For students and parents/guardians Table of Contents This skillbuilder handbook helps you Skillbuilder Handbook sharpen your problem-solving skills so you can get the most out of reading and understanding Problem-Solving Skills scientific writing and data. Improving skills Make Comparisons ..........................1105 such as making comparisons, analyzing infor- Analyze Information .......................1106 mation, reading time lines, and using graphic organizers also can help you boost your test Synthesize Information ...................1107 scores. In addition, you’ll find useful instruc- Take Notes and Outline ..................1108 tions on how to hold a debate and a review of Understand Cause and Effect .........1109 math skills. Read a Time Line .............................1110 The reference handbook is another tool that will assist you. The classification tables, Analyze Media Sources ...................1111 word origins, and the periodic table of the Use Graphic Organizers ..................1112 elements are resources that will help increase Debate Skills .....................................1113 your comprehension. Math Skills SI Base Units and Unit Conversions ................................. 1114 Temperature Conversion ................1114 Make and Use Tables .......................1115 Make and Use Graphs .....................1115 Slope of a Linear Graph ..................1116 Linear and Exponential Trends ..... 1117 Bar Graphs ........................................1117 Circle Graphs ....................................1118 Reference Handbook Six-Kingdom Classification ............1119 Three-Domain Classification .........1123 Scientific Word Origins ..................1124 The Periodic Table of the Elements .....................................1126 English/Spanish Glossary .......... 1127 Index ....................................................... 1173 Credits ................................................... 1204 1104 Skillbuilder Handbook CORBIS Problem-Solving Skills Make Comparisons Why learn this skill? Practice the Skill Suppose you want to buy portable MP3 music Create a table with the heading Animal and Plant player, and you must choose between three models. Cells. Make three columns. Label the first column You would probably compare the characteristics of Cell Structures. Label the second column Animal Cells. the three models, such as price, amount of mem- Label the third column Plant Cells. List all the cell ory, sound quality, and size to determine which structures in the first column. Place a check mark model is best for you. In the study of biology, you under either Animal Cell or Plant Cell or both if that often make comparisons between the structures structure is shown in the illustration. When you have and functions of organisms. You will also compare finished the table, answer these questions. scientific discoveries or events from one time 1. What items are being compared? How are they period with those from another period. being compared? 2. What structures do animal and plant cells have in Learn the Skill common? When making comparisons, you examine two or 3. What structures are unique to animal cells? What more items, groups, situations, events, or theories. structures are unique to plant cells? You must first decide what will be compared and which characteristics you will use to compare them. Then identify any similarities and differences. Apply the Skill For example, comparisons can be made between Make Comparisons On pages 708 and 712 respec- the two illustrations on this page. The different struc- tively, you will find illustrations for a sponge’s life tures of the animal cell can be compared to the differ- cycle and a jellyfish’s life cycle. Compare the two ent structures of the plant cell. By reading the labels, illustrations carefully. Then, identify the similarities you can see that both types of cells have a nucleus. and the differences between the two cycles. Plant cell Source: Chapter 7, Section 3, p. 192 Animal cell Skillbuilder Handbook 1105 Problem-Solving Skills Analyze Information Why learn this skill? Analyzing, or looking at separate parts of something to understand the entire piece, is a way to think critically about written work. The ability to analyze information is important when determining which ideas are the most important. Learn the Skill To analyze information, use the following steps: • identify the topic being discussed • examine how the information is organized— identify the main points • summarize the information in your own words, and then make a statement based on your understanding of the topic and what you already know Practice the Skill Read the following excerpt from National Giant squid on a fishing line Geographic. Use the steps listed above to analyze the information and answer the questions that follow. Like something straight out of a Jules Verne novel, Squid expert Martin Collins of the British Antarctic an enormous tentacled creature looms out of the inky Survey based in Cambridge, England is especially interested in clues the images might provide to the way blackness of the deep Pacific waters. But this isn’t sci- giant squid swim and hunt in the deep ocean. ence fiction. A set of extraordinary images captured by Collins says there were two competing schools of Japanese scientists marks the first-ever record of a live thought among giant squid experts. “One was the idea giant squid (Architeuthis) in the wild. that [giant squid] were fairly inactive and just drifted The animal—which measures roughly 8 meters around, dangling their tentacles below them like fish- long—was photographed 900 meters beneath the ing lures to catch what came by,” he said. North Pacific Ocean. Japanese scientists attracted the “The other theory was that they were actually quite squid toward cameras attached to a baited fishing line. active. This new evidence supports this, suggesting they The scientists say they snapped more than 500 images are active predators which can move reasonably of the massive cephalopod before it broke free after quickly. The efforts the squid went to untangle itself snagging itself on a hook. They also recovered one of [from the baited fishing line] also shows they are capa- the giant squid’s two longest tentacles, which severed ble of quite strong and rapid movement,” he added. during its struggle. The photo sequence, taken off Japan’s Ogasawara 1 What topic is being discussed? Islands in September 2004, shows the squid homing in 2. What are the main points of the article? on the baited line and enveloping it in “a ball of tenta- 3. Summarize the information in this article, and cles.” Tsunemi Kubodera of the National Science then provide your analysis based on this infor- Museum in Tokyo and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara mation and your own knowledge. Whale Watching Association report their observations in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Apply the Skill “Architeuthis appears to be a much more active pred- Analyze Information Analyze a short, informative ator than previously suspected, using its elongated feeding article on a new scientific discovery or new science tentacles to strike and tangle prey,” the researchers write. technology, such as the hybrid car. Summarize the They add that the squid was found feeding at depths information and make a statement of your own. where no light penetrates even during the day. 1106 Skillbuilder Handbook National Science Museum/HO/epa/Corbis Problem-Solving Skills Synthesize Information Why learn this skill? Then you could select a passage about endan- The skill of synthesizing involves combining gered species like the sample below, which is adapted and analyzing information gathered from separate from Chapter 5. sources or at different times to make logical connections. Being able to synthesize information can be a Stable ecosystems can be changed by the activity of useful skill for you as a student when you need to other organisms, climate, or natural disasters. This gather data from several sources for a report or a natural process of extinctions is not what scientists are presentation. worried about. Many worry about a recent increase in the rate of extinction. Learn the Skill One of the factors that is increasing the current rate Follow these steps to synthesize information: of extinction is the overexploitation, or excessive use, of • select important and relevant information species that have economic values. Historically, overex- • analyze the information and build connections ploitation was the primary cause of species extinction. • reinforce or modify the connections as you However, the number one cause of species extinction acquire new information today is the loss or destruction of habitat. There are several ways that species can lose their Suppose you need to write a research paper on habitats. If a habitat is destroyed or disrupted, the endangered species. You would need to synthesize native species might have to relocate or die. For exam- what you learn to inform others. You could begin by ple, humans are clearing areas of tropical rain forests detailing the ideas and information you already have and are replacing the native plants with agricultural about endangered species. A table such as the one crops or grazing lands. below could help you categorize the facts. Practice the Skill Endangered Species Use the table and the passage on this page to Table SH.1 Statistics answer these questions. 1. What information is presented in the table? Group October 2000

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