You have been provided with a list of commodities in your class. You will need to select a commodity and describe the impact it has on modern life (positive, negative, ethical or unethical), and what we can do about it. Once you select your commodity, you will need to narrow the topic of your commodity.
The video below explains the research process and how to narrow your topic. Once you've narrowed your topic, following the guidance of the video, skip down to the box on "Background Research" and begin your research on your commodity using one of the recommended databases for background research.
Often when starting a research project, you'll need a basic understanding of your research topic or experiment. A good way to learn more about the basics of your topic is to look it up in a dictionary or encyclopedia. Dictionaries and Encyclopedias include definitions, facts, and statistics on a topic. Starting your research using an encyclopedia can ensure that you will have a basic understanding of your topic and will also help you come up with additional keywords to search for your topic.