Scavenger Hunts (also known as Web Quests) are a GREAT way of leading the students during their time on the Internet. They are an excellent way for teachers to customize their students' experience on the WWW. Scavenger Hunts are very adaptable. They can be done as a class activity, in a cooperative learning setting, or by an individual student. Depending upon the level of the questions, these scavenger hunts can engage students in a very high level of analysis. This is also a great technique that can be modified in terms of teacher control throughout the experience. An example continuum follows: ? Level 1 (High Control): At this level the students would be given a question and the URL of the location of the answer. The students would be limited to going to only the sites assigned to them through this project. This technique is a good start to a student's online activities. Depending on the level of the questions, students may be required to do simple acts such as locating information all the way up to evaluating the content. A student can still be stimulated into higher order analysis even with a high amount of teacher control.

• Sample: Using this site: http://www.contemplator.com/america/index.html, answer the following question: Legend has it that Henry VIII wrote the song Greensleeves for whom?
• Level 2 (Medium Control): The second level of scavenger hunts provides students with a list of websites and a series of questions. Students are asked to find the answers to the questions using only the websites provided. (This is a great opportunity to talk about domain names!) This technique provides students with a sense of discovery while allowing the teacher to maintain control over the sites they access.
• Sample: Find the answers to the following question by accessing the websites listed below:
  • What is the motto of the National Wildlife Federation?
  • http://www.volcano.und.edu
  • http://www.nhm.ac.uk/interactive.html
  • http://www.nwf.org
• Level 3 (Low Control): This stage of scavenger hunts focuses upon the students' own discovery of information and resources. Typically, the teacher will provide a series of questions and a recommended search engine(s). The students then search through the WWW in hopes of locating the answer. Prior to the incorporation of these types of activities, it is recommended that the teacher identifies the method of searching to be used, and discusses the difference between browsing and searching, the need to critically evaluate websites, and the classroom procedure for what students are to do if they encounter inappropriate material.
• Sample: Find the answer to the following question. Be sure to include the answer and the URL of the website where you found the answer: Where did Neil Armstrong earn his Bachelor's Degree?