webhound leader's guide:
Activity Sequence
Scoping the Search

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Materials

• Webhound guide (print version)
• Scoping Your Search worksheet
• Multimedia Computer connected to Internet
• Web browser software
• Whiteboard, flipchart, or other means to write text for the participants to see

Approximate Time

This section should take around 15 minutes.

Procedures

1. Have the participants look at the Scoping the Search worksheet as well as the student guide for this section.

In this lesson we will begin our "webhounding" by first framing and defining the goal of our search.

2. The first thing to do is write down the topic of the search. Tell the participants that it often helps to phrase it as a question. The example used in the guide is looking for similarities and differences in the numbering systems for ancient Egyptian and Mayan civilizations.

   Take a few minutes to think about a topic you are interested in researching on the Internet. Write it down on your worksheet and then re-word it as a question.

   At the same time you can write on a board the example provided in the guide:

Numbering systems used by the Egyptian and Mayan civilizations.

"What are the similarities and differences between numbering systems developed in the Egyptian and Mayan Civilizations? How are they represented?"

3. Next, tell the participants to think about what kind of information they are looking for. This will help them later decide what types of web resources to use for their search. Discuss the varieties listed in the guide. Have the participants write down in their worksheet at least 2 descriptors for their topic that describe the nature of the information they will find. Ask if anyone came up with some descriptors not listed in the webhound guide. Present the example used in the guide:

For comparing numbering systems used by the Egyptian and Mayan civilizations, we might expect information related to the location of the civilizations (Geographic); associated with research institutions (Academic, Historical); and perhaps we would even find photographs (Pictures).

4. Searching for information may require identifying subject categories that are broader than your topic, but that include your topic. Write on the board the subject categories for the example in the webhound guide (History, Archaeology, Mathematics).

   Some resources you may use on the web have information organized by a hierarchy of subject categories, and you will want to be able to determine which category includes your topic.
   
   For example, some of the broader categories that might include information on numbering systems in Egyptian and Mayan civilizations include History, Archaeology, and Mathematics.

   Tell the participants to write in their worksheet at least two subject categories that would include their topic.
   
   
5. Tell the participants that another approach for finding information about a topic is to start with organizations (professional societies, educational institutions, government offices, companies) that might be affiliated with it. For the example in the guide:

   Some organizations that might investigate Egyptian and Mayan civilizations are the Smithsonian Institution, the governments of Egypt and Mexico, the Archaeology departments of universities, perhaps there is even some society of Historical Mathematics.

   Tell the participants to write in their worksheet at least two organizations associated with their topic.
   
   
6. When you use programs that search Internet databases, you will need to input keywords that may be associated or describe your topic. Wise selection of keywords can save much of the time it takes to search the web, especially to narrow the extremely large number (or complete lack of) of results one often receives. Write on the board the example from the guide:

   For numbering systems in the Egyptian and Mayan civilizations, we might consider the keywords: "number", "numeral", "digit", "counting", "architecture", "picture".

   Tell the participants to write in their worksheet at least four keywords that would describe their topic.
   
   
7. Ask the participants to answer the questions listed under the heading Look at where you are... These review the information they should have written down on their worksheet for this lesson. You may have them answer aloud, write down their answers, or share with a neighbor.

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