UNDERSTANDING THE INTERNET

 

To better utilize the worldwide web, it is necessary to better understand how the internet works. You already know how to use internet explorer and google, and what websites are. You will build on that knowledge to look behind what is displayed on your monitor and understand what needs to happen for you to see the website you want to see.

 

Click on this link for a simple internet definition. Read the first three pages of that site; after you are finished, summarize what it says in your own words. You will only need to write one paragraph, but it is very important that you turn what you’re reading into something that you understand. For that reason, if you use any four consecutive words that are exactly the same as any four consecutive words on the web site, you will lose ten percent of the 40 points possible.

 

This will likely mean you’ll have to read it over a few times, use other internet sources such as www.m-w.com or www.google.com, and discuss the things you don’t understand with your teacher or your peers.

 

The easiest way to understand how the internet works is to put it into the context of something you already understand. It might help to build an analogy; compare the internet to the way an engine works, or the way a family communicates, or the way a letter gets from your grandmother’s house to your house. Putting it into your own words will be the most difficult part of this assignment, but it is essential to understanding what you have read.

 

I am looking for you to be able to take the most important part of each page, put it into your words, and then use MS Word to type it into a paragraph. You will be graded on your ability to find the key points and use your own words to describe it.

 

We will also use this exercise to teach you how to use headers and footers.

 

Using Headers and Footers:

1. Open MS Word
2. Click on ‘VIEW’ menu
1. Click on ‘HEADER AND FOOTER’
3. The text in the body of your document will be grayed out and you will not be able to type there. You’ll get a HEADER AND FOOTER toolbar and a box at the top and bottom of your page. The Header is at the top of the page; the footer is at the bottom.
4. You will be able to enter text into the header and footer. When you print, it will look the same as the regular text. The reason the header and footer is useful is that it repeats on every page, so you can use it for titles, page numbers, your name, and other things that you’d want to be on each page.
5. In the header, type your name and class period
6. Select that text and right-justify it by using the justify buttons.
7.  Hit <ENTER> to start a new line.
8. Type the title of your paper: HOW THE INTERNET WORKS.
   You may format the text in any way you like.
9. Go to the FOOTER at the bottom of the page.
10. Click on “Insert Auto-Text.”
1. Click on “Page X of Y.”

 

This document is only one page in length, but knowing how to use headers and footers will save you time on longer documents.

 

Grading:

You will be graded on the following things:

1)      Your ability to identify the key elements of what you read. (10 points)

2)      Your ability to turn it into your own words. (20 points, 4 point deduction for each 4-word copy)

3)      Your use of headers and footers. (10 points)

4)      Grammar and spelling. You will not be graded harshly; you will lose one point for every three errors marked. It is important, however, to be able to present your ideas in a readable fashion, so a high number of errors will count against you. (1 point deducted for each three errors)

This project is worth forty points.