Lesson video

Hi everyone.

My name is Mrs. Jenkins.

I can't wait to learn with you today.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit: Introduction to Computer Systems. Today's lesson is called, Searching the Web, and by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to identify how to search using a search engine effectively.

We have three key words today that will appear throughout the lesson, so it's really helpful if we know what they mean before we start.

We have search term, refine, and algorithm.

Search term is the words typed into a search engine to find information.

Refine is to make something clearer or more accurate.

An algorithm is a precise set of ordered steps, which could be followed by a computer, or a human to do a task.

So remember, these words will appear throughout the lesson today so keep an eye out.

In today's lesson, we have three learning cycles.

Describe how to complete a web search, explain how to refine a web search and compare results from different search engines.

We are going to begin with describe how to complete a web search.

Have you heard of any of these? Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia and Swisscows? Have a think.

They're all different types of search engine.

The internet has billions of web pages, so finding information quickly can be challenging.

Search engines help us find information by searching for webpages that match what we type.

A search engine is a system.

It has an input, process and output.

The search term is the input.

The request being searched is the process, and the search results are the output.

Similar to a road system or smart locker system, search engines have different parts that work together.

There are two different ways to search for something using the World Wide Web.

The first is to use the search engine's search box.

This search is the web using that specific search engine.

The second is to use the browser's address bar.

This may take you directly to a web address or use the default search engine.

True or false? There is only one search engine in the world.

What do you think? How did you get on? I asked you, true or false, there is only one search engine in the world.

The answer is false.

There are many search engines such as Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.

Jacob's asked us how do search engines work? Great question, Jacob.

When you type words into a search engine, it looks through an index of websites to find results.

It ranks the pages on how useful they are, and displays the best matches at the top.

The words you type into a search box are called search terms. If you type in football, the search engine does not know if you want scores, news or the history of football.

Being more specific helps, for example, Premier league football scores today.

These steps can help you complete an effective web search.

Number one, think about the best words to describe what you need.

Number two, type the words into the search box.

Three, press enter and look at the results.

Four, check if the results match what you need.

Five, try changing the words if the results aren't helpful.

Let's have a little check now.

The words you type into a search engine are called, A, search terms, B, web pages or C, internet.

Have a go.

How did you get on? I asked you, the words you type into a search engine are called, A, search terms, B, web pages, or C internet.

The answer is A, search terms. We are going to move on now to our first task.

I would like you to write a set of instructions for someone to conduct a web search to answer the question, in what year was Mahatma Gandhi born? Have a go.

How did you get on? I asked you to write a set of instructions for someone to conduct a search to answer the question, in what year was Mahatma Gandhi born? So step one, open a web browser.

Step two, browse to a search engine or use the search bar.

Step three, type your search term, when was Mahatma Gandhi born? Step four, press enter key or tap the search icon.

Five, look at the top results.

Step six, check if they are reliable sources of information.

And step seven, compare the search results in more than one place to check the information is correct.

Well done everyone.

We are going to move now onto learning cycle two.

Explain how to refine a search.

Laura asks, but why do you need to refine a search? Sometimes searching for something doesn't always give the results you wanted.

If a word has more than one meaning, the search engine might show the wrong results.

If you searched for the word bat, it could search for any of the following, an animal, a piece of sports equipment, the person hitting in baseball or cricket.

How can I make sure that I get a better match for my search? Good question, Laura.

If you wanna search for something exactly as it is written, you can put the search term into quotation marks.

For example, World War II in quotation marks would give results specifically about that event.

Searching World War II without quotation marks may give you results about other wars.

How can I stop it including something in my search? Great question.

If you use a minus sign in your search term, it'll exclude that from your search.

For example, if you wanted to search for bats and not have any mention of sports, your search term would be bat minus sport.

True or false? Quotation marks will give you a more accurate search term.

Have a go.

How did you get on? I asked you, true or false, quotation marks will give you a more accurate search term.

The answer is true.

It will give you a more accurate search term.

Jacob asks, what makes a good search term? Laura has given him a good response.

A good search term is specific and clear.

The more detail you add, the more relevant the result will be.

Which of these is a good example of a refined search? A, Paris, B, Paris France tourism tips, or C, Paris France.

Have a go.

How did you get on? I asked you which of these is a good example of a refined search, A, Paris, B, Paris France tourism tips, or C, Paris France.

And it is B, Paris France tourism tips is a much better example of a refined search.

It is important to consider your search term before you begin to use a search engine.

The more detail that you add to your search term, the more relevant the results will be.

If you wanted to learn how to train a dog, a search term like how to train your dog would give you a much more relevant information than just searching dog.

Right, you are going to go onto task B now, and you are going to use a search engine and then you will refine your search.

You're going to begin by searching for the word penguin.

How could you refine your search to be able to create a fact file about penguins? Compare the results from your first search, and your refined search.

Which search gave you the most relevant information? Off you go.

How did you get on? I asked you to begin by searching for the word penguin.

I then asked you to refine your search to be able to create a fact file about penguins, and compare the results from your first search and your refined search.

Which search gave you the most relevant information? So to refine the search you might have used penguin bird facts, penguin habitat and diet, penguin species information.

Great job.

We're going to move on now to learning cycle three, to compare results from different search engines.

Aisha has asked, are all search engines the same? Do they give the same results? Not all search engines work the same way.

If you search the same thing in different search engines, the results may not be exactly the same.

Aisha says, but how do search engines find their results? A search engine does not search the whole internet.

It looks through its own list of websites called an index to find matches for your search.

Different search engines use different indexes, which means they might show different results.

Here are some ways that search engines can differ.

Different indexes, some search engines list more results than others.

Algorithms, search engines use special rules to sort which results to show first.

Location and settings, some results change based on where you are or what you have searched before.

Privacy settings, some search engines track what you search and some don't, which can affect results.

Sam says, does it matter which search engine I use? If only one search engine is used, important information might be missed.

Some search engines are better for different tasks.

Swisscows is a family friendly search engine that does not store user's data.

Google has a lot of results and very quick answers.

Ecosia helps the environment when you search.

True or false? All search engines show the same results in the same order.

Have a go.

How did you get on? I asked you true or false, all search engines show the same result in the same order.

The answer is false because different search engines use different indexes, algorithms and settings.

Sam says, but how can I choose the best search engine? It depends on what you want.

For not storing your data, use DuckDuckGo or Swisscows.

For everyday searches, Google and Bing are popular choices.

For helping the planet, Ecosia donates its profit to plant trees.

Which of these can affect which search results you see? A, the search engine's index, B, the search engines algorithm, or C, your location and settings.

How did you get on? Which of these can affect which search results you see.

The search engine's index, the search engine's algorithm, your location and settings? And the answer is all of them.

All of these will affect which search results you see.

We are onto our task C now.

Use four different search engines and compare the results.

The search term is, why do cats purr? So you're going to put in which search engine you've used, what the first result you found was, were there any ads? Was it useful? Did you see anything different? Off you go.

How did you get on? I asked you to use four different search engines and compare the results.

The search term was why do cats purr? Here are my results.

Google gave me the results of a website for cat food, gave me adverts.

It was useful, but it also suggested I used AI.

DuckDuckGo gave me a website for pet health.

There were no adverts, but it was useful.

Swisscow took me straight to a Wikipedia page.

There was no adverts and was useful.

Ecosia gave me a news article page, didn't show me any adverts, and it was useful and the only difference was it told me facts about planting trees.

Great job everyone.

You've worked so hard today, let's summarise what we have learned.

Searching the web is made easier by using a search engine.

Some web browsers have search engines built into them.

Refining the search term to be more specific normally gives a more useful result.

There are many different search engines and they can work in slightly different ways.

This can mean they give different results.

Great job everyone.

I hope to learn with you again soon.