Reference Scavenger Hunt

“Good day kiddos! Detective Dan’s the name, and I’ve gotten word from Miss Suwala that you are going on a scavenger hunt today. Well you’re in luck! I am an expert in finding things that have been lost out in cyber space; and together, I believe we can crack this case!”

Use reference materials to answer the following…

“Wait there just one second. References materials “Wait there just one second! References materials? What is a reference material? And how can they be of use to us on this case?”

Reference Materials A reference material, such as an encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, and thesaurus, helps us to find basic information. It would be hard to find the information we need without these materials. Many of us don’t have these materials at home; however, many of us have computers and internet access, and the internet has all of these reference materials out there for you.

“Oh, okay. So we will be using reference materials to help us on our hunt! Let’s find out which reference materials we will need.”

Encyclopedia An encyclopedia is used when someone wants to find information about a person, place, or thing. For example, if you want to find out information about George Washington, black bears, or telephones, you can learn about them from reading information in an encyclopedia.

Dictionary We use a dictionary to look up words. You will find the meaning and pronunciation of words in a dictionary. For example, when you do not know the meaning of a word in a story. You may use a dictionary to look up the meaning of the word.

Thesaurus In a thesaurus, you will find synonyms for words. First, you look up the word in the thesaurus. Next to the word, you will find a list of words that mean the same thing as the word you looked up. For example, if you looked up the word “wonderful,” some of the synonyms you’d find would include: great, magnificent, excellent, terrific, cool, and fantastic. Also in a thesaurus, you will find an antonym for the word. For example, horrible or awful would be an antonym for wonderful.

Atlas An atlas is a map. If you want to find a specific place, street, road, city, or state. Many people use an atlas when they are going on vacation or traveling to another place.

Almanac An almanac is a publication that includes weather forecasts and other miscellaneous information arranged according to the calendar of a given year.

Card Catalog The card catalog is an alphabetical listing of books in a library, with a separate card for each item. Each card states the author, title, and subject for each book. The card catalog can help you find a book, author, or subject you may be looking for in the library.

“Got it? Good! I will be relying on you to use those references in our hunt. Did you know that all of those references have something in common!”

“Hahaha. Yes, of course they are all books; but each of these reference books also have a title page, table of contents, glossary, and index. Let’s take a look how each is used…”

Title Page The title page of a book is the page at or near the front which displays its title, and author, as well as other information.

“I thought those two title pages would catch your eye “I thought those two title pages would catch your eye! Now we have much to do, so proceed to the next slide…”

Table of Contents The table of contents is a list of the parts of a book, organized in the order in which the parts appear.

Glossary The glossary is an alphabetical listing of terms and definitions; usually found in the back of a book. “I like to refer to the glossary as the book’s own personal dictionary.”

Index An index is a system that makes finding information within a book easier. For example, if you wanted to find the list of adjectives in your English book to help you with your mystery book report, you could simply look up the word “adjective” in the index of your English book in order to find which pages information on adjectives is found.

“So you think you’re ready “So you think you’re ready? From the looks of things, you don’t need my help after all; so head on back to the classroom and use the information you found to test your reference skills! And remember, I am only one click away whenever you need me. Good luck kid!”