OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

Searching for information on the Internet can be a frustrating experience. However, with an understanding of how Internet algorithms and search indexes function and employing the right search strategies, any Internet user can find relevant information efficiently. In this lesson, students will learn these concepts to be more efficient users of digital information.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Technology, Library Media (Information Resources)
• Grade Level : 6-8
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Computing Systems, Algorithms and Programming
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems
• Materials:
  • Website, Chromebooks or other student devices, Smartboard
• Considerations:
  • Students in middle school may have difficulty using Internet search engines and information databases to find accurate and relevant information during research projects to meet their needs. Understanding how search engines work and why using search strategies can help them in their searches will enable them to be more efficient users of information. It’s important that as this is a part of an inquiry process, students should also understand that before any Internet or database search, knowing how to ask the right questions for researching a topic is useful before using search phrases and strategies.

Lesson Plan

Overview

Searching for information on the Internet can be a frustrating experience. However, with an understanding of how Internet algorithms and search indexes function and employing the right search strategies, any Internet user can find relevant information efficiently. In this lesson, students will learn these concepts to be more efficient users of digital information.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

1. What are algorithms? What are search indexes?
2. How are algorithms and search indexes used in the coding of search engines to enable them to work efficiently?
3. What are effective search strategies that can help you receive the appropriate search results you need?

OBJECTIVES

1. Understand how algorithms and search indexes are used in a search engine to enable effective and efficient searching.
2. Understand and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.

CATCH/HOOK

Help! I am trying to search for information on mullets (the fish) but when I search using the word mullet in the search engine, it just shows guys with short hair in the front and long hair in the back! How can I find the right information?

Warm-up activity: Have students try this original search query for mullets and then see if they can figure out how to find the right kind of search results about mullet fish. Offer suggestions for search strategies/operators.

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

Students will be shown a series of instructional videos about Internet search algorithms and search indexes, as well as search strategies/operators. They will take notes from the videos to compile a list of search strategies. Students will be given challenges in class to see how to find accurate and relevant results for a variety of search topics, generated by the instructor and class member suggestions.

Supplements

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REVIEW

Review the following questions:

1. What are algorithms? What are search indexes?
2. How are algorithms used in the coding of search engines to enable them to produce good results during a search?
3. What are effective search strategies that can help you receive the appropriate search results you need?

STANDARDS