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Scavenger Hunts: Searching for Treasure on the Internet!

Scavenger hunts, or treasure hunts, have quickly become one of the most popular tools for teaching students how to access and use the resources and information available on the Internet. There are many reasons for the hunts' rapidly growing popularity. Among them:

• Online scavenger hunts are easy to create and the resulting interactive searches are both fun and informative for students.

• The hunts can be geared to virtually any curriculum area, simultaneously providing students with technological and subject matter knowledge.

• Online scavenger hunts can be used as a whole class activity, as a team activity, or as a means of providing individual students with review or challenge activities.

• Scavenger hunts can be as simple or involved as circumstances dictate. Younger students may be provided with only a few questions, along with the links or URLs necessary for finding the answers, while older students may be given only a broad topic and asked to find their own sources for obtaining necessary information.

SURVEY SOME SCAVENGER HUNTS

• The Ants Go Marching...Into Your Lesson Plans! Why not capitalize on the recent release of the animated feature movie "Antz" and the soon-to-be-released "A Bug's Life"? Education World offers a scavenger hunt, with questions for students in all grades (and an "Ant-swer" Key, of course!) Every teacher should have "ants in your plans"!?

  Included: Fun activities to extend ants into your language arts curriculum!

• Celebrate the Century: Search the Web for U.S. History of the 1930s Search the Web to learn more about the stories behind the recent issue of 15 stamps commemorating the people, places, events, and trends of the 1930s. Explore Web sites related to the Empire State Building, Superman, the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the MonopolyŽ board game, and more! (Note: This file might take a minute or two to load, because images of each of the new stamps are included in the article.)

• Animals of the World: An Internet Scavenger Hunt! Where in the world do some animals live? Celebrate National Zoo and Aquarium Month by sending your students on an Internet scavenger hunt! They'll learn about the natural habitats of ten of the world's animals -- including some animals they've never heard of! Two versions! One for beginners and one for experienced surfers.

• A Black History Treasure Hunt! Send students on a Black History scavenger hunt! Students can learn about famous black Americans while polishing their Internet surfing skills. Four different "hunts" -- for students of all ages!

• Track the Meteor Storm Online! Astronomers forecast heavy meteor showers for November 17 - a "once-every-33-years" occurrence! To help your students understand the causes and effects of this rare spectacle and to prepare them for the excitement of an event they're probably hearing a great deal about, Education World offers scavenger hunts for elementary, middle, and high school students. Included: Cross-curricular activities for extending the lessons.

And now for a sampling of scavenger hunts from other online sources:

• W.L. Valentine School Scavenger Hunts Students created a scavenger hunt using the pages of the school's Web site. Your students might do the same for your school!

• The Earth Day Challenge Teacher Hazel Jobe has created this annual scavenger hunt based on an Earth Day theme.

• Y.L.A. Scavenger Hunt Designed by the National Urban Technology Center to appeal to urban youths, students use their search engine of choice to answer questions such as Why did Michael Jordan choose the #23 to wear as his signature number?, Which American President dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on September 2, 1940?, and How many Birthday floral arrangements are available through 1800FLOWERS for more than $65?

• Internet Scavenger Hunt This scavenger hunt, created by Girl Scout Cadette Troop #61 (Singing Sands Council, South Bend, Indiana), covers a wide variety of topics, from the correct way to cut chicken to the Italian name for Mickey Mouse! Click on the highlighted question number to locate the Internet resource where you'll find each answer.

• The Hunt A 12-question scavenger hunt from the students at Oak Ridge Elementary School (Tallahassee, Florida). Sample questions: Go to http://www.afroam.org/children/children.html and read the story Tortoise and Eagle. In the end, Tortoise (a) was smashed to the ground; (b) was no longer friends with Eagle; (c) was too full to eat any more; or (d) invited Eagle to dinner. And go to the Internet address http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html to learn how old the rocks on the moon are.

• Internet Introduction Scavenger Hunt Students at Balboa (Ventura, California) Middle School created this scavenger hunt. Students are introduced to the National Geographic Geography Bee, learn who invented Legos, choose a favorite bug riddle, do a message maze, and spell using hieroglyphics and signal flags.

• MUS 248: Internet Scavenger Hunt This scavenger hunt was developed for use by college music education students, to expose them to sources of music information on the WWW.

• Internet Scavenger Hunt for Geometry This hunt exposed students to geometry related sites on the Net as they answer six questions.

• Internet Scavenger Hunt The answers to questions in this hunt from the Canton (Michigan) Public Library Youth Department will be used to solve a riddle.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INTERNET SCAVENGER HUNTS

• Internet Scavenger Hunts These Internet scavenger hunts were writtten for educational methods and educational technology courses at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

• Southeast Nebraska Alliance for Progress You'll find a few scavenger hunts here, along with many theme-based Internet projects, all created by education students at Peru State College.

• The Scavenger Hunt Page A variety of scavenger hunts are found on this page from the Apple Valley (Iowa) Area Education Agency 14.

• Internet-Based Scavenger Hunts for Students About a dozen curriculum-related scavenger hunts for students grades 2-12.

• Internet Workshop PGUSD A handful of scavenger hunts on topics ranging from math to Egypt from the Pacific Grove (California) Unified School District.

• Internet Scavenger Hunts A handful of simple scavenger hunts for students, including hunts for the months of September, October, April, and May.

Article by Linda Starr
Education World®
Copyright © 1999 Education World

Related Articles from Education World

• A Black History Treasure Hunt!
• Animals of the World: An Internet Scavenger Hunt
• The Ants Go Marching...Into Your Lesson Plans!