techdirections March 2013 : Page 20

Reward Your Students with an Online Scavenger Hunt! By Keith Board kboard@bps.k12.in.us D O you have a class of students who do excel-lent work and whom you would like to give an enjoyable reward? Try an “Internet scavenger hunt” for a fun and educational change of pace! Here’s how to run the activity. online, I try to use reliable sites. I explain this in advance and tell the students that in order to win a prize, they have to be fortunate enough to ﬁnd the same answer that I found. As an example, if the subject at hand is design or architecture, you can ask questions about famous architects and structures. For ex-puter pointing device known as the mouse?” or “What is meant by the acronym ENIAC?” After getting a correct answer and giving a prize, I usually add a few anecdotes and show pictures. I might ask, “What is the name of the world-famous house at Bear Run in Pennsylvania?” (Answer: Falling Setting Up the Hunt To conduct the scavenger hunt, I begin by developing a set of ques-tions related to the class’s current topic of study, then read the ques-tions one at a time. The challenge for each student is to be the ﬁrst to ﬁnd the answer online. It’s a fast-paced, informal activity, so I allow the stu-dents to call out possible answers without raising their hands. To elimi-nate guessing, they must show me the correct answer onscreen to get the win. The ﬁrst person to call out the right answer gets “an extremely valuable prize,” usually a Starburst candy or something similar, always individually wrapped. I carry the prizes with me in a clean nail apron, which allows me to distribute them easily. If you don’t have computers in your classroom, try signing up for the ones in your media center or computer lab. Finding random facts online and developing questions is easy and enjoyable for me as a teacher—and quite educational too. Since there is an abundance of misinformation Keith Board teaches engineering and technology, Bremen (IN) High School. Students must show the author the correct answer onscreen to get the win. After getting a correct answer and giving a prize, the author usually adds a few anecdotes and shows pictures, such as this one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water. ample, “Who designed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis?” or “Who designed the Brooklyn Bridge?” In just about any technology class you can ask about computers, so consider ques-tions like, “Who invented the com-Water), and then, “Who designed the house known as Falling Water?” I follow this with pictures of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water and a story about his unusual process of designing it. In addition, I explain 20 tech directions X MARCH 2013

Reward Your Students with an Online Scavenger Hunt!

Keith Board

DO you have a class of students who do excellent work and whom you would like to give an enjoyable reward? Try an “Internet scavenger hunt” for a fun and educational change of pace! Here’s how to run the activity. Setting Up the Hunt To conduct the scavenger hunt, I begin by developing a set of questions related to the class’s current topic of study, then read the questions one at a time. The challenge for each student is to be the first to find the answer online. It’s a fast-paced, informal activity, so I allow the students to call out possible answers without raising their hands. To eliminate guessing, they must show me the correct answer onscreen to get the win. The first person to call out the right answer gets “an extremely valuable prize,” usually a Starburst candy or something similar, always individually wrapped. I carry the prizes with me in a clean nail apron, which allows me to distribute them easily. If you don’t have computers in your classroom, try signing up for the ones in your media center or computer lab. Finding random facts online and developing questions is easy and enjoyable for me as a teacher—and quite educational too. Since there is an abundance of misinformation online, I try to use reliable sites. I explain this in advance and tell the students that in order to win a prize, they have to be fortunate enough to find the same answer that I found. As an example, if the subject at hand is design or architecture, you can ask questions about famous architects and structures. For example, “Who designed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis?” or “Who designed the Brooklyn Bridge?” In just about any technology class you can ask about computers, so consider questions like, “Who invented the computer pointing device known as the mouse?” or “What is meant by the acronym ENIAC?” After getting a correct answer and giving a prize, I usually add a few anecdotes and show pictures. I might ask, “What is the name of the world-famous house at Bear Run in Pennsylvania?” (Answer: Falling Water), and then, “Who designed the house known as Falling Water?” I follow this with pictures of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water and a story about his unusual process of designing it. In addition, I explain how cantilevers work and show how Wright’s cantilevered slabs of concrete mimic the exposed bedrock and little waterfalls, going first this way, then that way. (Many photographers miss this excellent mimicry and get too close to the house when they photograph it.) Students are surprisingly good at getting answers quickly online, so I ask the winner of each question to sit out the next question. This prevents one student from winning every question. When only three or four questions remain, everyone who has won a prize has to sit out, allowing other students to win prizes as well. If you have access to computers, a scavenger hunt online can be implemented at little cost. Students enjoy this activity and it’s surprisingly educational, especially if you follow the questions with meaningful anecdotes and pictures. Consider developing scavenger hunts on a variety of topics and use them when you want to reward a class or just change up the routine.

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