Lesson Plan

• Unit Topic or Theme: An introduction to more effective use of the Internet

• Grade: 3-6

************************************************************************

• Lesson Topic or Theme: Internet Scavenger Hunt, Second Lesson

• Lesson Objectives: Students, after participating in the Internet scavenger hunt lesson, will be able to:

  1. correctly find and answer "level one" questions with at least 90% accuracy.
  2. correctly find and answer "level two" questions with at least 80% accuracy.
  3. correctly find and answer "level three" questions with at least 70% accuracy.

• Instructional Technique: Demonstration, question and answer, student directed Internet use, group work, discussion.

• Instructional Materials: Computers with CD-ROM. Scavenger hunt questions, answers, and worksheets (see the Materials section, below). CD which includes web sites needed to answer the questions.

  Note: If the school has enough computers with Internet access, then the CD becomes unnecessary.

• Theoretical Perspective: The Internet Scavenger Hunt is a sequence of three lessons that teach students to find information in Internet documents. The emphasis is on locating answers to specific questions, and on locating information that indicates how reliable the answers might be.

  This lesson is the second in the sequence of three lessons. The emphasis in this second lesson is on practicing skills. The tasks are accomplished in exactly the same manner as in the first Scavenger Hunt lesson. The only differences are that a different set of questions is used, and that the questions rely more on fill-in-the-blank than on multiple choice. Teacher interaction is primarily in the form of answering questions as students perform the tasks.

• Procedure:

  1. Introductory Activity

     The teacher begins by leading a discussion about the Scavenger Hunt I lesson. The goal of the discussion is to remind the students of the key points in that lesson, which are summarized below.

     • Choose a link that looks like it might answer the question.

     • Find the section of the page that is most likely to contain the answer.

       • Scan the page, looking for titles, pictures or links that are related to the question.

     • Read the best section, to see if it answers your question.

       • If it doesn't answer your question, pick another section and try again.

     • Source and publication date are usually at the bottom of the page (but not always).

     The teacher also reviews the contents of the worksheets, and discusses strategies for filling them in.
     It is important to resolve any questions or confusion remaining from the first lesson, because students will accomplish their tasks in this second lesson with only minimal involvement from the teacher.

     Students are divided into groups of two and assigned to computers. It may be helpful for students to be in the same groups as they were in for the first Scavenger Hunt lesson, but it is not necessaray.

     Worksheets containing questions are distributed to students.

  2. Step-by-step

     Each group of students now works together to answer each of the questions on the Scavenger Hunt worksheet. The teacher(s) move around the room helping students and providing focus when necessary, but it is a goal for the students to work primarily on their own.

  3. Closure

     Each student indicates which page was easiest, which page was hardest, and what it was that made a page easy or hard. Each student also identifies the site that was "the best" and why it was the best. (See sample worksheet.)

     Students and teachers go over the answers to each question. Student groups who are unable to answer questions correctly can be helped to find correct answers by groups that are successful. End with discussion about problems, concerns, and student opinions.

  4. Adaptations for different learners

     Extra time should be spent with students having difficulty with answering questions. Certain students might want to work with other students who feel more comfortable finding information on the Internet.

• Evaluation:

  The primary goal for this lesson is to have students correctly find and answer various questions with information found on the Internet. Since some questions are more difficult to answer than others, different goals are set for the three levels of questions. If students are able to answer these questions based on the set criteria, it will be clear that the students have a strong base understanding of how to find both factual and reference information on the Internet.

Materials

• Hints for Students (Microsoft Word, HTML).
• Criteria for determining difficulty level of questions (Microsoft Word, HTML).
• Closure Questions (Microsoft Word, HTML).
• Site Set B (Spring, 2000):
  • Bookmarks for Scavenger Hunt sites. (Microsoft Word, HTML)
  • Question set (Microsoft Word, HTML).
  • Answer sheet (Microsoft Word, HTML)
• Site Set A (Spring, 1999):
  • Bookmarks for Scavenger Hunt sites. (Microsoft Word, HTML)
  • Question set (Microsoft Word, HTML).
  • Answer sheet (Microsoft Word, HTML).