An Internet Search Tutorial For: 4 th Grade By: Lyndsey Shaw

We are going to learn how to find information on the internet for our “Famous Hoosiers” project. We are going to learn how to tell if a site is providing us with true and valid information. We are going to look at how to tell that a site you are looking at is credible.

Here are some words we need to know Web Browser: A web browser is the program that allows you to navigate the internet. Address Bar: An address bar is the white bar at the top of the page where the current web site address is displayed. This is also where the user types the address he or she wishes to visit. Search Engine: A search engine is a database that allows you to search for a topic and then finds websites with information about that topic for you. Web Address: A web address is the address to an internet site or page. Each site has its own unique address, just like your home address. They usually begin with www. and they usually end with.com,.edu,.gov, or.org. Keyword: The word or a few important words used to describe the topic you want to learn about. You use this keyword when using a search engine. *Hint: Using “and” will cause you to get fewer documents, because the document will have to include both keywords. For example: “Larry Bird and Basketball” will bring up results that contain Larry Bird and Basketball. While using “or” will bring up more results, because the source will only have to include one of the keywords. For example, if you use, “Larry Bird or Basketball,” the search engine will bring up results that contain either just basketball or just Larry Bird.

Step One: First, we have to open the web browser that we want to use. We want to use Internet Explorer. Do this by finding the “Internet Explorer” Icon on your computer and double clicking on it.

This will cause a window with our school’s website to open on your screen. It will look like This:

Step Two: Find the address bar at the top of the screen and Click inside of it. When you click on it, the address will turn blue. Hit the delete button on your keyboard to delete the address in the address bar.

Step Three: In order to find information on Famous Hoosiers, we are going to use a search engine. The search engine that we are going to use is: Type the new web address into the address bar and hit the “Enter” key on your keyboard.

The Askkids homepage will open up. It will look like this:

Step Four: Find the search bar at the top of the page. It looks like this: Click inside the search bar and type in “Famous Hoosiers.” Then, using your mouse, click on the “Search” button.

Step Five: A search engine provides us with many websites which contain information on the subject we searched for. Now, we have to choose the website that we are going to get our information from.

We are going to choose the eighth website on the list below the Green tab that says: Search Results for “famous Hoosiers.” You can move down the page by clicking on the down arrow using your mouse.

Choose the “Visit Indiana Homepage.” Select this page by clicking on the blue text. The “Visit Indiana Homepage” is the eighth website.

Step Six: After you click, this homepage will appear. We now have to find the section on the website with the information on Famous Hoosiers.

Hold your mouse over the “ABOUT INDIANA” section to make your pointer point to it. Then, using your mouse, click on the “Famous Hoosiers” tab.

After you click, this page will appear.

Step Seven: Find the picture menu that looks like this: When you move your mouse over one of the pictures to make your pointer point to it, a red box will appear on the left of the picture and tell you who the person is. Like this:

Step Eight: If you click on a person’s picture, information about him or her will appear to the right of the picture menu.

Step Nine: Click on the pictures of the following people, read the information about them, and answer questions 1 through 10 on your “Finding Information about Famous Hoosiers Using the Internet” worksheet. You have now used the internet to find information about some famous Hoosiers. Larry Bird James Dean Jane Pauley Tony Stewart Orville Redenbacher

Step Ten: Now we have to decide if this site is credible. A website is credible if the information provided by the site is factual and is provided by an organization or person that can be recognized as trustworthy. o We can decide this, by looking at the name of the website, the agency who created the website, and the author of the website, among other types of information about the site. You can find the name of this website by looking at the top of the page.

You can find the name of the governmental agency who sponsors this website at the bottom of the page. Remember: You can move up and down the page by clicking on the arrows using your mouse. You can usually find the author of a page by clicking on a tab that says “Contact us”. In this case, this will tell you the name of the lady who oversees this governmental agency. It is located at the bottom of the page.

Step Eleven: Use the information on the website and on the “Contact Us” page to complete parts 1 and 2 of your “Critical Evaluation of a Website” worksheet and numbers 11 and 12 on your “Finding Information about Famous Hoosiers Using the Internet” worksheet. If one of the questions on the “Critical Evaluation of a Website” worksheet does not apply to this website, then just leave the boxes blank. You do not have to mark the “yes” or the “no” box if the question does not apply to this site.

Step Twelve: In “Part 3” of your “Critical Evaluation of a Website” worksheet write two to three sentences explaining why you could use this website for your “Famous Hoosier” project if the website has/had information about your Hoosier. Remember, this website is written by a government agency. Also, remember that the Lt. Governor oversees this agency. Using this information and the information on the worksheets that you filled out, write two to three sentences.

Step Thirteen: When we use information on the internet to answer questions or to do a project we have to cite the website where we found the information. To cite something means to give credit to the person who you got it from. It means telling where you found your information. How do you cite a website?

In the bottom of “Part 3”of your “Critical Evaluation of a Website” worksheet cite this website by following these directions:  Start on the left side of the box. If you begin a second line, leave a finger width space before you write.  First, write the name of the website followed by a period.

 Second, write the name of the governmental agency that wrote the page followed by a period.  Third, write today’s date. Write the date in this format: 14 October 2008 followed by a period.  Last, write the full web address followed by a period.

It should look like this on your worksheet Visit Indiana.com. Indiana Office of Tourism Development. 14 October

I cite my work too. Here are the websites that I used. “Contact Us.” VisitIndiana.com Indiana Office of Tourism Development. 14 Oct “Creekside Elementary Homepage." Franklin Community School Corporation. 14 Oct Dictionary.com Ask.com. 14 Oct “Famous Hoosiers.” VisitIndiana.com Indiana Office of Tourism Development. 14 Oct Schrock, Kathy. “Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators.” Discovery Education. 14 Oct Discovery Channel. 14 Oct VisitIndiana.com Indiana Office of Tourism Development. 14 Oct