Using Multiple Sources
Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or solve a problem efficiently
What a learner can do afterwards
- Use search features, indexes, and headings to locate specific information across sources
- Synthesise information from two or more sources to answer a research question
- Evaluate which source provides the most relevant information for a given question
1 · Read
Start with the question you want to answer. Pick search words from it, including words with the same meaning. An index lists topics alphabetically with page numbers and may list several pages. Headings name sections. A website's search bar finds matching results. Open the results and read relevant passages to check what they answer. You do not have to read every page.
Mia asks how garden plants get water. 'Watering Plants' is a closer title match than 'Garden Colours'. She reads the passage to check its contents. A related topic may not answer her exact question. Match the source's contents to the information needed: a labelled table of measurements can help with a question about measured values. If information is missing, search for that part.
Combine relevant information from sources that answer different parts of your question. One garden report says the class collects rainwater; another says that water is used on the beds. Together they explain where the water used on the garden beds comes from. Keep a note of each fact's source. A useful source may answer only part of a question. Another source may add details or help check a claim.
When claims disagree, compare their meanings and evidence. Words may have different definitions. Check who wrote each source and whether its date matters. Expertise helps, but does not make every claim true. Seek an independent check: a source that checks the claim itself instead of repeating another article. Several pages copying one article are not several independent checks.
Use search tools to find relevant passages, combine supported information, record its sources, and check meanings and evidence when claims disagree.
Original lesson, practice questions and flashcards written for this learning dataset.
The readings about finding missing research information and checking exhibition notices were written for this learning dataset.
More to read
Find the missing part of an answer
A class wants to explain which materials it used for a model bridge and why it chose them. These are two parts of one research question.
The project booklet's materials section lists card and string. It does not explain the choices. Amira records the list with the booklet's title and page number. The passage is useful, even though it answers only one part.
She searches the class website for 'bridge materials'. Several results appear. She opens the project diary and reads the relevant paragraph. It explains the class's reasons for choosing card and string.
Now Amira can connect each material with its reason. She keeps the source beside each note so she can find the passage again and show where the information came from.
Collecting more sources about bridges would not by itself finish the task. Amira checks her answer against both parts of the question. If a reason is still missing, she searches for that specific information.
When two notices disagree
Two notices give different opening times for a school exhibition. One says nine o'clock and the other says ten. Before choosing a time, check whether they describe the same exhibition and session. Read their dates too. One may describe last year's event.
If both notices concern the same session, look for the latest dated announcement from the organiser. The organiser sets the schedule, so that announcement gives evidence about the intended time. A copied notice with no date leaves more to check.
Several websites may repeat the same old announcement. Their agreement does not show that each website checked the schedule. Follow their references to find where the information began.
Keep the notice's title, date and location with your notes. If you cannot settle the conflict, ask a teacher or librarian for help and say what remains uncertain. Do not present an unchecked guess as a confirmed time.
2 · Watch
En anglaisTake it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
Optional connections
This opens up
Where this leads
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.