Terms, concepts and best practices relating to selection and use of search engines on the Internet

1. Web Search Strategies
Lesson 1: the Search Engine
Topic: Internet Literacy Time: 45 mins. Class Size: 5 - 15
OVERVIEW: Before introducing more advanced search tools, it is important to ensure that learners
understand the fundamentals of using a search engine. The terms and concepts examined here will
make future study more productive. The Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is a primary (and often
overlooked) tool available to anyone performing a web search.
OBJECTIVE: Upon completion of this lesson learners will be able to:
● Introduce terms and definitions related to web search.
● Understand how to read the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
● Practice using the search engine and reading the SERP.
MATERIALS: ● A description of the Search Engine Results Page [Atachment 1]
● Printouts of Atachment 2, one per learner.
ACTIVITIES: Discuss the definitions (See Atachment 2) for the following terms used in
this lesson.
● Search Engine
● Browser
● Website
● Qery
● URL
● Domains (.com, .org, .edu, .us, .net)
Show the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), as illustrated in Atachment 1
and discuss the elements of a search query.
Have a brief discussion on using tabs in the web browser
ASSESSMENT: Do learners understand the relevant terms and concepts?
Do learners understand the SERP and its components?
Can learners use the SERP efectively?
BEST PRACTICES ● You may want to familiarize yourself with the above terms that will be
discussed during the lesson .
● It may be efective to allow learners to take the lead in defining the terms
and explaining the search engine results page. You can follow that up with
the information as given in Atachment 1 and Atachment 2.
Web Search Strategies Lesson Plan by Darryl Sherman is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike 3.0 United States License

2. Attachment 1:
Search Engine Results Page
Illustration 1: Search results from google on the word “google.”
1. 1. The title: The first line of any search result is the title of the webpage.
2. 2. The snippet: A description of or an excerpt from the webpage.
3. 3. The URL: The webpage's address.
Web Search Strategies Lesson Plan by Darryl Sherman is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike 3.0 United States License

3. Attachment 2:
Definitions
Search Engine
A computer program that retrieves documents or files or data from a database or from a
computer network, (especially from the Internet)
Browser
A program used to view HTML documents
Website
A collection of web pages, a collection of links between pages, programs that do services
(such as look up things)
Query
What one is looking for when using a search engine to find relevant websites, the phrase
you use to search
URL
The address of a web page on the world wide web.
Domains (.com, .org, .edu, .us, .net)
At the end of a url, denotes the administrative authority of the website. (.edu is for
educational institutions, .com for commercial organizations, .org generally for non-
commercial organizations, .mil for the United States military)
Web Search Strategies Lesson Plan by Darryl Sherman is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike 3.0 United States License