The purpose of this activity is to help you identify and evaluate the many sources of information about geology. First, think about how you evaluate different sources of information in your daily life, and what differentiates scientific journals from other sources of information.
Second, pick a geology topic you are interested in and find a book, 3 websites, a YouTube video, and a scientific journal article about it. Use the table below to guide your investigation.
Third, write a summary paragraph comparing the sources and indicating which one is the most reliable.
Sources of Information: (6 points)
In your daily life, how you know if a website or YouTube video has reliable information?
What is the difference between a scientific journal and other types of periodicals (magazines, newspapers, news websites)?
What scientific journals about geology does the library have access to? List at least 2 journal titles (not databases).
Source evaluation (14 points)
Pick a geology topic to investigate: _________________________________________________.
Now find the following sources about your topic:
| Source Type | Source name | Is this a good source? | Evidence (How do you know it is good or bad?) |
| Book | |||
| Website 1 | |||
| Website 2 | |||
| Website 3 | |||
| YouTube video | |||
| Scientific journal (written by scientists for scientists) | |||
| Very unreliable source | NO |
Summary: (5 points) Explain in a paragraph (at least 5 sentences) which of the above resources provides the most reliable information. Be sure you include supporting information.