ENGLISH 8

Quarter 4 Week 6

Learning Competency: Synthesize essential information found in various sources

KEY CONCEPTS:
A synthesis is a written discussion incorporating support from several sources of differing views. This type
of assignment requires that you examine a variety of sources and identify their relationship to your thesis.

Please also take note that a synthesis is different from a summary. Here is their difference:
● A summary restates the information in one or more sources without providing new insight or
reaching new conclusions while…
● A synthesis draws on multiple sources to reach a broader conclusion.

Points to remember:
● Don’t force a relationship between sources if there isn’t one. Not all of your sources have to
complement one another.
● Do your best to highlight the relationships between sources in very clear ways.
● Don’t ignore any outliers in your research. It’s important to take note of every perspective (even
those that disagree with your broader conclusions).

In order to successfully synthesize your sources, you might begin by grouping your sources by topic and
looking for connections. For example, if you were researching the pros and cons of encouraging healthy
eating in children, you would want to separate your sources to find which ones agree with each other and
which ones disagree.

After you have a good idea of what your sources are saying, you want to construct your body
paragraphs in a way that acknowledges different sources and highlights where you can draw
new conclusions.

SAMPLE SYNTHESIS:
Parents are always trying to find ways to encourage healthy eating in their children.
Different scientists and educators have different strategies for promoting a well-rounded
diet while still encouraging body positivity in children. David R. Just and Joseph Price
suggest in their article “Using Incentives to Encourage Healthy Eating in Children” that
children are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables if they are given a reward (855-856).
Similarly, Elena Pearl Ben-Joseph, a doctor and writer for Kids Health, encourages
parents to be role models for their children. She states that “parents who are always
dieting or complaining about their bodies may foster these same negative feelings in their
kids. Try to keep a positive approach about food” (Ben-Joseph). Martha J. Nepper and
Weiwen Chai support Ben-Joseph’s suggestions in their article “Parents’ Barriers and
Strategies to Promote Healthy Eating among School-age Children.” Nepper and Chai
note, “Parents felt that patience, consistency, educating themselves on proper nutrition,
and having more healthy foods available in the home were important strategies when
developing healthy eating habits for their children.” By following some of these ideas,
parents can help their children develop healthy eating habits while still maintaining body
positivity.

How to synthesize information from different sources:

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STEP 1: Group your sources by topic and look for connections.

Both materials are about extinction. The connections between the two include:
1. Both sources provide a synonymous definition of extinction
2. Both sources point out that extinction is a process of evolution
3. Both sources point out that extinction is caused by natural calamities, evolutionary changes, and
human interference.
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 4. Both sources give a list of extinct animals.

STEP 2: Let’s construct the body paragraphs. To do this, it is best to first make an outline. You can
choose between a topic or sentence outline however in this case, we will have a topic outline. It goes like
this:

I. Extinction
A. Definition of Extinction
B. Types of Extinction
B.1 Mass Extinction
B.1.1 Ordovician
B.1.2 Devonian
B.1.3 Permian
B.1.4 Triassic- Jurassic
B.1.5 Cretaceous- Tertiary
B.2 Pseudo Extinction
C. List of Extinct Animals
D. Conclusion

STEP 3: After making the outline, it is now time to compose our synthesis. Aside from putting the contents
together, bear in mind to acknowledge different sources. To make organize the content better, be sure to
use transition devices or grammatical signals. Let’s have our synthesis this way.
Extinction surely has repeatedly been taking place throughout earth’s history however not everyone fully
understands what it is. A certain article defines extinction as the “disappearance of a population or a species
(https://byjus.com/biology/extinction/). Moreover, Sheknar Suman, in an article, explains that this wipeout is a
process of evolution that ends the genetic continuity of any given population.

He explains further that this loss of genetic heritage is of two types: Mass extinction and Pseudo extinction.
Mass extinction is the extinction of a large number of species collectively wiped out over a relatively short
period of time. This large scale wipeout took place in several geological time scale or period which are as
follows: 1) Ordovician- Silurian took place 440 million years affected small marine organisms 2) Devonian
occurred 365 million years ago which affected many tropical marine specie 3) Permian-Triassic took place 250
million years ago which affected many vertebrates 4) Triassic- Jurassic took place 210 million years ago
caused the extinction of other vertebrates on land and lastly, 6) Cretaceous which took place 65 million years
ago. On the other hand, according to Suman, the other type of extinction is Pseudo extinction. It occurs when
the genetic heritage of extinct species evolve and is continued by members of a daughter species.

Both articles point out several causes of extinction namely: asteroid strike, climate change, disease, lack of
genetic diversity, better adapted competition, pollution, over-exploitation of species, invasion of alien species
and slow birth and gestational periods of species.

These sources give a list of animals that are already extinct.: Passenger pigeon, Dodo bird, Tasmanian tiger,
Bajji white dolphin, Pyrenean Ibex, Stellers sea cow, Great auk, Mammoth, Sabre-toothed cat, West African
Black Rhinoceros

Since extinction is caused not only naturally but is also caused by human activities, it is then wise for humanity
to change its ways so that no species would suffer the sad fate of becoming extinct because of abuse and
irresponsibility.

Notice that in our synthesis, not only did we make connections from the two sources. We also
acknowledged its sources: https://byjus.com/biology/extinction/ and Sheknar Suman. Our synthesis also
makes use of transitional devices such as: however, moreover, further, on the other hand, according and
since.

DRILL/ PRACTICE:

Source: Time for Kids Almanac 2009

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1. Topic:_______________________________________

2. Connections:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3. Outline

4. Synthesis

ACTIVITY 1
Directions: Together with a partner, synthesize the essential information presented in the given articles by
performing the following tasks. Present your answer in front of the class afterwards.

TASKS:
1. Identify the topic.

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 2. List the connections
3. Outline the body parts
4. Write your synthesis

1. Topic:_____________________________

2. Connections:
_____________________________________________________________

3. Outline

4. Synthesis

ACTIVITY 2
Directions: Synthesize the essential information
presented in the given articles by performing the
following tasks.

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TASKS:
1. Identify the topic. (2 pts)
2. List the connections (5 pts)
3. Outline the body parts (8 pts)
4. Write your synthesis (10 pts)

1. Topic:_______________________________

2. Connections:
____________________________________

3. Outline

4. Synthesis

ENGLISH 8 ANSWER SHEET

Quarter 4 Week 6

Name: ___________________________ Section:_________________________ Score:__________

ACTIVITY 1
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Directions: Together with a partner, synthesize the essential information presented in the given articles by
performing the following tasks. Present your answer in front of the class afterwards.

TASKS:
1. Identify the topic.
2. List the connections
3. Outline the body parts
4. Write your synthesis

1. Topic:_____________________________

2. Connections:

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Outline

4. Synthesis

ACTIVITY 2
Directions: Synthesize the essential information
presented in the given articles by performing the
following tasks.

8
TASKS:
1. Identify the topic. (2 pts)
2. List the connections (5 pts)
3. Outline the body parts (8 pts)
4. Write your synthesis (10 pts)

1. Topic:_____________________________

2. Connections:

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Outline

4. Synthesis