Searching the Web
National Curriculum Links - Computing KS2
The content of this plan cover the following National Curriculum strands:
- understand computer networks, including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the World Wide Web, and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration
- use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning in evaluating digital content
- select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information
- use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact
Why this? What does it build on?
This unit gives important lessons on safe and effective searching online. It covers what a search engine is and tips and tricks for using them effectively, safe and effective image searching, evaluating what we see online for authenticity and design and searching maps. It also builds on work in our Key Stage 1 unit Finding and presenting information, where students learn about techniques to search for information and learn how to present it in graphs and charts. The safe searching skills covered in these lessons are key skills for all future learning in Key stage 2 and beyond where digital research is required.
What comes next?
The safe searching content in this unit will be built upon in our Digital Literacy and online safety units for Year 4, Year 5, and Year 6.
The IT content in this unit is built upon in the rest of Key Stage 2, where students will go into more depth about what makes computers work and what the internet is in our units What is a computer? and Inside the internet. Their research and evaluation skills are also made use of in Building collaborative websites and Creating instructional videos.
View our full curriculum map
Take a look at our full curriculum map to see how units across all year groups, from Year 1 to Year 6 link.
Unit Resources
Key computing vocabulary for this unit
Algorithm – an unambiguous procedure or precise step-by-step guide to solve a problem or achieve a particular objective. A set of instructions for achieving a goal or solving a problem.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) - technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy
Attribute - giving credit to the person who created something, such such as listing the author's name and date, or a citation.
Chatbot - An AI program designed to make the user feel like they are having a natural conversation (chat) with another human. They are often used as an interface to offer help and support on websites and for generative AI prompts, on sites such as ChatGPT.
Cookies - Small text files stored on a computer that keep track of what a person does on a website.
Copyright - legal protection that a creators have over the things they create.
Digital content – any media created, edited or viewed on a computer, such as text (including the hypertext of a web page), images, sound, video (including animation), or virtual environments, and combinations of these (i.e. multimedia).
Evaluation - Making judgements (a computational thinking concept)
Generative AI - deep-learning models that can generate high-quality text, images, and other content based on the data they were trained.
Inference - an educated guess based on evidence
Internet – the global collection of computer networks and their connections, all using shared protocols (TCP/IP) to communicate.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) - a company that lets you connect to the Internet via their system. They may filter unsuitable content or limit how much data can be sent at once (the bandwidth).
License - a clear way to define the type of copyright creative work has so others know how they can use it
Online - using a digital device to visit a website or app that makes use of the internet.
PageRank – A way of ordering the results of a search on the internet. Google uses a PageRank algorithm, which determines the quality and rank of a page based on the quality of the pages that link to it. Their quality is, in turn, determined by the quality of the pages that link to them, and so on.
Prompt - A query used on a generative AI chatbot to generate content.
Search – to identify data that satisfies one or more conditions, such as web pages containing supplied keywords, or files on a computer with certain properties.
Server - A server is a computer that serves up information to other computers on a network. Schools and many businesses will have a file server that pupils and employees can use to store and share files. A server can look like a regular desktop computer, or it can be much larger.
Services – programs running on computers, typically those connected to the internet, which provide functionality in response to requests; for example, to transmit a web page, deliver an email or allow a text, voice or video conversation.
Web browser - A web browser, or simply "browser," is an application used to access and view websites. Common web browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
World Wide Web – a service provided by computers connected to the internet (web servers), in which pages of hypertext (web pages) are transmitted to users; the pages typically include links to other web pages and may be generated by programs automatically.
Related units
Spreadsheet Masters
About this unit: Hone your spreadsheet skills to become a spreadsheet master! Learn about the basics of spreadsheets with a…
Inside the internet
About this unit: Get under the skin of the Internet to investigate what the internet is, how the web works,…
What is a computer?
About this unit: Delve into what really makes a computer a computer. Is a TV a computer? Is a fridge…
Finding and Presenting Information
About this unit: Introduce students to this great block-based programming language to create animations and games perfect for KS1. Write…