Tech Lesson 05-4:  Research Practice:  Native Americans

Standards:
Demonstrates understanding of basic technology and telecommunication tools
Operates Basic technology tools and applications
CSTA Level I Standard 4: (3rd to 5th) Use general purpose productivity tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, remediate skill deficits, and facilitate learning throughout the curriculum.
CSTA Level I Standard 5: (3rd to 5th) Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create presentations, and publishing activities to create presentations for audiences inside and outside the classroom.
CSTA Level I Standard 9: (3rd to 5th) Determine which technology is useful and select the appropriate tools and technology resources to address a variety of tasks and problems.

Basic Skills:
M4P1:  Students will solve problems (using appropriate technology).
SS4H1a. Locate where the American Indians settled with emphasis on Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plateau (Nez Perce), Southwest (Hopi), Plains (Pawnee), and Southeastern (Seminole).
SS4G2a. Explain why each of the native American groups (SS4H1a) occupied the areas they did, with emphasis on why some developed permanent villages and others did not.
ELA4W3 The student uses research and technology to support writing.
W3a. Acknowledges information from sources.
W3b. Locates information (uses preface, appendix, index, glossary, table of content)
W3c. Uses a variety of resources.
W3d. Demonstrates basic keyboarding skills and computer terminology.

Objectives:
Students will use Internet to research and discover facts about Native Americans.
Students will discern and identify relevant information on web page sources.
Students will identify the importance of top level domains in web addresses.
Students will use key words to create search prompts for search engines.

Process: 
1.  Distribute "Native American Research Practice Sheet" to students.
2.  Direct students to use Google and other web resources to find answers to questions.
3.  Discuss and identify key words in creating searches.
4.  Discuss search stratagies:

Strategy
Key Words	Example: "What is the Creek Indians' original name"	Key Word Search: "Creek Indian original name"
Read the Whole Page	Often the answer is located in a paragraph within the page.  Scan each paragraph's topic sentence and look for pointers to the answer to your questions.
Where does the page come from?	Reliable information comes from pages sponsored by Universities and Colleges, Government Sites, and Primary Sources.  Wikipedia and private sites are not as reliable.
Look at the Top Level Domain	.org -> Organization's web site .edu -> Educational Institution (University, College) website .gov -> United States Government website .com -> commercial or private site .net -> private site .ca -> Website from Cananda .uk -> Website from United Kingdom .ru -> Website from Russia	As a general rule - stay away from most foreign domain sites.
Follow the Links	Often the links in a page will point you towards better information.  Be aware of where you are going when you click links.

Assessment:
Students will recieve 1 Dolphin Dollar for each correct answer on the worksheet.