This week students will be learn strategies for searching the internet. A common misunderstanding I see with students in the computer lab is the confusion over the address field and the search field. The address field is used when the specific web address is known. The search field is used when a specific web site is not know, but a search of websites containing the desired information is required.

Students will watch the Common Craft video called Web Search in Plain English as an introduction to the topic.  Students will understand learning to search the web more effectively is important for two reasons:

1) As they get older they will encounter more opportunities and assignments that required them to find information on the internet.

2) Every day, more and more content is being added to the internet so there are more results to look through.

The common craft video does an excellent job of explaining how a search engine scans each web page for the word(s) a person places in the search field.  Students will learn how the search is defined when quotes (“”) are placed around the words.  They will also learn how the use of operators like AND, OR, NOT affect the search.  Students will look at the Boolean Machine to visualize how the operands work.  They will also use the Boolify Project to demonstrate the affect on web results.

Finally, students may work independently or in pairs to find the answers to the Internet Scavenger Hunt.  Students will receive a ticket for each correct answer for the raquetball drawing for this six weeks.