created examples of research writing: Student Writing Models . Simply scroll through the grade levels for different samples.

Lesson 2: Opinion vs. Facts

Begin with a brief review of opinions vs. facts.
Use the six paragraphs we share in our resources to give your students some practice differentiating between the two.
Each of the paragraphs contains both opinions and facts.
Students will read the paragraphs and record the facts and opinions from their paragraph onto the recording page.

FREEBIE! Research Writing Unit of Study FREE from The Curriculum Corner - mini lessons, anchor charts, graphic organizers & more!

Lesson 3: Choosing a Topic

We know that providing choice will allow for greater engagement and success. We want to help students to narrow their choices by giving them some guidance.
Gather students and begin a discussion about choosing a research topic.
Ask them to think of topics they already know a little about, have interest in or is important/relevant to their lives.
You might pose the question “Why is that important in research writing?” and discuss their thoughts.
For this lesson we have provided a page where students can individually brainstorm topics. You can circulate the room during this process to help students to narrow their topic.
If you feel your class may need help to narrow their choices, think about giving them a broad topic, such as animals, and then have them choose a sub-topics from the bigger umbrella topic.
If you feel like your students need an added level of support you might think about creating an anchor chart from a class brainstorming session about possible appropriate topics and then display this in your room.

Lesson 4: Where to Find Accurate Information about a Topic

Help students to begin to understand where they might find accurate information about their topics.
Where are the places you can begin to look for information about your topic?
Why would the copyright date on a book be important in doing research?
Is everything on the internet true?
Why is it important for your research to contain accurate information?
Where do you begin to look for information that will accurate
One way to help students think through appropriate sites on the internet is to pass out the ten cards provided in our resources.
Have students read the cards and discuss what kind of a website it is.
Talk about whether they know or have heard of the sites. Would they consider the sites “trusted” enough to gain knowledge about their topics. Then have them talk about why or why not these sites would be trusted.

Research Writing Unit of Study FREE from The Curriculum Corner - mini lessons, anchor charts, graphic organizers & more! Completely free!!!

Lesson 5: Double Check Your Facts

We want our students to get into the habit of double checking their facts. This will help ensure what they are learning is correct.
To do this, you might want them to practice this skill. In this lesson use the page provided to have each student find and record a fact about a topic of their choice on the internet.
The page then has students write where they found the fact, and also has them list a corresponding fact from a different source.
Finally they determine if the facts are the same or different. You may have to further the lesson by discussing approximations. For example one site might say that an animal can weigh up to 1,500 pounds, while another might state that the animal weighs between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds.
You will need to talk about how those facts might both be accurate even though they are stated differently. If they seem to check out, then help students generalize the information for a research paper.

Research Writing Unit of Study FREE from The Curriculum Corner - mini lessons, anchor charts, graphic organizers & more! FREEBIE UNIT!

Lesson 6: Taking Notes

Sometimes giving students resources and a blank sheet of notebook paper can be too overwhelming. You have students who simply copy everything from the text or you have others who have no idea where to start.
We need to guide them to read to pull out facts & relevant information.
For this lesson we have provided various templates for note-taking. Whatever method or template you choose for helping your students learn to take notes, model it several times in front of the class Demonstrating for them how to write the notes as they read about a topic will be helpful.
After initial teaching, you may find that you need to pull small groups for extra practice. Some might need a one-on-one conference.

Lesson 7: Paraphrasing vs. Plagiarism

Students will need to learn how to paraphrase their research. This will help them avoid plagiarizing words from their resources.
Discuss why plagiarizing is something that they shouldn’t do in their writing because it is “stealing” another’s words.
Tell the students that there is a way to use another author’s ideas in an appropriate way without copying their words. First, they need to paraphrase and then they need to cite the source where they found the information.
Display the anchor chart “What is Paraphrasing” and discuss the definition.
Next, pass out copies of “My Own Words” to pairs of students. Explain that their task will be to find a paragraph or passage in a nonfiction book. They will paraphrase the author’s words, keeping the same ideas.
Finally, gather students together to share their paraphrasing efforts. Each pair of students can read the paragraph/passage from the book and then the paraphrasing that they wrote. Discuss the words and decisions the students made in their paraphrasing.

Lesson 8: Word Choice in Research Writing

To help students think about making their writing more interesting, have them brainstorm words that could add voice to their writing.
After working independently on the word choice page provided, have them meet with partners. They can talk about nouns, verbs and adjectives that relate to their topic.

Lesson 9: Writing Sketch

This graphic organizer can be used for students to plan their writing.
If your writers are more advanced you might choose to skip this step, It could be a big help for students who have taken notes and have too many facts.
Be sure to model how to write the facts & ideas from your notes onto your planner. Students will see first hand how to make sure to only add what is relevant and important to their writing.
Some questions you can pose: What will be the focus of each paragraph in your research writing? What do you want to include from your notes? Why is it important to the research? What facts don’t quite fit into the paragraphs you’ve decided upon? Should you change some of the paragraphs so that they better support the research and what you want your readers to learn?
Once the planner is finished, they can use it as a guide to help their writing stay focused.

Lesson 10: Writing Introductions to Research

Teach students how to think about their introduction as a way to grab their readers’ attention.
Our anchor chart has some ideas to get writers started. You might also extend the anchor chart to include ideas from your students. (We have included some blank anchor charts at the very bottom of the download.)
Discuss the parts that need to be included in the introductory paragraph first. Then, move on to some of the ways that might engage readers. As always be sure to model how you would go about writing an introductory paragraph using your Writing Sketch.

Lesson 11: Developing Your Paragraphs

Next, help students stay focused and develop complete paragraphs.The next graphic organizer will get them to think through the specifics of each paragraph.
Again, this may not be needed for all of the students in your classroom, but it might be something to think about using with all of them for at least their very first attempts at writing research papers.
Model how to use the Writing Sketch planner to develop their paragraphs more fully on this organizer.

Lesson 12: Writing a Conclusion to Research

Providing a solid concluding paragraph is also something that needs modeled for your students.

Use the anchor chart with ideas to get you started with the modeling of this as well.

***If you would like for your students to write their first drafts on something that continues to support organization for them, you will find guided lined paper.

Lesson 13: Research Rendezvous Celebration

We love ending a unit of study with a celebration.

For this particular celebration, you might invite students to bring in a visual to help illustrate their topic.

Invite parents and other special adults from your building to the celebration and think about providing a snack.

You can also print out our “Congrats Author!” certificates to give to each student during the celebration.

Free unit! Research Writing Unit of Study FREE from The Curriculum Corner - mini lessons, anchor charts, graphic organizers & more!

All the research writing resources described above can be found in one download here:

Writing a Research Paper Resources

As with all of our resources, The Curriculum Corner creates these for free classroom use. Our products may not be sold. You may print and copy for your personal classroom use. These are also great for home school families!

You may not modify and resell in any form. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Dulce Hernandez

Thursday 8th of April 2021

Thank you so much. I tutor non-English speakers from K-9th grade. These resources are a God send!!

Monday 25th of May 2020

I cant download it, where do you download it?

Jill & Cathy

Wednesday 2nd of September 2020

Here is the link: https://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/thecurriculumcorner456/wp-content/pdf/writing/research/researchwriting.pdf

Graphic Organizer for Research Papers - The Curriculum Corner 4-5-6

Tuesday 19th of November 2019

[…] You might also like our unit of study for writing research papers:How to Write a Research Paper […]

Planning a Dynamic Writing Workshop - The Curriculum Corner 123

Thursday 14th of November 2019

[…] Writing Research Papers […]

Language Arts in the Middle School and High School Years

Thursday 11th of May 2017

[…] The middle school years can also be a good time to introduce writing a short research paper if your student is ready. Introduce how to do research, how to make an outline, and how to write a short research paper, including how to cite sources. Here’s a website that has a free introduction to writing research papers: https://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/thecurriculumcorner456/writing-research-papers/. […]

Research Skills

How to Teach Online Research Skills to Students in 5 Steps (Free Posters)

Please note, this post was updated in 2020 and I no longer update this website.

How often does this scenario play out in your classroom?

You want your students to go online and do some research for some sort of project, essay, story or presentation. Time ticks away, students are busy searching and clicking, but are they finding the useful and accurate information they need for their project?

We’re very fortunate that many classrooms are now well equipped with devices and the internet, so accessing the wealth of information online should be easier than ever, however, there are many obstacles.

Students (and teachers) need to navigate:

What search terms to put into Google or other search engines
What search results to click on and read through (while avoiding inappropriate or irrelevant sites or advertisements)
How to determine what information is credible, relevant and student friendly
How to process, synthesize, evaluate , and present the information
How to compare a range of sources to evaluate their reliability and relevancy
How to cite sources correctly

Phew! No wonder things often don’t turn out as expected when you tell your students to just “google” their topic. On top of these difficulties some students face other obstacles including: low literacy skills, limited internet access, language barriers, learning difficulties and disabilities.

All of the skills involved in online research can be said to come under the term of information literacy, which tends to fall under a broader umbrella term of digital literacy.

Being literate in this way is an essential life skill.

This post offers tips and suggestions on how to approach this big topic. You’ll learn a 5 step method to break down the research process into manageable chunks in the classroom. Scroll down to find a handy poster for your classroom too.

How to Teach Information Literacy and Online Research Skills

The topic of researching and filtering information can be broken down in so many ways but I believe the best approach involves:

Starting young and building on skills
Embedding explicit teaching and mini-lessons regularly (check out my 50 mini-lesson ideas here !)
Providing lots of opportunity for practice and feedback
Teachers seeking to improve their own skills — these free courses from Google might help
Working with your librarian if you have one

💡 While teaching research skills is something that should be worked on throughout the year, I also like the idea of starting the year off strongly with a “Research Day” which is something 7th grade teacher Dan Gallagher wrote about . Dan and his colleagues had their students spend a day rotating around different activities to learn more about researching online. Something to think about!

Google or a Kid-friendly Search Engine?

If you teach young students you might be wondering what the best starting place is.

I’ve only ever used Google with students but I know many teachers like to start with search engines designed for children. If you’ve tried these search engines, I’d love you to add your thoughts in a comment.

💡 If you’re not using a kid-friendly search engine, definitely make sure SafeSearch is activated on Google or Bing. It’s not foolproof but it helps.

Two search engines designed for children that look particularly useful include:

These sites are powered by Google SafeSearch with some extra filtering/moderating.

KidzSearch contains additional features like videos and image sections to browse. While not necessarily a bad thing, I prefer the simple interface of Kiddle for beginners.

Maybe start with no search engine?

Another possible starting point for researching with young students is avoiding a search engine altogether.

Students could head straight to a site they’ve used before (or choose from a small number of teacher suggested sites). There’s a lot to be learned just from finding, filtering, and using information found on various websites.

Five Steps to Teaching Students How to Research Online and Filter Information

This five-step model might be a useful starting point for your students to consider every time they embark on some research.

Let’s break down each step. You can find a summary poster at the end.

Students first need to take a moment to consider what information they’re actually looking for in their searches.

It can be a worthwhile exercise to add this extra step in between giving a student a task (or choice of tasks) and sending them off to research.

You could have a class discussion or small group conferences on brainstorming keywords , considering synonyms or alternative phrases , generating questions etc. Mindmapping might help too.

2016 research by Morrison showed that 80% of students rarely or never made a list of possible search words. This may be a fairly easy habit to start with.

Time spent defining the task can lead to a more effective and streamlined research process.

It sounds simple but students need to know that the quality of the search terms they put in the Google search box will determine the quality of their results.

There are a LOT of tips and tricks for Googling but I think it’s best to have students first master the basics of doing a proper Google search.

I recommend consolidating these basics:

Type in some simple search terms using only the important keywords
If the initial results aren’t what you want, alter the search terms and get more specific (get clues from the initial search results e.g. you might see synonyms that would work or get ideas from the “People Also Ask” section)
Use quotation marks if you want your keywords in an exact order, e.g. “raining cats and dogs”
use your best guess with spelling (Google will often understand)
don’t worry about punctuation
understand that everyone’s results will be different , even if they use the same search terms (depending on browser history, location etc.)

📌 Get a free PDF of this poster here.

How to Google: A Basic Guide for Students by Kathleen Morris (free poster)

Links to learn more about Google searches

There’s lots you can learn about Google searches.

I highly recommend you take a look at 20 Instant Google Searches your Students Need to Know by Eric Curts to learn about “instant searches”.

Med Kharbach has also shared a simple visual with 12 search tips which would be really handy once students master the basics too.

The Google Search Education website is an amazing resource with lessons for beginner/intermediate/advanced plus slideshows and videos. It’s also home to the A Google A Day classroom challenges. The questions help older students learn about choosing keywords, deconstructing questions, and altering keywords.

Useful videos about Google searches

How search works.

This easy to understand video from Code.org to explains more about how search works.

How Does Google Know Everything About Me?

You might like to share this video with older students that explains how Google knows what you’re typing or thinking. Despite this algorithm, Google can’t necessarily know what you’re looking for if you’re not clear with your search terms.

What about when the answer comes up in Google instantly?

If you’ve been using Google for a while, you know they are tweaking the search formula so that more and more, an answer will show up within the Google search result itself. You won’t even need to click through to any websites.

For example, here I’ve asked when the Titanic sunk. I don’t need to go to any websites to find out. The answer is right there in front of me.

While instant searches and featured snippets are great and mean you can “get an answer” without leaving Google, students often don’t have the background knowledge to know if a result is incorrect or not. So double checking is always a good idea.

As students get older, they’ll be able to know when they can trust an answer and when double checking is needed.

Type in a subject like cats and you’ll be presented with information about the animals, sports teams, the musical along with a lot of advertising. There are a lot of topics where some background knowledge helps. And that can only be developed with time and age.

Entering quality search terms is one thing but knowing what to click on is another.

You might like to encourage students to look beyond the first few results. Let students know that Google’s PageRank algorithm is complex (as per the video above), and many websites use Search Engine Optimisation to improve the visibility of their pages in search results. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the most useful or relevant sites for you.

As pointed out in this article by Scientific American ,

Skilled searchers know that the ranking of results from a search engine is not a statement about objective truth, but about the best matching of the search query, term frequency, and the connectedness of web pages. Whether or not those results answer the searchers’ questions is still up for them to determine.

Point out the anatomy of a Google search result and ensure students know what all the components mean. This could be as part of a whole class discussion, or students could create their own annotations.

An important habit to get into is looking at the green URL and specifically the domain . Use some intuition to decide whether it seems reliable. Does the URL look like a well-known site? Is it a forum or opinion site? Is it an educational or government institution? Domains that include .gov or .edu might be more reliable sources.

When looking through possible results, you may want to teach students to open sites in new tabs, leaving their search results in a tab for easy access later (e.g. right-click on the title and click “Open link in new tab” or press Control/Command and click the link).

Searchers are often not skilled at identifying advertising within search results. A famous 2016 Stanford University study revealed that 82% of middle-schoolers couldn’t distinguish between an ad labelled “sponsored content” and a real news story.

Time spent identifying advertising within search results could help students become much more savvy searchers. Looking for the words “ad” and “sponsored” is a great place to start.

Teach students how to look for advertisements in Google search results

4) Evaluate

Once you click on a link and land on a site, how do you know if it offers the information you need?

Students need to know how to search for the specific information they’re after on a website. Teach students how to look for the search box on a webpage or use Control F (Command F on Mac) to bring up a search box that can scan the page.

Ensure students understand that you cannot believe everything you read . This might involve checking multiple sources. You might set up class guidelines that ask students to cross check their information on two or three different sites before assuming it’s accurate.

I’ve written a post all about teaching students how to evaluate websites . It includes this flowchart which you’re welcome to download and use in your classroom.

How to evaluate websites flowchart Kathleen Morris

So your students navigated the obstacles of searching and finding information on quality websites. They’ve found what they need! Hooray.

Many students will instinctively want to copy and paste the information they find for their own work.

We need to inform students about plagiarism and copyright infringement while giving them the skills they need to avoid this.

Students need to know that plagiarism is taking someone’s work and presenting it as your own. You could have a class discussion about the ethics and legalities of this.
Students also need to be assured that they can use information from other sources and they should. They just need to say who wrote it, where it was from and so on.

All students can benefit from learning about plagiarism, copyright, how to write information in their own words, and how to acknowledge the source. However, the formality of this process will depend on your students’ age and your curriculum guidelines.

Give students lots of practice writing information in their own words. Younger students can benefit from simply putting stories or recounts in their own words. Older students could investigate the difference between paraphrasing and summarising .

There are some free online tools that summarise information for you. These aren’t perfect and aren’t a replacement from learning the skill but they could be handy for students to try out and evaluate. For example, students could try writing their own summary and then comparing it to a computer summary. I like the tool SMMRY as you can enter text or a URL of an article. Eric Curts shares a list of 7 summary tools in this blog post .

Students also need a lot of practice using quotation marks and citing sources .

The internet can offer a confusing web of information at times. Students need to be shown how to look for the primary source of information. For example, if they find information on Wikipedia, they need to cite from the bibliography at the bottom of the Wikipedia article, not Wikipedia itself.

There are many ways you can teach citation:

I like Kathy Schrock’s PDF document which demonstrates how you can progressively teach citation from grades 1 to 6 (and beyond). It gives some clear examples that you could adapt for your own classroom use.

Staying organised!

You might also like to set up a system for students to organise their information while they’re searching. There are many apps and online tools to curate, annotate, and bookmark information, however, you could just set up a simple system like a Google Doc or Spreadsheet.

The format and function is simple and clear. This means students don’t have to put much thought into using and designing their collections. Instead, they can focus on the important curation process.

Bring These Ideas to Life With Mini-Lessons!

We know how important it is for students to have solid research skills. But how can you fit teaching research skills into a jam-packed curriculum? The answer may be … mini-lessons !

Whether you teach primary or secondary students, I’ve compiled 50 ideas for mini-lessons.

Try one a day or one a week and by the end of the school year, you might just be amazed at how independent your students are becoming with researching.

Become an Internet Search Master with This Google Slides Presentation

In early 2019, I was contacted by Noah King who is a teacher in Northern California.

Noah was teaching his students about my 5 step process outlined in this post and put together a Google Slides Presentation with elaboration and examples.

You’re welcome to use and adapt the Google Slides Presentation yourself. Find out exactly how to do this in this post.

The Presentation was designed for students around 10-11 years old but I think it could easily be adapted for different age groups.

Recap: How To Do Online Research

Despite many students being confident users of technology, they need to be taught how to find information online that’s relevant, factual, student-friendly, and safe.

Keep these six steps in mind whenever you need to do some online research:

Clarify : What information are you looking for? Consider keywords, questions, synonyms, alternative phrases etc.
Search : What are the best words you can type into the search engine to get the highest quality results?
Delve : What search results should you click on and explore further?
Evaluate : Once you click on a link and land on a site, how do you know if it offers the information you need?
Cite : How can you write information in your own words (paraphrase or summarise), use direct quotes, and cite sources?
Staying organised : How can you keep the valuable information you find online organised as you go through the research process?

Don’t forget to ask for help!

Lastly, remember to get help when you need it. If you’re lucky enough to have a teacher-librarian at your school, use them! They’re a wonderful resource.

If not, consult with other staff members, librarians at your local library, or members of your professional learning network. There are lots of people out there who are willing and able to help with research. You just need to ask!

Being able to research effectively is an essential skill for everyone . It’s only becoming more important as our world becomes increasingly information-saturated. Therefore, it’s definitely worth investing some classroom time in this topic.

Developing research skills doesn’t necessarily require a large chunk of time either. Integration is key and remember to fit in your mini-lessons . Model your own searches explicitly and talk out loud as you look things up.

When you’re modelling your research, go to some weak or fake websites and ask students to justify whether they think the site would be useful and reliable. Eric Curts has an excellent article where he shares four fake sites to help teach students about website evaluation. This would be a great place to start!

Introduce students to librarians ; they are a wonderful resource and often underutilised. It pays for students to know how they can collaborate with librarians for personalised help.

Finally, consider investing a little time in brushing up on research skills yourself . Everyone thinks they can “google” but many don’t realise they could do it even better (myself included!).

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5 simple steps to teaching Google search tips and internet research skills for students. This 2019 post and free eBook shows how to research effectively for kids in primary school, middle school and high school. These tips are summarized in a free research skills poster for your classroom.

14 Replies to “How to Teach Online Research Skills to Students in 5 Steps (Free Posters)”

Kathleen, I like your point about opening up sites in new tabs. You might be interested in Mike Caulfield’s ‘four moves’ .

What a fabulous resource, Aaron. Thanks so much for sharing. This is definitely one that others should check out too. Even if teachers don’t use it with students (or are teaching young students), it could be a great source of learning for educators too.

This is great information and I found the safe search sites you provided a benefit for my children. I searched for other safe search sites and you may want to know about them. http://www.kids-search.com and http://www.safesearch.tips .

Hi Alice, great finds! Thanks so much for sharing. I like the simple interface. It’s probably a good thing there are ads at the top of the listing too. It’s an important skill for students to learn how to distinguish these. 🙂

Great website! Really useful info 🙂

I really appreciate this blog post! Teaching digital literacy can be a struggle. This topic is great for teachers, like me, who need guidance in effectively scaffolding for scholars who to use the internet to gain information.

So glad to hear it was helpful, Shasta! Good luck teaching digital literacy!

Why teachers stopped investing in themselves! Thanks a lot for the article, but this is the question I’m asking myself after all teachers referring to google as if it has everything you need ! Why it has to come from you and not the whole education system! Why it’s an option? As you said smaller children don’t need search engine in the first place! I totally agree, and I’m soo disappointed how schooling system is careless toward digital harms , the very least it’s waste of the time of my child and the most being exposed to all rubbish on the websites. I’m really disappointed that most teachers are not thinking taking care of their reputation when it comes to digital learning. Ok using you tube at school as material it’s ok , but why can’t you pay little extra to avoid adverts while teaching your children! Saving paper created mountains of electronic-toxic waste all over the world! What a degradation of education.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Shohida. I disagree that all schooling systems are careless towards ‘digital harms’, however, I do feel like more digital citizenship education is always important!

Hi Kathleen, I love your How to Evaluate Websites Flow Chart! I was wondering if I could have permission to have it translated into Spanish. I would like to add it to a Digital Research Toolkit that I have created for students.

Thank you! Kristen

Hi Kristen, You’re welcome to translate it! Please just leave the original attribution to my site on there. 🙂 Thanks so much for asking. I really hope it’s useful to your students! Kathleen

[…] matter how old your child is, there are many ways for them to do research into their question. For very young children, you’ll need to do the online research work. Take your time with […]

[…] digs deep into how teachers can guide students through responsible research practices on her blog (2019). She suggests a 5 step model for elementary students on how to do online […]

Writing lesson plans on the fly outside of my usual knowledge base (COVID taken down so many teachers!) and this info is precisely what I needed! Thanks!!!

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Writing a Research Report (Gr. 5)

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Research Lesson Plan

This lesson plan accompanies the BrainPOP topic, Research , and can be completed over several class periods. See suggested times for each section.

Students will:

Activate prior knowledge about how to do a research project.

Identify the sequence of events for conducting research.

Use critical thinking skills to analyze how and why having a focus is key to conducting research and doing a research report.

Demonstrate understanding through creative projects, such as producing a movie using research they gathered, or coding a game that challenges players to sort the different research steps.

Present projects and reflect on new understandings.

TEACHER PRE-PLANNING

For background on the Research Topic , click the Full Description link below the movie player.

The INVESTIGATE and CREATE sections of the lesson require students to use Make-a-Map, Make-a-Movie, and Creative Coding projects. Assign the Research Make-a-Map to the class in advance of the lesson.

Approximate time: 20-25 minutes

Begin the lesson plan by activating students’ prior knowledge and making real-life connections. Then show the movie to introduce the topic.

DISPLAY this Anchor Question on whiteboard and read it aloud: What are the signs of a good research question? Tell students they will investigate this question over the course of the lesson and will return to it at the end.
ACTIVATE BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE by having pairs or small groups share with each other steps they’ve taken for doing a research project, including what has and hasn’t worked.
READ ALOUD the description below the movie player.
MAKE CONNECTIONS by asking students to share specific research projects they’ve worked on and what they learned from the experience.
WATCH the movie Research as a whole class on the whiteboard. Turn on the closed caption option to aid in comprehension.

INVESTIGATE

Prompt students’ inquiry and critical thinking skills by having them find key details to build knowledge and understanding.

FIND EVIDENCE

Students open their Make-a-Map Assignment and select or create a sequence map. They type the question they will investigate at the top: What are the steps to conducting research for a research report?
As students watch the movie again, they identify the steps for doing a research report. Evidence can include text, images, and movie clips. ADDED CHALLENGE : Prompt students to include evidence for why research isn’t always a linear process; why returning to earlier steps is sometimes a key step to conducting research. SUPPORT TIP: Help students by identifying the first step or two for doing a research report, and add it to the concept map.
Students SUBMIT their maps when they are done.

Approximate time: 45-60 minutes

Students demonstrate their understanding by synthesizing their ideas and expressing them through one or more of the following hands-on, creative projects. They can work individually or collaborate. Remind them to use evidence from their concept maps in their creations.

APPLY KNOWLEDGE

Research Memes : Code a research meme. It can be about a research topic, the research process, or even a famous researcher. Your meme can be funny or serious!
A Research Tutorial : Produce a mini tutorial for classmates describing a research report you’re working on now, and the steps you are taking. Include your research question.
Research Steps Game : Code a game challenging players to identify when in the research process different steps happen: beginning, middle, or end.

Wrap up the lesson with student presentations and a final reflection on learning.

PRESENT : Students present their completed projects to their classmates.

WRAP UP : Draw attention to the Anchor Question again: What are the signs of a good research question? Students answer the question using their new knowledge.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

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Tips and Tools for Student Research, Grades 3-5

by Anna Gratz Cockerille

To research well, students must draw upon an array of reading and writing skills, flexibly, simultaneously, and confidently. They must skim through texts to locate relevant parts, read across and integrate information from multiple texts, accumulate knowledge and grow ideas, and read critically, considering the authorial intent of their sources. They must organize their thinking and their writing to communicate their learning with others.

When students research, then, the full range of their literacy skills is on display. Further, engaging in research is essential preparation for the kind of reading and thinking students will need to do as secondary and college students, and as informed citizens, attempting to make sense of the world around them. The opportunity for students to engage in research projects of all shapes and sizes is crucial.

When we teach kids to research well, we teach them to think well. Research means taking in facts and ideas as reported by someone else, and interpreting them in thoughtful ways. Inserting plenty of thinking instruction into research instruction is key. Here are a few ways to help students to move from sheer reporting of the facts to more in-depth, insightful interpretations as they research.

Teach students to jot ideas while reading nonfiction the way they jot ideas in fiction, rather than just recording facts. They can push their thinking and writing using prompts ( This makes me think…I’m wondering…This is important because…On the other hand… )
Invite students to share some of the ideas they are growing about the information they are learning with each other, and to talk for at least two minutes about a single idea with the goal of growing new ideas about the information.
Teach them to re-read texts they have already read, and to jot possible themes or life lessons they see.
Teach students to ask the kinds of questions that don’t have a ready answer. Teach them to formulate hypotheses by asking, Could it be… and to read on, jotting possible answers.
Teach students to add interpretations to their research writing. They might use transition phrases such as: It was possible that…, One reason this might have been so…, or One could hypothesize that…
Teach students to present multiple points of view in their writing and to add possible explanations for the opposing views.
Teach students to re-read their writing with an eye for parts that were not written in their own voices, and to go back to add their own interpretations to these parts, possibly using some of the above ideas.

Classrooms engaged in research are filled with energy, learning, and independence. Of course, all of this independence and reliance on a breadth of skills means teachers have their work cut out for them. Students will need vigilance, support, and cheerleading, in ways that will pay off long term. Join staff developers Mike Ochs and Jen DeSutter for this week's TCRWP Twitter Chat tomorrow to discuss writing and the research process. Plan to share and take away a multitude of tips to help support students as they put their nonfiction reading and writing skills to work to engage in deep, powerful inquiry.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Each wednesday night at 7:30pm eastern, the teacher's college reading and writing project hosts a twitter chat using the hashtag #tcrwp . join @readwritemike & @jendesutter to chat about tips and tools for research in grades 3-5 tomorrow evening. , not on twitter take heinemann’s free twitter for educators course here..

Anna was a teacher and a literacy coach in New York City and in Sydney, Australia, and later became a Staff Developer and Writer at TCRWP. She served as an adjunct instructor in the Literacy Specialist Program at Teachers College, and taught at several TCRWP institutes, including the content literacy institute, where she helped participants bring strong literacy instruction into social studies classrooms. Anna also has been a researcher for Lucy Calkins, contributing especially to Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement (Heinemann 2012), and Navigating Nonfiction in the Units of Study for Teaching Reading , Grades 3–5 series (Heinemann 2010). Most recently, Anna served as an editor for the Units of Study for Teaching Reading , K–5 series.

Topics: Lucy Calkins , Christine Hertz , Education , Literature , Reading , TCRWP , Teachers College , Teachers College Reading and Writing Project , Writing , Anna Gratz Cockerille , Cheryl Tyler , Elementary , Kristine Mraz , Language Arts , Literacy , Middle School , Nonfiction , Purposeful Play

How to Teach Research Skills to Elementary Students in 2024

Research skills are incredibly important in the world we live in today. When we come across a problem or a question, what do we do? We quickly search online to find the answer. We are using our research skills while we are doing this. Read below to learn how to teach research skills to elementary students! This will help you prepare your twenty-first century learners for the ever-changing world we live in. You’ll have the confidence to create opportunities to apply these skills to research projects like this animal research project .

What are Research Skills?

Research skills is the ability to search for information about a topic, evaluate that information efficiently, and share findings in an organized way.

What Research Skills do Elementary Students Need?

Your elementary students are required to learn research skills if your state uses the Common Core or TEKS. Read below to learn what specific research standards your grade level covers.

Learn how to teach research skills to your elementary students from this Clutter-Free Classroom blog post written for first, second, third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers. It's packed with lesson and project ideas to help you start your planning. Check it out now! #elementaryclassroom #researchskills #elementaryresearchskills

Research Standards in Common Core

The standards listed below are a good starting point for figuring out how to teach research skills to your elementary students.

Kindergarten

ELA.W.K.7 : Participate in shared research and writing projects.
ELA.W.K.8 : With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

First Grade

ELA.W.1.7 : Participate in shared research and writing projects.
ELA.W.1.8 : With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Second Grade

ELA.W.2.7 : Participate in shared research and writing projects.
ELA.W.2.8 : Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Third Grade

ELA.W.3.7 : Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
ELA.W.3.8 : Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

Fourth Grade

ELA.W.4.7 : Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
ELA.W.4.8 : Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
ELA.4.9 : Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
ELA.4.9.B : Apply grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts.

Fifth Grade

ELA.W.5.7 : Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
ELA.W.5.8 : Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
ELA.W.5.9 : Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
ELA.W.5.9.B : Apply grade 5 Reading standards to informational texts.

Research Standards in TEKS

The standards listed below are a good starting point for figuring out how to teach research skills to your students.

Generate questions for formal and informal inquiry with adult assistance. (TEKS 12A)
Develop and follow a research plan with adult assistance. (TEKS 12B)
Gather information from a variety of sources with adult assistance. (TEKS 12C)
Demonstrate understanding of information gathered with adult assistance. (TEKS 12D)
Use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results. (TEKS 12E)
Generate questions for formal and informal inquiry with adult assistance. (TEKS 13A)
Develop and follow a research plan with adult assistance. (TEKS 13B)
Identify and gather relevant sources and information to answer the questions with adult assistance. (TEKS 13C)
Demonstrate understanding of information gathered with adult assistance. (TEKS 13D)
Use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results. (TEKS 13E)
Identify and gather relevant sources and information to answer the questions. (TEKS 13C)
Identify primary and secondary sources. (TEKS 13D)
Demonstrate understanding of information gathered. (TEKS 13E)
Cite sources appropriately. (TEKS 13F)
Use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results. (TEKS 13G)
Generate questions on a topic for formal and informal inquiry. (TEKS 13A)
Identify and gather relevant information from a variety of sources. (TEKS 13C)
Recognize the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism when using source materials. (TEKS 13F)
Create a works cited page. (TEKS 13G)
Use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results. (TEKS 13H)
Generate and clarify questions on a topic for formal and informal inquiry. (TEKS 13A)
Develop a bibliography. (TEKS 13G)
Use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results . (TEKS 13H)
Understand credibility of primary and secondary sources. (TEKS 13D)
Differentiate between paraphrasing and plagiarism when using source materials. (TEKS 13F)

20 Research Mini Lesson Ideas

Below are 20 research mini lessons for how to teach research skills to elementary students.

Research and What it Looks Like
The Steps in the Research Process
Types of Resources
Text Features in Websites
Finding Resources on the Internet
Finding Information in Non-Fiction Books
Text Features in Non-Fiction Texts
How to Use an Encyclopedia
Conducting an Interview with an Expert
Reading a Newspaper and Getting Information from it
Previewing a Text for Research
Evaluating a Resource to Determine if it is Reliable
Citing Sources
Facts vs. Opinions
Taking notes
Paraphrasing
Summarizing
Organizing Information
Writing Like an Informational Writer
Presenting Findings

What are the Research Steps for Elementary Students?

Here are the 4 steps of the research process for elementary students:

Choose a topic.
Search for information.
Organize information.
Share information.

Ideas for Elementary School Research Topics

Below are research topic ideas for elementary students.

Animal Research Topics for Elementary Students

1. ocean animals.

Oyster, tuna, cod, grouper, shrimp, barnacle, barracuda, shark, bass, whale, lobster, starfish, salmon, clam, conch, coral, crab, sea otter, dolphin, eel, seal, sea turtle, flounder, octopus, sea star, haddock, jellyfish, krill, manatee, marlin, seahorse, sea otter, sea cucumber, sea lion, sea urchin, stingray, squid, swordfish, and walrus

2. Land Animals

Aardvark, elephant, frog, dog, tortoise, ant, anteater, antelope, fox, rabbit, baboon, camel, badger, owl, bat, bear, beaver, bison, rhinoceros, spider, bobcat, buffalo, bumble bee, butterfly, cat, chameleon, cheetah, chicken, chipmunk, cockroach, cougar, cow, coyote, gorilla, deer, donkey, dragonfly, eagle, emu, ferret, flamingo, goat, goose, hedgehog, heron, hippopotamus, horse, hummingbird, hyena, iguana, jaguar, kangaroo, koala, lemur, leopard, lion, llama, meerkat, mongoose, monkey, moth, mouse, mule, panther, parrot, peacock, pelican, peacock, pheasant, pig, platypus, porcupine, possum, puma, quail, raccoon, rattlesnake, sheep, skunk, sloth, squirrel, swan, termite, tiger, turkey, vulture, walrus, weasel, wolf, woodpecker, yak, and zebra

3. Endangered Species

Bengal tiger, polar bear, Pacific walrus, Magellanic penguin, leatherback turtle, bluefish tuna, mountain gorilla, monarch butterfly, Javan rhinoceros, giant panda, amur leopard, sei whale, Asian elephant, sumatran elephant, pangolin, African wild dog, amur tiger, blue whale, bonobo, chimpanzee, dugong, Indus river dolphin, orangutan, red panda, sea lion, vaquita, whale shark, yangtze finless porpoise, North Atlantic right whale, and yellowfish tuna

Resources for Teaching Elementary Research Skills

Below are resources for teaching elementary student research skills.

Animal Research Project

Learn more about the animal research project below!

What is the animal research project?

The animal research project is a printable and digital research project where students learn about any animal they choose. You can also choose the animals for them. The resource can be used over and over again all year long by just picking a new animal.

What grades is the animal research project appropriate for?

This resource includes tons of differentiated materials so it is appropriate for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students.

What is included in the animal research project?

The animal research project includes the following:

teacher’s guide with tips and instructions to support you with your lesson planning and delivery
parent communication letter to promote family involvement
graphic organizers for brainstorming a topic, activating schema, taking notes, drafting writing
research report publishing printables including a cover, writing templates and resource pages
grading rubric so expectations are clear for students and grading is quick and easy for you
research activities (KWL, can have are chart, compare/contrast Venn diagram, habitat map, vocabulary pages, illustration page, and life cycle charts)
flipbook project printables to give an additional choice of how students can demonstrate their understanding
flap book project printables to offer students another way to demonstrate their learning
research poster to serve as an additional way to demonstrate student understanding
poetry activities to offer students an alternative way to demonstrate their learning
digital version so your students can access this resource in school or at home

4 Research Websites

Below are 4 research websites for elementary students.

http://www.kidrex.org
https://www.kiddle.co
https://www.safesearchkids.com
https://www.kidzsearch.com/boolify/

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Home › Blog Topics › Community/Teacher Collaboration › 5 Tips and Tricks for Teaching Research in Elementary

5 Tips and Tricks for Teaching Research in Elementary

By Kelly Hincks on 05/16/2023 • ( 3 )

Have a Process

Having a defined process that is appropriate for the age of your learners helps to organize your lessons. With my students, we use a modified version of the Super3 model , called the Super3+1. This includes the steps of plan, do, review, and share. This process is taught in a linear fashion with each step being explained and completed on its own. As adults, we know that research is not linear and that you jump back and forth between the steps. However, for young children teaching research in a step-by-step way helps them understand what each step looks like and how it relates to the next.

Assume You Have to Teach It

Students in kindergarten, first, and second grade have limited experience using the research process. What comes naturally to adults has to be explicitly taught. For example, if learners are going to have to open a resource and scroll to the bottom to find what they are looking for you are going to have to teach that. If learners are going to have to develop a guiding question as part of their project then you are going to have to teach that. If they are going to find the title and author’s name then, you guessed it, you are going to have to teach that!

When organizing a research project the homeroom teacher and I will develop our plan and then take a minute to think about each step. We look at how it is organized, how much reading and writing is involved, and what is the purpose of the project. Usually, we have to go back and change something because we know that students are going to need extra support to find what they are looking for.

Keeping it simple is important so you can focus on the skills you want to teach. We make sure to build in time to explain why we need to do things in a certain way. For example, we have students beginning in first grade write the title and author of the resource they are using to make sure they begin to understand the need for citations.

Make It Visual

Images can help immensely when explaining how to conduct research. We use images to represent the process so learners can track their progress. We also use images to help learners understand what they are looking for. How they are used is different based on the reading ability of the learner. With kindergarteners, we use almost all pictures, and with third graders, we use significantly less.

This is an organizer that we use with kindergarten for an animal research project. Students were asked to find out what the animal looks like, what they eat, and where they live. They used sticky notes inside a nonfiction book to help them collect their facts.

This is another kindergarten resource. They color each image once they have completed that step of the process.

Graphic organizers are your friend! Whenever we are doing a project we always use a graphic organizer to help students collect their information. We tailor these organizers to meet the needs of the project and the timeline we have for completing the work.

This is a graphic organizer used with first grade. Each step is numbered to help them organize their work. They can track their progress using the images at the bottom of the page.

Numbers help too! When an image is not helpful, then a number often is. We use Canvas as our learning management system. When creating modules with links to resources that students can use for each project we always number them. This makes it easy for us to help students find a specific resource. We can say use #7. This helps students end up in the right place.

This module was created for 2nd grade for their career project. Each resource is numbered to help students find their information easily.

We also use numbers are part of our graphic organizers to show students how to move through the steps of the process. We can tell them we are on numbers 2 and 3 today. Again, it keeps things simple!

Read-Aloud Resources

Of course, we want students to use print books when they are researching, but using resources that have a read-aloud option can be critical to helping learners be independent. Databases like PebbleGo, World Book Kids, Britannica Elementary, Epic! Books, and many others all have read-aloud options. When working with students on individual projects we provide them a credible resource, but then they can listen to find the answer. This allows them to feel success and ownership throughout the process.

Basket of Tools

There are a few tools that I use whenever I complete a research project with students. All these tools are inside a small basket that can be taken with me to classrooms or nearby when working with students in the library. In this basket, you will find sticky notes of different sizes, sharpened pencils, highlighters, highlighter tape , and guided reading strips . These tools help me to make research more accessible.

Basket of tools used when working with students on a research project.

Highlighter tape is used inside a book.

One of my very favorite things is when a student finds the answer they were looking for. The look on their face, when they discover just the thing they wanted to know, is pretty awesome. It is the moment when they realize they have the power to ask a question and find the answer. That is what research is truly about!

Do you have any research tips or tricks for elementary learners? I would love to hear about them!

Author: Kelly Hincks

I am the librarian at Detroit Country Day Lower School in Bloomfield Hills, MI. I have worked as a school librarian for the past eleven years. I was a classroom teacher for four years prior to that. I have worked in charter, public, and private schools. My favorite thing about being a school librarian is the opportunities I have to work both with students and teachers. I love the co-teaching opportunities and connections I have been able to make! I have served on AASL committees as a member and chair. I currently serve as secretary of my state association, Michigan Association of School Librarians (MASL).

CommonLit 360 How to Teach a CommonLit 360 Research Unit

Olivia Franklin

Engage students with interesting research topics, teach them skills to become adept independent researchers, and help them craft their end-of-unit research papers.

CommonLit 360 is a comprehensive ELA curriculum for grades 6-12. Our standards-aligned units are highly engaging and develop core reading and writing skills.

Want to engage students in independent research? Looking to hook students with interesting research questions and informational texts? CommonLit has your back.

CommonLit’s 360 curriculum provides research units for grades 6-10 that will help students complete independent research and craft evidence-based research papers.

Get students excited about their research with Essential Questions designed around timely topics

Each research unit has an Essential Question that students analyze and discuss throughout the unit. The topics for each research unit are designed to be interesting, timely, and relevant to students’ lives.

Students will learn about the status of the world’s oceans, discuss if social media is beneficial or risky, argue if contact sports are worth the risk, research how branding influences purchasing behavior, and learn about the human costs of clothing.

Here are the research units and their Essential Questions:

Grade	Unit Title	Essential Question
6th	Our Changing Oceans	How are changes in the world’s oceans affecting people and animals? How can we be better stewards of our oceans and waterways?
7th	Social Media: Risks and Rewards	Is social media more beneficial or more risky for teens? How can we promote the benefits of social media over the drawbacks?
8th	Contact Sports: Worth the Risk?	Are contact sports worth the risks? How can we provide a clearer picture of the benefits and risks of contact sports to prospective players and their parents?
9th	The Science of Branding: Why We Buy	How do brands use different tactics to influence our purchasing behavior? How can we make branding tactics and messaging more visible to potential consumers?
10th	The Fashion Industry: Past to Present	What are the true human costs of the clothes we buy?

Get students excited about the research topic with introductory slide decks

Each unit comes with introductory slide decks that preview what students will be learning about over the course of the unit. The slide decks spark classroom discussion, hooking students from the very first lesson.

In Our Changing Oceans (6th grade), students discuss what it would be like to be an oceanographer, preview the texts they will be reading about issues facing our oceans, and hear about the key skills they will be learning throughout the unit.

Informational texts anchor each research unit

CommonLit’s research units are centered around informational texts that provide students with key background information and research to eventually support their end-of-unit essay.

Four core texts make up the Essential Reading Lessons for 6th grade. These texts teach students about the need to protect Antarctica and how plastic debris, sea level rise, and overfishing are affecting the world’s oceans. These texts teach students important facts they will need to cite in their end-of-unit research papers.

A list of the unit texts for 6th Grade Unit 4.

Supplemental texts allow students to dig deeply into independent research

Each unit comes with a large selection of supplemental texts to provide students with more facts and information to use in their research paper.

In middle school, students use the provided supplemental texts to further inform their research. In high school, students learn about finding reliable sources and can use both provided supplemental texts on CommonLit and texts from additional sources in their research.

For example, in Our Changing Oceans, 6th graders choose to research one of three topics related to ocean changes.

A list of the supplemental texts 6th graders are given.

In high school, students are taught about the beginning of the research process, including developing a research question, finding reliable sources, and reading and taking notes. Students in 9th and 10th grade can use the supplemental texts as well as texts found in books or on other online learning platforms.

A screenshot of an independent research lesson for 9th graders.

Students learn about the research process and how to craft research papers throughout the unit

Each unit includes lessons about conducting research so students can be prepared for the end-of-unit research paper. Scaffolded supports help students move through the research process. In lower grades, certain steps in the process, like developing a research question and finding reliable sources, are provided for students.

Students learn about writing research papers during writing lessons. In 8th Grade, students learn how to discuss and outline research papers. Then, they learn how to write a counterclaim, format a Works Cited page, and use in-text citations properly. Each of these research-paper focused writing lessons will prepare students to answer the end-of-unit essay.

A screenshot of the arc of writing instruction for 8th grade.

Students also explore how to conduct independent research in research-specific lessons. In 8th Grade, teachers explain that they have provided the first two steps of the research process for students: developing a research question and finding reliable sources.

In the lesson, students are taught how to use a graphic organizer to take notes on each text they read in preparation for their research paper. Students also engage in an Introduction to Independent Research lesson, where they learn about steps of the research process and begin reading and taking notes on supplemental texts. Later, students engage in a discussion lesson that will help them synthesize all the information they have learned throughout the unit by discussing the research question with classmates.

Related Media Explorations provide even more background information for students

Related Media Explorations are a unique cornerstone of our ELA curriculum. These interactive tasks bring our research units to life and provide background information for students to use in their research.

In 8th Grade, students learn about the way football culture has changed over the past few decades as scientists learn more about the long-term effects of repeated concussions. Students watch three videos that explain the culture of football in the past and present, and analyze statistics about concussions before discussing the question: “Who is most responsible for shaping mindsets about tackling in football: players, coaches, parents, or fans?”

Discussion lessons help students synthesize information in preparation for their research paper

Discussion lessons in each research unit provide students with the opportunity to practice citing evidence from sources, explain their evidence to classmates, and practice synthesizing information. These conversations give students the chance to gain new perspectives, receive feedback on their ideas, and boost their confidence before delving into the research paper.

In 8th Grade, students synthesize their ideas about the research question through a class discussion. After the discussion, students have an opportunity to outline their research paper using both their discussion notes and the note-taking graphic organizer they have used throughout the unit.

Participate in an optional final project that fosters creative thinking and collaboration

Each research unit comes with an optional end-of-unit project to further engage students through project based learning. These optional projects help foster student creativity and collaboration. Students can work with a partner or group to complete the task.

In 8th grade, students must make a brochure providing prospective parents and student athletes with factual information about the benefits and risks about contact sports so families can make an informed decision about participating. Students must work with a peer with an opposing view on the topic so the brochure is factual and unbiased. This task encourages teamwork and collaboration between peers with differing views.

Grade	Unit Title	Optional Final Project
6th	Our Changing Oceans	Create 1-3 mock social media posts about ocean conservation
7th	Social Media: Risks and Rewards	Create 2-3 mock social media posts that promote positive usage of social media
8th	Contact Sports: Worth the Risk?	Create a brochure to provide prospective parents and student athletes with factual information about the benefits and risks of contact sports
9th	The Science of Branding: Why We Buy	Make a Brand Strategy and Messaging Video Blog to help prospective buyers of a brand make informed decisions about the company they are putting their money behind
10th	The Fashion Industry: Past to Present	Put together a presentation about the humaneness of a chosen clothing brand for an audience of potential consumers

Vocabulary and grammar lessons build student comprehension and writing skills

Each 360 unit comes with vocabulary and grammar lessons. Vocabulary activities help students internalize high-impact academic vocabulary words they will see in the texts they are reading. Grammar activities help students improve their writing skills, teaching students valuable skills to construct carefully crafted, grammatically correct paragraphs.

Want to learn more about research units and CommonLit 360? Register for a free, 30-minute webinar today!

Interested in learning about our affordable support packages? For just $6,500 per school, School Essentials PRO Plus provides teachers with three benchmark assessments, two unit skill assessments per 360 unit, personalized professional development, school-wide data reports, LMS integrations, and more.

We are eager to support your team!

Chat with CommonLit

CommonLit’s team will reach out with more information on our school and district partnerships.

How to Do a 5th Grade Research Paper

Christy scannell.

Fifth grade is a turning point for many students because it is the school year when academic demands increase. By fifth grade, it becomes clear which students exhibit gifts or challenges in certain areas, such as writing. Although most students will have written research papers in fourth grade or earlier, a fifth grade objective is to write a research paper of more than four pages that is in-depth and better sourced. Writing a fifth-grade research paper may seem daunting, but it just involves selecting a topic, researching it and writing the paper.

Explore this article

Think about what interests you
Once you select your topic
Visit the library
Read your sources and take notes
Once you have gathered all your sources
Organize your ideas using an outline
Write your first draft
Has several paragraphs
Write the bibliography
Proofread your paper

1 Think about what interests you

Think about what interests you. If something strikes your curiosity, such as how airplanes stay in the air, that might be a good topic for you. Animals, travel and sports are other areas to mine for topics, although the choices are endless.

2 Once you select your topic

Once you select your topic, be sure it isn't too general. For example, Lions of Africa would cover too much ground, but "Hunting and Diet Habits of African Lions" would allow you to focus more tightly.

3 Visit the library

Visit the library to find periodicals and books that contain information on your topic. Ask a librarian to help you if you are unfamiliar with how a library is organized. Also, surf the web for information. As you use a source, jot down the name of the publication or website, the author, the publisher and the date of publication.

4 Read your sources and take notes

Read your sources and take notes. Some people like to use three-by-five index cards, writing one idea and its source on each card to stay organized. If you copy something from a source, be sure to put quote marks around it so you remember that it is a quote to avoid plagiarizing (illegally copying) another writer.

5 Once you have gathered all your sources

Once you have gathered all your sources, shuffle your cards into subtopics.

6 Organize your ideas using an outline

Organize your ideas using an outline. Jot down all of your main ideas, then under each one, write some of the ideas that support it. For example, a main idea might be that lions hunt for their food, while supporting ideas might be what animals are their prey. Avoid repeating ideas.

7 Write your first draft

Write your first draft. The paper should include an introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction identifies the topic, tells the reader your opinion on the topic and why the reader should be interested in it.

8 Has several paragraphs

The body has several paragraphs that develop your ideas in more detail. Each paragraph should have no more than one idea, although you can use more than one paragraph per idea. The conclusion is a summary that repeats your main idea.

9 Write the bibliography

Write the bibliography, which is the list of reference works used in the paper.

10 Proofread your paper

Proofread your paper. Read it aloud to yourself to find errors. Have a parent read it to check for anything confusing or incorrect. Make any corrections required.

Be careful to follow your teacher's rules in writing your report. Some teachers might want you to format your paper in a certain way, for example, or include photos or other graphics. These are all good learning opportunities that will affect your grade.
Use the spell-check function on your computer to catch any spelling and/or grammar mistakes in your paper before you submit it.
1 Scholastic: Preparing for 5th Grade

About the Author

Christy Scannell has been writing professionally since 1985 with work in many publications, including the "San Diego Union-Tribune," "Outreach" magazine and "Marriage Partnership" magazine. She has also written a three-novel series, “Secrets from Lulu’s Café,” for Simon & Schuster. Christy has a Master of Arts in communication from San Diego State University and a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from Anderson University.

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Grade 5 Research Project Worksheets

Related ela standard: w.5.7.

This is the grade level where we let our students loose to see what they can accomplish on their own. Students have learned the skills that they need to prepare themselves for researching and deciding on their own plans to conduct and analyze research. At this grade level we find that most teachers focus on science centered research which is very logical and forth right because most of them will be taking their focus in that direction. These worksheets ask students to use all that they have learned over the years and work towards solving relevant practices of research.

Grade 5 Research Worksheets To Print:

Is Global Warming Real? – Is this really still a valid question?

Research Plan – Get the "Sea of Information" piece?

Before You Move... – Time to find some sources to validate your point.

Plan Your Report – You should do this every time you want to write a report on anything.

Animal Kingdom – We look at the six most common sources.

Planning A Biography – Choose a famous person that interests you. Research that person's life.

Video Games – Can you learn important skills by playing video games? Or are video games bad for you?

Big Steps – Answer the first four questions. Conduct your research. Then answer the last question.

Made In... – Every day we use and purchase items without giving much thought to where they came from. Which country produces the most material goods?

Researching Careers – Deciding what career you want to have is a big decision. Different careers require different temperaments and different levels of education.

A Day in the Life – Choose one of the topics below. Circle it. Then fill out the worksheet.

Parenthood – Write an essay about what you think it will be like to be a parent. Your ideas should be supported by research.

Greek Myths – Choose one of the Greek Gods below and research them. Fill in the diagram. Then write a descriptive essay about the god you chose.

A Moment in Time – Think like a photojournalist. What kind of image would capture the event that you researched? Draw the image in the box.

Research Checklist – This one is great to laminate and keep around all the time.

How to Organize a Research Project?

Successful completion of a research project is one of the hardest tasks for anyone in their academic career. The modern and advanced curricula all across the world focuses on building a student's research execution skills from an elementary level so that the students do not face difficulty in their academic life afterwards. Initially, students are given topics to research on and strengthen their own idea about that topic from their research. Later this practice goes on to become harder with students choosing their topics themselves and going on to complete their research papers and publishing them in peer reviewed journals and so on.

However, irrespective of its kind and difficulty level, a research project is expected to follow an organized pattern to be successfully completed. The steps included in organizing all research projects are as follows:

Selection of a Topic

First of all, think of one broad topic you already have a strong grip on and interest in. Now do some basic reading and search about the trends and aspects of the idea you selected and narrow it down to one specific point you want to do your research project on. Be clear about the topic and read as much as possible about what is already there on it. After reading, you will be able to find various hidden and less-researched aspects of your topic - choose any one of them and think what will you do and how.

Dig in and Search for Your Required Material

Now that you know what to do, try to find the maximum possible amount of data from the relevant researches done on the same topic in various ways over time. Read everything you obtain from the internet and during the course of your reading, you might find the ideas for how to do your research.

Now execute your actual research and take rough notes for your results and experiences. After all of that is done, you can write a paper easily.

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Research Skills, Part 1

Description.

Students learn to research to answer the guiding-questions through a series of mini-lessons, focusing on collecting information from a variety of media types.

There may be cases when our downloadable resources contain hyperlinks to other websites. These hyperlinks lead to websites published or operated by third parties. UnboundEd and EngageNY are not responsible for the content, availability, or privacy policies of these websites.

Grade 5 Module 3B, Unit 2, Lesson 6

Bilingual Language Progressions

These resources, developed by the New York State Education Department, provide standard-level scaffolding suggestions for English Language Learners (ELLs) to help them meet grade-level demands. Each resource contains scaffolds at multiple levels of language acquisition and describes the linguistic demands of the standards to help ELA teachers as well as ESL/bilingual teachers scaffold content for their English learning students.

CCSS Standard:

Related Guides and Multimedia

Our professional learning resources include teaching guides, videos, and podcasts that build educators' knowledge of content related to the standards and their application in the classroom.

There are no related guides or videos. To see all our guides, please visit the Enhance Instruction section here .

Our Mission

Getting First Graders Started With Research

Teaching academically honest research skills helps first graders learn how to collect, organize, and interpret information.

Photo of first graders on tablet in classroom

Earlier in my career, I was told two facts that I thought to be false: First graders can’t do research, because they aren’t old enough; and if facts are needed for a nonfiction text, the students can just make them up. Teachers I knew went along with this misinformation, as it seemed to make teaching and learning easier. I always felt differently, and now—having returned to teaching first grade 14 years after beginning my career with that age group—I wanted to prove that first graders can and should learn how to research.

A lot has changed over the years. Not only has the science of reading given teachers a much better understanding of how to teach reading skills , but we now exist in a culture abundant in information and misinformation. It’s imperative that we teach academically honest research skills to students as early as possible.

Use a Familiar Resource, and Pair it with a Planned Unit

How soon do you start research in first grade? Certainly not at the start of the year with the summer lapse in skills and knowledge and when new students aren’t yet able to read. By December of this school year, skills had either been recovered or established sufficiently that I thought we could launch into research. This also purposely coincided with a unit of writing on nonfiction—the perfect pairing.

The research needed an age-related focus to make it manageable, so I chose animals. I thought about taking an even safer route and have one whole class topic that we researched together, so that students could compare notes and skills. I referred back to my days working in inquiry-based curriculums (like the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program) and had students choose which animal to study. Our school librarian recommended that we use Epic because the service has an abundance of excellent nonfiction animal texts of different levels.

Teach the Basics for Organized Research

I began with a conversation about academic honesty and why we don’t just copy information from books. We can’t say this is our knowledge if we do this; it belongs to the author. Instead, we read and learn. Then, we state what we learned in our own words. Once this concept is understood, I model how to do this by creating a basic step-by-step flowchart taught to me by my wife—a longtime first-grade and kindergarten teacher and firm believer in research skills.

Read one sentence at a time.
Turn the book over or the iPad around.
Think about what you have learned. Can you remember the fact? Is the fact useful? Is it even a fact?
If the answer is no, reread the sentence or move onto the next one.
If the answer is yes, write the fact in your own words. Don’t worry about spelling. There are new, complex vocabulary words, so use your sounding-out/stretching-out strategies just like you would any other word. Write a whole sentence on a sticky note.
Place the sticky note in your graphic organizer. Think about which section it goes in. If you aren’t sure, place it in the “other facts” section.

The key to collecting notes is the challenging skill of categorizing them. I created a graphic organizer that reflected the length and sections of the exemplar nonfiction text from our assessment materials for the writing unit. This meant it had five pages: an introduction, “what” the animal looks like, “where” the animal lives, “how” the animal behaved, and a last page for “other facts” that could become a general conclusion.

Our district’s literacy expert advised me not to hand out my premade graphic organizer too soon in this process because writing notes and categorizing are two different skills. This was my intention, but I forgot the good advice and handed out the organizer right away. This meant dedicating time for examining and organizing notes in each combined writing and reading lesson. A lot of one-on-one feedback was needed for some students, while others flourished and could do this work independently. The result was that the research had a built-in extension for those students who were already confident readers.

Focus on What Students Need to Practice

Research is an essential academic skill but one that needs to be tackled gradually. I insisted that my students use whole sentences rather than words or phrases because they’re at the stage of understanding what a complete sentence is and need regular practice. In this work, there’s no mention of citation language and vetting sources; in the past, I’ve introduced those concepts to students in fourth grade and used them regularly with my fifth-grade students. Finding texts that span the reading skill range of a first-grade class is a big enough task.

For some of the key shared scientific vocabulary around science concepts, such as animal groups (mammals, etc.) or eating habits (carnivore, etc.), I created class word lists, having first sounded out the words with the class and then asked students to attempt spelling them in their writing.

The Power of Research Can Facilitate Student Growth

I was delighted with the results of the research project. In one and a half weeks, every student had a graphic organizer with relevant notes, and many students had numerous notes. With my fourth- and fifth-grade students, I noticed that one of the biggest difficulties for them was taking notes and writing them in a way that showed a logical sequence. Therefore, we concluded our research by numbering the notes in each section to create a sequential order.

This activity took three lessons and also worked for my first graders. These organized notes created an internal structure that made the next step in the writing process, creating a first draft of their nonfiction teaching books, so much easier.

The overall result was that first graders were able to truly grasp the power of research and gathering accurate facts. I proved that young children can do this, especially when they work with topics that already fascinate them. Their love of learning motivated them to read higher-level and more sophisticated texts than they or I would normally pick, further proving how interest motivates readers to embrace complexity.

Properly Citing Sources

student looking at computer screen with notepad and pen next to it.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Students write an essay expressing their opinion, wherein they choose an influential person and explain why this person should be included within a list of the most influential people of all time. Students are asked to include information obtained from at least three credible sources. In order to ensure that students are respecting the rights of others, they will use an online tool for generating citations to cite sources within a bibliography.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Be able to properly cite sources using an online citation generator.

Vocabulary Words:

Citation : A citation is a quotation from or reference to a source of information.

Sources : Sources are documents, videos, or any place from which information came.

Bibliography : A bibliography is a list of sources used to provide information, within a given piece of writing.

Plagiarism : Plagiarism is taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own ideas. (not giving the creator formal credit when using his/her work)

Pre-planning

To prepare for this lesson:

The teacher will familiarize him/herself with an online tool for generating citations. (e.g. EasyBib , Cite This For Me , Citation Machine , Zoterobib )
Please See 21Things4Students Be Legal or Fair for examples.
Here is a video tutorial showcasing how to use Zoterobib .

Accommodations

See the Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students website in the Teacher Resources.

Directions for this activity:

Students will be assigned a report or presentation
Students will do research to find content for their project.
Students will keep track of all online resources used to obtain information for their project.
Students will use an online citation tool to create individual citations.
Students will compile all citations within a bibliography.

Possible Extensions : Students may explore various styles of citations.

Assessment Options

Different options for assessing the students:

Observations
Check for understanding
Teachers will assess the bibliography to ensure that all sources used are included and that the format of all citations remains consistent.

MITECS COMPETENCIES & ISTE STANDARDS

MITECS : Michigan adopted the " ISTE Standards for Students " called MITECS (Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students) in 2018.

Digital Citizen 2c. Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.

Devices and Resources

Device: PC, Chromebook, Mac, iPad

Browser: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, ALL

App, Extension, or Add-on : Cite this For Me EasyBib

Websites : Cite This For Me Citation Machine EasyBib Zoterobib Zoterobib video tutorial

CONTENT AREA RESOURCES

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

Integrated Arts

As students find and use images, information, and/or videos encourage them to always cite their sources.

Students when doing research on mathematicians and/or formulas cite all sources.

As students conduct research, encourage them to create a bibliography of any and all resources used.

Social Studies

Report a bad link, inappropriate content or out-of-date content .

Credits This task card was created by Jean Smith, Van Buren Public Schools, January 2018. Updated October 2023.

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Knowledge Base
Starting the research process

A Beginner's Guide to Starting the Research Process

When you have to write a thesis or dissertation , it can be hard to know where to begin, but there are some clear steps you can follow.

The research process often begins with a very broad idea for a topic you’d like to know more about. You do some preliminary research to identify a problem . After refining your research questions , you can lay out the foundations of your research design , leading to a proposal that outlines your ideas and plans.

This article takes you through the first steps of the research process, helping you narrow down your ideas and build up a strong foundation for your research project.

Step 1: choose your topic, step 2: identify a problem, step 3: formulate research questions, step 4: create a research design, step 5: write a research proposal, other interesting articles.

First you have to come up with some ideas. Your thesis or dissertation topic can start out very broad. Think about the general area or field you’re interested in—maybe you already have specific research interests based on classes you’ve taken, or maybe you had to consider your topic when applying to graduate school and writing a statement of purpose .

Even if you already have a good sense of your topic, you’ll need to read widely to build background knowledge and begin narrowing down your ideas. Conduct an initial literature review to begin gathering relevant sources. As you read, take notes and try to identify problems, questions, debates, contradictions and gaps. Your aim is to narrow down from a broad area of interest to a specific niche.

Make sure to consider the practicalities: the requirements of your programme, the amount of time you have to complete the research, and how difficult it will be to access sources and data on the topic. Before moving onto the next stage, it’s a good idea to discuss the topic with your thesis supervisor.

>>Read more about narrowing down a research topic

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

So you’ve settled on a topic and found a niche—but what exactly will your research investigate, and why does it matter? To give your project focus and purpose, you have to define a research problem .

The problem might be a practical issue—for example, a process or practice that isn’t working well, an area of concern in an organization’s performance, or a difficulty faced by a specific group of people in society.

Alternatively, you might choose to investigate a theoretical problem—for example, an underexplored phenomenon or relationship, a contradiction between different models or theories, or an unresolved debate among scholars.

To put the problem in context and set your objectives, you can write a problem statement . This describes who the problem affects, why research is needed, and how your research project will contribute to solving it.

>>Read more about defining a research problem

Next, based on the problem statement, you need to write one or more research questions . These target exactly what you want to find out. They might focus on describing, comparing, evaluating, or explaining the research problem.

A strong research question should be specific enough that you can answer it thoroughly using appropriate qualitative or quantitative research methods. It should also be complex enough to require in-depth investigation, analysis, and argument. Questions that can be answered with “yes/no” or with easily available facts are not complex enough for a thesis or dissertation.

In some types of research, at this stage you might also have to develop a conceptual framework and testable hypotheses .

>>See research question examples

The research design is a practical framework for answering your research questions. It involves making decisions about the type of data you need, the methods you’ll use to collect and analyze it, and the location and timescale of your research.

There are often many possible paths you can take to answering your questions. The decisions you make will partly be based on your priorities. For example, do you want to determine causes and effects, draw generalizable conclusions, or understand the details of a specific context?

You need to decide whether you will use primary or secondary data and qualitative or quantitative methods . You also need to determine the specific tools, procedures, and materials you’ll use to collect and analyze your data, as well as your criteria for selecting participants or sources.

>>Read more about creating a research design

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Finally, after completing these steps, you are ready to complete a research proposal . The proposal outlines the context, relevance, purpose, and plan of your research.

As well as outlining the background, problem statement, and research questions, the proposal should also include a literature review that shows how your project will fit into existing work on the topic. The research design section describes your approach and explains exactly what you will do.

You might have to get the proposal approved by your supervisor before you get started, and it will guide the process of writing your thesis or dissertation.

>>Read more about writing a research proposal

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

Sampling methods
Simple random sampling
Stratified sampling
Cluster sampling
Likert scales
Reproducibility

Statistics

Null hypothesis
Statistical power
Probability distribution
Effect size
Poisson distribution

Research bias

Optimism bias
Cognitive bias
Implicit bias
Hawthorne effect
Anchoring bias
Explicit bias

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What’s A Good GPA For Grad School? How To Get In

Updated: Mar 26, 2024, 4:18pm

What’s A Good GPA For Grad School? How To Get In

Applying to grad school can be stressful, especially if your undergraduate GPA could be higher. But there’s good news—you don’t need a 4.0 to get into grad school.

What’s a good GPA for grad school? It depends on the school and program. In general, graduate schools look for a minimum 3.0 GPA, but programs admit applicants with lower GPAs, too.

Grades aren’t the only way grad schools measure applicants. You also submit letters of recommendation and college essays , among other materials that can help you stand out. By doing your research and strengthening other areas of your application, you can get into grad school without a high GPA.

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What GPA Do You Need for Grad School?

Many grad schools require a minimum 3.0 GPA for admission, while some competitive programs may require a GPA as high as 3.5.

However, meeting the minimum GPA threshold doesn’t guarantee admission. For example, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s graduate school recommends applicants have a minimum 3.0 GPA, but the average GPA for admitted students is 3.54.

Competitive grad programs may have even higher average GPAs: For example, Harvard University ‘s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences reported a 3.8 average undergraduate GPA for fall 2023 graduate students. Many prestigious M.B.A. programs report the average undergraduate GPA for new grad students is 3.5 or higher.

Less competitive programs regularly admit students with lower GPAs , especially those whose applications highlight other aspects of their achievements.

How Do Grad School Admissions Officers Evaluate Applicants?

Grades aren’t the only factor grad school admissions officers consider when evaluating applicants. Ultimately, the admissions process aims to find students who will succeed in grad school. You can show your preparation for graduate-level coursework in several ways.

Elements outside GPA that play a role in grad school admissions decisions include:

Standardized Test Scores: High scores on tests like the GRE or GMAT can boost your chance of admissions. For test-optional graduate programs, consider submitting scores if you have a lower GPA.
Experience: Some programs require applicants to have research or work experience, so explain how your previous jobs or research opportunities have prepared you for the program in your statement of purpose.
Letters of Recommendation: Recommendation letters speak to your viability for grad school, which makes them a valuable tool for admissions officers. When choosing recommenders, ask faculty or work supervisors who can provide specific examples of your academic and professional strengths.
Statement of Purpose: Your statement of purpose explains your preparation for grad school, why you will fit into the program and what you plan to do with your graduate degree.
Undergraduate Transcripts: Admissions officers look for more than grades in your transcript. They want to see which courses you took, whether you meet prerequisite requirements and whether your transcripts show improvement over time.

How To Get Into Grad School With a Low GPA

Strengthening your application with research experience, work history or standardized test scores can help you stand out even with a lower GPA. You can also take graduate courses to demonstrate that you can succeed in advanced classes. Finally, if you thrive in interview settings, consider programs that incorporate interviews with faculty or admissions officers to showcase your strengths.

Here are some considerations for getting into grad school with a low GPA:

Apply To Grad Schools With Lower GPA Requirements

Instead of applying to grad programs that require a minimum 3.0 to 3.5 GPA, consider applying to programs with lower grade point average requirements. Additionally, some programs offer conditional or provisional admission for applicants who do not meet GPA minimums. If you qualify for provisional admission, you must usually earn a B or higher in your graduate classes to stay enrolled.

Research or Work Experience

Work or research experience can help you stand out despite a low GPA. While enrolled as an undergraduate, consider internship or volunteer opportunities in your field to build relevant skills. For research-intensive areas, ask faculty in your department about research assistant positions or undergraduate thesis options.

Letters of Recommendation

Strong letters of recommendation can make up for a lower GPA. Think strategically about who to ask for a recommendation letter. Professors who can speak to your academic strengths can reassure grad programs that you’re ready for advanced coursework. If you have full-time professional experience, ask supervisors who can speak to your work ethic and leadership potential.

Personal Statement

A strong grad school admission essay can help you stand out. Explain how the program will help you achieve your goals. Mention specific faculty members and their research to show the direct connection between the department and your aspirations.

Consider addressing your GPA as you explain your preparation for grad school. For example, if circumstantial impacts like bereavement or medical issues negatively affected your GPA, you can explain these situations in your statement.

Professional Experience

Fields like business emphasize professional experience in the admissions process. In your statement of purpose, showcase your work experience and the specific skills you’ve developed that relate to your grad program. You can also detail how the skills and knowledge you gain as you earn the degree will help you advance your career after graduation.

Strong Entrance Exam Scores

Some graduate programs require standardized test scores. Whether you take the GRE, GMAT, LSAT or another exam, high scores can strengthen your application if you have lower grades.

Adequate preparation is essential to getting high test scores. Give yourself ample time to prepare by creating a schedule to incorporate daily practice for several weeks or months, which can help you build and review test-specific knowledge. Find study guides or courses that prepare you for the test. Take practice tests to understand exam structure, pacing and question formats.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About GPAs for Grad School

What is a good gpa for grad school.

Many graduate programs require a minimum 3.0 GPA for admissions. More competitive programs generally admit applicants with a 3.5 GPA or higher.

What is the lowest GPA to get into grad school?

Grad schools often recommend a 3.0 GPA for admissions, but may accept candidates with a 2.5-2.9 GPA with provisional admission. If you have a lower GPA, consider retaking courses to raise your grades or take graduate courses to strengthen your application.

What are the odds of getting into grad school?

The odds of getting into grad school depend on the program and the strength of your application. If you’re interested in grad school but don’t have a high GPA, contact graduate programs for information on their admission policies.

How strict are GPA requirements for grad school?

The strictness of GPA requirements varies by institution. Some schools post a recommended GPA rather than a required minimum grade point average and evaluate applications holistically, offering conditional admissions for students who do not meet the recommended GPA. Reach out to specific programs on your list to learn more about their requirements.

What if my GPA is too low for grad school?

If your GPA is low for grad school, consider strengthening your application with standardized test scores, letters of recommendation and relevant research or work experience. You can also raise your GPA by retaking undergrad courses with low grades or taking graduate-level classes.

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50 Top 8th Grade Science Fair Projects and Classroom Activities

Find interesting ideas to engage all learners!

Collage of 8th grade science fair projects, including building a better lightbulb and guiding a plant through a light maze

Whether your students are preparing for the science fair or you’re looking for classroom ideas to grab their interest, we’ve got the answers! Find lots of 8th grade science fair projects across a spectrum of topics and difficulty levels (including plenty of easy science fair project ideas). Plus, check out fun classroom demos and hands-on experiments and activities your students will love.

To make it easier to find classroom activities or science fair projects for 8th graders, we’ve rated all the projects and activities by difficulty and the materials needed:

Difficulty:

Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time or effort
Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete

Biology and Life Science 8th Grade Science Fair Projects

Chemistry 8th grade science fair projects, physics and engineering 8th grade science fair projects, 8th grade science classroom demos, experiments, and hands-on activities.

Explore human behavior, plants and animals, the water cycle, and more with these 8th grade science fair project ideas.

Measure and compare lung capacity

Two eighth grade science students measuring the circumference of a blue balloon

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium

This experiment combines math and biology to measure lung capacity using a balloon. There are a lot of interesting hypotheses students can form, document, and explore while taking these measurements.

Learn more: Measuring Lung Capacity at Blog She Wrote

Guide a growing plant through a maze

A plant in a cardboard box, growing in a twisted pattern through holes toward light at the top

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic

Prove that plants really do seek out the light by setting up a simple or complex maze. This is a simple 8th grade science project with really cool results.

Learn more: Plant Light Maze at KiwiCo

Explore symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Frozen peas next to two plant containers labeled control and bacteria

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium

Many plants depend on nitrogen for growth, but how important is it? This science project compares the growth of pea plants with and without nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Learn more: Nitrogen and Plants at Education.com

Test water quality

Water quality testing kit with TDS meter

A water-testing kit opens up limitless options for 8th grade science fair projects. Test the water quality of local streams, swimming pools, or even the taps at home.

Learn more: Water Quality Experiment at The Homeschool Scientist

Cast animal tracks

Plaster cast of dog footprint next to autumn leaves, dated 7/25/15

Explore wildlife biology by becoming an expert tracker! Learn to identify tracks and take casts. Turn this into an experiment by trying different methods to take casts, or use it as a method of identifying wildlife in the woods.

Learn more: Casting Animal Tracks at Blog She Wrote

Determine a plant’s favorite music

Play different types of music for plants, then observe and document any changes in the growth and development of the plants as they’re exposed to different genres of music.

Conduct fingerprint analysis

Large fingerprint in black ink on white paper

Budding forensic scientists will love this idea. Learn to dust for prints and try a technique called “fuming” for trickier surfaces. See if you can compare prints and make accurate matches in the classroom. You can buy a fingerprinting kit just for kids or use supplies from around the house.

Learn more: Fingerprinting at Home Science Tools

Examine the connection between personality and memory

Notecard labeled Personality Type INFJ and worksheet labeled Memory Tests

Do introverts have better memories than extroverts? This science project aims to find out. Round up some willing volunteers and administer the Myers-Briggs personality test, then challenge your subjects with a memory test. The results may or may not surprise you!

Learn more: Memory and Personality at Education.com

Measure algae growth

Mason jars filled with water and algae, along with other chemicals

Fertilizer runoff has become a serious cause of water pollution. In this experiment, students will see its effects firsthand and brainstorm ways to keep it in check.

Learn more: Algae and Pollution Experiment at Layers of Learning

Water plants with different liquids

A series of plants in glass jars, labeled

In this easy science fair project, kids water plants with different liquids, like rainwater, tap water, salt water, and even soda. They might be surprised at the results!

Learn more: Effecting Plant Growth at Calm the Chaos Parenting

Beakers and test tubes, pouring and mixing … do it all with these fun chemistry science fair project ideas for 8th graders.

Perform a starch test with iodine

Test tube with yellow liquid labeled neg, test tube with black liquid labeled pos, and stoppered bottle filled with iodine

This simple chemistry experiment uses iodine to determine the starch content of food items. Use the process to perform a variety of 8th grade science experiments related to food.

Learn more: Starch Test at Biology Notes for IGCSE

Keep your hands warm

Man rubbing hands together with plastic bag of black liquid in between

If you live in a chilly part of the world, chances are you’ve seen chemical hand warmers for sale. In this 8th grade science fair project, use oxidation to make your own hand warmer, and find other creative ways to use this heating process.

Learn more: Homemade Hand Warmer at Steve Spangler Science

Compare electrolytes in sports drinks

Sports-loving kids will enjoy the chance to learn just how many valuable electrolytes their favorite sports drinks contain. Compare them with water or orange juice for a cool science fair project. You’ll need a few special supplies, like a multimeter and an ohm resistor , but they’re not too expensive and they’re easy to find.

Turn juice into spheres

You’ll need a few special supplies for this experiment , but the results are so cool. Turn spherification into a science fair project by experimenting with different beverages and liquids.

Block the sun’s UV rays

Use color-changing UV beads to test the protective power of medicine bottles, hats, clothing, and more. This is an easy 8th grade science fair project with nearly endless possibilities.

Grow a carbon sugar snake

Tin pan of sand with large carbon snake growing out of it

Remember those little black pellets that fire up into long snakes on the 4th of July? This is the same concept but much bigger! The simple chemical reaction of sugar and baking soda makes it happen. Turn this into an 8th grade science fair project by varying the formula to create even bigger results!

Learn more: Carbon Sugar Snake at KiwiCo

Create a rainbow of flames

You can change the color of fire by adding chemicals found at your local grocery store—what a sight! How can you use these flame colors to determine the chemical content of other materials? Sounds like a cool 8th grade science fair project!

Get your laundry really clean

Container of OxiClean with beakers of liquid on a counter

Find out if all those laundry detergent commercials are really telling the truth with this 8th grade science fair experiment. Test their cleaning power on a variety of stains and fabrics, and analyze your results.

Learn more: Science of Cleaning Products at Steve Spangler Science

Study the effects of acid rain

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic

In this project, students use chalk as a stand-in for stone to learn how acid rain affects buildings, statues, and more. Turn this into a science fair project by exploring ways to mitigate the effects of the acidity.

Extract bismuth from Pepto Bismol

Black mortar filled with pink powder and a pestle

Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Advanced

This is the kind of project that really makes you feel like a scientist. Grinding tablets with a mortar and pestle, filtering in beakers, heating over a Bunsen burner … this is what chemistry is all about!

Learn more: Extracting Bismuth at Popular Science

Optimize fermentation temperature

A Hot Yeast Experiment. Bottle of fizzing liquid with a partially inflated green balloon attached to the top.

Delve into the mystery of how temperature affects the fermentation process and determine the optimum temperature for yeast development. (Test your hypothesis by baking a loaf of bread!)

Learn more: Hot Yeast at Elemental Blogging

Brew up some root beer

Bowl filled with root beer and dry ice, spilling over with white vapors

Who says science can’t be delicious ? Tinker with the basic root beer recipe to make it sweeter, fizzier, or better in any way you like!

Learn more: Root Beer Science at Steve Spangler Science

For those who love to build and tinker, try a science fair project that experiments with various physics concepts like energy, electricity, motion, and more.

Build a better light bulb

Simple lightbulb built from a glass jar, battery, and wires

First, use the steps at the link to build a simple light bulb with a jar, some wire, and a 6-volt battery . Then, turn it into an 8th grade science fair project by tinkering with the various materials to make a light bulb that lasts longer, burns brighter, or is powered by an alternative source.

Learn more: Build a Light Bulb at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Test the strength of interleaved paper

Paper seems smooth and slides apart easily, right? Not when you add friction into the mix! Mythbusters was amazed at how much strength it took to pull apart two interleaved phone books. Try this with smaller books for an 8th grade science fair project that people won’t believe!

Stand on a pile of paper cups

Student standing on top of a structure built from cardboard sheets and paper cups

Combine physics and engineering and challenge 8th grade science students to create a paper cup structure that can support their weight. This is a cool project for aspiring architects.

Learn more: Paper Cup Stack at Science Sparks

Cook up a tasty treat with solar energy

Students can design and build a solar oven, and then use it to cook food to compare the cooking time and temperature with a conventional oven. See if you can improve on the original design by changing up the materials or construction.

Investigate advanced properties of liquids

8th grade science project studying viscosity, surface tension, and temperature.

Do surface tension and viscosity decrease with increasing temperature? Find out in this 8th grade science fair project.

Learn more: Surface Tension and Viscosity at Education.com

Make a solar desalinator

Clean freshwater is a valuable commodity. Construct solar-powered desalination devices with readily available materials, and find the most effective desalination methods.

Engineer a roller coaster loop

Kids may have created marble roller coasters before, but have they ever built one with a loop-the-loop? They’ll have to experiment to find out which initial height gives a marble the speed it needs to complete the journey.

Capture a picture of lightning

Lightning pattern made on piece of acrylic with photocopier toner

Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Medium

Lichtenberg figures capture the branching path of electricity as it travels through an object. You can make your own in a variety of ways, including burning it into wood or acrylic.

Learn more: Lichtenberg Figures at Science Notes

Crash cars for science

Collage of STEM car crash project images

This is a great class project for teachers, but it’s also excellent for an 8th grade science fair project. Build cars and crash-test them to learn the best methods of keeping passengers safe.

Learn more: STEM Car Crash Project at The Ardent Teacher

Discover the center of gravity

Wood craft stick balanced on end on a pencil, with orange pipe cleaner twisted around it

Once you find and maintain its center of gravity, almost any object will balance, even in surprising circumstances. Using this concept, what amazing objects can you balance and where?

Learn more: Center of Gravity at Rookie Parenting

Power up homemade batteries

Bottle of distilled white vinegar, paper towel, aluminum foil, duct tape, pennies, electrical wires, and voltmeter

Building batteries is a classic science experiment for any age. Make it into an 8th grade science fair project by trying different variables and exploring the amount of power you can produce.

Learn more: DIY Batteries at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Assemble a spring balance scale

Apply Hooke’s law to find out if the stretching of a spring can be used to accurately measure the weight of objects. The materials are simple, but you’ll need patience and physics to calibrate a spring and use it to test weights.

Design a robotic hand

Model robotic hand made from paper, straws, and string

This is a project that can be tweaked by coming up with ways to improve upon the design. Can you build a hand that can pick up a ball? How about one that can pluck up a piece of string? So many possibilities!

Learn more: DIY Model Robot Hand STEM Activity at Mombrite

Build an infinity mirror

Experiment with optical illusions by creating a tunnel of lights that seems to stretch away into infinity. Eighth grade science students will learn about engineering and the physics of optics along the way.

Construct a Rube Goldberg machine

Create a machine to complete a simple task in the most complicated fashion! This is a neat 8th grade STEM fair project because it allows you to use a variety of physics concepts in a fun way.

Explore a wide variety of 8th grade science concepts with these fun and engaging activities.

Protect an egg in a crash

We love this spin on the classic egg-drop project. In this version, students build a structure to protect an egg during a collision with a wall, making the connection between crash tests and physics concepts.

Drop an egg to prove the first law of motion

Egg on top of a toilet paper tube, standing on a plate on a glass of water, with a man ready to hit the plate

This experiment looks like a magic trick, but it’s firmly grounded in Newton’s first law of motion. When you knock the pie tin out of the way, the egg falls straight into the glass thanks to inertia. (Worried about making a mess? Use plastic eggs instead.)

Learn more: Egg Drop Inertia Challenge at Steve Spangler Science

Break out the leaf blower to teach Bernoulli’s principle

Eighth grade science students have probably seen a Bernoulli demo or two, often with straws and Ping-Pong balls. So grab their attention by trying it with a leaf blower and a beach ball instead!

Assemble a Newton’s cradle

Newton's Cradle built of wood craft sticks, yarn, and marbles

Newton’s cradle is a fascinating way of demonstrating momentum and energy transfer. Follow the directions at the link to build one, or challenge 8th grade science students to experiment with their own construction methods.

Learn more: Newton’s Cradle at Babble Dabble Do

Extinguish a candle without blowing it out

Combine an acid/base experiment with some fire science in this really popular classroom science demo. It seems like magic, but it’s just science!

Relight a candle without touching it

Student's hand holding a lighter over a candle that has just been blown out

Tell students you’re going to relight a candle without touching the flame to the wick. The results will boggle their minds!

Learn more: Magic Traveling Flame at Steve Spangler Science

Demonstrate the “unpoppable” balloon

Your students won’t believe you when you say you can hold a balloon up to a flame without popping it. Use the conductivity of water to prove your point.

Extract your own DNA

Test tube with cloudy liquid and small white floating strand

DNA is the blueprint of life, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to extract your own with a few simple supplies. Preserve it in alcohol in the freezer when you’re done.

Learn more: How To Extract DNA at Home at Home Science Tools

Build a trash can air cannon

This is such a fun way to demonstrate an air vortex! It takes a little effort to build the air cannon, but you can use it year after year for amazing 8th grade science demos.

Separate water into hydrogen and oxygen

Eighth grade girl wearing goggles, looking at a container of water with test tubes and electric wires

Use electrolysis to prove that water really is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It’s a simple concept but one that never fails to amaze.

Learn more: Separating Water at Navigating by Joy

Assemble a ring of Pringles

Everybody loves an edible STEM challenge! Here’s one that seems simple but takes some time to work out: Build a ring of Pringles chips without using any other materials.

Construct a cup holder

Student showing a foil platform balanced on drinking straws, holding two yellow plastic cups of water

Can your 8th grade science students build a device to stabilize and carry two cups of water, using only a few simple supplies? Oh, and can they manage it in just 5 minutes? This timed challenge pushes their creative engineering limits!

Learn more: Cup Holder STEM Challenge at Homeschool Creations

Navigate a light maze

Here’s the STEM challenge: Bounce a beam of light around a corner past an obstacle. Increase the difficulty by adding more obstacles and variables.

Engage your 8th grade science students further with these 24 Science Kits for Middle and High School That Make Hands-On Lessons Easy .

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Find engaging 8th grade science fair projects, including plenty of easy options, plus fun demos, experiments, and hands-on activities.

Collage of 7th grade science projects, including Oreo mitosis models and electroplating a coin

50 Sensational 7th Grade Science Fair Projects and Classroom Activities

Mummification, oxidation, electroplating, and more! Continue Reading

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U.S. public, private and charter schools in 5 charts

A teacher instructs a fourth grade math class at a private school in Washington, D.C. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

While children in the United States are guaranteed a free education at their local public school through state constitutional law, many families weigh other educational options for their children. Even before the coronavirus pandemic upended families’ usual routines, 36% of parents with K-12 students say they considered multiple schools for their child in the 2018-19 school year.

Students’ school environments vary widely – sometimes even for children living in the same community – depending on whether they attend traditional public, private or charter schools.

Here are some key distinctions between these three types of schools, based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). All figures reflect the most recent school year with data for all three types of schools.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand how U.S. students’ school experiences might differ depending on whether they attend a traditional public school, a private school or a charter school.

Data comes from the Institute of Education Sciences’ National Center for Education Statistics . We used the most recent year in which data is available for all three school types.

Public, private and charter schools include those that teach students in kindergarten through 12th grade, unless otherwise specified. Racial categories used in this analysis include those who report being a single race and non-Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. National School Lunch Program data for 2021-22 is not available for Alaska.

What’s the difference between public, private and charter schools?

Until a few decades ago, parents with kids in elementary, middle or high school could choose to send them to either a traditional public school or a private one. More recently, many states have added a third option: public charter schools.

Traditional public schools are taxpayer funded, are tuition free and must adhere to standards set by a school district or state board of education. These are the most common schooling option in the U.S.
Private schools are known for being selective, religiously affiliated or sometimes both, and charge tuition rather than receive public money. In addition to tuition dollars, private schools may be funded through a combination of donations, endowments or grants from other private sources. As a result, they have more autonomy when it comes to curriculum and other academic standards. During the 2021-22 school year, about three-quarters of private school K-12 students (77%) attended a religiously affiliated school. The largest share went to Catholic schools, which accounted for 35% of all private school enrollment. Another 23% of private school students attended secular institutions.
Public charter schools are legally allowed to operate in nearly all states, plus the District of Columbia, as of 2024. Like traditional public schools, these are taxpayer funded and tuition free. They’re open to any student who wishes to enroll. But unlike their traditional counterparts, agreements – or charters – with the state or local government allow them flexibility when it comes to curriculum and other standards. They also may turn students away due to space constraints.

A horizontal stacked bar chart showing that U.S. private and charter schools are mostly in urban or suburban communities.

Differences exist in the size and locale of each type of school, NCES data from the 2021-22 school year shows.

Traditional public schools tend to be larger than the other types. For instance, 39% of public schools enroll 500 or more students, compared with 32% of charter schools and 8% of private schools. And while 31% of public schools have fewer than 300 students, 44% of charter schools and 82% of private schools do.

Public schools are relatively evenly distributed across urban, suburban and rural areas, while most charter and private school campuses are located in either cities or suburbs.

(Traditional public and charter school environment data includes prekindergarten students, who account for less than 1% of enrollment at these types of schools.)

Where is enrollment growing and shrinking?

During the 2021-22 school year, the vast majority of the country’s roughly 54.6 million public, private and charter school students in pre-K through 12th grade (83%) attended traditional public schools. Another 10% were enrolled in private schools, and 7% went to public charter schools.

Enrollment numbers have shifted over the last decade:

An area chart showing that traditional public schools make up the bulk of U.S. enrollment.

Traditional public school enrollment has declined. In fall 2011, about 47.2 million students attended public elementary, middle and secondary schools, accounting for 87% of all school enrollment. By fall 2021, the number of public school students dropped to about 45.4 million, resulting in a small drop in public schools’ share of total enrollment.
The popularity of charter schools has grown. Minnesota became the first state to pass legislation allowing charter schools in 1991. In the last 10 years alone, enrollment has risen from about 2.1 million students in fall 2011 to nearly 3.7 million in fall 2021, an increase from 4% to 7% of total enrollment.
Private school enrollment has held relatively steady. Private school students have consistently made up about 10% of school enrollment, with numbers that have fluctuated from a 10-year low of fewer than 5.3 million in 2011 to a peak of almost 5.8 million in 2015.

How does enrollment look at the state level?

Nationwide, the vast majority of students in pre-K through 12th grade attend traditional public schools – but shares vary somewhat from state to state. In Wyoming, for example, nearly all students (97%) attend public school, while 45% do in D.C.

The states with the highest percentages of public school enrollment include some of those with the lowest population density . In addition to Wyoming, West Virginia (95%), Montana (93%), Kansas and Alaska (91% each) round out the top five states by share of public school enrollment.

In most states, students are more likely to attend a private school than a charter school. Charter school students make up a larger share of enrollment than private school students in just 12 states and D.C. (Data is unavailable for seven states because they did not have any charter schools or legislation allowing them in fall 2021.)

Among the places where students are the least likely to attend traditional public schools:

D.C. has the highest share of charter school students, at 36%. Just 45% of K-12 students there attend traditional public schools. Another 19% attend private schools.
D.C. and Hawaii have the largest percentage of students in private schools, at 19% each. In Hawaii, another 76% of students are enrolled in public school, and 6% are enrolled in charter schools.

A map showing that U.S. enrollment in traditional public, charter and private schools varies by state.

How do student demographics vary by school type?

Charter schools had the most racial and ethnic diversity during the 2021-22 school year. Hispanic students make up the largest share of enrollment there (36%), followed by White (29%), Black (24%) and Asian American students (4%).

A horizontal stacked bar chart showing that U.S. charter school students tend to be more racially and ethnically diverse than those in other types of schools.

In contrast, 47% of traditional public school students and 65% of private school students are White. Smaller shares are Hispanic, Black or Asian.

Differences also exist by household income level. Nearly all public and charter schools are part of the National School Lunch Program , which provides free or reduced-price meals to students based on family income.

In general, charter school students are more likely than public school kids to qualify for the program. For instance, 31% of charter students and 21% of traditional public school students are enrolled at a school where more than three-quarters of their peers qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Because a relatively small share of private schools participate in this program, 2021-22 data is not available for them. However, research shows that private school enrollment rates are highest among upper-income families .

What does the teaching staff look like at each type of school?

More than 4.2 million full- and part-time teachers worked at public, private and charter schools during the 2020-21 school year, the most recent year with available data. That year, about 3.5 million teachers (83%) taught at traditional public schools. Another 466,000 (11%) worked in private schools, and 251,000 (6%) taught at public charters.

The teaching force in each environment varies based on race and ethnicity, age, experience, and educational attainment.

A horizontal stacked bar chart showing that teacher demographics vary somewhat by type of school.

Charter school teachers are the most racially and ethnically diverse: 69% of charter school teachers are White, compared with about eight-in-ten at both traditional public and private schools. Charters also employ the largest shares of Black and Hispanic teachers.
Private school teachers skew slightly older, while charter school teachers are the youngest: About 17% of private school teachers are ages 60 and older, compared with 8% in public schools and 7% in charter schools. And in charter schools, 21% of teachers are under 30, compared with 14% each in public and private schools.
Charters employ a larger share of teachers with fewer years of experience: For instance, 13% of both private and charter school teachers have fewer than three years of experience, compared with 7% of public school teachers. And 43% of charter school teachers have between three and nine years of experience, compared with 28% each in public and private schools.
Public school teachers are the most likely to have a master’s degree: 52% of public school teachers have a master’s degree, compared with about 41% each in charter and private schools.

Katherine Schaeffer is a research analyst at Pew Research Center .

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Managing Chronic Kidney Disease

If you have chronic kidney disease (CKD), you can take steps to protect your kidneys from more damage.

The sooner you know you have kidney disease, the better. The steps you take to protect your kidneys from damage also may help prevent heart disease—and improve your health overall. Making these changes when you have no symptoms may be hard, but it’s worthwhile.

Control your blood pressure

The most important step you can take to treat kidney disease is to control your blood pressure . High blood pressure can damage your kidneys. You can protect your kidneys by keeping your blood pressure at or less than the goal set by your health care provider. For most people, the blood pressure goal is less than 140/90 mm Hg.

Work with your health care provider to develop a plan to meet your blood pressure goals. Steps you can take to meet your blood pressure goals may include eating heart-healthy and low-sodium meals, quitting smoking, being active, getting enough sleep, and taking your medicines as prescribed.

Meet your blood glucose goal if you have diabetes

To reach your blood glucose goal, check your blood glucose level regularly. Use the results to guide decisions about food, physical activity, and medicines. Ask your health care provider how often you should check your blood glucose level.

Your health care provider will also test your A1C. The A1C is a blood test that measures your average blood glucose level over the past 3 months. This test is different from the blood glucose checks you do regularly. The higher your A1C number, the higher your blood glucose levels have been during the past 3 months. Stay close to your daily blood glucose numbers to help you meet your A1C goal.

The A1C goal for many people with diabetes is below 7 percent. Ask your health care provider what your goal should be. Reaching your goal numbers will help you protect your kidneys. Learn more about how to manage diabetes .

Work with your health care team to monitor your kidney health

The tests that health care providers use to test for kidney disease can also be used to track changes to kidney function and damage. Kidney disease tends to get worse over time. Each time you get checked, ask your provider how the test results compare to the last results. Your goals will be to

keep your GFR the same
keep your urine albumin the same or lower

Your health care provider will also check your blood pressure and, if you have diabetes, your A1C level, to make sure you are meeting your blood pressure and blood glucose goals.

Bring this document to your appointment to help keep track of your kidney test results (PDF, 262 KB) .

How can I prepare for visits with my health care provider?

The more you plan for your visits, the more you will be able to learn about your health and treatment options.

Make a list of questions It’s normal to have a lot of questions. Write down your questions as you think of them so that you can remember everything you want to ask when you see your health care provider. You may want to ask about what tests are being done, what test results mean, or the changes you need to make to your diet and medicines.

Sample questions to ask your provider for people with kidney disease

About your tests

What is my GFR? What does that mean?
Has my GFR changed since last time?
What is my urine albumin? What does it mean?
Has my urine albumin changed since the last time it was checked?
Is my kidney disease getting worse?
Is my blood pressure where it needs to be?

About treatment and self-care

What can I do to keep my disease from getting worse?
Do any of my medicines or doses need to be changed?
What time of day should I take each of my medicines?
Do I need to change what I eat?
Will you refer me to a dietitian for diet counseling?
When will I need to see a nephrologist (kidney specialist)?
Do I need to worry about dialysis or a kidney transplant?
What do I need to do to protect my veins?

About complications

What other health problems may I face because of my kidney disease?
Should I be looking for any symptoms? If so, what are they?

Bring a friend or relative with you for support A trusted friend or family member can take notes, ask questions you may not have thought of, offer support, and help remember what the provider said during the visit. Talk ahead of time about what you want to get out of the visit and the role you would like your friend or relative to play.

Who is part of my health care team?

The following health care providers may be part of the health care team involved in your treatment:

A photo of a health care provider listening to an older patient and companion.

Primary care provider. Your primary care provider (PCP)—doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant—is the person you see for routine medical visits. Your PCP may monitor your kidney health and help you manage your diabetes and high blood pressure. A PCP also prescribes medicines and may refer you to specialists.

Nurse. A nurse may help with your treatment and teach you about monitoring and treating kidney disease, as well as managing your health conditions. Some nurses specialize in kidney disease.

Registered dietitian. A registered dietitian is a food and nutrition expert who helps people create a healthy eating plan when they have a health condition such as kidney disease. Dietitians can help you by creating an eating plan based on how your kidneys are doing. “Renal dietitians” often work in dialysis centers and are specially trained to work with people with kidney failure.

Diabetes educator. A diabetes educator teaches people with diabetes how to manage their disease and handle diabetes-related problems.

Pharmacist. A pharmacist educates you about your medicines and fills your prescriptions. An important job for the pharmacist is to review all of your medicines, including over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, and supplements, to avoid unsafe combinations and side effects.

Social worker. When you are close to needing dialysis, you may have a chance to meet with a social worker. A dialysis social worker helps people and their families deal with the life changes and costs that come with having kidney disease and kidney failure. A dialysis social worker also can help people with kidney failure apply for help to cover treatment costs.

Nephrologist. A nephrologist is a doctor who is a kidney specialist. Your PCP may refer you to a nephrologist if you have a complicated case of kidney disease, your kidney disease is quickly getting worse, or your kidney disease is advanced.

Take medicines as prescribed

Many people with CKD take medicines prescribed to lower blood pressure, control blood glucose, and lower cholesterol .

Two types of blood pressure medicines, ACE inhibitors and ARBs , may slow kidney disease and delay kidney failure, even in people who don’t have high blood pressure. The names of these medicines end in –pril or –sartan.

Many people need to take two or more medicines for their blood pressure. You may also need to take a diuretic, sometimes called a water pill. The aim is to meet your blood pressure goal. These medicines may work better if you limit your salt intake.

Know that your medicines may change over time

Your health care provider may change your medicines as your kidney disease gets worse. Your kidneys don’t filter as well as they did in the past, and this can cause an unsafe buildup of medicines in your blood. Some medicines can also harm your kidneys. As a result, your provider may tell you to

take a medicine less often or take a smaller dose
stop taking a medicine or switch to a different one

Your pharmacist and health care provider need to know about all the medicines you take, including OTC medicines, vitamins, and supplements.

A photo of a health care provider talking about medicine to an older patient.

Be careful about the over-the-counter medicines you take

If you take OTC or prescription medicines for headaches, pain, fever, or colds, you may be taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs include commonly used pain relievers and cold medicines that can damage your kidneys and lead to acute kidney injury , especially in those with kidney disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Ibuprofen and naproxen are NSAIDs. NSAIDs are sold under many different brand names, so ask your pharmacist or health care provider if the medicines you take are safe to use.

You also can look for NSAIDs on Drug Facts labels like the one below:

An example of a Drug Facts label for a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that shows the active ingredient of ibuprofen and its purpose as a pain reliever.

Watch a video explaining how NSAIDs can harm your kidneys .

If you have been taking NSAIDs regularly to control chronic pain, you may want to ask your health care provider about other ways to treat pain, such as meditation or other relaxation techniques. You can read more about pain management at the NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health website .

Tips for managing your medicines

The next time you pick up a prescription or buy an OTC medicine or supplement, ask your pharmacist how the product may

affect your kidneys
affect other medicines you take

Fill your prescriptions at only one pharmacy or pharmacy chain so your pharmacist can

keep track of your medicines and supplements
check for harmful interactions

Keep track of your medicines and supplements:

Keep an up-to-date list of your medicines and supplements in your wallet. Take your list with you, or bring all of your medicine bottles, to all health care visits.

A photo of a patient showing all his medicine bottles to a health care provider.

Work with a dietitian to develop a meal plan

What you eat and drink can help you

protect your kidneys
reach your blood pressure and blood glucose goals
prevent or delay health problems caused by kidney disease

As your kidney disease gets worse, you may need to make more changes to what you eat and drink .

A dietitian who knows about kidney disease can work with you to create a meal plan that includes foods that are healthy for you and that you enjoy eating. Cooking and preparing your food from scratch can help you eat healthier.

Nutrition counseling from a registered dietitian to help meet your medical or health goals is called medical nutrition therapy (MNT). If you have diabetes or kidney disease and a referral from your primary care provider, your health insurance may cover MNT. If you qualify for Medicare, MNT is covered.

Your health care provider may be able to refer you to a dietitian. You can also find a registered dietitian online through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Work closely with your dietitian to learn to eat right for CKD.

Make physical activity part of your routine

Be active for 30 minutes or more on most days. Physical activity can help you reduce stress, manage your weight, and achieve your blood pressure and blood glucose goals. If you are not active now, ask your health care provider about the types and amounts of physical activity that are right for you.

View physical activity and weight-management resources to help you get and stay motivated.

Aim for a healthy weight

Being overweight makes your kidneys work harder and may damage your kidneys. The NIH Body Weight Planner is an online tool to help you tailor your calorie and physical activity plans to achieve and stay at a healthy weight.

Get enough sleep

Aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Getting enough sleep is important to your overall physical and mental health and can help you meet your blood pressure and blood glucose goals. You can take steps to improve your sleep habits .

Stop smoking

Cigarette smoking can make kidney damage worse. Quitting smoking may help you meet your blood pressure goals, which is good for your kidneys, and can lower your chances of having a heart attack or stroke . For tips on quitting, go to Smokefree.gov .

Find healthy ways to cope with stress and depression

Long-term stress can raise your blood pressure and your blood glucose and lead to depression. Some of the steps that you are taking to manage your kidney disease are also healthy ways to cope with stress. For example, physical activity and sleep help reduce stress. Listening to your favorite music, focusing on something calm or peaceful, or meditating may also help you. Learn more about healthy ways to cope with stress .

Depression is common among people with a chronic, or long-term, illness . Depression can make it harder to manage your kidney disease. Ask for help if you feel down. Seek help from a mental health professional. Talking with a support group, clergy member, friend, or family member who will listen to your feelings may help.

This content is provided as a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIDDK translates and disseminates research findings to increase knowledge and understanding about health and disease among patients, health professionals, and the public. Content produced by NIDDK is carefully reviewed by NIDDK scientists and other experts.

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8 Essential Steps In Research Process
Writing a research project. A Guide to Writing Research Objectives and
Country Research Project
Do the Research! Worksheet for 4th

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Introduction about research S5 (part 1)
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COMMENTS

How to Teach Step-By-Step Research Reports in Grades 5 & 6
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The student will learn how to do effective internet research. OBJECTIVE: This two-class lesson plan leads students through a discussion of the difficulties of internet research; provides guidance on how to effectively pre-research; demonstrates online resources available for research through the Brooklyn Collection and Brooklyn Public Library ...
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Managing Chronic Kidney Disease
The most important step you can take to treat kidney disease is to control your blood pressure. High blood pressure can damage your kidneys. You can protect your kidneys by keeping your blood pressure at or less than the goal set by your health care provider. For most people, the blood pressure goal is less than 140/90 mm Hg.