Materials Needed

Print Handout - Going Places Safely

Crayons

Computer

Project Teacher Computer

Lesson Objectives

Students will be able to ...

discover that the Internet can be used to visit far-away places and learn new things.

compare how staying safe online is similar to staying safe in the real world.

explain rules for traveling safely on the Internet.

Key Vocabulary

Internet: a worldwide network that connects people using computers, phones, or other devices

Online: connected to the Internet

Website: a place you can visit on the Internet

Discuss

What do you need to do to stay safe when you visit new places?

Guide students to acknowledge the following safety rules:

• Always go places with an adult.

• Don’t wander off on your own.

• Talk only with people you know.

Video

Questions

What did Arms like about the Internet? What kinds of things can he do on the Internet?

What three rules does Arms follow when he goes places online?

POINT OUT

* as they follow safety rules for travel in the real world, when they go online they should follow the three safety rules you just discussed

Internet Field Trip (10 minutes)

TELL students that the computer makes it possible for them to visit distant places without ever leaving the classroom.

EXPLAIN

Students will be visiting websites that belong to real places, such as zoos and museums. These places may be distant from where they live, but they can visit them online.

ACTIVITY

Choose one of the following websites to explore as a class. You may project the site onto a screen, or group students around a computer.

Destination Modern Art: www.moma.org/interactives/destination

This interactive, kid-directed site from New York’s Museum of Modern Art takes children on a virtual tour of the museum, its artwork, and the artists.

The San Diego Zoo: http://kids.sandiegozoo.org

This website includes galleries of animal photographs, slideshows, and live “animal cams” of the residents of the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California.

ASK FOR HELP

INVITE one or two students to role-play how they might ask you, as a teacher, to visit this site. (For example, “Mrs. Cohen, I’d like to visit a website about zoos. Would you help me find a site, please?”) Remind students that the first safety rule for going online is to always ask your parent or teacher first.

EXPLORE

Explore the website you’ve selected with your class, allowing students to choose pages and activities that are most interesting to them. Point out as you go through the site how students are following the other two safety rules for going online:

Only talk to people you know, and stick to places that are just right for you.

Discussion

Encourage students to discuss what they saw and learned on their Internet field trip.

What things did you see on the website that you’ve never seen before?

How was your online field trip different from an in-person field trip? How was it similar?

My Favorite Place (15 minutes)

Handout

Distribute the My Favorite Place Student Handout, one for each student.

Encourage students to think of one of the things they liked best on the website they visited. Have them draw a picture of that thing. Then help students write down the name of their favorite thing.

Invite students to share the pictures of their favorite things with the class, and have them describe where they saw it on the website and why they like it.

Read Aloud the safety rules on the student handout. Review how students followed the rules when they went online, and stress how students should use these rules whenever they travel online.

CLOSING

ASK

What can the Internet be used for?

What rules do we have for visiting a new place in real life?

What rules do we have for visiting places online?