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This page is taken from the excellent SOL site. Seeking Out The ScienceAimThe purpose of this activity is to consider how information can be found on the World Wide Web. The activity will present three science tasks as a focus for the activity. Teachers may use these tasks themselves or with pupils as appropriate. Learning OutcomesDuring this activity teachers will:
IntroductionThe Web is a great resource for information on a wide variety of topics - much of it to do with science. The overwhelming amount of information and number of Web sites makes finding that crucial piece of information a frequently frustrating exercise. How can you find information?Locating sources of information on the World Wide Web is often a frustrating and time consuming exercise. You know that there must be information out there that you need but how do you get to it? Listed below are just some of the ways of finding information. SearchingSearch tools (or 'Engines' to use Net speak) are powerful software packages which work in different ways but achieve similar results - they let you locate sites through a search using a keyword/s or phases. Search facilities are provided by commercial companies ( you will see lots of advertising on the search pages). Since they work in different ways you may get different results from each of the services. To carry out a search:
When the search is completed a list of matching sites is displayed. The engine works out the best match of your request - this matching is often shown as a %. The results are ordered according to this % score with the best match will be at the top of the list. Each site is hypertext linked so clicking on the title will take you directly to that site. It's a good idea to scan down the list before you visit any of the sites, as the matching doesn't always reflect your own needs. Narrowing the search is a more effective way of finding relevant information. In the example quoted above try searching again using 'solar power' as your search criteria - be as specific as you can. You may wish to add 'uk' to the description if you only want to find UK references. Tip
Library (the Schools On Line Project)As you can see from above searching can be time consuming and not always give the results you want. Unlike most lists of sites the SOL Library is annotated and may even include some ideas for tasks or questions you might ask students to find out from the site. It's intended to be a first port of call for science teachers and pupils, but use it however you wish! The sites are categorised into common areas of science. We have tried to make this a logical as possible but no classification system is ever perfect! There are now hundreds of sites in the catalogue - we will shortly be adding a search facility to make location of sites easier. The Library is a collective list provided by the science team and yourselves. When you come across a good site send us the details and we'll add it to the catalogue. ListingsThis idea of providing 'hot links' is a common feature of many sites. CampusWorld and IFL both have lists of many curriculum sites, for example. The longest list I have found (and consequently the most useless) is on the Microsoft Network site. Mail listsMail lists are a subscription service providing information and dialogue through e-mail. By subscribing - this is cost free and is done by sending a command by e-mail - you will be added to the recipient list for e-mail messages from the list. Lists are categorised according to subject or interest area and moderated by someone. The moderator has responsibility for checking the type of communication taking place through the list. Examples
What do I do when I've found it?When you have found a good site then you need to record it in some way. Bookmarking is the obvious way to keep a record of links. To add a bookmark (or Favorite in Internet Explorer), select 'Add a Bookmark' from the Bookmark menu when you are on the site - the address of the current page will be added as the bookmark. Internet Explorer uses as a similar system, but you select 'Add to Favorites' from the Favorites menu, you will then be prompted to place the link in a folder. It is sensible to organise your bookmarks under categories or it can very soon get out of hand.
Note: Bookmarks are saved in different ways. Netscape saves all the links in a bookmark file (usually bookmarks.htm). The file is saved on the computer or network you are working on depending on the set up of the system. This can mean that if you use a different computer the bookmarks will be different. You can copy your bookmarks to disc if you want to use them on a different computer. If the bookmarks are saved to a network drive then they will be shared by all the computers on that network - management may be more difficult! Internet Explorer saves each link as a file (a shortcut). Again this collection of favorites is unique to the computer. To copy it you would have to copy the whole directory.
The TaskWe want you to seek out some interesting science from the Web - you might want to carry this out yourself or set it as a task for your students. To focus the activity we have chosen three topics to look for:
As you find interesting sites or locations add them to your bookmarks. John Wardle |
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