National Teachers Enhancement Network: Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Discovering Differences Between Internet Search Engines
Subject: Technology/Internet/Search Engines
Classtime: Total: 1 class period (50 minutes)
Grade Level: 3-12
(Or any grade where using the Internet is deemed appropriate by the instructor.)

Materials/Technology:

a computer with adequate memory to run an Internet connection
a server that allows access to the Internet
basic computer skills so user can log on to the Internet

Safety, Handling, Disposal:

Close supervision is strongly recommended when students are conducting searches on the Internet. Inappropriate sites are easy to access either by mistake or on purpose.
Teachers should generate the vocabulary list for the students in this activity on the Internet.

Learner Outcomes:
Students should be able to:

Discover that different search engines access different numbers of web sites.
Analyze data collected to conclude which search engine accesses a larger number of web sites.

Problem/Purpose:
To have students discover which search engine accesses the largest number of web sites.

Background/Inquiry:
This activity is designed to demonstrate differences in search engines available on the Internet. Most users are unaware of the differences between search engines. Some sample larger or smaller portions of the World Wide Web than others. A search engine looks for documents containing keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found. WebCrawler is an example of a search engine.

Search engines are different from subject indexes. Yahoo is often thought of as a search engine when in fact it is an example of a subject index. A subject index contains references to other resources categorized by subject usually in a hierarchy.

Vocabulary List: Here.

Hypothesis:
Example: WebCrawler accesses more sites than Infoseek.

Procedure:

Have each student (or group of students if individuals are not on their own computers) choose a topic related to current class work or project.
Teacher generates a list of related vocabulary and assigns each student (or group of students if individuals are not on their own computers) a vocabulary word to use in an Internet search engine and/or a subject index.
Student chooses search engine/subject index from teacher's list and begins search.

Here is a site that contains a partial list of search engines and subject indexes available on the Internet: The University of Iowa Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research: http://www.cgrer.uiowa.edu/servers/servers_general.html#searching

Select the following URL to get the Hit Recording Sheet. Students use the worksheet to list their vocabulary word, search engine, and number of hits the word produced on that search engine.

Hit Recording Sheet: http://www.scienceteacher.org/k12resources/lessons/lesson11/wk11a.pdf

Results/Analysis:

Select the following URL to get the Search Recording Table. Students record the word, search engine, and number of hits in this table.

Search Record Table: http://www.scienceteacher.org/k12resources/lessons/lesson11/wk11b.pdf

Conclusions:
Students write a conclusion based on the data from their completed Search Recording Table. The conclusion should relate to the Problem/Purpose.

Assessments: (if included)

Do all search engines display the total number of hits?

Which search engine had the greatest number of hits?

Which search engine had the least number of hits?

Integration: (if included)
Teacher may choose vocabulary words to match any specific subject area.

Reflections:

Share your thoughts on this lesson with the NTEN team.

Please send an e-mail Patti Harrison.

Extensions: (if included)

Evaluate one of the sites for information relevant to the vocabulary word.

Compare information at the site to CD references, encyclopedias, or standard text books.

References/Resources: (if included)

The University of Iowa Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research: http://www.cgrer.uiowa.edu/servers/servers_general.html#searching

Credits
Contributing Teacher: Wendy Sink
NTEN Course: Internet-Based K-14 Earth Systems Science Instruction
Instructor: Jerry Nelson
Assistant Instructor: Bill Ochs
Developing Team:
T.L. Buck Buchanan, Cathy Hensel, Patti Harrison, John Usher, Don Wilson
HTML Programmers: Christy Cousineau, John Usher, Ching-Kwong Chia

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