Introduction

This activity serves as an excellent opportunity to introduce students to scientific journal articles and allow them to pursue an area of interest based on the variety of topics they encounter. Very few students have opportunity to work with scientific journal articles prior to undergraduate or graduate school training. The availablility of online journals allows students access to many highly regarded journals at virtually no cost.

Grade Level of Participants

This activity works well with high school students. Juniors and seniors who have had a biology and a chemistry course prior to the class in which they perform this activity should be able to find a number of articles which are readable, suiting their reading level and interests. This activity also works well with younger students, though the teacher may have to spend more time assisting those who experience initial difficulties in finding articles that are understandable.

Duration Of Activity

2 days. Each day's activities are outlined in the student version of this activity. Teachers may expand this to a weeklong activity by having students broaden their area of investigation beyond a single area of interest or may have students find a number of articles dealing with the same general topic.

Curriculum Connection

This activity works integrates well into class coverage of topics including ecology, pollution, organismal diversity, field methodology, infectious disease transmission and agricultural/economic impacts of pest species.

Linkage to National Science Standards - AAAS Benchmarks

The following AAAS Benchmarks may be addressed through "Online Scientific Journal Research" depending on topic selection. Each of the knowledge or skill benchmarks below pertain to students in grades 9-12. Each knowledge or skill benchmark is presented by topic chapter number and section, section title and section benchmark. The entire text of the AAAS document can be accessed at Benchmarks On-Line.

5A. Diversity of Life

• The degree of kinship between organisms or species can be estimated from similarity of their DNA sequences, which often closely matches their classification based on anatomical differences.

5C. Cells

• The genetic information in DNA molecules provides instructions for assembling protein molecules. The code is virtually the same for all life forms.

5F. Evolution of Life

• The basic idea of biological evolution is that the earth's present-day species developed from earlier, distinctly different species.
• Molecular evidence substantiates the anatomical evidence for evolution and provides additional detail about the sequence in which various lines of descent branched off from one another.
• Natural selection provides the following mechanism for evolution: Some variation in heritable characteristics exists within every species, some of these characteristics give individuals an advantage over others in surviving and reproducing, and the advantaged offspring, in turn, are more likely than others to survive and reproduce. The proportion of individuals that have advantageous characteristics will increase.
• Heritable characteristics can be observed at molecular and whole-organism levels-in structure, chemistry, or behavior. These characteristics strongly influence what capabilities an organism will have and how it will react, and therefore influence how likely it is to survive and reproduce.
• New heritable characteristics can result from new combinations of existing genes or from mutations of genes in reproductive cells. Changes in other cells of an organism cannot be passed on to the next generation.
• Natural selection leads to organisms that are well suited for survival in particular environments. Chances alone can result in the persistence of some heritable characteristics having no survival or reproductive advantage or disadvantage for the organism. When an environment changes, the survival value of some inherited characteristics may change.
• The theory of natural selection provides a scientific explanation for the history of life on earth as depicted in the fossil record and in the similarities evident within the diversity of existing organisms.
• Life on earth is thought to have begun as simple, one-celled organisms about 4 billion years ago. During the first 2 billion years, only single0cell micororganisms existed, but once cells with nuclei developed about a billion years ago, increasingly complex multicellular organisms evolved.
• Evolution builds on what already exists, so the more variety there is, the more there can be in the future. But evolution does not necessitate long-term progress in some set direction. Evolutionary changes appear to be like the growth of a bush: Some branches survive from the beginning with little or no change, many die out altogether, and others branch repeatedly, sometimes giving rise to more complex organisms.

6A. Human Identity

• Written records and photographic and electronic devices enable human beings to share, compile, use, and misuse great amounts of information and misinformation. No other species uses such technologies.

6E. Physical Health

• Faulty genes can cause body parts or systems to work poorly. Some genetic diseases appear only when an individual has inherited a certain faulty gene from both parents.

10H. Explaining the Diversity of Life

• By the 20th century, most scientists had accepted Darwin's basic idea. Today that still holds true, although differences exist concerning the details of the process and how rapidly evolution of a species takes place. People usually do not reject evolution for scientific reasons but because they dislike it its implications, such as the relation of human beings to other animals, or because they prefer a biblical account of creation.

11B. Models

• Computers have greatly improved the power and use of mathematical models by perfroming computations that are very long, very complicated, or repetitive. Therefore computers can show the consequences of applying complex rules or changing the rules. The graphic capabilities of computers make them useful in the design and testing of devices and structures and in the simulation of complicated processes.

12E. Critical-Response Skills

By the end of the 12th grade, students should be able to:

• Notice and criticize arguments based on the faulty, incomplete, or misleading use of numbers, such as in instances when (1) average results are reported, but not the amount of variation around the average, (2) a percentage or fraction is given, but not the total sample size (as in "9 out of 10 dentists recommend..."), (3) absolute and proportional quantities are mixed (as in "3,400 more robberies in our city last year, whereas other cities had an increase of less than 1%), or (4) results are reported with overstated precision (as in representing 13 out of 19 students as 68.42%).
• Check graphs to see that they do not misrepresent results by using inappropriate scales or by failing to specify the axes clearly.
• Wonder how likely it is that some event of interest might have occurred just by chance.
• Insist that the critical assumptions behind any line of reasoning be made explicit so that the validity of the position being taken-whether one's own or that of others-can be judged.
• Be aware, when considering claims, that when people try to prove a point, they may select only the data that support it and ignore any that would contradict it.
• Suggest alternative ways of explaining data and criticize arguments in which data, explanations, or conclusions are represented as the only ones worth consideration, with no mention of other possibilities. Similarly, suggest alternative trade-offs in decisions and designs and criticize those in which major trade-offs are not acknowledged.

Materials Needed

Computers with Internet connections (1 per pair of students)

Special Requirements

None.

Commentary on Subject Matter

Students generally find the freedom of topic choice and the breadth of journal article topics at the suggested sites to be quite interesting. This early introduction to scientific journals often encourages reluctant learners to become more willing to use the Internet as a source of current information for research activities throughout their academic classes.

Commentary on Instructional Approach(es)

Teachers using this activity should familiarize themselves with the Science Direct website and its many options prior to using it with their students. Students should be made well aware of write-up format and any other assignment specifications prior to initiating their search for journal articles. Suggested format is single page journal article summaries comprised of the following: 1) Title, 2) Purpose of the Study, 3) Procedure Used to Obtain Data (Brief), 4) Conclusions, and 5) Implications for Other Areas of Research.

Assessment

This activity lends well to assessment of quality of the final analysis and degree to which their write-up conforms to teacher-specified format. No specific format is stated in the student instructions, though teachers may want to assign a format which includes the following: 1) title of the paper, 2) purpose, 3) a brief outline of the experimental procedure (if appropriate), 4) scientist findings and conclusions and 5) a brief paragraph regarding the significance of this scientific investigation for others areas of scientific research.

Pertinent Online Resources

ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/)

   Bills itself as "the world's largest electronic collection of science, technology and medicine full text and bibliographic information." Subscription required.