| At a glance | Web Search Lesson Plan: Believe it or Not? |
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Table of Contents
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Help students learn to read for the validity of web pages found through search engines. In this advanced lesson students use critical thinking skills to assess the credibility of the various results on a search results page. Using validating strategies to make an initial judgment about the authority of the information is the core learning of this lesson.
Inquiry questions: How do I know if this information source valid? How do I know it's true?
Use the "Validate the Authority" Google Presentation provided with this lesson to introduce students to the concept and skills of validating the authority of a web page. Slides that go with each section of this lesson are indicated by number [Slide #1] Stop for class discussion where indicated on the slide.
1. [Slide #1| Begin with a brief overview of what students are expected to learn.
2. [Slide #2| Ask students to share with a partner and brainstorm ideas: "How do you decide if something is true?" Have a few of the students share what they discussed.
3. Discuss with class the concept of "credibility" [Slide #3]. Use the Google search box to find a definition (define: credibility). Discuss the results page for this definition. Students view the search results for the definition and point out the name of the site that is providing the definition and discuss the concepts of "expertise" and "trustworthiness". Relate these two concepts back to the earlier discussion and who is considered the expert in their lives or who do they consider trustworthy. The discussion should draw to this conclusion: Credibility = trustworthiness + expertise.
4. [Slide #4] Practice checking and assessing for credibility. Bring up the Google Search page on a computer with a projector along with the Google Presentation. Either demonstrate the search as a whole class or if students have their own computers ask them to search for: "What is the diameter of the earth?"
Use Google search to check and assess credibility: (1) Get multiple answers, (2) Always check your answers.
[Slide #5] Practice with Google search to teach students to search for multiple answers to the same query. Put the obvious search terms in the search box "diameter of the earth". Tell students to get answers by searching and reviewing multiple sites. If students are keeping track of their results in a Google shared doc, have them anticipate why they are getting different answers. Discuss the kinds of results and question the authority and validity of these sites.
What are some possible reasons for the differences?
5. [Slide #7] Review the strategies for trustworthiness and expertise with students on this slide. Link the review and the discussion to some of the pages students have been looking at about the diameter of the earth. Using one of the student search results pages, practice answering the questions on this slide and check for understanding. In the previous lesson, students used these questions to make a determination from the snippet. In this lesson, use the same quesitons and help student identify the parts of a web page and use these questions again:
[Slide #6] Practice with Google search to teach students to "always check your answers." How can you tell if something is credible? (e.g. trustworthy and expert) Either demonstrate for the whole class several teacher directed searches or if students have computers ask them to pick one or more of the pages they found when searching the diameter of the earth to use in the following evaluation and test. Students will verify several search results for credibility - "Do I believe it or not?" For each check, stop and discuss
Note: Refer to concepts developed [Slide #3] and ask students to read the web page for trustworthiness and expertise.
Lesson extension idea: If students need help understanding the domain abbreviations, take them to this page in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_TLDs If you need extra time on this page, have students create a quick quiz that links some of the most important top level domains to countries and institutions.
6. [Slide #8] Students practice validating the authority of a web page. Pose this question: Did NASA fake the moon landing? Ask students to use search and validation strategies learned in previous lessons and the information on [Slide #7] to prove the answer.
Lesson extention idea: Have students read and discuss the Mythbuster's answer to the question: Did NASA fake the moon landing? Have student analyze the methodology that Mythbuster's used in making judgements and compare these to how we can search for credibility of web page information.
Addtional practice pages to use for hoax:
[Slide #11] Believe it or Not Student Team Challenge. Students form teams of two or more. Each team will brainstorm and come up with one "Believe it or not" hoax. For example: UFO sightings. Student teams can search for these topics and assess the credibility of some of the results they come up with on the search results page.
3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
Students: a. plan strategies to guide inquiry. b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
Teachers: a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning.
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