ICT at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 5)

• Show the children a prepared database, eg properties of materials or planets in the solar system. Ask them to look carefully at how the data is organised. Remind them of how to carry out simple searches using '=' and sorting on one field. Discuss questions which require other types of searches, eg which planets have moons?
• Discuss with the class the problems that might arise when searching a vast store of information such as the World Wide Web, and the need for focused searches.

• Show the class how to use '=<' and '=>' in a search. Ask the children to work in groups to answer comparative questions.

• Show the class how to use 'AND' in a search. Ask the children to work in groups to convert questions into search criteria using 'AND'. Ask them to check their answers by searching on each criterion separately.

• Show the class how to use 'OR' in a search. Ask the children to work in groups to convert questions into search criteria using 'OR'. Ask them to check their answers by searching on each criterion separately.

• Use an American CD-ROM encyclopedia, or an Internet search engine, to search for information on a topic such as 'Birmingham' or 'football' which will locate a mixture of American and other information. Print out some of the material found and ask the class to skim read it to decide if it is useful. Discuss why the information is not what was expected. Discuss ways of modifying the search such as "Birmingham AND England". Discuss with the class how the unstructured nature of the World Wide Web requires search strategies to be modified in the light of findings.

• As part of a science topic on flight, introduce a prepared database on birds. Talk about the limitations of using printed graphs to spot relationships in data. Show the children how to use the facilities of the data-handling package to search the data using 'AND' and then 'OR'. For example they could be asked to find birds that are over 20cm long 'AND' lay more than five eggs, or to search for birds that are over 20cm long 'OR' lay a clutch of five eggs. The children should print graphs of their results and identify the differences between the two searches.
• Ask the children to search the data on birds to look for evidence to prove or disprove that the number of eggs laid by particular birds depends upon the size of the bird. Graphs should be produced as evidence to support their conclusions.