ISASP Research and Inquiry Skills

Question 1

A student is researching the effects of pollution on Iowa rivers for a science report. Which source would be MOST credible?

Accepted Answer

A report published by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Answer

A blog post written by an anonymous author two years ago

Answer

A social media post with many likes from an environmental group

Answer

A Wikipedia article about river pollution in general

Question 2

When a student copies a paragraph from a book and puts it in a report without quotation marks or a citation, this is called:

Accepted Answer

Plagiarism

Answer

Paraphrasing

Answer

Summarizing

Answer

Synthesizing

Question 3

A primary source is best described as:

Accepted Answer

An original diary written by a Civil War soldier

Answer

A textbook that summarizes historical events

Answer

A documentary film about a historical period

Answer

An encyclopedia entry about the Civil War

Question 4

Which search term would MOST likely return the most specific results when researching the history of Iowa's state capital?

Accepted Answer

Des Moines Iowa capital history

Answer

Iowa

Answer

State capitals history

Answer

American cities

Question 5

A student reads two articles about school lunch policies. One says healthy lunches improve grades; the other says there is no proven link. What should the student do?

Accepted Answer

Look for additional sources to compare and evaluate the evidence

Answer

Use only the first article because it was read first

Answer

Ignore both articles and find a different topic

Answer

Choose the article written by a more well-known author

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of a fact, NOT an opinion?

Accepted Answer

Iowa became the 29th state admitted to the Union in 1846.

Answer

Iowa is the most beautiful state in the Midwest.

Answer

Iowa's weather is better than Minnesota's weather.

Answer

Iowa's corn is the tastiest in the country.

Question 7

To properly credit a website in a works cited list, a student should include:

Accepted Answer

The author's name, title of the page, website name, and date accessed

Answer

Only the URL of the website

Answer

Only the title of the article and the date

Answer

The author's name and the number of words on the page