Unit 1 - Lesson 2: Examining Scientific Sources

Do-Now Question

Imagine you have two different articles about how water pollution affects your health. One of the articles is by the scientists who did the research, and the other article is by a science journalist explaining what they did. How do you think these two articles would be different, and why? Record your response in 2-3 sentences.

Lesson Objectives

Students will be able to differentiate between primary and secondary sources. Students will be able to identify the parts and structure of a scientific paper

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary sources are documents that provide complete descriptions of original research, while secondary sources comment or analyze on the original research, often in a more easily digestible form. For more information on the differences between primary and secondary sources, feel free to visit this website (https://library. albany.edu/infolit/resource/prisci).

Look briefly at this primary source (https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/wp-conte nt/uploads/2025/01/telomere_article.pdf) about how astronauts’ DNA changes in space, and then look at this secondary source (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/s cience/article/scott-kelly-astronaut-space-station-dna-health-science) on the same topic. While you read through them, think about how they compare to each other. How are each of them written? Who might they be written for? How trustworthy and helpful is the information they provide?

Activity: Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Instructions:

1. Open this document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nQ3WBOTJCGMXQZljV8Tf7e_0CNpOIKv4BLXFDCTK9g0/copy) and make your own copy.

1. Click on the links to access each of the sources.

1. Determine if the source is a primary or secondary source.

1. Provide a short justification (1–2 sentences) for why this source is primary or secondary.

1. Submit your copy of the activity on Google Classroom.

Anatomy of a Scientific Article

As seen in the primary source provided above, many scientific articles are divided into multiple sections: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. Watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=9lL6xDKpHxw) to take a closer look at these sections. While you watch the video, think about why articles might be divided in this way, and what section(s) might be most important to get information from.

Activity: Labeling Article Sections

Instructions:

1. Open this document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1anvlpTfsiGnMcfKa491MbgShqRPb9iWjIBejPWpC-2 4/copy) and make your own copy.

1. Read through each of the sections of the scientific article.

1. In each of the highlighted locations, insert the correct title for the article section.

1. Submit your copy of the activity on Google Classroom.