Concord Monitor Quiz Research Project: A Project About Searching for the Correct Information

By Lilia K

March 11, 2016 / March 15, 2016 / March 17, 2016 /

Green Group (D1B3)

This is a quiz that was found in the Sunday, January 3, 2010 Concord Monitor Newspaper…. Answers are there, too.  You need to read the question, and… if you KNOW the correct answer, that’s good… but you must still VERIFY that correct answer.  And write out your source for that correct answer.  And, MOST importantly, I want to you also write out your thinking process- especially for the questions you do NOT know the answer to.  Can you eliminate any of the answers?  How?   And how did you search for the correct answer?  Did you search the QUESTION, or did you search the possible answers? 

Write it out!  Be complete.  A good paragraph per answer is what we are after here…

• Use Google, Bing and at least 2 other search engines...  In your paragraphs, write down which search engine you used. 

◦ At least 4 different search engines

• Use Search Terms that make sense.  Do not just type/copy the entire question.  Use search terms that made sense. In your paragraph, write down what search terms you used.

• Use Advanced Search methods, or at least look for .edu sites,.gov sites   and   .com sites.  At least these 3 types of sites.  You can have others, such as   .org    and    .net.    In your paragraph, write down how you searched for different domains (such as .edu, .gov .com,   etc.   Those are called “domains”.)

• Write down the correct answer in the paragraph, perhaps as the last sentence.

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1. What are the three places that make up the points of the Bermuda Triangle?

1. Bahamas, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico
2. Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Tortola
3. Miami, Bermuda, Puerto Rico

I am going to use Google as my search engine for this question. I am doing this because I am familiar with it and know how to navigate it. I am going to use the search terms ‘Bermuda,’ ‘Triangle,’ and ‘points.’ I found 419,000 results, and scrolled through the first several snippets until I found a website that I wanted to read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_Triangle , which showed a map of the correct locations. The image below is from the same Wikipedia article I used for my information. After reading text on the website, I verified that the correct answer is Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico.

2. Recife is the popular, pretty capital of Pernambuco state in what country?

1. Italy
2. Spain
3. Brazil

I am going to use Bing as my search engine for this question. I have not used Bing before, but I am curious to see what it is like. The search terms I am planning on using for this question are ‘Recife’ and ‘Pernambuco.’ I found 4,230,000 search results for these terms, and then scrolled through until I found this .edu website: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sergiok/brasil/recife.html . I chose this website because most of the other search results were .com, and I wanted to expand my choices of site types. The image I chose is from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bairro_do_Pina_-_Recife_-_Pernambuco_-_Brasil.jpg . Like the last question, I read the information on the website and concluded that Recife is the capital of Pernambuco, which is a state in Brazil.

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3. Historic Nara, Japan, celebrates a huge anniversary in 2010.  How old is the country’s first capital city?

1. 570 years  (in 2010)
2. 1,300 years   (in 2010)
3. 4,000 years   (in 2010)

I have chosen to use DuckDuckGo as my search engine because, like Bing, I have never used it before. ‘Nara,’ ‘Japan,’ ‘anniversary,’ and ‘2010’ will be my search terms for this question. After entering my search terms, I couldn’t clearly see how many results I received, unlike Bing and Google. I scrolled through the snippets until I found this .com website: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/travel/03headsup.html?_r=0 .  I chose this snippet because it clearly said, ‘Happy 1,300^th to Nara, Japan,’ which is exactly what I was looking for. The image I chose was from the same website that I found the answer. Because the heading gave me the answer right away, 1,300 years, I didn’t need to read through the article.

4. The Northern Pacific Gyre lies in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and the west coast of the United States. What does it contain?

1. A huge pod of an estimated 2,000 endangered gray whales
2. A giant debris field of garbage trapped in a spinning circle
3. An underground sea mountain 7 miles tall

For this question, I will use IxQuick as my search engine, which is intriguing because it doesn’t save/track your searches, unlike other search engines. ‘Northern,’ ‘Pacific,’ ‘trash,’ and ‘Gyre’ will serve as my search terms this time. Like DuckDuckGo, I couldn’t tell how many results there were, which was a bit annoying. After scrolling through the snippets, I found a prospective .org site: http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/ . I chose this website because I trust National Geographic. The image I chose is from this website: http://io9.gizmodo.com/5911969/lies-youve-been-told-about-the-pacific-garbage-patch . I read through the article, and discovered that the Northern Pacific Gyre is a giant trash vortex, answering the question.

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5. This year (in 2010) a mosaic of an angel was discovered under the floor of the Hagia Sophia.  Where and what is the Hagia Sophia?

1. Istanbul, Turkey.  It’s a museum that previously was a Byzantine Christian Church and a mosque.
2. Luxembourg.  It’s a cathedral built to honor St. Sophia, the country’s patron saint.
3. Mexico City.  It’s a traditional market where the image of the angel is said to have healing powers.

For this search, I will be using 4 separate search engines, and comparing the answers. The search engines that I will be using are DogPile, Yahoo, Google, and WebCrawler. The search terms I will be using are ‘Hagia,’ and ‘Sophia.’ On DogPile, when I typed in my search words, various results came up, such as ‘hagia sophia pictures,’as well as on Yahoo and Google, but not on WebCrawler. After actually entering my key words on DogPile and WebCrawler, I couldn’t see how many results I received. On Yahoo, it told me there were 1,500,000 total search results, and 7290,000 on Google. I scrolled through the snippets and chose a .com website: http://www.livescience.com/27574-hagia-sophia.html , which told me that the Hagia Sophia is a museum that used to be a cathedral in Istanbul, Turkey. The image below was taken from the same website that gave me the answer to the question.

6. If you want to go whitewater rafting on the Kampar River, where do you have to go?

1. Wheeling, West Virginia.
2. Gopeng, Malaysia
3. Johannesburg, South Africa

I am going to use Bing as my search engine for this question about whitewater rafting on the Kampar River. For this question I will be conducting an advanced search, which limits domain results (.com, .net, .edu, etc.). For search terms, I will use ‘kampar,’ and ‘river.’ After I typed in my search terms, I typed  ‘site: .org’ to filter the search results to only .org websites. The first several snippets that came up were all Wikipedia pages, which I know is not always the most credible. After scrolling farther down, I discovered that most of the snippets said that the Kampar River is located in Indonesia. The photo below is from this website: http://malaysianmeanders.blogspot.com/2012/07/boom-boom-white-water-rafting-in-perak.html . I know that Malaysia is not near West Virginia and South Africa, so through process of elimination I concluded that the Kampar River is located in Gopeng, Malaysia.

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7. Most tourists love Devonshire cream tea – scones, clotted cream and raspberry jam with tea.  But where in England is Devonshire?

1. In dairy country east of London
2. Southwest England
3. Near the Scottish border

For this next question, I am going to use DuckDuckGo as my search engine, with ‘devonshire,’ and ‘england’ as my search terms. As soon as I entered my search terms, a snippet bar at the top of the screen displayed information from Wikipedia, which said that Devonshire is located in South West England. I chose the snippet to this website: http://www.britannica.com/place/Devon . According to the website, Devonshire is located in South West England. The image is from the Britannica website that gave me the correct answer to the question. Then, after going back and doing an advanced search for .edu websites, I couldn’t find any useful information.

8. What and where are the Adirondacks?

1. The Amish region in Indiana where craftsmen make chairs
2. Mountain range in New York state
3. American Indian reservations in the Florida Everglades

Google will serve as my search engine for question number 8. Like the last couple of questions, I will be doing an advanced search, this time for .com websites, using the search terms ‘Adirondacks,’ and ‘location.’ The first snippet that popped up was http://visitadirondacks.com/first-time-visitors/faqs , which looked very useful and informative. After reading through the information, I observed that the Adirondacks are a mountain range located in Northern New York. The supporting image is from http://www.lostintheadirondacks.com/maps/. 

9. Most people just call the region the Caribbean, but what is its formal name?

1. The West Indies
2. The East Indies
3. The South Indies

For this question, IxQuick will be my search engine. Again, I will be conducting an advanced search, this time for .org websites. My search terms will be ‘Caribbean,’ ‘formal,’ and ‘name.’ When searching for .org websites, most of the snippets were from travel/cruise companies. Instead, I tried searching for .edu websites, which didn’t work either. Because I am pretty sure I know the correct answer (The West Indies), I used ‘west,’ ‘indies,’ and ‘caribbean’ as my search terms. Sure enough I found this link: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Caribbean , which told me that, in fact, that the Caribbean is also know as The West Indies.

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10. Almost all tourists who visit the Galapagos Islands leave for their trip from what city?

1. Quito, Ecuador
2. Santiago, Chile
3. La Paz, Bolivia

Google will serve as my search engine for Question 10, and I will search for the phrase ‘how to get to the galapagos islands,’ with an advanced search for .com websites. I clicked on the first snippet that popped up, http://www.travelchannel.com/destinations/south-and-central-america/articles/the-galapagos-islands-guide-what-you-should-know , and read through the article. What I found is that most people travel through Quito, Ecuador.

11. What was the United States’ first national park?

1. Great Smoky Mountain
2. Yellowstone
3. Yosemite

For this question’s search engine, I will use DuckDuckGo. My search terms will be ‘united,’ ‘states,’ ‘first,’ ‘national,’ and ‘park,’ and will search for .com websites. One of the first couple of snippets was this: http://www.travelchannel.com/destinations/south-and-central-america/articles/the-galapagos-islands-guide-what-you-should-know. The website confirmed that Yellowstone was the first national park in the United States.

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12. Of Hawaii’s six major islands, which is the smallest and least developed?

1. Lili’uokalani
2. Kauai
3. Lanai

For this final question, I will use Bing as my search engine, and ‘hawaii’s,’ ‘smallest,’ and ‘island’ as my three search terms, and an advanced search for .org websites.