New
New
Year 5

Selecting search results

I can describe how search engines select results.

New
New
Year 5

Selecting search results

I can describe how search engines select results.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Search engines are tools, which help you find things online.
  2. Web crawlers are used to create a search engine's index.
  3. Search engines look up search terms in indexes.

Keywords

  • Search engine - a tool that finds websites based on the search term used

  • Index - a big catalogue, where search engines store web page information so they can find it later

  • Web crawler - a program that visits websites and collects information to help create a search engine’s index

Common misconception

When you use a search engine, it checks every website in the world before coming back with a result.

A search engine just searches its index to find the relevant results.


To help you plan your year 5 computing lesson on: Selecting search results, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

We will be discussing searching for things online, it is important to remind children of online safety rules.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
What is a search term?
a precise set of steps to complete a task
a list of websites on a topic
a web crawler’s index
Correct answer: words typed into a search engine to find information
Q2.
What does refining a search mean?
making a search broader
Correct answer: making a search clearer or more accurate
ignoring irrelevant results
using only one search engine
Q3.
What is an algorithm?
Correct answer: a precise set of ordered steps to do a task
a web crawler
a search engine
a type of search term
Q4.
Which of these is NOT a feature of a search engine?
indexing web pages
refining search results
Correct answer: writing a story
displaying search results
Q5.
Match the terms to their examples:
Correct Answer:search term,“Best books for Year 5”

“Best books for Year 5”

Correct Answer:refine,adding “UK” to narrow results

adding “UK” to narrow results

Correct Answer:algorithm,steps for sorting search results

steps for sorting search results

Q6.
Why is it useful to know how search engines work?
to create your own search engine
Correct answer: to find better information online
to avoid using the internet
to improve web crawlers

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the terms to their examples:
Correct Answer:index,a database of web pages

a database of web pages

Correct Answer:web crawler,a program that visits websites to gather information

a program that visits websites to gather information

Correct Answer:search engine,Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo

Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo

Correct Answer:refine,adding “UK” to a search term

adding “UK” to a search term

Q2.
Arrange the steps in how a search engine works:
1 - web crawlers collect data
2 - data is added to the index
3 - user types a search term
4 - search engine retrieves results
Q3.
What do search engines look at to find results for a search term?
Correct Answer: index
Q4.
What program collects information to create a search engine’s index?
Correct Answer: web crawler
Q5.
Which of these statements is correct?
Web crawlers search the internet directly.
Search engines check every website for every search term.
Correct answer: Search engines rely on indexes to find results.
Refining a search makes it broader.
Q6.
Why is an index important for a search engine?
It helps refine search terms.
It displays search results.
It collects information from websites.
Correct answer: It organises web page information for quick retrieval.