Created by: Nikita Kovalyov
Updated: January 2003

Meet Google Scavenger Hunt - Teacher's Notes - Answers

Teacher's Notes

• Activity
  Group or pair work: surfing the Internet; reading and speaking

• Level
  Any starting from lower Intermediate

• Aim
  Using English language for a practical task - learning basics of searching various kinds of information on the Internet

• Functions
  Authentic use of language

• Vocabulary
  Computer related and general

• Preparation
  

  One or two days prior to the lesson:

  If you are an International House Kharkiv teacher, get in touch with me and get the e-mail account details where your students' results will be sent to.

  If you aren't from International House Kharkiv, get in touch with me and I will upload a different page for you that will forward your students' results to your e-mail. I don't need your mail servers or passwords, only the e-mail!

  If you have never done this hunt before it might be a good idea to spend some time doing it yourself.

• Time
  From one to two hours

• Possible procedures
  

  Lead-in
  5-15 minutes

  Ask your students to work in pairs or small groups and talk about whether or not they like surfing the Internet or using computers. They could also talk about their favourite web sites, forums, etc. Then have some kind of a brief class discussion.

  Vocabulary presentation
  10-15 minutes

  You can introduce any vocabulary items you think are appropriate for this lesson. Here are some possible words:

  search engine; surfing; search terms; window; web page; forward; URL; form; browser; click; world wide web

  You can have you students drill these vocabulary items

  Learning searching with Google
  20-25 minutes

  Ask the students how they got to know their favourite web sites and if they sometimes use search engines to locate the information on the Internet. What is their most popular search engine? Has anyone in the group ever used Google (http://www.google.com/)?

  Have your students open their browsers and go to the Google Help Central (http://www.google.com/help.html)

  Your students should spend at least 20 minutes learning searching with Google and trying out some of the searches.

  Doing the Scavenger Hunt
  20-40 minutes

  Students go to the following address http://www.kovalyov.com/hunt/babySteps.html and try to complete the Baby Steps Scavenger Hunt

  If they aren't very good with computers they don't have to complete the entire task. They could do as much and as little as they want. Or you can even have a competition among them who can do it faster and more accurate.

  Checking the answers
  10-15 minutes

  After you students have completed the Hunt, give them the Answer sheet and provide them with some free time trying the suggested search terms.

  Closing Discussion
  5-7 minutes

  Have you students talk whether they liked it and what new they have learned.

  You could also print out their Scavenger Hunt results and put them in the classroom.

I need your feedback!

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please feel free to get in touch with me. Any feedback is really looked forward to and much appreciated.

You can reach me from the Contact Page.

Nikita Kovalyov
International House, Kharkiv