Now that students have a sense of how to pull information from the Web, evaluate it, and cite it, here are four kinds of online research projects students can do in your classroom:

• Project 1 - Giganotosaurs (may substitute any plant or animal) - requires students to search for information and pictures on dinosaurs, use basic searching techniques, use copy and paste.
  
  
• Project 2 - History of Salt Lake City (may substitute any person, place or time) - requires students to use different search tools, evaluate results, and follow links.
  
  
• Project 3 - Life Skills: Research the cost and availability of auto stereos in your community (may substitute any product or service) - requires students to access information about local products, services, people, maps and community links through the U S WEST Dex Internet Yellow Pages.
  
  
• Project 4 - Nuclear Reactors: Are they safe? (may substitute any debatable topic) - requires students to draw their own conclusions, search for pros and cons, and look for facts and images.

     It is always a good idea to research a topic in advance before assigning it to your students. Make sure age-appropriate information will be available for them before they begin.