Use the following 5-day plan to help students conduct this week's Internet inquiry
activity on food from different cultures. Remind students to follow classroom rules
when using the Internet.
Identify Questions Discuss the lesson focus question: How can food from different cultures be mixed? Brainstorm ideas for specific inquiry questions about food from different cultures. For example, students might want to know about traditional fare in Sweden or the various kinds of breads prepared in other cultures. Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to write an inquiry question they want to answer.
Navigate/Search Start a simple Internet search. After students have compiled a list of the sites they would like to analyze, show them how to bookmark Web sites. Bookmarks allow students to go to a site immediately, instead of keyboarding the complete address. Students may bookmark the sites today, but they will not analyze them until Day 3. Remind students that they should always have teacher permission before they bookmark Web sites.
Analyze Have students explore the Web sites they identified on Day 2. Have them scan the sites for information that will help answer their inquiry questions. Students analyze information to see if it is relevant to their question. Students can print pages that contain useful information and highlight relevant details.
Synthesize Have students synthesize information from Day 3. Remind them that when they synthesize, they integrate important and relevant ideas from various sources to create an answer to their inquiry questions.
Communicate Have students share their inquiry results. They can use a word processing program to create a short informational article for a class book about food from around the world.