Scavenger Hunt Challenge

The World Wide Web is a massive encyclopedia of information and there are many ways to get at the information that is there. I'm interested in seeing the techniques you use. If you have no idea, read below or ask your neighbor. If you do,then go to it and try to answer the following questions. Take your time. We will go over later how you got your answers.

Use the search engines below (or any others) to attempt to find the following information. Be sure to write down your answer on a sheet of paper and hand it in. You will probably need until Friday to do this.For extra credit, email me your answers at [email protected].

• Who is this guy?
• Who are these people?
• What is the capital of Afghanistan?
• What determines what date Easter will be each year?
• How many people live in Egypt?
• The name of the elected President of Guatemala who was overthrown in 1954 by the CIA
• What do the letters CIA stands for?
• The name of the actor who played The Skipper on Gilligan's Island
• What's on NBC at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays
• The name of the town Shakespeare was born in.
• When did Tupac Shakur die?
• A recipe for meatloaf
• Why the number thirteen is considered unlucky
• The winner of the Oscar for Best Picture in 1978
• The name of the mayor of NYC in 1968
• The thirteenth President of the United States
• A congressman from Nebraska
• The date public school in New York City ends this year

Using Search Engines

The following are useful search engines available on the World Wide Web. Each operates similarly on keyword searches, but have minor differences to watch out for.

Click on each graphic below and try a simple search with each one, comparing the results you attain. To get back to this page, click on the "Back" button on Netscape's menu bar (the upper left hand corner of the screen) until you reach this page.

Search engines are very simple to use, but unfortunately as you might have noticed, they can be very limiting. The majority of the time keyword searches provide many sites that are completely unrelated to the information you are looking for. A technique you can use to help narrow your search is to put your search words in "quotation marks." Similarly, if you want to broaden your search, don't put the words in quotes. ["" are the most basic search tool. It is also helpful to use something called Boolean logic (and, not, or) in searches].