Research



Research on the Web

Mt. Saint Helens

First and foremost!

Pick a topic
The topic can't be too general, like Mt. Saint Helens.
There is TOO MUCH information on Mt. Saint Helens.
The topic can't be too small, like How tall is Mt. Saint Helens?
The answer to that is too short, you can't write a report on that.
The topic needs to be just right, for example, we will do Mt. Saint Helens' Lava Dome.

What we already know:
1.	Pick a search engine like Alta Vista, MetaCrawler, or Yahoo.  
        Let's use Alta Vista.
2.	Type in what you need to find:  we will type Mt. Saint Helens
        and lava dome.  (Type it in EXACTLY like I wrote it 
        without the underline.)
3.	Look at the sites your Search Engine found for you.  Go to 
       the best ones, hopefully the first four sites are the 
       best.  Now what?
4.	Take notes.  READ through the site and write down what you
       understand in your own words (summarize don't plagiarize).

	a)	For Example, Alta Vista's first three sites are pretty
                darn good.  Go to the very first site, #1.

		1)	The pictogram there has a picture with the size of 
                        the lava dome.
                        Copy that information.  Go BACK.

		2)	Mt. Saint Helens Lava Dome (lists places to go).  

			Go to the first one, Description:  Mt. Saint Helens 
                        Lava Dome.

			The first paragraph is too hard, read the second and 
                        third ones and copy information from 
                        there that you understand (in your own
                        words!).  
                        Go BACK.

			Go to Composite Domes, copy any new information you 
                        find.

			Skip Mt. Saint Helens:  Post stuff.

			Go to the Table:  Linear Dimensions of Mt. Saint 
                        Helens Lava Dome.  Copy the length,     
                        width, and height in meters of the dome 
                        on October 18, 1980 and October 21, 1986. 
                        Go BACK.

			Go to Pictogram:  Growth of Mt. Saint Helens Lava 
                        Dome.  
                        Copy the information you find there.  
                        Go BACK twice to Alta Vista.

		3)	Go to Mt. Saint Helens and other Volcanoes, Lava Dome
                        features.  Visit some of the sites on 
                        this web page and take down some more 
                        notes of your own (make sure it's new 
                        stuff that you don't have!). 

			The more notes you have the easier it will be to 
                        write your report.