Grade by Grade
D. Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts · Writing with Purpose: Research, Essays, Media and Publishing

Research: Finding and Evaluating Sources

D1.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can plan a search with keywords, synonyms and search operators, using search engines and library databases.
  • I can tell primary, secondary and tertiary sources apart and choose the ones my question needs.
  • I can evaluate the currency, quality, bias and accuracy of information.
  • I can verify the reliability of a source by reading laterally and corroborating claims.

Words to know

keyword
An important word or phrase from your guiding question that you type into a search tool.
search operator
A word or symbol that changes a search, such as AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks or site:.
database
An organized collection of articles, often from magazines, newspapers and journals, that libraries pay for and share with members.
primary source
Firsthand evidence: an interview, a survey you ran, a diary, a speech, original data, a photo from the time.
secondary source
A source that explains or analyzes primary sources, like a news analysis, a textbook chapter or a documentary.
bias
A one-sided leaning that can shape which facts are chosen and how they are presented.
lateral reading
Checking a source by leaving it and opening other tabs to see what reliable sources say about it and its claims.
corroborate
To confirm a claim by finding it in another independent, reliable source.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 you checked sources for currency and credibility, used the SIFT moves (Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, Trace claims), and noticed how algorithms curate what you see.

Grade 9 research is more independent. You'll build a search plan, use library databases as well as search engines, and apply the four tests the curriculum names: currency, quality, bias and accuracy. Then you'll verify reliability the way professional fact-checkers do.

Start with a search plan, not a search box

Take your guiding question and pull out its keywords. Then list synonyms, because sources use different words.

Guiding question: How is a shorter winter season affecting outdoor rinks in Ontario?

  • outdoor rinks: backyard rinks, community rinks, natural ice
  • shorter winter: warmer winters, climate change, freeze-thaw
  • Ontario: a specific city, Canada

Now combine them with search operators:

  • AND (both terms): outdoor rinks AND climate
  • OR (either term): rinks OR arenas
  • NOT or a minus sign (leave out): rinks -hockey
  • "quotation marks" (exact phrase): "outdoor rink season"
  • site: (one kind of site): outdoor rinks site:.ca or site:gc.ca for Government of Canada pages
Search operators: the shaded part is what you getrinksclimaterinks AND climaterinksarenasrinks OR arenasrinksclimaterinks NOT climatefewer, more focusedmore resultsleaves a topic out
AND narrows a search to sources that mention both terms. OR widens it to either term (useful for synonyms). NOT (or a minus sign in many search engines) removes a term. Many library databases use AND, OR and NOT too.

Where to search

  • Search engines are fast and broad but mix excellent and terrible results; the top results are not automatically the best.
  • Library databases (through your school or public library card) hold magazine, newspaper and journal articles that have been through an editor. Many Ontario public libraries give members free access.
  • Encyclopedias such as Wikipedia are good for background and for their reference lists, but most teachers want you to cite the original sources instead.
  • AI chatbots can help you brainstorm keywords, but they can state errors confidently and can even invent sources that don't exist. Never cite a source you have not found and read yourself.
  • People are sources too: an interview or a survey you run is a primary source.
TypeWhat it isExamples
PrimaryFirsthand evidence from the time or the personinterview, survey you ran, speech, letter, original data, photo, a law's text
SecondaryExplains or analyzes primary sourcesnews analysis, documentary, history book, review
TertiarySummarizes and points to other sourcesencyclopedia, textbook overview, index
Strong research usually combines primary and secondary sources. Tertiary sources help you get started.

The four tests (from the curriculum)

  1. Currency: When was it published or updated? Is that recent enough for this topic? (Technology and health change fast; a 1950s source is perfect for a history question about the 1950s.)
  2. Quality: Who made it and what are their qualifications? Is it edited or reviewed? Does it explain where its information comes from?
  3. Bias: Why was it made? Does the creator gain from you believing it (selling a product, winning a vote)? Is only one side shown? Bias doesn't automatically make a source useless, but you must account for it.
  4. Accuracy: Can the facts be checked? Do other reliable sources report the same thing? Are numbers, quotations and dates correct?

Then verify reliability: check the source from outside (lateral reading), and corroborate each important claim in at least one other independent, reliable source.

Reading verticallyReading laterallyOne websiteAbout usTheir claimsTheir chartsTheir links(only what thesite says aboutitself)Stays on the page and scrolls down.The siteyou foundTab 2: who runsthis site?Tab 3: what doothers say about it?Tab 4: is the claimreported elsewhere?Leaves the page to check it from outside.
Professional fact-checkers read laterally: before trusting a site, they open new tabs to see who is behind it and whether other reliable sources report the same thing.
Worked example

Let's evaluate two sources

Guiding question: Would a later start time help Ontario high school students sleep more? (Both sources are invented for this lesson.)

Source A: a 2019 blog post on the website of DreamDeep Mattresses titled "Teens Need Our New Mattress to Sleep!" No author is named and no studies are linked.

Source B: a 2024 report from a provincial public health agency, with named researchers, a methods section explaining that 2 000 students were surveyed, and a reference list.

  1. Currency: A is from 2019; B is from 2024. For a health question, the newer source is better, but neither is too old to consider.
  2. Quality: A has no author, no evidence and no editing information. B names its researchers, explains its methods and lists references.
  3. Bias: A is made by a company that sells mattresses, so it benefits if you believe teens need a new mattress. B's purpose is public health; it may still have a point of view, but it shows its evidence.
  4. Accuracy: A's claims can't be checked. B's survey numbers can be compared with other studies.
  5. Lateral reading: a search for the agency in a new tab shows other reliable sources (news outlets, school boards) referring to its reports. A search for DreamDeep Mattresses shows only its own advertising.

Use Source B and corroborate its key finding in a second reliable source. Source A is an advertisement; it could only be used as an example of how companies market sleep products, not as evidence about sleep.

Domain names are clues, not proof

A .gc.ca or .gov.on.ca address belongs to a government, and .edu sites are usually universities (mostly in the United States). But .org, .com and .ca can be used by anyone who registers them. Always read laterally instead of trusting the ending of an address.

Hands-on activity

Search challenge at home

With a computer or phone (and a grown-up's OK for the sites you visit):

  1. Pick a guiding question you care about. List 3 keywords and 2 synonyms for each.
  2. Search once with plain words. Then search again using quotation marks around a phrase, then with site:.ca. Write down how the first three results changed.
  3. Choose one result and read laterally: open two new tabs and find out who runs the site and whether another reliable source reports the same main claim.
  4. Give the source a score out of 3 for each of the four tests (currency, quality, bias, accuracy) with one reason each.

What to look for: reasons that name evidence (a date, an author's job, a funder, a matching source), not just it looks professional.

Just for fun

Lateral reading means opening new tabs to check a source. Finally, a research skill that rewards you for having way too many tabs open.

Your turn

1

Write a search using operators to find sources about winter road salt and fish, but not driveways.

2

Classify each as primary, secondary or tertiary: (a) a survey you run, (b) an encyclopedia entry, (c) a documentary about the 1972 Summit Series, (d) a recording of a 1972 player interview.

3

Why is currency more important for a question about phone privacy settings than for one about the War of 1812?

4

A website about a new energy drink was made by the company that sells it. Which test raises a concern, and why?

5

Explain lateral reading in your own words.

6

Can you cite an article an AI chatbot told you about without finding it? Why or why not?

More practice: warm-up

1

What does putting a phrase in quotation marks do in a search?

2

Name the four tests the curriculum uses to evaluate information.

3

What does corroborate mean?

4

Does OR give you more results or fewer?

5

True or false: a .org website is always reliable.

More practice: on your own

1

List three synonyms or related terms for the keyword bullying to widen a search.

2

A news article quotes a scientist but doesn't name the study. How could you check its accuracy?

3

Explain why a source with a clear bias might still be useful.

4

You find the same statistic on five websites, but they all copied it from one blog. Is it corroborated? Explain.

5

Write a guiding question and explain which kind of source (primary or secondary) would be most important for it.

Challenge

1

Design a 4-step research plan for the question Should Ontario ban cellphones in all high school classrooms?

2

A Grade 9 student says, Lateral reading is a waste of time; if a site looks professional, it's fine. Write a two-sentence response.

3

Your source is a 2010 government report. Your topic is how many Ontarians use public transit. Evaluate its currency and say what you'd do.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which search finds pages that mention both maple syrup and climate?

2.

Which is a primary source?

3.

Which test asks why the source was made and who benefits?

4.

What is lateral reading?

5.

Which claim is properly corroborated?

6.

Which statement about AI chatbots in research is accurate?

For parents and teachers

Research skills transfer to every subject and to life (health, money and news decisions). At home, model lateral reading: when you see a surprising claim online, open a new tab together and check who is behind it.

Common difficulties: typing a whole question into a search engine instead of keywords; trusting the first result; assuming .org or professional design means reliable; treating copies of one claim as many sources; citing AI-generated "sources" that don't exist. A public library card usually gives free access to databases; this is a great time to get one.