Use the following 5-day plan to help students conduct this week's Internet inquiry
activity on family life. Remind students to follow classroom rules when using the
Internet.
Identify Questions Discuss the lesson focus question: How are families changed by the kind of place they live in? Brainstorm ideas for specific inquiry questions about family life in various cultures. For example, students might want to find information about housing in Cambodia or the average size of families in Italy. Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to write an inquiry question they want to answer.
Navigate/Search Have students begin a simple Internet search using a
student-friendly search engine. Remind students to limit the keywords they use. Using too many keywords may not provide the best search results. Review how to use the search engine results to identify a few helpful Web sites. Have students read the descriptions about each Web site and select a few to analyze on Day 3.
Analyze Encourage students to explore the Web sites they identified on Day 2. Tell them to scan each site for information that may help answer their inquiry questions. Have students analyze information for credibility, reliability, and usefulness. Students can take notes or print valuable information.
Synthesize Have students synthesize information from Day 3. Remind them that when they synthesize, they combine relevant information and ideas from several sources to find an answer to their inquiry questions.
Communicate Have students share their inquiry results. They can use a word processing program to create an informational article for a class book about families around the world.