"The difference between a scavenger hunt and a Guided Tour is that the scavenger hunt is designed to introduce students to using search engines to find information on the Internet."

"A Guided Tour is a teacher-developed activity related to an instructional unit. While it stresses student discovery and analysis, a guided tour is primarily for the new student user. The teacher selects a unit or topic that the class is studying and researches web links that relate to the topic."

"The purpose of a scavenger hunt is to have students collect information on a particular instruction topic, to teach students to use search engines properly, and to introduce students to the vast array of resources that are available on the web." (Source: http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us)

How to Use the Scavenger Hunt Template

The first thing a teacher would do when using the Scavenger hunt template is to indicate a specific topic related to the unit that he/she is currently teaching. 

When using the scavenger hunt template, a teacher may designate that a student use a particular search engine or may ask the student to designate the search engine that he/she prefers.

The fill-in blank next to Search Engine is completed. Teachers may wish to steer students to Magellan (green light sites) or to Yahooligans to limit access to inappropriate sites.

The teacher asks the student to think of words that would help him/her find information on a particular topic.

The student writes the keywords on the template. If the student were searching for information on "Diary of Anne Frank" for example, some of the words that a student may write might be too general (novel or diary). If that were the case, the teacher would ask the student to do more brainstorming before getting on the Web and searching for information.

The keyword section is completed prior to the student getting on the Internet. This activity could be done by a group of students or could be completed individually. Students learn that they must be specific in order to get information efficiently on the Internet.

After the teacher approves the students selections of keywords, the student may start the browser to begin the search.

After the student enters a keyword in the selected search engine, the student is instructed to keep a list of the sites that he visits for information.

The purpose of tracking the sites the student visits is to ensure that the student's search is productive. If it is not, the teacher can look over the information to try to redirect the student in order that the search be more productive.

At the bottom of the template is a place for the student to write down the address (URL) or site description of place that he/she may wish to visit at another time.

(Source: http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/ScavHunt.html)
 

How to Make Online Scavenger Hunts

Simple steps for designing an Internet Scavenger Hunt that helps kids learn web browsing skills as well as subject matter content:

1. Decide on the curricular focus of your Internet Scavenger Hunt.
2. Find a collection of relevant web sites on the topic.
3. Open up a word processing program for writing the instructions and questions.
4. Begin with very clear and specific directions for each and every step the students should take when they get on the computer. i.e. open up your web browser, click on this button, etc.
5. Give the students a list of designated web sites to search, either through a special web page you create or on the worksheet itself.
6. Cut and paste the exact wording from the web site and turn the information into questions.
7. Gather the material from a variety of different web sites and from various positions on the pages.
8. Mix up the order of the questions so that students have to browse around all of the sites to find the answers.
9. Pair together a student who has advanced web browsing skills with a more inexperienced student so that students can learn from each other.
10. During the hunt, monitor the students closely, offering tips about how to effectively find information on the Internet.
11. Write a few bonus assignments for those students who finish early.