BEST way to use Google

Hi! During our Honors History 10 Class today, we divided into groups and took on the task of using "A Google A Day". Using this tool, we learned as a class how to filter our google search results so we could find more authentic and reliable sources.

"A Google A Day" is a website which asks you to answer certain questions using the proper google functions as opposed to simply writing out the question in the Google search bar. Using these specific tools, we were able to narrow down our results into something more accurate and precise, rather than skimming through endless Google pages searching for something we weren't likely to find. I found this activity pretty amusing, as it challenged us and made us think outside of the box. We were so used to simply typing in the question to the Google search bar that we were shocked at how easy it was to slim down our question and find exactly what we were searching. It was a much more efficient way of using google! There was no real "frustrating" side to using this method, besides going out of our comfort zone using the proper Google search functions. In the end, this activity taught us a very efficient way of using Google to help us find our answers.

Accuracy, Authenticity, and Reliability. Those are the three standards our answer must live up to in order for it to be a trusted source! Accuracy is defined as precision and exactness. We want our answers to be on point, and more specifically, TO the point. If our answer contains more than a few topics outside of our desired search, then we most likely wouldn't use it as a source. Having an authentic source is extremely important, as if our source is not based on facts or is not accurate, why would we consider using it anyway? If there is no evidence to back up our answer, then it shouldn't be considered a source. Having a reliable, genuine, or trustworthy answer is just as important as the other words. If our answer sounds like pure fiction and has no evidence to back it up, it should not be considered a valid source. When looking up the Pacific Northeast Tree Octopus, the site definitely appeared authentic. It provided book names, images, videos, and sources that state the creature was real, and looked like a credible wiki page as well. However, the page was just used as an example of a seemingly reliable source which, in reality, was not reliable at all. The link to the site is attached below!

Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus Link