Baltimore County Public Schools Department of Curriculum and Instruction s1

Baltimore County Public Schools Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Concept Explore an Issue or Problem Lesson: 4 Unit Title “Boolean Search” Theme Statement/  Researchers will conduct preliminary research in order to develop a content Enduring specific context within which to begin designing an original research topic while Understandings affording an opportunity to build significant background knowledge.

Essential  How can students conduct meaningful and efficient preliminary research connected Question(s) to their chosen topic of study? Suggested Seven Period Day: 1 day Timeframe Four Period Day: ½ day Staff Teaching Teacher &/or Media Specialist Responsibility General Notes: The purpose of the lesson is to teach students how to use Boolean operators to narrow their internet search of a topic.

Teacher Note: Students will need to have their topic in mind. The course webpage contains links, tutorials, and information for students to look over about this topic. This lesson is intended to be taught prior to students reviewing the material on the course webpage.

Learning preferences addressed: Active, Visual

The teacher should keep in mind that this lesson includes suggestions for meeting the stated objectives. The teacher should adjust the lesson based on the needs of his or her students; however, all objectives should be covered. Objective: Students will be able to use Boolean operators to refine an internet search.

Standards Alignment 1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions.

Formative Observation of student search, Journal entry Assessment Digital Content, Tools, and Computers Resources http://www.42explore.com/skim.htm http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1480 http://researchcourse.pbworks.com/f/BooleanSearch.pdf http://secondary.oslis.org/orig-steps/plan/plan-research/electronicsearchstrategies/booleanbash

Before Direct  Be sure that students are comfortable with logging on to a computer and accessing the internet. Instruction

Unit 2, Lesson 4 1 Summer 2010 Baltimore County Public Schools Department of Curriculum and Instruction Suggested Activity  Write the following Boolean operators: AND, OR, and NOT on the board. Explain the Sequence: use of these terms during an internet search.  Demonstrate the meaning of these terms using the students in the room. Suggested method: o Look at the clothing the students are wearing and choose articles of clothing or other appropriate features that distinguish the students best in your room. o Example: Tell all of the students wearing a t-shirt to stand up. Count the number of students standing. Now ask the students who are wearing a t-shirt and jeans to remain standing. Count the number of students standing and explain how this exercise has shown how AND is used on the internet in order to narrow a search just like and narrowed our group of students standing. Now tell the students wearing a t-shirt or jeans to stand. Count the number of students standing and explain how this exercise has shown how OR is used on the internet in order to broaden a search. Now ask the students wearing t-shirts but not sneakers to stand. Count the number of students standing and explain how this exercise has shown how NOT is used on the internet in order to narrow a search.  Ask the students to log on to the computers and bring up a search engine. Have the students try to use these Boolean operators to narrow or broaden a search. Ask the students to pay attention to the number of search results given using different search terms. Keywords to try: ravens AND crows, ravens OR crows, ravens NOT Baltimore  Ask the students to refer back to their “Wherein my research task begins” lesson to identify the keywords/questions/synonyms associated with their topic. Allow the students time to search on the internet for their keywords using Boolean operators.

 Closure: Ask the students to complete a journal entry in response to the following statement. Boolean operators are useful in refining an internet search. Today I learned….. Differentiation Components Curriculum Resources Brief Description Suggestions Content   Process   Product  

Unit 2, Lesson 4 2 Summer 2010