Webquest 101 – Putting Discovery into the Curriculum

You do need to use the best possible search terms. If you do not find what you need within the first two pages of results, try changing your search terms. If your search term is too vague, you’ll get a list of 300,000 possible matches; if it’s too specific, you’ll get nothing. Common sense is the best guide. If you want information on the role of women in the Civil War, simply enter civil war women.

Remember that quotation marks tell Google that you want that exact term in that exact order, glued together, as in a title: “A Light in the Forest” or a two word term: “developmental delay.” If the exact ORDER of the terms does not matter, do NOT use quotation marks.

Sometimes adding a specific term can help narrow the results to the type of activity you want. Some helpful ideas for teachers:
Add “virtual tour” (in quotes to get the two-word term) to the name of the place you want students to  visit, as in  “white house” “virtual tour” (notice the two-word terms, each in quotes).
Add kids or facts to get sites with the basics on a topic, as in rocks kids for sites on rocks appropriate for elementary students.

Try adding interactive if you only want sites with highly-interactive pages, not just pages and pages of text.