Information Literacy skills are increasingly important in a world where an advertiser's press release is rewritten 6 hours later as a story on the evening news. This lesson asks students to evaluate the quality of information they find online.

In the first part of the lesson, students will investigate the criteria used to determine a site's reliability. The class will evaluate some sites together.

In the second part, students will choose an event that occured on their birthday. They will find more information about that event from three sources: a search engine, an online database, and Wikipedia. They will use a rubric to asses the reliability of the site. They will also construct a chart that compares and contrasts the quality of the information presented at each site.

Students will use a rubric to evaluate online resources. They will draw conclusions about the quality of information available via a search engine, an online database, and Wikipedia. They will prepare a chart comparing and contrasting the sources of information.

1. The teacher will introduce the topic and ask students what they already know about how to tell whether information found online is reliable. More sophisticated students may have specific ideas, while many others may announce that they can "just tell," usually based on the site's appearance. Compile these ideas, either on the board or using a projector.
2. The teacher will ask students to choose one of three sites and read the suggestions there carefully:
   • Evaluating Internet information
   • Evaluating Web pages
   • Evaluating Information Resources
     Instead of one long page, click through a few short pages.
3. After 5 or 10 minutes, ask students if they would like to add or remove some ideas from their previous list. The final list should include at least the 10 components of this rubric.
4. Using the criteria the class has established, visit some sites together and evaluate them. The sites listed below should provide enough variety for students to identify differences:
   • Mt. Everest
   • Tornadoes
   • First Computer Bug

These steps will probably take all of one 45-minute class period. The remaining steps will fill Days 2 and 3. Day 2 will focus on research and writing, and Day 3 will focus on revision and editing.

5. Begin the next class period with a review of the criteria for a reliable Web site. Make a copy of this rubric available to students.
6. Announce that today students will begin their own research and will compare and contrast information available from 3 different types of Web sources.
7. Invite students to visit This Day in History. Give them a few minutes to look up something that happened on their birthday. Once they have chosen a topic, they are to find additional information about it using 3 specific search tools:
   
   • A general search engine, such as Google
   • An online database, such as Indiana's INSPIRE Network, and
   • Wikipedia
8. Students should first assess the quality of the Website they find using the criteria they are familiar with and/or the rubric provided. If the Website is not reliable, they should choose a different one.
9. As students read, they will find it helpful to take notes from each site. Most of day 2 will probably be spent searching and reading. Some students may begin drafting their tables near the end of day 2, but many will not be ready until day 3. They will find it helpful to refer back to their notes rather than to reread the sites.
10. In this next step students will construct a chart to compare and contrast their sources of information. They may find this model or this model helpful. Downloading this blank form will let students concentrate on their analysis. Assure students that the boxes in the table will expand as they type.
11. As students complete their charts, encourage them to use the revising, editing, and proofreading procedures you have established in your class before they hand in their final copy.
12. As a follow-up activity, teachers could ask students to reflect on this experience. The Internet is convenient, but the quality of information available is uneven. How can students make sure they find the best quality possible?