Science

"I know the sky is not the limit because there are footprints on the Moon — and I made some of them!" – Buzz Aldrin

See below for links, videos, and information on your assignments.

General Links

Identifying Reliable Sources (For use with Space Final Project from final delivery)

When you are doing research, it is important to find sources that not only have the information you are looking for, but to find ones that are telling the truth. Anyone can publish just about anything on the internet, so just because you found a website that says there are magical fairies on Mercury that give you chocolate and make all your wishes come true, does not mean that is actually the case. Here are some tips to follow when you are looking for good information for your project:

  1. What is the domain name? The domain name is the group of letters after the period in the website URL; for example, .com, .edu, or .org. Here’s what those mean and some suggestions for using them:
    • .edu means it is a college or university in the United States. The information on these websites is generally considered reliable since colleges don’t want to ruin their reputations by publishing false information.
    • .gov means it is a U.S. government agency. These websites tend to be reliable, especially when you are looking for information that agency specializes in. For example, information from NASA will have accurate information on space exploration and technology and information from the Census Bureau will have accurate information on the U.S. population and related statistics.
    • .org means it is a nonprofit organization. These are typically reliable, but you should consider the goal of the organization. For example, if it is an organization trying to promote a particular cause, they might be bias towards that cause.
    • .com is used by any commercial organization or business. These can be more or less reliable depending on what the organization is.
    • .net is often used by companies as an alternative for .com, although it was originally meant to be used by networking and technology companies. These typically are equally reliable as .com sites and the reliability depends on the company.
    • Each country also has its own domain extension. For example, .us is the United States, .ca, is Canada, and .uk is the United Kingdom. However, some companies use these domain extensions to look cool rather than because they are actually from that country or area. Just like .com and .net, these websites can be more or less reliable depending on what they are.
  2. What kind of website is it? This requires you to look at the website a little bit. If it is someone’s blog, personal website, or social media feed, then it is probably not reliable because they can say whatever they want. This does not mean they are for sure lying, but it does make it a lot harder to know if they are telling the truth, so you shouldn’t rely on these when you are doing research. If it is a well-known organization or new source, it is more likely to be reliable. If it is an organization that you are unfamiliar with, try reading the “about” page to learn more about the company, author, or organization. If it is some random person, try finding something else, but if it is an organization that specializes in research in what you are looking for, it’s probably a great resource.
  3. Who wrote the article? If the author is listed, that is typically a good sign. At the top or bottom of the page you can often find a description of the author. This will tell you if the author is an expert in the field. If they are a professor or have a Ph.D. related to the area you are looking up information on, they are likely to know what they are talking about. Similarly, if they are a reporter or researcher, they are likely to have spent a lot of time checking their facts and having other people review their work before publishing it. Remember that just because someone has a degree, that does not mean they are an expert in everything. If someone has a degree in computer science, that does not mean they are a reliable source on cooking!
  4. When was the information published or last updated? We are constantly learning and discovering new things, and things change over time. If the information was published in 1989 and has never been updated, that might mean it is out of date. This matters less for fields where things are not quickly changing. For example, information about a space mission that happened in 1969 should be the same if it was published in 2000 or 2019. But if you are looking for information on the most recent discoveries of Neptune, you will want sources that include information from more recent discoveries. However, when you are looking at primary sources, or sources directly from the person who experienced the event, it should have a date close to, but during or after, the event occurred. For example, if a letter claims to be written by someone during the American War of Independence but is dated 2010, that is not a reliable source!
  5. Are there other sources listed? While not every website is going to have a long list of other sources, this does give a good sign that the author has done credible research on the topic.
  6. What is the purpose of writing the article? If the article is labeled as an opinion piece or as an editorial, then that is not a good resource because it is giving someone’s opinions, not facts. If it is a journal or news article or an informational page on an organization’s website, it is likely to be more trustworthy.
  7. What does your gut tell you? If you find something that just does not seem right, try looking it up on another website. If you find contradicting information from another reliable site, then something is not right and you should find another source. If something sounds too good to be true, it is worth the extra time to verify the information.
  8. A note on Wikipedia and Google: While searching for information on Google or clicking an article from Wikipedia is easy, that does not mean it is 100% trustworthy. These can be good starting places, but Google typically just has a summary from whatever websites come up first, so these can be more or less trustworthy. Wikipedia can be written and edited by anyone, so it is not a good source. However, the resources at the bottom of Wikipedia pages are often reliable sources, so if you are having trouble finding information, these resource sections are a good place to look.

Example Reliable Space Resources

Here are some websites that are considered good resources related to space. If you find other resources that are reliable, feel free to use them! If you find a website and are not sure if it is OK, e-mail Mrs. Densmore the URL and she will let you know if it looks like a good resource.

 

Night Sky Journal Resources (Delivery 3)

Use the link below to help you with your night sky journal:

Constellation Myths (Delivery 3)

See the links below to read about some of the myths behind the constellations in the night sky. Use these stories as a model for you to create your constellation myth.

Moon Video (Shown in Zoom Class on 4/23)

It was very nice to get to learn and discuss more about the Moon with you in our Zoom class on 4/23. To watch the video again, click the link below.

Space Trading Cards (Delivery 2)

You may create your trading cards digitally or on paper. See the links below for helpful websites to use as you gather information.