How to Find Reliable Information

Using Critical Thinking to Find Reliable Information

Some people think that climate change is

linked to increased numbers of some types

of natural disasters and also to increasing

severity of some natural disasters, such as

droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes

and floods. Others think there may be no

link between the two.

Problem Question: Do climate changes have an effect on the number of some natural disasters and the severity of natural disasters?

As you work through this activity, you should try to be objective (not showing favoritism for one side or the other) in order to find out the answer to the problem question. You should look at the facts and then think critically to come to a conclusion using those facts.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this activity, you should be able to:

Identify credible (trustworthy, reliable, dependable, accurate) internet sources of information.
Explain how to know if a source is reliable and credible
Describe several ways to evaluate if a website provides accurate information.
Explain your conclusion to the problem question concerning climate change and natural disasters using reliable, credible sources.

Perhaps you have experienced a natural disaster in your community and know first-hand the damage it can cause. You may have even experienced more than one of these natural disasters.

Scientists investigate the causes of any increase or severity of natural disasters as a way of preventing them, inventing better warning systems, and finding out how people can protect themselves during the event.

What do you think about climate change’s effect on natural disasters? Do you think the two may be related or do you feel as if there is no link at all to possible climate change and increased numbers of severe weather events?

This activity will allow you to investigate reliable sources of information about this question and come to a conclusion based on accurate information. You will use the internet to find information and evidence that will allow you to find out if there is a connection between some natural disasters and climate changes.

While it might be entertaining to surf the internet, many of the internet websites do not have valid, correct and reliable information. Not just any internet source is a good one to use for reliable information.

What is reliable? A reliable source is one that contains accurate, objective information that you can depend on to be scientifically correct. These sources have information that has been tested over time and found to be true.

Tips for Evaluating a Website

There are multiple tips you can use to find out if a website’s information is accurate and reliable.

1) .edu sites

University sites have reliable information. Most universities have information from research studies they have performed in their many science departments. These sites will have a url address ending in .edu.

2) .gov sites

Government sites such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), NASA, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and many others have urls ending in .gov. These sites are reliable sources of information because the information has been well researched. The main goal for these sites is to inform the public.

3) Other sites from well-respected organizations also have reliable information. For example, organizations such as the National Geographic Society have accurate, reliable information. It may be difficult at first to recognize a good source, but as you search for good websites, it will become easier to know when a site has reliable information.

4) The author

Who wrote the article? If the article is written by an expert in the area you are investigating, the source is probably a good one. Credible sources will be written by respected authors and most articles will also have a brief description of the author’s work.

5) When was the article published? If you are looking for scientific information, the article should have been published within the last 10 years. Some information will be out-dated after 5 years.

6) Links to support the facts discussed in the article. There should be links that support the facts in the article and links should be to respected, reliable sites. There should also be references to other work that support the facts.

7) No grammar or punctuation errors and no misspellings. A credible source should not have grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes. You might not be able to recognize all of these mistakes right now, but you should not find any that you do recognize.

8) The article should be listed in other sources. As you do your research, you may find some of your sources listed repeatedly in other articles. This is a good way to know that your sources are good ones. If they are listed in other articles as a source for information, you know other people think it is a credible source.

9) Always find multiple sources to get a good idea of the answer to any research question. If you find information in one source that conflicts with another source, make sure you investigate them both to find out which one has the correct information.

Activity

Using your new internet research skills and tips for finding reliable sources, find the best evidence for your research problem question, in this case, whether or not climate changes could affect natural disasters.

Research until you have at least 5 different reliable sites that provide you with enough information for you to answer the problem question.

You can use more sites, but at least find 5 in order to give you enough information for a complete conclusion.

Use the worksheet in this lesson for your notes. You should use a separate sheet for each source of information to help you keep track of your descriptions of the sites you use. Make as many copies of the worksheet format that you need.

Now that you have the information you need to answer your research question, present your findings to your class. You can use any type of presentation aid to help you get all the important information to your class. Your teacher may have some requirements for this portion of the activity.

Think About It: There are often controversial topics that have differing information from differing sources. It is important that you know how to investigate the sources you read and hear in order to make good, informed decisions.

Can you think of other examples, besides natural disasters and climate change, which would require good research skills in order to get to reliable information?

Credible Sources Worksheet

Name of site:

url:

Author of article:

Qualifications of author:

Publication date:

Other notes that make this site credible:

Notes from the article on the problem question: