Internet Scavenger Hunt
Name:
Use your search skills to answer or locate the following. Record the URL where you located the answer,
the search engine you used, the search technique you used, the time it took you to find the answer
(approximate), and answers/documents requested.
Assignment Items:
1. Locate an online interactive math worksheet.
URL:
http://interactive.onlinemathlearning.com/
Search
Engine/Directory:
Google
Search Technique:
Typed Online Interactive Math Worksheet to search engine and selected third option
Time:
Skill(s) Addressed:
2-3 minutes
Mathematical skills such as Numbers, Fractions, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication,
Division, Order of Operations, Money, Ratio, Integer, Exponents, Decimals, Time,
Measurement, Percent, Algebra, Number Patterns, Geometry, Statistics, Probability,
Trigonometry, Slope, Complex Numbers, and Mental Math.
2. What is the weather forecast for Ho Chi Minh City for next Thursday?
URL:
http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Ho+Chi+Minh+City+VMXX0007:1:VM
Search
Engine/Directory:
Google
Search Technique:
Typed Ho Chi Minh City Forecast into Google search engine and selected second
option.
1
Time:
1-2 minutes
Scattered T-Storms
89 degrees Fahrenheit
Chance of rain:
60%
Wind:
WSW at 10 mph
Humidity:
80%
Forecast:
UV Index:
11 - Extreme
Sunrise:
5:31 am
Moonset:
2:00 pm
Moonphase:
Waning Crescent
3. On September 22 1776, Revolutionary War hero, Nathan Hale was hanged by the British as a spy. What is he
famous for saying just before he died?
URL:
http://www.connecticutsar.org/patriots/hale_nathan.htm
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Search
Engine/Directory:
Google
Search Technique:
Typed Nathan Hale into the Google search engine and selected the second option.
Time:
Quote:
2-3 minutes
“I only regret,” he said, “that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
4. What does brain research tell us about physical movement and learning?
URL:
http://www.pesoftware.com/Resources/moveLearn.html
Search
Engine/Directory:
Google
Search Technique:
Typed “brain research physical movement and learning into the search engine and
selected the second option.
Time:
2-3 minutes
Research findings:
Just how important is movement to learning? Ask neurophysiologist Carla Hannaford
and she'll spend all day telling you. She says the vestibular (inner ear) and cerebellar
system (motor activity) is the first sensory system to mature. In this system, the
inner ear's semicircular canals and the vestibular nuclei are an information gathering
and feedback source for movements. Those impulses travel through nerve tracts
back and forth from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain, including the visual
system and the sensory cortex. The vestibular nuclei are closely modulated by the
cerebellum and also activate the reticular activating system (RAS), near the top of
the brain stem. This area is critical to our attentional system, since it regulates
incoming sensory data. This interaction helps us keep our balance, turn thinking into
actions, and coordinate moves. That's why there's value in playground games that
stimulate inner ear motion like swinging, rolling, and jumping.
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Peter Strick at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center of Syracuse, New York, made
another link. His staff has traced a pathway from the cerebellum back to parts of the
brain involved in memory, attention, and spatial perception. Amazingly, the part of
the brain that processes movement is the same part of the brain that's processing
learning.
Here's another example. Neuroscientist Eric Courchesne of the University of
California at San Diego says autism may be related to cerebellar deficits (L.
Richardson 1996). His brain-imaging studies have shown that autistic children have
smaller cerebellums and fewer cerebellar neurons. He also has linked cerebellar
deficits with impaired ability to shift attention quickly from one task to another. He
says the cerebellum filters and integrates floods of incoming data in sophisticated
ways that allow for complex decision making. Once again, the part of the brain
known to control movement is involved in learning. Surprisingly, there is no single
"movement center" in our brain (Greenfield 1995). Movement and learning have
constant interplay.
In Philadelphia, Glen Doman has had spectacular success with autistic and braindamaged children by using intense sensory integration therapy. Over the years,
many teachers who integrated productive "play" into their curriculum found that
learning came easier to students.
At the 1995 Annual Society of Neuroscience Conference, W.T. Thatch Jr. chaired one
of the most well-attended symposiums: "What is the Specific Role of the Cerebellum
in Cognition?" He's a researcher at the Washington University School of Medicine
who's been pulling together data for years. The 800 attendees listened carefully as
the panel made a collective assault on a neuroscience community blinded by years of
prejudice. Nearly 80 studies were mentioned that suggest strong links between the
cerebellum and memory, spatial perception, language, attention, emotion, nonverbal
cues, and even decision making. These findings strongly implicate the value of
physical education, movement, and games in boosting cognition.
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5. What civil rights advocate wrote her story in A Colored Woman in a White World?
URL:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr098.html
Search
Engine/Directory:
Google
Search Technique:
Typed A Colored Woman in a White World into the Google search engine and selected
the second option.
Time:
1-2 minutes
Civil Rights Advocate:
Mary Church Terrell
6. Locate a primary source document, battle map of Gettysburg, at the Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov
URL:
http://www.loc.gov/item/99448794
Search
Engine/Directory:
Library of Congress search engine
Search Technique:
Typed Battle Map of Battle of Gettysburg into search engine and selected second
option.
Time:
2-3 minutes
**Now use your own search engine to find a map of the Battle of Gettysburg. Which search was easier? Why
was this easier? – The Google search engine was easier. It was easier because it was a search engine I was
familiar with and it provided more options.
7. Locate a video about global warming.
URL:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/global-warmingenvironment/global-warming-101/
5
Search
Engine/Directory:
Google
Search Technique:
Typed Global Warming video into the Google search engine and selected the first
option.
Time:
1-2 minutes
8. Locate a search engine that searches only dog sites.
URL:
http://cooldogsites.com/doglinks/Search_Engines/index.html
Search
Engine/Directory:
Google
Search Technique:
Typed “search engine only dog sites” into the search engine and selected the sixth
option.
Time:
4-5 minutes
9. Reflect on how you could use an internet scavenger hunt in your classroom.
One could utilize this scavenger hunt in the classroom by presenting the students with a list that includes items
from every subject area. For example an octagon in relation to mathematics or a historically significant date for
social studies and then give them and a partner five minutes to “collect” as many items as possible. The students
would then choose an item from the list that they found interesting and write a paragraph or more on what they
learned and why they found it interesting.
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