Researchers usually study particular attributes of flora, fauna and phenomena, rather than generalized topics. For instance, the study of ocean sponges, or even a specific type of sponge may be too broad for a research paper, but the study of the anti-cancer activity of a Kaikoura Canyon sponge would be focused and thereby more useful. The ability to separate topics and analyze aspects of them is helpful in many fields, not just science. Understanding how to narrow a topic is an important strategy for students to develop.

As a result of this activity, students will be able to divide any broad topic into its component parts, determine whether the sub-topics need more focus by breaking them down further, then follow through with the next level of analysis. In addition, students will be able to produce a sufficiently narrow topic for research.

1. Ask students to write down three topics about which they know a lot. Examples might include themselves, their homes, their churches, their friends, school, movies, the community, books, sports, favorite foods, animals, plants, weather, sea life, and music. Once recorded, ask them to choose one with which to work first. The other two will be used later.

2. Have students imagine an essay or report written with their chosen topic as the title. What sub-topics would it have to include in order to be complete? [Let this be a brainstorming session in which you frequently remind students of aspects of the topic that would need to be included. The idea is to create such a long and cumbersome list as to overwhelm anyone wanting to write such a paper.]

   After long lists have been generated, point out that most researchers (and successful students) narrow their topics to an acceptable focus before beginning their research. Ask the students to identify what is meant by an acceptable focus.

3. On the board (or on newsprint or the overhead), re-create the and record the general topic of "Giant Squid" in the top space. Ask students to assist you as you identify five sub-topics that further break down the general topic of giant squid. Remind them that they are making subsets of an overall topic--each smaller one should concentrate on one aspect of the larger topic. An example breakdown might be:

   

   Location	Habitat	Predators	Anatomy	Legends

4. Then ask the students to consider the extent to which each sub-topic would:
   • be interesting to research
   • be narrow enough not to be overwhelming to research, yet large enough to warrant a full essay or report

   Take one sub-topic that lends itself to further analysis, and ask students to help ayou determine five sub-topics within that sub-topic. An example breakdown might be:

   

5. The purpose of breaking down these topics is to eventually arrive at a research question. Answering the question (and discovering more questions along the way) becomes goal of the student's research.

   Ask students once again to evaluate the appropriateness of each new sub-topic in terms of narrow focus and personal interest. If one is chosen to be suitable, then ask students to brainstorm possible questions to investigate. If none of the sub-topics is suitable, ask students what to do next. Possibilities include a third level of topic break-down, a whole new set of sub-topics from which to choose, asking a peer or adult for input on each sub-topic, or spending a few moments doing a pre-writing web on two or three of the sub-topics to see how they develop.

   For this particular set of sub-topics, students might brainstorm research questions like the following:

   1. How does the giant squid navigate without light?

   2. How does the giant squid cope with intense pressure? Intense cold?

   3. What does the giant squid use for shelter?

   4. What does the giant squid eat, how does it get its food, and how does its digestive system work?

   5. Given the way it is built and adapted, can the giant squid live in other parts of the vertical water column? Explain your answer.

   6. Why do giant squid live where they live?

   7. How has mankind affected the giant squid's habitat?

   8. In what food chain or web does the giant squid belong? How does it relate to other animals in its ecosystem?

6. To practice narrowing topics, download the blank graphical organizer for narrowing a topic and make a copy for each student. Ask the students to record their original chosen topic in the top space. Then ask them to break down their topic into five possible sub-topics. With a partner, ask them to assess each sub-topic for usefulness as focus for research. (Is it too broad? Too narrow? Interesting? Will it lead to a good question?) If the sub-topic seems appropriate, ask the students to fill in the next level as they did as a class on the giant squid. Ask them to continue filling in the spaces, consulting with classmates, until they have brains tormed a set of questions to research. Finally, have them circle the one they wish to research, as if this were a real assignment.

   For practice, have the students draw blank graphical organizers on their own paper and do the same process with the other two topics chosen in the very first step of the lesson. If you want students to focus on the giant squid or Dr. Clyde Roper's expedition as they practice narrowing topics, you may want to suggest two of the following topics after they have read a bit of the expedition journals or the giant squid webpage:

   underwater technology	ocean bathymetry	Dr. Clyde Roper
   marine research	underwater photography	another squid species
   research vessels	sperm whales	New Zealand
   bioacoustics	cephalopods	mollusks
   Kaikoura Canyon	collaboration	propulsion (locomotion)
   predators of the deep	ocean salinity	bioluminescence
   submersibles	myths	marine conservation issues
   Maori people of New Zealand	field research equipment	weather in the southern hemisphere

7. Mastery is demonstrated with graphical organizers that show a steady progression of successive narrowing of the larger topic, culminating in an appropriate research question for student inquiry. Have students check each other's work before turning their papers in to you.