Teacher Resource Page

Philosophy

    These lessons aspire to be constructivist and project-based in theory. To this end they seek to broaden a student's understanding of The Internet by asking them to use The Internet itself to accomplish small tasks and projects. Each lesson is partitioned into three sections.  In the THINK portion of each lesson students are encouraged to confront their preconceptions and misconceptions about the topic of the lesson.  THINK can be assigned as homework or pre-lesson activity.  In the RESEARCH section students hunt down the specific information they need to answer questions raised during an examination of existing concepts in THINK.  RESEARCH asks students to confront their pre-existing assumptions by comparing them to authoritative web-based resources on the subject. Finally, the lynchpin task of each lesson is the DO activity where students reinforce new information, ideas and concepts by successfully applying them during authentic, collaborative project-based activities.  Students should be encouraged to explore new avenues of learning and periodically go "off-task" if it is in the genuine pursuit of their answers. Teachers should monitor and encourage students to apply new ideas where and when they surface in a productive,collaborative
and relevant manner.

 

Objectives


Unit Theme:    Understanding The Internet

Grade Level:   Middle and Upper School
                          (7 - 12th grades)

Length of Unit and Time Needed: Allow 2-3 hours for the successful completion of each lesson. The entire unit can be taught in one semester or spread out over a whole school year

Materials:  - a PC or Mac workstation, individually
                         or in groups
                    - a notebook to use as a manual
                    - drawing paper and markers
                    -  trace map world atlas for map-making.


Note: It is recommended that teachers place students in pairs or in small as well as large groups to complete these lessons. The purpose of the manual is to record reflections, comments and answers elicited during the lesson and should be used as an individual assessment tool. Unit assessment can be determined based upon successful completion of each lesson's DO activity.

 
 
  
Lesson
Learning Objective
Behavioral Objective
Robot Spiders Students will learn that robots are web-based computer programs designed by computer scientists with specific tasks in mind usually having to do with finding URLs, web-site content or other web-based resources and information.  -Students will complete a web-based scavengar hunt as research about robots
  -Students will build their own robot to search the web.

Internet Maps

 Understand how the structure and topology of The Internet is easily revealed by using easily accesible software programs on the World Wide Web. -Students will use a web-based software program create their own custom map of the Internet.
Domain Names Understand what domain names are, how they are created and what they mean in cyberspace. Familiarize themselves with the domain name registry process. - Complete a web-based hunt about domain names. Log on to a domain registry site and investigate the availability and the ownership status of various domain names.
Search Engines Learn how search engines are created and the differences between them. Students will learn about and incorporate advanced search techniques to a web search -Complete a web-based hunt as research about seach engines
-Conduct before and after searches using Boolean search parameters
Internet 2 Develope an appreciation for the existing internet infrastructure by studying the emerging phenomenon of the new Internet Complete a web-hunt researching Internet 2
Collect network data about Internet 2 and consolidate into a map of the entire system
Internet Highways Conceptualize the actual infrastructure of The Internet in terms of the pipes and wires that compose it Complete a web-base hunt researching basics of Internet telephony
Authority Understand what constitutes authority for web-based resources. Based on research information each student creates his own set of criteria for rating the authority of a website, then applies this criteria to several sites
Cookies Investigate and understand the pros and cons of Cookie technology Learn how to find Cookies on a computer. Change Cookies settings on a computer. Visit sites and see what kinds of Cookies certain sites use.
Security Come to terms with the basic nature of the threats posed by viruses and "worms" the the average home computer user Download a 30-day trial version of the latest home-computer security software and test its anti-virus tools
Tracers - Students will understand the nature of certain software programs used to evaluate the efficiency of The Internet - Students will execute and interpret basic diagnostic information produced from a trace program
 
  

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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