This lesson is designed for students in grades 4 and up.
This lesson will take place over the course of 1-2 days
During the lesson students will:
1. Use the buttons at the top of the web page they are browsing.
2. Discover what to expect when exploring the Internet.
3. Successfully perform an Internet search on the topic of elections.
4. Successfully gather information using hotlinks within their web browser.
Through online searching, students will use their critical thinking and problem solving skills to collect information about the elections. The students will find the information by completing a tutorial that will help them conduct a successful search. As the students are completing the search, they will answer questions on a worksheet that has been developed from each site the student’s visit. All students will complete the work by working individually or in pairs.
Task #1: Find the “address” bar at the top of your computer screen. Click on the address that is showing and hit “delete”. This will clear
the box to type in http://yahooligans.com. Be sure to type it exactly as shown and then push “enter”. This is called a web
address. The way it looks written in this text (a different color) is called a hotlink. Clicking on the hotlink, instead of typing in
the address, is called a shortcut and it will also take you to the Yahooligans Home Page.
Task #2: You are now at the Yahooligans Home Page. Find the search box, type in elections, and click on the search button. This will
begin a search for information about the elections. When the search is done, your screen will change and show you a listing of
several websites (and their addresses) about elections. When the search is complete, you will see all the matches on your
screen. The category matches are very broad subject areas about elections. Clicking on one of these matches will allow you to
narrow your search further by giving you a directory of specific web sites for that particular area about elections. The website
matches are various websites devoted to nothing but the election as well as published articles about the elections. We are
going to focus on the website matches.
Task#3: Scroll through the website matches and click on the Kids News Room hotlink to answer questions 1and 2 on your worksheet.
Task#4: Anytime you wish to return to your original search results click on the back arrow at the top of your web browsers screen. If you
have followed more than one link, you will have to keep clicking the back arrow until you arrive at your original search results.
When you have completed the first 2 questions, go back to your search results screen.
Task #5: Under category matches click on U.S. Presidential Elections. Look at the list of sites and click on the hotlink for Ben’s Guide:
Election of the President & Vice President. Answer questions 3 and 4 on your worksheet.
Task #6: At the right of your computer screen, you will see a bar between two arrows. This is called the scroll. Scroll down to the
bottom of the page by clicking down arrow. Once at the bottom click on the hotlink for The White House for Kids.
Task #7: When you are done browsing the Internet, it is important to close all windows and return to your desktop screen. To do this,
you will see a red box with an “x” at the top right of the computer screen. This is the close button and people often refer to
it as “X-ing out”. Click on this box to exit your web browser. If you have more than one browser open, you may have to click
this box more than once until you arrive at the desktop.
Students will complete both a formal and informal evaluation.
1. Formal: Students will complete a worksheet based on the elections.
2. Informal: Students will explain how they performed different tasks such as searches, toggling, using their browsers buttons, and
saving websites to use in the future.
