Directions: Teachers working individually or in small groups can select one or more of the following simple activities to do on the World Wide Web.

Intended Users: Teachers just being introduced to the Web.

Goal: To provide a fun, non-threatening introduction to the Web and to teach basic Internet searching skills.

1. Plan a dream vacation
Steps: A. Choose a dream location for your vacation
B. Go to Yahoo at http://www.yahoo.com, an Internet Search Engine and select Travel Agent from the list of options.

C. Within the travel directory, scroll down to Research Your Next Trip, and select one of the provided destinations or activity categories to start you on your research and planning. If you have a specific destination in mind, you can search for it directly by entering the name of your destination in the search bar.

D. Browse through the list of Web sites Yahoo returns to explore hotels, restaurants, sights and other activities.

E. Plan your itinerary.

2. Make a reading list
Steps: A. Go to Amazon at http://www.amazon.com or Barnes & Noble at http://www.barnesandnoble.com ­ the two largest online bookstores.

B. Search by subject, authors of interest, or browse through best sellers. Read book reviews submitted by other visitors to the Web site.

C. Print out reviews of books that interest you and make a reading list for yourself or your classes, or a holiday list of books you'd like to give as presents.

3. Plan a five-course meal
Steps: A. Decide on the type of cuisine you'd like for your meal (i.e. vegetarian, Indian, Italian or Japanese).

B. Go to Hotbot at http://www.hotbot.com, an Internet Search Engine.

C. Click on Hobbies and Interests.
D. Click on Cooking.
E. Click on the letter in the alphabetical index for the type of cuisine you are interested in (i.e. C for Chinese). Find the category you are looking for and click on it.

F. Browse through the Web sites Hotbot returns and plan your five-course meal.

4. Plan a virtual class field trip
Steps: A. Think of some possible landmarks, museums or notable sites anywhere in the world that your students would be interested in learning about.

B. Go to Altavista at http://altavista.digital.com, an Internet Search Engine.

C. Enter the exact name of the location or museum (i.e. Smithsonian Institute) in the key word bar and hit enter.

D. Browse the Web sites Altavista returns to see if the location has a Web site. Search for a few different locations until you find one that has a comprehensive, well-designed Web site. You may have to make your searches very specific, depending on the location. For example, a search for Natural History Museum will return a list of hundreds of natural history museums around the world. To narrow your search to the museum in New York, you can type Natural History Museum +New York. To learn additional strategies for narrowing searches, click on the help button located above the Altavista search bar.

5. Send a virtual postcard
Steps: A. Go to The Electric Postcard at http://persona.www.media.mit.edu/postcards/

B. Read the instructions for sending a virtual postcard.
C. Click on Postcard Gallery and select your postcard.
D. Click on the card you selected and fill out the form.
E. Click on Mail the postcard.

6. Research your family history.
Steps: A. Go to Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet at http://www.CyndisList.com/

B. Scroll through the categories and choose one that will help you get started researching your family history. Cyndi's List is comprehensive, with over 30,000 genealogy Web resources, so choose a category quickly to avoid list burn-out.

C. Scroll through the Web sites listed under the category you chose and select a few sites to try. Do a surname search or try searching one of the other family history databases provided in the list of Web sites.