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[Coop and Dino singing]

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It always pays off to do your research. [Boy with boxing gloves and is hit in the face]

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About to get into a boxing match with the world champ? Research.

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Choosing between two taco trucks for lunch? Research.

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Solving all the world’s most serious and challenging problems? Yep, that’s right,

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only possible with research.

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For the record, research involves a lot more than just reading. [Boy at a desk with stacks of books]

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But it does start with reading. And a lot of it.

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First, we need to read multiple texts about the subject we're researching. Yep – not

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one. Multiple.

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We should take notes on each text. Are the texts informational? Opinion? Story? What

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are their central ideas, and what reasons and evidence do they provide to back up their

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details and points?

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Hint: that last one is extra important. [Notes of consideration when researching]

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Once we've read a few texts, it's a good idea to check them against each other. Where do

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they agree? Where do they disagree? And if they do disagree, which one has the stronger [Coop discussing comparison of texts]

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argument or evidence?

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After all that, we're finally ready to decide which facts we'll use as evidence to support

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our statements, ideas, and opinions. [Boy holding a jar of peanut butter]

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Yeah, it’s a bit of a long road, but that pot of factual gold at the end is definitely

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worth it. So let’s apply this whole "research" thing

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to a real world situation.

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How about… the water crisis? [Water transforms into sand]

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Maybe you’ve noticed your neighborhood is experiencing a drought and you want to help

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out, because you want to make your community a better place to live… [Boy wearing a superman shirt and cape appears outside a house]

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…or maybe you just want to finally be able to fill up your Super Soaker and ambush your

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big sister.

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Whatever the reason, we know what step one is: hit the books. We'll want to find books [Boxing glove strikes a book]

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about water, whether that means books about general water facts or water conservation.

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As long as they're relevant to the subject at hand, get reading.

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Next, take some notes. Find the central ideas in the various books and the reasons and evidence

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they provide to back them up.

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Next it's time to make some comparisons. Different writers might take different approaches to

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water conservation, so which ones make the best arguments?

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After that, you can take all those notes and decide which facts you'll use as evidence [man carrying lots of notes]

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to support our statements, ideas, and opinions.

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Since you're interested in water conservation where you live, which strategies make the

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most sense for your particular situation? This is the part where you use your own brain. [Man lying on a sofa]

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Books can’t do everything for you, unfortunately. It would be nice if they’d help out with

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the dishes every once in a while. The better you are at research, the better [Man fixing a broken down car]

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equipped you'll be to fix problems in the world.

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Unless your problem is that you’re addicted to research. In which case… good luck. [Man researching in a bath tub]

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