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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Grade 8: Developing your Internet Searching Skills

Top Level Domain's

Often called TLD's for short, these are the highest level in the naming system of the Internet. Many of these you know already but can be useful for establishing if information on a website is objective (reliable and unbiased)

Basic Search Operators [ ^

Find all pages containing…

this that thing
returns all pages containing the terms "this", "that", and "thing"
this OR that
returns all pages containing either the term "this" or "that"
"this that and the other thing"
returns all pages containing the exact phrase "this that and the other thing"
this -that
returns all pages containing the term "this" but not the term "that"
this +that
returns all pages containing the terms "this" and "that"
define:this
returns a definition of the term "this" 

Search Query Modifiers [ ^

site: The site: modifier is used to limit search results to pages from a specific site. For example, a search query such as monster site:bbc.co.uk will return all indexed content containing the term "monster" exclusively from within the bbc.co.uk domain.

allintitle: The allintitle: modifier is used to limit search results to pages containing all of the given search terms in the title. For example, a search query such as allintitle:scary monsters will return only those pages containing the terms "scary" and "monsters" in the title.

intitle: The intitle: modifier is used to limit search results to pages containing a specific term in the title. For example, a search query such as intitle:scary monster will return only those pages containing the term "scary" in the title and the term "monster" anywhere in either the document or title.

inurl: The inurl: modifier is used to limit search results to pages containing a specific term in the URL. For example, a search query such as inurl:scary monsters will return only those pages containing the term "scary" in the URL and the term "monsters" anywhere in either the document or URL. 
date: The date: modifier is used to search pages from within the previous 3, 6, or 12 months. For example, a search such as "scary monsters" date:3 returns all indexed pages about monsters raging from within the past six months.

Advanced Operators

link: The link: operator is used to summon all of the indexed pages that link to the specified domain, directory, or document. For example, if I wanted to know which indexed pages are linking to any page at Perishable Press, I would use link:perishablepress.com, which would return the total number2 of linking pages (in the upper-right portion of the search results) along with the links and their associated descriptions (if any). 
 
info: The info: operator is used to display the information possessed by Google concerning the site in question. For example, if I wanted to see the information about Perishable Press displayed by Google, I would use info:perishablepress.com.

related: The related: operator is used to find all indexed pages that are "similar" to your site, according to Google. For example, related:perishablepress.com would return all indexed pages that are in some way similar to Perishable Press. Hmmm…
                              

Monday, April 23, 2012

Grade 8; Flotilla Protests Homework


Have you had a look on various sources to find out what Marc (Marc3pax)does?
How does this video relate to the flotilla movement?
Is the video objective (based on facts; unbiased)?
Is there evidence supporting Marc3pax’s findings?

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Grade 8 Source Check

Research and make notes on;

  • The Israeli-Palestine Conflict
  • Brief History of the problem
  • Who is Hamas
  • The role of the United States of America
  • What is the importance of the land called the Gaza strip and the West Bank

The ‘flotilla protests’
  • Why is there a blockade of the Gaza Strip – preventing aid relief from getting through to the Palestinians.
  • What do the flotilla’s try to do

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Bizzare Facts: Grade 6 + 7 Assignment 2 (Part 1)

Learning Objectives

1.Understand that information comes from different sources and can be used for different purposes
2.Write open and closed questions to produce a simple questionnaire
3.Search for, and select the best information from the Internet (Searching Skills)
4.Judge a website to see if it is reliable or not

____________________________________________________________________________


Activity 1: Look at the websites Save the Pacific Tree Octopus and the Dog Island. Make notes on these websites and report back to the class on what you learn.

Activity 2: Go to this website and collect 3 bizarre facts. Add these to a blog post called bizarre facts and make up one 'fact' of your own. Share with a partner and see if they can spot the made up piece of information



Activity 3:  Create a 6 Question survey to help the Daily Bizarre get more readers! 
tip: Use a mixture of open and closed questions. If you use closed questions then make sure you use multiple choice or check box question types.







Activity 4: Test your Searching Skills

Activity 5:  Can you label a Web Address?  

1) Complete this online activity
2) Look at this website to help you. When you have finished post it to your blog.

Activity 6: Last lesson you learned some tips for judging the reliability of websites. 

Now it is time to annotate web-pages for reliability. 

Use VoiceThread to label the BBC website and The De Hydrated Water website. Use these 8 basic Checkpoints to help you.

Activity 7: Look at the unit learning objectives above. 

Fill out a stickie on this wordwall

Describing what you have learned, what you need to learn and what you need to practice.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Information Reliability: Propaganda techniques


You are being influenced

Knowledge is the key to protecting yourself

Bandwagon



Scapegoating



Lesser of two evils



Down with the kids



Assertion



Omission

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Grade 6 and 7 Project 2: Graphics and Design Project


 ______________________________________________________________________________

1. You will learn about layers in Paint.net and produce 2 original images.

2. You will review a series of publications (business letter, flyer, brochure, and poster) and attempt to describe the design in relation to the amount of text and graphics

3. You will create at least two different products using built-in templates (Microsoft Publisher) making the necessary changes to the template so that it is fit for purpose and audience

4. You will review one of their publications and one of another student giving recommendations for improvement where appropriate

5. You will look at logos and try to formulate rules for what makes a good logo and what design characteristics make bad logos.

6. You will plan a logo by collecting stimulus materials from the Internet or by producing a hand drawn sketch

7. You will design a vector logo design using DrawPlus

8. You will evaluate the logo of another student compared to the rules they made. They will provide written feedback on how the logo could be further improved.

9. You will research, design and produce a Vector avatar using Drawplus



FINAL TASK

Helping Hand Saigon want someone to design either a poster or a flyer. The purpose is to try and get more people interested in volunteering at a local orphanage in Binh Thanh. 

1. Decide on who the audience will be
2. Plan on paper either an A4 poster or flyer
3. Using the design skills you have learnt, make the poster using any suitable software.
4.  Screenshot and label the poster describing all of the skills you have used to make it and why it is suitable for your audience.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Want to know how to design a good poster? Read this blog post

Get free font styles here

Search for copyright free images here

Project Rubric