Search Engines

Introduce the idea that there are some websites that allow people to type in what they are looking for and that these sites are called ‘search engines’.

Ask if they can give an example of a search engine.

The best-known search engine is Google.

Voice assistants are similar to search engines but are made to also answer questions and do simple tasks if they’re connected to other things in your home.

Tell students that these search engines search everything – so it’s easy to find things that aren’t for kids. It’s also easy to sort out real information from fake.

However, there are some search engines that have been made just for kids and that only search real sources:

Explain that the words they type, also called ‘keywords’ (meaning that it’s an important word for what they are doing), is usually the name of the thing they are looking for.

Have students suggest keywords and demonstrate a few more searches in front of the class.

Make sure to do some searches that use multiple keywords and some more specific keywords. For instance  you could illustrate the difference in results you get when you type “bear” versus when you type “sun bear.”

Highlight to students the different sources that each search gives you.

Make sure students understand that a search engine itself is not a source, but more like a library. The sources it shows you are like books in a library.

These safe search engines only search sources that are expert and reliable. But if you are using another search engine, you will want a parent, a teacher, a librarian, or another adult to help you judge whether the sources it shows you are expert and reliable.