Annotation and citation
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Annotate credible sources and cite them correctly to support a needs assessment.
1. Open your materials
Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.
2. Start the work
For each kept source, write sentence 1 of your annotation: summarize what the source says.
Show all 5 required steps
- For each kept source, write sentence 1 of your annotation: summarize what the source says.
- Write sentence 2 of the same annotation: explain how the source informs your ER design problem.
- Format a citation for each source in a consistent style.
- Flag any source bias that could affect your conclusions.
- Submit your annotated, cited source set.
Lost your place? You should have a two-sentence annotation started for each kept source (step 1) with a relevance note (step 2). Pick up by formatting a consistent citation for each source (step 3), then flag any bias that could weaken your conclusions (step 4).
Check your work before submitting
- Each source has an annotation and a correct citation.
- You can name a potential bias in at least one source.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Annotated source set with two-sentence annotations, consistent citations, and at least one bias flag.
How to submit and name your file
Use the submission route shown on today's page.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
PDF upload helpYou get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
How this lesson connects
Keep using what you learned last class: A design problem must be specific, observable, and tied to real harm so that it can guide a real solution, because a vague problem gives the designer nothing measurable to build or test against. Today: A useful source entry explains what the source says, why it matters to your design problem, and any potential bias. A citation lets the reader check the original.
Optional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: A useful source entry explains what the source says, why it matters to your design problem, and any potential bias. A citation lets the reader check the original.
- 0-10Annotation model: read a sample annotation and identify what makes it useful
- 10-30Write annotations: two sentences per kept source (summary + relevance to design problem)
- 30-50Write citations in a consistent style for each source
- 50-65Bias flag: identify and note a potential bias in at least one source
- 65-77Submit annotated, cited source set
- 77-80Exit check: read your shortest annotation aloud -- does it connect to your design problem?
- • Yesterday you selected your best sources. Today you will annotate and cite them properly.
- • An annotation is not a summary -- it connects the source directly to your design problem.
- • Citations are how you give credit and let others verify your evidence.
- • Flagging bias in your own sources is a sign of intellectual honesty that strengthens, not weakens, your argument.
- • How to write a two-sentence annotation that summarizes content and explains relevance to your problem.
- • How to format a citation consistently so any reader can locate the original source.
- • Why a supported potential-bias flag helps readers judge the limits of a source.
PLTW connection and today's work
Open Problem 1 in your myPLTW course shell and locate the annotation or needs-assessment activity to review the citation and annotation format.
Today's stopping point: By the end of today, each kept source should have a two-sentence annotation and a citation. Include at least one bias flag in the set, and flag any source bias that could affect your conclusions.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Course connection
- Activity 1.1.2 Research and Documentation
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
A design problem must be specific, observable, and tied to real harm so that it can guide a real solution, because a vague problem gives the designer nothing measurable to build or test against.
A useful source entry explains what the source says, why it matters to your design problem, and any potential bias. A citation lets the reader check the original.
Driving question: What makes a source entry useful and checkable?
What you already know: Bring your ER problem brief and the sources you kept. Read each original before writing about it.
New idea: An annotation has two sentences with different jobs: summary first, relevance second. Keep the citation and any applicable bias flag with that entry.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A guide for organizing one kept source, not evidence or a completed source entry. What to notice: Keep the citation, two-sentence annotation and applicable bias flag together; use your actual sources.
F1. Source-entry guide
Citation: actual author, date, title and source details. Use one consistent style.
Two-sentence annotation
Sentence 1: summarize what the source says.
Sentence 2: explain how it informs your design problem.
Bias flag, where it applies: note potential bias that could affect your conclusions.
Include at least one bias flag across your source set.
Use this guide if it helps. Submit your annotated source set, not a separate worksheet.
Real-source citation example (optional help)
Parallel topic: vaccine-clinic design, not ER evidence
Citation: Gonzales, A. B., Lee, E. C., Grigorescu, V., Smith, S. R., De Lew, N., & Sommers, B. D. (2021, August 27). Overview of barriers and facilitators in COVID-19 vaccine outreach (Research Report No. HP-2021-19). Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/Vaccine%20Outreach%20Research%20Report%208-27-2021%20FINAL.pdf
Two-sentence annotation: This 2021 report identifies time, transportation, cost and vaccination-site location as barriers to vaccination access. For a parallel vaccine-clinic design project, I would use these barriers to plan access questions, not as proof that a proposed design works or as evidence about an ER.
Scope check: This is an overview of vaccine-outreach research and programs, not a study of our proposed design. Bias assessment remains open: no bias finding is supplied by this example.
This one entry is not a required source count or a complete submitted set. Use your actual kept sources and include at least one supported bias flag across your set.
How to complete an entry
- Read the kept source and your ER design problem.
- Write two sentences: summarize the source, then explain its relevance.
- Record the actual citation details in one consistent style.
- Check for supported potential bias and revise the entry.
Use your ER brief: Your ER brief names the design problem. Use your actual kept sources to explain what is known about that problem and what remains uncertain.
What these checks establish: The checks show whether your entry includes the required parts and lets a reader check the original.
What it cannot prove: These checks cannot establish that a source is true or that an ER design works. They check the entry against the assignment.
- • Annotation: Two sentences about a source, one summary and one explanation of its relevance.
- • Relevance: How the source helps you understand your design problem.
- • Citation: Details that credit a source and let a reader find the original.
- • : A slant that may reflect a source's purpose, viewpoint, funding or interests.
Use it now: Use this only when it helps you complete your selected work plan. No separate submission. Open an entry from your kept source set and the original source.
Go further, optional: and remain available in the illustrated glossary for context. They are not extra tasks or prerequisites for this annotation practice.
Summary check
Does sentence 1 accurately summarize what the original source says?
Compare it with the original. Correct anything the source does not support.
Relevance check
Does sentence 2 explain how the source informs your ER design problem?
Name the connection to your problem. Do not invent an outcome.
Citation and bias check
Can a reader find the source? Have you flagged applicable potential bias?
Check actual citation details. Include at least one supported bias flag across the set.
pltw-bfh-2027-02-10 · Source-entry rehearsal
Your role: source-set author
Optional rehearsal: Use this only when it helps you complete your selected work plan. No separate submission.
- • Open an entry from your kept source set and the original source.
- • Check the two sentences. Does sentence 1 summarize the source? Does sentence 2 explain its relevance to your design problem?
- • Check the citation against the original. Record any supported potential bias that could affect your conclusions.
- • Correct the entry, then use the same checks on the rest of your set. Include at least one bias flag across the set.
If your selected plan uses a partner or group, discuss an entry and ask what needs clarification. Keep your own source set and write your own words.
Response: Check or revise a source entry. Keep two annotation sentences and a consistent citation per kept source, with applicable bias flags and at least one across the set. No separate submission.
Claim ceiling: These checks cannot establish that a source is true or that an ER design works. They check the entry against the assignment.
Students often think Students think an annotation is just a short summary of what the source says, so they restate the source and stop there.. The trap: A summary alone answers 'what does it say,' but it never answers 'why does this matter to my design,' which is the whole point. Every annotation needs a relevance sentence tying the source to your specific ER problem, or a reviewer can rightly ask 'so what' and your evidence goes limp.
Annotated source set: format sample only. Names, citations and numbers below are placeholders, not verified sources or findings. Do not cite them as evidence.
1. Author A. (2022). [Sample article title]. [Journal details].
Annotation: The sample claims 40 percent less room downtime across three hospitals. If verified, this could help compare staffing changes with adding rooms, but would not prove either solves our problem.
2. Vendor Corp. (2026). [Sample product overview]. [Website details].
Annotation: The sample vendor claims turnover under 10 minutes. Because the seller benefits, I would compare this claim with independent evidence before relying on it.
Bias flag: Source 2 sells the product.
For a real citation, use the actual author, date, title and source details in one consistent style so a reader can find the original. This example models two annotations; it does not set your required source count.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Each kept source given a two-sentence annotation, a consistent citation, and a bias flag where one applies.
- Date and label the entry.
- Record the procedure, observation, or design decision clearly.
- End with what the evidence means and the next step.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Submit the annotated, cited source set on Schoology by end of period.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Annotation and citation. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
PLTW BI Activity 1.1.2: Research and Documentation
Today's local assignment practices PLTW research and documentation skills. Keep two annotation sentences and a citation for each kept source, at least one supported bias flag across the set, and the Schoology product shown above. The PLTW activity is a reference, not an additional assignment today.
The scavenger hunt is inside the activity. PDF page 5 names the notebook response location; page 11 explains the documentation task. You do not need a separate scavenger-hunt response sheet for today's local assignment.
Sign in to myPLTW with your school account if prompted.
Optional research help and mission checklist
Open a guide only when you need help. These links add no separate submission.
Mission File 1 is an interactive six-task checklist for the larger mission. Open the shield, then Mission Completion Tasks. It includes teacher approval; finishing today's local assignment does not automatically complete the mission.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: These checks cannot establish that a source is true or that an ER design works. They check the entry against the assignment.
Format practice only. The source claim in this sample sentence is unverified. Do not cite it as evidence. Here is an annotation: 'This 2023 study found ER wait times dropped 20% after adding a fast-track lane for minor cases.' What part of the two-sentence annotation is missing? Use your actual design problem to explain its relevance; do not invent an outcome.
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Today is individual work you can do from home: complete the same target above, then submit your annotated source set.
Go to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
MedlinePlus Evaluating Health Information- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedGo to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
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