Writing Activity: Narrowing a Research Topic Chapter 3 Language Arts Support

Name
Date
Class
Chapter 3
Language Arts Support
LESSON 1
Writing Activity: Narrowing a Research Topic
Practicing the Skill
Directions: Use the topic web shown on the previous page to answer each question or respond to each statement
on the lines provided.
1. With what general topic did the writer begin the web?
2. Name the three subtopics that the writer identified for the cell cycle. Are any of these
topics limited enough to cover in a brief research report? Explain your answer.
3. Which of these three subtopics did the writer decide to narrow further? Name the next
set of subtopics.
Applying the Skill
Directions: Review the topic web on the previous page. On another sheet of paper, choose one of the subtopics
(e.g., interphase, mitosis, cytokinesis) to use as a starting point to make a web. Narrow it further by adding more
circles to your web. Stop when you reach a topic that is narrow enough in scope to cover in a report. Write your
topic at the top of a sheet of paper. Then write a brief, one- or two-paragraph report on your research topic.
16
From a Cell to an Organism
Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
4. Which topic did the writer finally choose to research? How can you tell?
Name
Date
Math Skills
Class
LESSON 1
Use Percentages
Percentages are used to compare a partial amount to a whole amount. A whole amount is
equal to 100%. To convert a ratio or fraction to a percent, multiply by 100. For example,
1 × 100 = 25, so __
1 = 25%.
__
4
4
Jana got 23 out of 30 points on her quiz. What percentage of the total points did Jana get?
Step 1 Identify the ratio and write it as a fraction. The numerator of the ratio represents
the partial amount, and the denominator represents the whole amount.
23
___
30
Step 2 Divide to change the ratio to a decimal.
23
___
= 0.767
30
Step 3 Multiply by 100.
0.767 × 100 = 76.7%
Jana got 76.7% of the total points.
Practice
1. Raj got 51 out of 60 points on his quiz.
Copyright © Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
What percentage of the total points did
Raj get?
2. Alison has a goal of saving $50. She
has saved $31 so far. What percentage
of her goal has she saved?
From a Cell to an Organism
3. Jesse is reading a book that is 216
pages long. He is on page 88. What
percentage of the book has he read?
4. For a certain organism, the interphase
stage of the cell cycle takes 42 hours. If
the length of the cell cycle is 44 hours,
what percentage of the cycle is taken
up by interphase?
17