Having little or no background knowledge has never prevented seventh graders from having strong opinions on a subject! However, when asked to research a topic, middle school students (and also, many adults as well) tend to search for information which corroborates their entrenched opinions while ignoring facts and findings that refute their views. The solution? Introduce your students to research in preparation of a formal debate. This article describes how to encourage students to research both sides of a controversial topic before drawing conclusions and engages them in the process of scientific inquiry.