Public Service Announcement (7th grade CA): Step One: Research

The first step is to take notes over your organization. Locate your organization's website on the internet. Cut and paste the URL address into EasyBib.com. This site will create a citation for you. This citation needs to be placed on a word document and saved in your folder for later. Any additional sources you may use will also need to be cited and added to this document. You will answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. You must use your own words!

Sources for Research

 You may use following resources:

_____ Website of your organization

_____ brochures, pamphlets, or other information from the organization

_____ e-mail or phone interview with organization

_____ books or databases

On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions. Do not write in complete sentences. This helps prevent plagiarizing. Write out the questions in bold on your paper.

Essential Questions:

1)      Who are we? (Describe the organization.  What services are provided?  How do they help or what do they do? Why was the organization created?)

Think about what the organization provides for the people they serve. Do they build a new house? Do they provide financial help? Do they provide tutors that will read to kids?

2)  What is our mission statement?  (Why are we doing this? This may be copied word for word from the website but you need to include quotes around it.

The mission statement can usually be found in the "about us" section on the website. Here is an example of The American Diabetes Association's mission statement:

"Our mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes."

3)  Who is served?  (Tell who qualifies for assistance.)

Think about who the organization is helping. Are they helping only females? Are they helping those that need help for a medical issue?

4)      How do those that qualify get help?

Think about how someone would get help from the organization. Do they have a local place that someone can go? Do they bring their services to the person? Do they call a number?

5)      What can citizens do to help the organization?

          Think about what the organization needs from citizens. Do they collect certain items? Do they need volunteers?

Further Research Questions:

6)      What are 3 statistics that support the need to help this organization?

A statistic is a collection of data. Here are some examples of statistics:

• 7% of children in Kansas are homeless.
• People with kidney stones have a 30% higher chance of developing diabetes.
• One animal every 8 seconds is put down in U.S. shelters each year.

You may search for these statistics on the internet if you can't find them on your website. You must site the website in which you found the information. Make sure the website is a reliable source. "Ask.com" is not a reliable source. When searching, try putting in your topic + statistics.

For example: homeless + statistics

7)      What are 10 additional facts about the organization or their cause?

You may get other important facts from your website that you have not already used. You may look up additional information in books or databases. If you use another website, it must be reliable and cited.

One of your facts should be the contact information (phone numbers, address, website).

8)      Think of additional ways citizens could contribute to the organization or cause.

Be creative! What else could citizens do to help out the organization or its cause. Maybe you could even do this when you are finished with this project!