Bluestem Library: 8th Grade Social Studies Research Project

Choosing your topic & completing your Topic Selection Sheet.

1. Begin by clicking on each of the +Plus signs next to each of the possible topics.
2. Read and/or listen to each topic choice.

Click on this link to open the Bluestem Library page in a new window. 

Then open Gale Resources and choose one of the  highlighted databases as shown in this picture.

 Do NOT go on until you have finished your Topic Selection Sheet

You really should already know what Manifest Destiny is BUT if you don't, watch this video.

If you already understand Manifest Destiny, you can skip this.

YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR IPAD TURNED SO THAT IT FATTER NOT TALLER OR NOODLETOOLS WILL NOT WORK.

1)Go to the Bluestem Library page, click on “Noodletools”

2) Click on the three lines in the top RIGHT corner and choose “Login”

3) On the Right side, Where it says “Access Via G-Suite/Office365”, type in your school email address.

4) Click “Sign in with Office365 or Microsoft365”

5) You will be prompted to enter your school email address and password again— do it.

6) If it says create account, create an account— put in your School_Bluestem Middle School

      Your graduation date:_2029_

1) Click on +New Project on the top right of your Noodletools account main page.

2) Put in your project info as shown– just add your last name to the end of the project title.

3) Click “Submit”

Do NOT go on until you have created your project in Noodletools

 Completing your RAFT page.

Before watching the video, open your packet to the RAFT page.

Do NOT go on until you have finished your RAFT Page

Finding Information, Citing Sources and Note-taking

Now you will be finding sources of information about your topic and taking notes.

Do NOT begin this section UNTIL:

• You have created or at least Logged into Noodletools

IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE THIS, SCROLL UP TO THE TOP OF THIS PAGE and follow videos 3 & 4.

Open the Bluestem Library Page HERE.

1. Open the database.
2. Type in the search bar: Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny
3. In the search bar INSIDE Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny, type in your topic and search.
4. At the top of the page, choose Primary Sources
5. Choose one of the articles and click on the title to open the full text.

Sources 2 and possibly, Source 3

DO NOT GO ON UNTIL YOU HAVE HAVE TAKEN NOTES OVER 2-3 DIFFERENT SOURCES AND GOTTEN YOUR CITATIONS FOR THESE SOURCES INTO NOODLETOOLS.

Write your paragraph on the unintended consequences of Westward Expansion/Manifest Destiny.

Final Project

This is where you are going to create whatever you decide to do earlier on that RAFT page -- see #3 above if you don't remember how it works. 

See your Social Studies teacher or Librarian if you need certain supplies or extra help putting it together.  Remember-- use stuff that you learned from your research.

Do NOT complete this self-evaluation until AFTER you have turned in your final project.

Find all of the tutorials you might need for this project in this column.

Bluestem Library Page

How to Copy a Citation from a Gale Database to Noodletools?

How to Save a Copy of a Source into Your OneDrive Account?

If you use any of the following non-database sources for information, please watch the video on how to find and cite that website.

Websites:

PBS New Perspectives on the West

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/

Smithsonian Primary Sources

http://www.smithsoniansource.org/display/primarysource/results.aspx?hId=1000

Library of Congress Primary Sources

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/westward/

PBS—U.S. Mexican War

http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/resources/manifest_destiny_sullivan.html

Central Pacific Railroad Photographic Museum

http://cprr.org/Museum/index.html#Read

Transcontinental Railroad Primary Sources

http://primarysourcenexus.org/2012/05/today-in-history-transcontinental-railroad-completed/

California State Library—Gold Rush

http://www.library.ca.gov/goldrush/

Library of Congress—Homestead Act

https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Homestead.html