Lesson 4: SIRS Discoverer & SIRS Researcher Advanced Challenge

2. SIRS Discoverer
In the first search we wanted to assist a 3rd grader (with below grade level reading skills) with a search to find appropriate materials for her school project on the solar system.  I was glad for the hint to use the Advanced Search.  I would show the student to select "advanced search" and type in solar system.  We found 847 articles, including- 340 magazines- 143 reference- and 51 graphics.  I would point out  the explanations listed in the yellow task bar that show her green book = easy and the camera tells her which ones have images or photos.  Point out which ones are magazines, references, web sites, etc. She can also use the arrows by "lexile" to find articles that are appropriate for her reading level.  I would guide her to watch for lexile levels of 270 to  600 where possible.  Articles that are lexile up to 700-900 will challenge her, but it's a good time to challenge her if it's a topic that she loves.  You can also encourage her in Advanced search to type "solar system" in the top search box and in the second box "planets" leaving drop boxes on all items.  This will give her 1000 articles. Once again she should watch the lexile number, and types of articles she wants.  Some that caught my eye were: In the Sky: The Planets-- A parade of Planets. Magazine articles The Planets in the World Almanac for Kids and Be a Space Tourist a magazine article from National Geographic Young Explorer and a WebFind site to check out, NASA Kids Club.

Our second assignment asks us for find two ways to use SIRS Discoverer to find maps/images of volcanoes. How many results did we find? One way is to use the Browse Subject Tree> environment>volcanoes. This search method brought up 429 graphics and 26 WebFinds.  The second way is to mark search headings> type maps of volcanoes in the search box.  This method revealed 239 articles (watch for the camera to prompt us of images) and 16 graphics.  I looked as the maps and images in each category.

SIRS Researchers
1. A committee of teachers need good web sites about suicide prevention for teens. How do we help them using SIRS Issues Researcher? Is this better than using search engines like Google?  In SIRS Researcher, we find Issues Researcher near the top.  I typed "teen suicide" in the search box.  On the left center you will find research tools like time line, statistics, and more. Lower left you will find Pro/Con area.  There are magazines, references, graphics, and WebSelect Sites. This is much better than using a search engine like Google, since you can easily find the WebSelect Sites, and every article and item is cited, so information can be trusted.  Also in the yellow center bar, you will see related searches, so there may be useful information here too.

2. Recent drought is causing your town to consider restrictions on water use. Citizens disagree about the need for restrictions.  What subjects would you search in SIRS Issues Researcher to provide information for civic discussions?  In the Issues Researcher area you can select "subject heading" and type droughts.  As I typed droughts Central America appeared to I selected this. Other keywords I used were SD droughts, and drought/water restrictions.  On the left there is a box with descriptives you can select: drought, rain, rainfall, climate change, weather, storms, etc. OR I also tried Advanced Search and typed South Dakota in the top search box, drought in the second search box, and water restrictions in the third.  This gave 32 sources, 21 of which are graphic/ multi-media articles.  The left descriptor in this instance are: drought, aquifers, water conservation, water supply and conservation.  Either of these searches would provide may articles to be explored.