Download Student Activity Sheet(s) for printout in PDF Format
Overview
Students explore the concept of cyberspace as a means of connecting people
and explain how the ability for people to communicate can unite a neighborhood.
Objectives
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Consider what it means to go into cyberspace |
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Recognize that to go "online," "into cyberspace," and "on the Internet"
mean the same thing |
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Draw a map showing the connections between people using computers
to communicate in cyberspace |
ISTE® National Technology Standards
Site Preview
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No Internet site is used in this lesson. |
Online Resources
Materials
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Activity sheet (1) |
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Drawing pencils; crayons; markers |
Introduce
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Challenge students to solve the following riddle: How
can you travel to a store without moving, talk to someone across town
without speaking, play a game with other kids all by yourself, or
show a picture you made to zillions of people? (All can be
done in cyberspace.) |
Teach 1
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Explain that cyberspace is not a real place
that you can physically visit-like a playground. However, it is many,
many real people sharing ideas and information
through computers that can connect to one another. |
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Make sure students understand that to go "online," "into cyberspace,"
and "on the Internet" mean the same thing. |
Teach 2
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Distribute the activity sheet. |
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Have students list all the different people in their neighborhood
they can connect to from school or home by using computers, such as
a friend down the street, the pharmacist at the pharmacy, the doctor
at her office, their teacher at school, local stores, and the librarian
at the library. |
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For each person on the list, have students create a symbol to use
on their maps. Suggest a square to represent a computer with a label
or drawing to show which person it represents. |
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Also have them plan how to show the connections between computers
and people, (for example, using dashed lines). Tell students to work
lightly in pencil until they are satisfied with their maps. At that
point, they can add color to make the maps easier to understand. |
Teach 3
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Display students' maps and invite volunteers to use them to explain
how computers connect people in their neighborhood. Point out that
such connections help show what is meant by "cyberspace." |
Close
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Ask: When you go into cyberspace,
do you really go somewhere? Students might explain that their
bodies don't move, but that they might feel like they can visit places
in their neighborhood. |
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Ask: What is the same about
saying you go "online," "into cyberspace," and "on the Internet?"
(They all mean the same thing.) |
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Ask: What does your map tell about your neighborhood? |
Extend
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson
in a previous grade.
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Have students collaborate to create a more detailed map of their
community on mural-sized paper. In addition to the features suggested
on the activity sheet, include a city hall, police station, fire station
and students at nearby schools. |
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My Cyberspace Neighborhood