By:      William R. Jamieson, 6/14/97
            South Newton Middle School; Kentland, Indiana

Purpose:    In order to get students comfortable with the Internet, students will access and explore a number of web sites which are geographically oriented.

Grade Level: 7th grade

Materials Required: Computer lab and access to the Internet

Geography Standards addressed:

• #1) How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process
  and report information from a geographic perspective.
• #2) How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.
• #6) How culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regions.

Objectives:

Upon completing a series of the following activity, the students will

• 1. become comfortable with the use of the internet,
• 2. reflect better mental organization in terms of spatial skills,
• 3. know "how" and "where" to access geographically-oriented web sites for future research, and
• 4. annotate/critique a web site from a "professional" (student research oriented) perspective.

Background:

The teacher must be familiar with the Internet and must have a prepared list of possible web sites for students to explore which are geographically oriented (see the GENI Home Page: http://www.iupui.edu/it/geni)

Procedures:

• 1. The computer lab will be scheduled for all 7th grade Social Studies classes.
• 2. The students will be taken to the lab from their classroom after a brief "how to behave" discussion.
• 3. Once the students are seated at their terminals, distribute a list of possible geography oriented web sites that they may visit.
• 4. Each student must write a critique/annotation of the various web sites that they visit; they may add possible sites to the teacher’s list.
• 5. Upon return to the classroom, each student will briefly present the sites that they visited and describe the benefits that the site may have in their work.
• 6. Have some of the students make a binder with the critiques/annotations for future student reference.
• 7. Practice in this manner weekly until the students, and you, are comfortable with student performance. 

Evaluation:

The students should be able to get into several (6) internet addresses and become used to using the Netscape search engines.

 Adaptations/Extensions:

In a discussion and explanation classroom setting the students will ask questions and the instructor will explain some of the problems encountered with the internet and review what was learned.

 Resources: Computer lab and individual templates.