Lesson Title: Where Can I Go For Online Research? - An Overview
Curriculum Area: Information Skills
Technology Strand: Telecommunications
Grade Level: 6
 
Essential Question: What are some good online resources for researching information?
 
A Activity Summary Students will be introduced to online reference resources that will be useful to them in doing research for any of their classes. They will be guided through the process of going to each website and accessing helpful information. Once the sites have been introduced, then students will have time explore the sites in more depth.
C Curriculum Information Skills
1.08 Select and use independently, both within and outside the school, a variety of resources (print, non-print, electronic) and formats (print, non-print, audio, video, multimedia, web-based).
1.09 Recognize that ideas are produced in a variety of formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia, web-based).
2.03 Recognize the diversity of ideas and thoughts by exploring a variety of resources (print, non-print, electronic) and formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia, web-based).
T Technology Telecommunications
2.09 Select and justify the use of appropriate online collaborative tools (e.g., surveys, email, discussion forums, webpages) to develop content area presentations for the intended audience and purpose.
3.13 Use evaluation tools to select Internet resources and information for content and usefulness in content area assignments.  
 
Activating Strategies
This computer lab activity may be the student's first experience with Internet access. Discuss and review the pertinent Telecommunications terms using the "Telecommunications Vocabulary" document.
 
Technology Vocabulary: Telecommunications Vocabulary
Detailed Technology Instructions:
 
Cognitive Teaching Strategies
The teacher, using Altiris Vision, will demonstrate to students the following steps:

1. Launch Internet Explorer.

2. Type into the URL box: www.learnnc.org
At the "Reference Desk" you will see:
Encyclopedia & Almanac
Geographic Reference
Dictionaries and Writing Reference, News, Periodicals, and General

Under Encyclopedia & Almanac, select Fact Monster.
Select Science.
Select Computer and the Internet.
Select Internet Resource Guide.
This page will show many available Internet Resources that can be used to gather information.

3. Type into the URL box: www.ncwiseowl.org
Select Reference Zone.
Select Grolier Encyclopedia, then School Access, to find information on a European country, i.e. Germany, as an example of the wealth of information available. Go back to Reference Zone.
Select New Book of Knowledge.
Explore this site showing students the information available; look at the same
European country that you explored with Grolier and discuss differences in the two resources.

4. Go back to www.ncwiseowl.org
Select Student Zone.
Select Connect Europe.
Click on the map of Europe to select Germany; discuss differences in the organization of information.

5. Go to www.lonelyplanet.com
Select Worldguide icon.
Select Europe.
Select a European country (again, your choice, but perhaps Germany for comparison a comparison of these resources.
A detailed map of the country appears.
Click on the map to get data on the country.

As the teacher moves between activities and from web page to web page, the Telecommunications Terms should be used in instruction and review.
 
Summary Strategies
Discuss the resources that you have shown the students, surveying students as to the ones they liked the most and why.
Showing the PowerPoint slideshow, Elements of a Good Webpage (filename: Good_Web_Page), the instructor will emphasize and review important Telecommunications Vocabulary, and will discuss with students what made some websites more attractive and useable than others.
Provide these instructions (Microsoft Word document: Web_research) to students in a handout so that they can access them independently from home or from other areas within the school.
 
Resources
Click for directions on how to download files on a Windows computer. 
Internet Explorer (should be available on all networked computers).
Altiris Vision (should be available on the Teacher Workstation in the networked labs).
PowerPoint software
Web_Research (Microsoft Word document with student instructions)
Elements of a Good WebPage (PowerPoint slideshow file: Good_Web_Page)

Microsoft Word File
Web_research.doc

Microsoft PowerPoint File
Good_Web_Page.ppt
 
 
Re-teaching and Enrichment Activities
If time permits, have students go to www.howstuffworks.com and www.brainpop.com to explore.
Follow up this lesson with the lesson: A Tour of Europe - Resource Evaluation

The concept for this lesson plan was submitted by
Gwen Varsamis and  Syble Isbister
Kiser Middle, Data last modified: 1/14/2002