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MYP Science 3 | Nuclear Energy Case Study: Research Guide

Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear power plants, like the one pictured on the left, produce a significant percentage of the world's energy.  On the right, you can see a diagram of a nuclear power plant showing how water is heated in the reactor vessel by the fuel to produce steam that turns a turbine to generate electricity ("Schematic of a Nuclear Power Plant").

 

Left Image from: Temelín Nuclear Power Plant. image. Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 19 Feb. 2021. school.eb.com/levels/high/assembly/view/177405. Accessed 19 May. 2021. 
Right image from:  Schematic of a Nuclear Power Plant. online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=104538&itemid=WE40&iid=62711. Accessed 18 May 2021.

Case Study Research Objectives

  • Describe the background / history of nuclear power plants. 
  • Analyze the benefits vs. the dangers of nuclear power plants.  What are the implications: moral, ethical, social, economic, political, cultural or environmental?
  • Recommend a course of action for the future (keep nuclear power plants or replace them?).  Based on scientific evidence and your research, is this a technology that should continue to be used in society? 
    • If you recommend replacing nuclear power plants, discuss the alternatives and the difficulties involved with this implementation (consider economic and environmental aspects). 
    • If you recommend continuing to use nuclear power plants, discuss how some of the current difficulties with nuclear power plants could be improved.
  • Document sources completely in MLA format using in-text citations and in a bibliography.

Outcome / Product:
Create an electronic poster that includes your research findings and could be used to convince others of your future recommendations for the use of nuclear power plants.  Your poster will be shared with your classmates on Padlet, and later will be published for your parents' viewing.  You will be expected to read and thoughtfully respond to at least five of your classmates' posters.

Class Padlet Links:

Library Books for Research

  

Research Databases

Login information for each database can be found on your teacher's class resources page, or you can contact the secondary librarian.

Websites & Multimedia Research Resources

Electronic Books

Giving Credit to Research Sources

 

An excellent tool for creating MLA style citations for your resources/works cited list!  NoodleTools can also be use for taking notes, organizing your ideas, and much more!

Click here to learn How To Use NoodleTools for Citing Sources

Reference List

A list of all primary and secondary research sources used

  • In MLA8 format, sources should be alphabetical by the last name of the author (or title if there is no author)

Reference Citations Format by Type of Source

Basic formatting for various reference citations:

  • Book
    Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.
     
  • Database Article
    Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. (volume number), no. (issue number), Date published. Title of Database, url. Date accessed (Ex. Accessed 1 April 2020). 
     
  • Digital Image
    Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Title of Image.” Title of Website, Publisher of Site (only if this is different than the name of the website), url of website. Date accessed (Ex. Accessed 1 April 2020). 
     
  • Online Video
    Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Title of Video.” Title of Website, uploaded by (user name), upload date (Ex. 3 July 2012), url of website. Date accessed (Ex. Accessed 1 April 2020).
     
  • Website
    Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Title of Page.” Title of Website, Publisher of Site (only if this is different than the name of the website), url of website. Date accessed (Ex. Accessed 1 April 2020).