Judge a source, then cite it in MLA or APA
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
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How Our Solar Oven Works (web page)
Source line: Web page by Rafe Linden, a marketing writer for Sunbox Ovens, a company that sells solar ovens. Website: Cooking with Sunlight. Publisher: Sunbox Ovens. Posted 2 June 2024 at https://www.example.com/sunbox/how-it-works. It has no page numbers.[1] A solar oven cooks food with nothing but sunlight, so it needs no wood, gas or electricity once it is set up outdoors. [2] Our Sunbox oven is an insulated box with a black metal floor, a clear glass lid and four shiny panels that fold out around the top. [3] The panels act like mirrors, gathering sunlight from a wide area and bouncing it down through the glass into the box. [4] Dark surfaces absorb most of the light that strikes them and turn it into heat, which is why the floor and the cooking pot are painted black.
[5] The glass lets sunlight pass in easily, but it slows the escape of the heat that builds up inside, much as a closed car grows hot on a summer afternoon. [6] The insulated walls keep that heat from leaking out through the sides. [7] Because the oven works best when the panels face the sun directly, cooks turn the box every hour or so to follow the sun across the sky. [8] Food cooks more slowly than in a kitchen oven, so a stew that takes one hour indoors may need three or four hours in the sun.
[9] In our own tests on a clear July day, the Sunbox reached 350 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than any other solar oven on the market. [10] Thousands of happy customers have already made the switch, and our reviews average 4.9 stars. [11] A solar oven also keeps a kitchen cool in summer, since the heat stays outside with the cook. [12] Order a Sunbox today, and your first sunny afternoon could produce a meal cooked entirely by the sun.
APA 7 entry on another student's card (stars mark italics): Linden, R. (2024, June 2). *How our solar oven works*. Cooking with Sunlight. https://www.example.com/sunbox/how-it-works
Bo is writing in MLA instead. Which entry gives the same page in MLA 9? Use the source line for any missing piece. (Stars mark italics.)
- Linden, Rafe. (2 June 2024). “How Our Solar Oven Works.” *Cooking with Sunlight*, Sunbox Ovens, www.example.com/sunbox/how-it-works.
- Linden, R. “How Our Solar Oven Works.” *Cooking with Sunlight*, Sunbox Ovens, 2 June 2024, www.example.com/sunbox/how-it-works.
- Linden, Rafe. “How Our Solar Oven Works.” *Cooking with Sunlight*, Sunbox Ovens, www.example.com/sunbox/how-it-works.
- Linden, Rafe. “How Our Solar Oven Works.” *Cooking with Sunlight*, Sunbox Ovens, 2 June 2024, www.example.com/sunbox/how-it-works.
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How Our Solar Oven Works (web page)
Source line: Web page by Rafe Linden, a marketing writer for Sunbox Ovens, a company that sells solar ovens. Website: Cooking with Sunlight. Publisher: Sunbox Ovens. Posted 2 June 2024 at https://www.example.com/sunbox/how-it-works. It has no page numbers.[1] A solar oven cooks food with nothing but sunlight, so it needs no wood, gas or electricity once it is set up outdoors. [2] Our Sunbox oven is an insulated box with a black metal floor, a clear glass lid and four shiny panels that fold out around the top. [3] The panels act like mirrors, gathering sunlight from a wide area and bouncing it down through the glass into the box. [4] Dark surfaces absorb most of the light that strikes them and turn it into heat, which is why the floor and the cooking pot are painted black.
[5] The glass lets sunlight pass in easily, but it slows the escape of the heat that builds up inside, much as a closed car grows hot on a summer afternoon. [6] The insulated walls keep that heat from leaking out through the sides. [7] Because the oven works best when the panels face the sun directly, cooks turn the box every hour or so to follow the sun across the sky. [8] Food cooks more slowly than in a kitchen oven, so a stew that takes one hour indoors may need three or four hours in the sun.
[9] In our own tests on a clear July day, the Sunbox reached 350 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than any other solar oven on the market. [10] Thousands of happy customers have already made the switch, and our reviews average 4.9 stars. [11] A solar oven also keeps a kitchen cool in summer, since the heat stays outside with the cook. [12] Order a Sunbox today, and your first sunny afternoon could produce a meal cooked entirely by the sun.
Source A is the web page above. Source B: a 2023 test report by Hana Moss, an engineer at Larch Valley Community College, who tested six solar ovens from four makers on the same three sunny days and printed every reading. Source C: a 1986 magazine article by a home cook about the first solar oven the cook built from a cardboard box.
Esme is writing about how hot today's solar ovens really get. Which source belongs on the note card, and why?
- Source B, because a report from a college is long and full of numbers, which makes it more serious than a web page.
- Source A, because the company built the Sunbox and knows better than anyone how hot its own oven gets.
- Source C, because the writer actually built a solar oven and cooked in it instead of just reading about one.
- Source B, because an engineer with no ovens to sell tested several makers' ovens side by side and shows each reading.
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Why Chimney Swifts Need Old Chimneys (web page)
Source line: Web page by Ana Pereira, a naturalist at the Ridgeway Nature Center who has counted swifts for twelve years. Website: Ridgeway Bird Notes. Publisher: Ridgeway Nature Center. Posted 21 April 2023 at https://www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts. The page has photographs of the roost. It has no page numbers.[1] On warm evenings from April to October, small gray birds with long, curved wings circle above the old brick chimneys of downtown Ridgeway. [2] These are chimney swifts, birds that spend almost their entire lives in the air and cannot perch on a branch the way a robin does. [3] Instead, a swift clings to rough vertical surfaces, gripping with its tiny feet and bracing itself with the stiff tips of its tail feathers. [4] Before people built towns, swifts roosted and nested inside large hollow trees, but as old forests were cleared, the birds moved into chimneys. [5] A brick chimney offers the same rough walls and sheltered space that a hollow tree once provided.
[6] Each fall, swifts gather in large flocks before flying to South America for the winter, and at dusk a flock may swirl over one tall chimney like smoke being drawn back down. [7] Then, within a few minutes, hundreds of birds drop inside to spend the night together. [8] Sadly, many of the chimneys that swifts depend on are disappearing. [9] Old chimneys are torn down, capped with metal covers or lined with smooth steel that the birds cannot grip. [10] In our nature center's evening counts, the largest roost in Ridgeway fell from about 1,900 birds in 2012 to about 700 in 2022, after two nearby chimneys were capped.
[11] Homeowners can help by leaving an unused chimney uncapped from spring through fall and by having it cleaned in winter, after the birds have left. [12] The town is also building a swift tower in Alder Park, a tall wooden column with a rough inner wall that copies a chimney.
Draft MLA 9 works-cited entry on the note card (stars mark italics): Pereira, Ana. “Why Chimney Swifts Need Old Chimneys.” *Ridgeway Bird Notes*, Ridgeway Nature Center, www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts, 21 Apr. 2023.
One part of Jun's draft MLA entry is in the wrong place. Which repair fixes it without breaking anything else?
- Move the date into parentheses right after the author's name, written as (2023, April 21).
- Take the quotation marks off the page title and put it in italics, like the website name after it.
- Move the date before the web address, and change the author to Ana Pereira so the name reads in its usual order.
- Move the date, 21 Apr. 2023, so it comes after Ridgeway Nature Center and before the web address.
Use this
Why Chimney Swifts Need Old Chimneys (web page)
Source line: Web page by Ana Pereira, a naturalist at the Ridgeway Nature Center who has counted swifts for twelve years. Website: Ridgeway Bird Notes. Publisher: Ridgeway Nature Center. Posted 21 April 2023 at https://www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts. The page has photographs of the roost. It has no page numbers.[1] On warm evenings from April to October, small gray birds with long, curved wings circle above the old brick chimneys of downtown Ridgeway. [2] These are chimney swifts, birds that spend almost their entire lives in the air and cannot perch on a branch the way a robin does. [3] Instead, a swift clings to rough vertical surfaces, gripping with its tiny feet and bracing itself with the stiff tips of its tail feathers. [4] Before people built towns, swifts roosted and nested inside large hollow trees, but as old forests were cleared, the birds moved into chimneys. [5] A brick chimney offers the same rough walls and sheltered space that a hollow tree once provided.
[6] Each fall, swifts gather in large flocks before flying to South America for the winter, and at dusk a flock may swirl over one tall chimney like smoke being drawn back down. [7] Then, within a few minutes, hundreds of birds drop inside to spend the night together. [8] Sadly, many of the chimneys that swifts depend on are disappearing. [9] Old chimneys are torn down, capped with metal covers or lined with smooth steel that the birds cannot grip. [10] In our nature center's evening counts, the largest roost in Ridgeway fell from about 1,900 birds in 2012 to about 700 in 2022, after two nearby chimneys were capped.
[11] Homeowners can help by leaving an unused chimney uncapped from spring through fall and by having it cleaned in winter, after the birds have left. [12] The town is also building a swift tower in Alder Park, a tall wooden column with a rough inner wall that copies a chimney.
MLA 9 entry on the note card (stars mark italics): Pereira, Ana. “Why Chimney Swifts Need Old Chimneys.” *Ridgeway Bird Notes*, Ridgeway Nature Center, 21 Apr. 2023, www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts.
A teacher asks for APA instead. Which entry gives the same page in APA 7? (Stars mark italics.)
- Pereira, A. *Why chimney swifts need old chimneys*. Ridgeway Bird Notes, 21 Apr. 2023. https://www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts
- Pereira, A. (2023, April 21). *Why chimney swifts need old chimneys*. https://www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts
- Pereira, A. (2023, April 21). *Why chimney swifts need old chimneys*. Ridgeway Bird Notes. https://www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts
- Pereira, Ana. (2023, April 21). *Why chimney swifts need old chimneys*. Ridgeway Bird Notes. https://www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts
Use this
Why Chimney Swifts Need Old Chimneys (web page)
Source line: Web page by Ana Pereira, a naturalist at the Ridgeway Nature Center who has counted swifts for twelve years. Website: Ridgeway Bird Notes. Publisher: Ridgeway Nature Center. Posted 21 April 2023 at https://www.example.org/ridgeway/chimney-swifts. The page has photographs of the roost. It has no page numbers.[1] On warm evenings from April to October, small gray birds with long, curved wings circle above the old brick chimneys of downtown Ridgeway. [2] These are chimney swifts, birds that spend almost their entire lives in the air and cannot perch on a branch the way a robin does. [3] Instead, a swift clings to rough vertical surfaces, gripping with its tiny feet and bracing itself with the stiff tips of its tail feathers. [4] Before people built towns, swifts roosted and nested inside large hollow trees, but as old forests were cleared, the birds moved into chimneys. [5] A brick chimney offers the same rough walls and sheltered space that a hollow tree once provided.
[6] Each fall, swifts gather in large flocks before flying to South America for the winter, and at dusk a flock may swirl over one tall chimney like smoke being drawn back down. [7] Then, within a few minutes, hundreds of birds drop inside to spend the night together. [8] Sadly, many of the chimneys that swifts depend on are disappearing. [9] Old chimneys are torn down, capped with metal covers or lined with smooth steel that the birds cannot grip. [10] In our nature center's evening counts, the largest roost in Ridgeway fell from about 1,900 birds in 2012 to about 700 in 2022, after two nearby chimneys were capped.
[11] Homeowners can help by leaving an unused chimney uncapped from spring through fall and by having it cleaned in winter, after the birds have left. [12] The town is also building a swift tower in Alder Park, a tall wooden column with a rough inner wall that copies a chimney.
Source A is the web page above. Source B: a 1994 county bird report that lists the town's swift roosts and the number of birds counted in each that year. Source C: a page from Tightfit Chimney Caps, a company that sells chimney caps, which urges homeowners to cap their chimneys and says the town's swifts are doing well.
Luz needs to know how many swifts roost in Ridgeway's chimneys today. Which source belongs on the note card, and why?
- Source A, because a naturalist who has counted the roosts for twelve years gives counts from 2012 and 2022 and sells nothing.
- Source B, because a county report lists each roost by name and gives the number of birds counted in it.
- Source C, because a chimney company works on many roofs and sees more chimneys than a nature center does.
- Source A, because the nature center's page has clear photographs of the roost that make it easy to trust.
Use this
Old Town Clock Runs on Time Once More (newspaper article)
Source line: Newspaper article by Grace Whitfield, a staff reporter. Newspaper: Harborview Gazette. Published online 18 October 2023 at https://www.example.com/gazette/town-clock. It has no page numbers.[1] For the first time in nearly thirty years, the four faces of the clock on Harborview's old town hall all show the same, correct time. [2] The clock stopped in 1994, when a worn gear cracked and the town could not find anyone who knew how to repair it. [3] Last spring, the town hired clockmaker Walter Brisco, who spent five months taking the mechanism apart, cleaning it and cutting a new gear by hand.
[4] Like many tower clocks of its age, the Harborview clock is controlled by a pendulum, a heavy weight that swings back and forth on a long rod. [5] Each swing releases a gear by one tooth, and the steady rhythm of the swings keeps the hands moving at an even pace. [6] “The weight of the pendulum doesn't set the speed; its length does,” Mr. Brisco explained as he showed visitors the tower room. [7] A longer pendulum swings more slowly, so raising or lowering the weight by a tiny amount makes the clock run faster or slower. [8] Because the metal rod grows slightly longer in summer heat and shorter in winter cold, the clock must be adjusted a few times each year.
[9] For the first month after the repair, the town engineer checked the clock each day against a radio time signal. [10] By the end of that month, the clock was gaining or losing less than half a minute a week. [11] The repair cost $62,000, paid for by a state grant for historic buildings and by donations from residents. [12] On the night the clock was restarted, more than 300 people gathered on the green to hear it strike nine.
Draft APA 7 reference entry on the note card (stars mark italics): Whitfield, G. (2023, October 18). Old town clock runs on time once more. Harborview Gazette. https://www.example.com/gazette/town-clock
One part of Milo's draft APA entry for this news article breaks an APA 7 rule. Which repair fixes it without breaking anything else?
- Move the date, (2023, October 18), to the end of the entry, after the newspaper name and before the address.
- Put the article title in quotation marks with capitals, “Old Town Clock Runs on Time Once More,” and keep the rest.
- Put *Harborview Gazette* in italics, and put the article title in italics too, so the two titles match.
- Put the newspaper name in italics, *Harborview Gazette*, and leave the article title and the rest as they are.
Use this
Old Town Clock Runs on Time Once More (newspaper article)
Source line: Newspaper article by Grace Whitfield, a staff reporter. Newspaper: Harborview Gazette. Published online 18 October 2023 at https://www.example.com/gazette/town-clock. It has no page numbers.[1] For the first time in nearly thirty years, the four faces of the clock on Harborview's old town hall all show the same, correct time. [2] The clock stopped in 1994, when a worn gear cracked and the town could not find anyone who knew how to repair it. [3] Last spring, the town hired clockmaker Walter Brisco, who spent five months taking the mechanism apart, cleaning it and cutting a new gear by hand.
[4] Like many tower clocks of its age, the Harborview clock is controlled by a pendulum, a heavy weight that swings back and forth on a long rod. [5] Each swing releases a gear by one tooth, and the steady rhythm of the swings keeps the hands moving at an even pace. [6] “The weight of the pendulum doesn't set the speed; its length does,” Mr. Brisco explained as he showed visitors the tower room. [7] A longer pendulum swings more slowly, so raising or lowering the weight by a tiny amount makes the clock run faster or slower. [8] Because the metal rod grows slightly longer in summer heat and shorter in winter cold, the clock must be adjusted a few times each year.
[9] For the first month after the repair, the town engineer checked the clock each day against a radio time signal. [10] By the end of that month, the clock was gaining or losing less than half a minute a week. [11] The repair cost $62,000, paid for by a state grant for historic buildings and by donations from residents. [12] On the night the clock was restarted, more than 300 people gathered on the green to hear it strike nine.
MLA 9 entry on the note card (stars mark italics): Whitfield, Grace. “Old Town Clock Runs on Time Once More.” *Harborview Gazette*, 18 Oct. 2023, www.example.com/gazette/town-clock.
The paper must now follow APA 7. Which entry gives the same news article in APA 7? (Stars mark italics.)
- Whitfield, G. (2023, October 18). Old town clock runs on time once more. *Harborview Gazette*. https://www.example.com/gazette/town-clock
- Whitfield, Grace. (2023, October 18). Old town clock runs on time once more. *Harborview Gazette*. https://www.example.com/gazette/town-clock
- Whitfield, G. (2023). Old town clock runs on time once more. *Harborview Gazette*. https://www.example.com/gazette/town-clock
- Whitfield, G. Old town clock runs on time once more. *Harborview Gazette*, 18 Oct. 2023. https://www.example.com/gazette/town-clock
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Old Town Clock Runs on Time Once More (newspaper article)
Source line: Newspaper article by Grace Whitfield, a staff reporter. Newspaper: Harborview Gazette. Published online 18 October 2023 at https://www.example.com/gazette/town-clock. It has no page numbers.[1] For the first time in nearly thirty years, the four faces of the clock on Harborview's old town hall all show the same, correct time. [2] The clock stopped in 1994, when a worn gear cracked and the town could not find anyone who knew how to repair it. [3] Last spring, the town hired clockmaker Walter Brisco, who spent five months taking the mechanism apart, cleaning it and cutting a new gear by hand.
[4] Like many tower clocks of its age, the Harborview clock is controlled by a pendulum, a heavy weight that swings back and forth on a long rod. [5] Each swing releases a gear by one tooth, and the steady rhythm of the swings keeps the hands moving at an even pace. [6] “The weight of the pendulum doesn't set the speed; its length does,” Mr. Brisco explained as he showed visitors the tower room. [7] A longer pendulum swings more slowly, so raising or lowering the weight by a tiny amount makes the clock run faster or slower. [8] Because the metal rod grows slightly longer in summer heat and shorter in winter cold, the clock must be adjusted a few times each year.
[9] For the first month after the repair, the town engineer checked the clock each day against a radio time signal. [10] By the end of that month, the clock was gaining or losing less than half a minute a week. [11] The repair cost $62,000, paid for by a state grant for historic buildings and by donations from residents. [12] On the night the clock was restarted, more than 300 people gathered on the green to hear it strike nine.
Source A is the news article above. Source B: a page on the website of Brisco Clockworks, Walter Brisco's business, which says, “Every clock we touch keeps perfect time,” and lists prices. Source C: a 1961 history of Harborview by a local teacher, which calls the clock “the most dependable in the county.”
Pia wants to know whether the repaired clock now keeps accurate time. Which source belongs on the note card, and why?
- Source A, because it reports a month of daily checks by the town engineer against a radio time signal and gives the result.
- Source C, because a local history written by a teacher has been in the town library for decades.
- Source B, because Walter Brisco did the repair himself and knows the clock better than a reporter does.
- Source A, because more than 300 people came out to hear the clock strike, so the town clearly trusts it.
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New Light System Cuts Chlorine at Town Pool (newspaper article)
Source line: Newspaper article by Theo Grant, a staff reporter. Newspaper: Wrenfield Courier. Published online 9 July 2024 at https://www.example.com/courier/pool-light. It has no page numbers.[1] Swimmers at the Wrenfield town pool may notice that something is missing this summer: the sharp smell that used to hang over the water. [2] In May, the town added an ultraviolet light system to the pump room, where all of the pool's water passes through the filters. [3] As the water flows past a row of bright lamps inside a steel tube, the ultraviolet light damages the genetic material of germs so that they cannot multiply. [4] The lamps also break apart chloramines, the chemicals that form when chlorine reacts with sweat and that cause the familiar pool smell and stinging eyes.
[5] Ultraviolet light treats just the water that is inside the tube at that moment, however, so the pool still needs chlorine to protect swimmers in the rest of the water. [6] “The lights don't replace chlorine, but they let it do its job with less,” said pool manager Irene Castillo. [7] According to the pool's daily logs, the staff added about 30 percent less chlorine this June than in June of last year. [8] State inspectors tested the water twice during the month and found that it met each safety standard.
[9] The system cost $41,000, and Ms. Castillo expects it to pay for itself in about six years through savings on chemicals. [10] Some swimmers had worried that the change would make the water less clean, but the inspectors' results so far show no sign of that. [11] The lamps must be replaced about once a year, and the pool will close for one morning while the work is done. [12] Lifeguards say that fewer children have complained of red eyes since the pool opened for the season.
APA 7 entry on another student's card (stars mark italics): Grant, T. (2024, July 9). New light system cuts chlorine at town pool. *Wrenfield Courier*. https://www.example.com/courier/pool-light
Tala needs this news article in MLA 9 instead. Which entry is correct? Use the source line for any missing piece. (Stars mark italics.)
- Grant, Theo. (9 July 2024). “New Light System Cuts Chlorine at Town Pool.” *Wrenfield Courier*, www.example.com/courier/pool-light.
- Grant, Theo. “New Light System Cuts Chlorine at Town Pool.” *Wrenfield Courier*, 9 July 2024, www.example.com/courier/pool-light.
- Grant, Theo. “New Light System Cuts Chlorine at Town Pool.” 9 July 2024, www.example.com/courier/pool-light.
- Grant, T. “New Light System Cuts Chlorine at Town Pool.” *Wrenfield Courier*, 9 July 2024, www.example.com/courier/pool-light.
Use this
New Light System Cuts Chlorine at Town Pool (newspaper article)
Source line: Newspaper article by Theo Grant, a staff reporter. Newspaper: Wrenfield Courier. Published online 9 July 2024 at https://www.example.com/courier/pool-light. It has no page numbers.[1] Swimmers at the Wrenfield town pool may notice that something is missing this summer: the sharp smell that used to hang over the water. [2] In May, the town added an ultraviolet light system to the pump room, where all of the pool's water passes through the filters. [3] As the water flows past a row of bright lamps inside a steel tube, the ultraviolet light damages the genetic material of germs so that they cannot multiply. [4] The lamps also break apart chloramines, the chemicals that form when chlorine reacts with sweat and that cause the familiar pool smell and stinging eyes.
[5] Ultraviolet light treats just the water that is inside the tube at that moment, however, so the pool still needs chlorine to protect swimmers in the rest of the water. [6] “The lights don't replace chlorine, but they let it do its job with less,” said pool manager Irene Castillo. [7] According to the pool's daily logs, the staff added about 30 percent less chlorine this June than in June of last year. [8] State inspectors tested the water twice during the month and found that it met each safety standard.
[9] The system cost $41,000, and Ms. Castillo expects it to pay for itself in about six years through savings on chemicals. [10] Some swimmers had worried that the change would make the water less clean, but the inspectors' results so far show no sign of that. [11] The lamps must be replaced about once a year, and the pool will close for one morning while the work is done. [12] Lifeguards say that fewer children have complained of red eyes since the pool opened for the season.
Source A is the news article above. Source B: a page from Tovan Water Systems, the company that sold the town its lamps, which says its systems “cut chlorine use by up to 90 percent.” Source C: a 1999 state pamphlet on keeping pools clean, written years before the town had any light system.
Zee wants to know whether the new light system has let this pool use less chlorine. Which source belongs on the note card, and why?
- Source C, because a pamphlet from the state comes from experts whose job is to keep pools safe.
- Source A, because a reporter gives this pool's daily chlorine logs for June and the results of the state inspectors' tests.
- Source A, because lifeguards say fewer children complain of red eyes, and lifeguards watch the pool each day.
- Source B, because the company that makes the lamps has tested its systems in many pools and knows the numbers better than anyone.