Goals and Objectives
 

Students will learn:

  • That the Internet is a network of computer networks
  • Why the World Wide Web is a special part of the Internet and how it popularized the Internet
  • How hypertext links and URLs work
  • How digital information is transported on the Internet
  • Why fast connections improve performance
  • That the quality of information varies greatly on the Web

Time to Complete Online Lessons: about 45 minutes

Preparation

  1. Read the background information.
  2. Review and prepare for supplemental lesson ideas and group activities.
  3. Organize materials and equipment:

Student computers with an active Internet connection

Copies of the student handouts for this unit that you plan to use

Printouts of the interactive whiteboard images (optional)

Procedures

  1. Have students complete the online activities:
    Throughout the unit, facilitate the development of new vocabulary introduced in this unit.
  2. Students who are not at the computer can work on supplemental lesson ideas and group activities.
  3. After students complete the online materials, they can:

Describe in their own words how information travels on the Internet (Key concept: information can take any number of paths to get from one computer to another)

Explain why they should not always trust the information they receive over the Internet, and why?

Student Handouts
 
The following handouts can be used with this unit to enhance learning. Each handout is briefly described below. To see the actual handout, click the link "handout."

E-mail

This handout shows students the path an e-mail message goes to get from one person to another.

Did You Get the Message?

This handout provides a great group activity for teaching students the importance of turning various kinds of media—such as sound or video—into an agreed-upon protocol for transmission on a network.

Put It in Your Packet

This handout provides a group activity for helping students understand how information is transmitted in packets. Students play the role of packets to learn how information can be divided into packets and reassembled by a computer in the proper order no matter how they are received. The activity also provides students with a firsthand chance to learn about bandwidth using the doorway to your classroom.

Return to the Internet

Interactive White Image

The image linked below are pertinent to this unit. You can project the image on an interactive whiteboard and use them in class discussions or activities.