Activity 1:
Web Search

Activity Philosophy:

• Each lesson in the course includes between one and three activities. The purpose of these activities is for you to use what you have learned, obtain useful information from the web, solve a problem, or prepare a capstone work. They will be your way of demonstrating that you are obtaining important skills and knowledge from this course.

  Some of the activities that you complete will rely on internet resources that have been developed by government agencies - such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or the United States Geological Survey. The remainder are resources that have been prepared by your instructor. He hopes that you find them engaging and educational.

Web Search - Introduction

• Your first Internet activity is an easy one - use a search engine or an internet directory to find an interesting site related to meteor impacts. The purpose of this search is for you to discover how many web-based resources are available for geological subjects. If you have used search engines or internet directories before and are comfortable with them, you can probably skip this introduction and go directly to "Web Search - Your Assignment" below.

  A search engine is a computer program that searches the web to find sites related to a topic that you specify. An internet directory is like a telephone directory for websites that is organized by topic. For example, if you want to find web pages that contain the word "landslide," simply go to a search engine site or a directory, type the word "landslide" into the query window, and then press the button to activate your request. On April 26, 2003 I went to MSN Search and typed "landslide" into the search box. MSN Search found 19 websites in its directory that have some relationship to the word "landslide" and over 200,000 webpages that contained the word "landslide".

  You try it! Go to MSN Search, type "landslide" into the query window, and press the "Search" button. Then take a quick look at the descriptions of the websites and pages that are found to see what type of "landslides" are featured. When you are finished use the "BACK" button to return here.
  
  

  Remember those 200,000+ pages that relate to landslides? I love to read about "landslides," but I would go crazy trying to read that many web sites. Besides, some of them had nothing to do with the type of landslides that I know and love - instead they were about election victories, music, and even a company called "Landslide." My goal was to read about dirt sliding down a hill.
  
  

  To narrow my search, clicked on the "Advanced Search" option at the top of MSN's search pages. By setting the "Find:" option to "all the words" and typing "landslides California," MSN Search delivered back 18,324 pages that relate to BOTH of those topics. But this was still much more than I wanted to find.
  
  Finally, I used the "Find all the words" option in a search for "landslides California Anaheim earthquake" which yielded only 117 pages and most of them were on the topic of "earthquake induced landslides in the area around Anaheim, California" - exactly what I was looking for.
  
  

  O.K., you give it a try. Go to MSN Search or another search site such as Google or Lycos and do a couple of searches for subjects of your choice, then return here to finish your activity. If you want some help doing specific searches look for the "Advanced Search" or "Power Search" option. Most search sites offer these.

Web Search - Your Assignment

• Your job is to search the web and find an interesting and informative site related to meteorites, comets, asteroids, impact structures, bolides, or another topic included in this lesson. You can use the search engine or directory of your choice.
  
  

  Whenever you are finished, you should report on your site by posting a detailed message in the "Meteor Website Conference" at the online discussion board. Your message should contain the following information and should not report on a website that has already been described by one of your classmates:

  • Title of the site (type this into the "subject" window when you post your message)

  • The internet address of your site from the "location" or "address" box on your browser's tool bar. Be sure that you provide an accurate address. You can check to see if it works by reading your own message and clicking on the address link. If your address does not work then you should edit your posting to repair it.

  • A 3 to 5 sentence summary of the site that includes: (A) who posted the site, (B) what type of information can be found there, and, (C) why the site is interesting enough or important enough to warrant a report.

  • Finally, you should make some statement about the reliability of the site. Was it posted by a government agency, a university professor with expertise in this area, or a degreed astronomer? These would make it a credible information source. Or, was the site posted anonymously or by a person without any obvious background? This might make it an unreliable information source. Sites with numerous errors, or dead links, or faulty design should also be treated with some caution.

  I have posted a sample report in the Meteor Website Conference. The title is "Views of the Solar System." Please check it out if you have any doubts about what your report should look like.

  If you have questions about this assignment or about how to use search engines or directories, please post them in the "Helping Each Other Conference." One of your classmates might respond to your request. I will check these messages once every couple of days and reply to topics that have not been answered by your classmates.

  One final comment: I have been known to be a strict grader on this type of assignment. Be certain that you follow the instructions and include all of the requested information in your report. Also, points will be deducted if your report contains spelling, grammar, or clarity problems.
  
  Most importantly, your report should be in your own words and not a copy or adaptation from another source. Taking the words of another and submitting them as your own work is plagiarism. Cases of plagiarism will be reported to the Provost's Office and a large deduction will be taken from your course score.

Images used throughout this lesson are public domain graphics from the NASA website.