FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO DO TODAY’S PROJECT Web Site Evaluation Lesson

Things to remember: There is NO internet police. Anyone can put anything they want on the internet. People can lie – there is no one to stop them. Why lie?  To intentionally mislead people with what the author knows to be false.  To unintentionally mislead people with what the author THINKS is the truth.  To make fun of someone or something (a joke, also known as satire)

Things to look for: Who is the author? (a person or even a company) Does this person know what they are talking about? Does this person have a college degree in this area of knowledge? Are they an expert? Can you even tell from the page? Proof that a person knows what they are talking about is known as that person’s CREDENTIALS. How old is the information? Can you tell? What is the purpose of this page?

Things to think about: Is it obvious that the page is a joke? Is it a well-presented joke that is not obvious? Is the page trying to get you to buy something? Support something? Give money to a cause? Advertise some educational experience like a zoo or a museum?

What is a url and a domain? The url is the address of the page located in the box at the top of the page. The library wiki’s url is The domain is what comes after the dot in the url. Here are some examples:.com.edu.gov.org.net Commercial EducationalGovernmentNon-profitNetwork Sometimes, this can tell you something about the purpose of the page.

Sources Some web sites give sources of their information. It’s like a bibliography on a webpage. Sometimes it might be a list of links. Sometimes it might be a list of books or magazines. Not all websites have this.

Other Links Some web sites have links to other related web sites. Some have links to “sponsors”, or companies that pay them money for advertising. Some have links to news web sites. Some don’t have any links at all.

Click Lessons

Look at the 5 th Grade Web Evaluation Lesson Don’t click on anything yet! Read the instructions: Your team will be responsible for one group of web sites below. If you have time, you can try another group. Look at the links one at a time. Click on the link above (Fifth Grade Web Evaluation Lesson) and answer the questions for EACH web site you evaluate. So, your team should fill out the form at least 3 times. The form will send your answers directly to me - so I will know immediately who didn't do the assignment.

There are nine groups 3 websites each. Each team will do 1 group of websites. The link will open another window.

What now? Click on the links in your group of sites. Look around and see what you can learn about the site and about the person/company that made the site. Look for:  Who made it?  What is the purpose?  How old is the information?  Is their anything that proves the author knows what they are talking about?  What is the url and domain?  Are sources given? Links to other pages?

Click here to get to the form you will need to fill out for each web site you evaluate.

Type your answers for each web site in the boxes

Click to send your answers. Exit the page that pops up and start again from the library wiki.