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Title: Questions from the Past and the Present

Sub-title- A Project About “Searching” for the Correct Information.

First Name : Maddy R.

Date: March 14 - March 18, 2016

Color Group: Yellow

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 AND Bing and at least 2 other search engines... any search engine you desire. In your paragraphs, write down which search engine you used.

Use Search Terms that make sense. Do NOT just type/copy the entire question. Use Search Terms. Use search terms that make 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”.)

And... write down the correct answer in the paragraph. Perhaps that is the last sentence in your paragraph.

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

Bahamas, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico
Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Tortola
Miami, Bermuda, Puerto Rico

I am going to use the search engine Duck Duck Go, because it’s a trustworthy search engine and I know it will provide a quality answer, and unlike Google it doesn’t track you. I think the correct answer is C, because I remember reading a book and reading that the Bermuda triangle’s corner hit the tip of Florida. To search the answer to this problem I am going to use certain key words such as Bermuda, triangle, location and corners. I typed the key words into the search engines bar. Once loaded I got many results, I scrolled through to find an appropriate and trustworthy “snippet” out of the many provided. I choose to look at Worldatlas.com found here: http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/bermudat.htm . After reading through the article I concluded that the correct answer is C, the Bermuda Triangle’s corners touch Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico.

This is an image of the Bermuda Triangle. This is a screen capture of the search engine Duck Duck Go I used.

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

Italy
Spain
Brazil

I am going to use the search engine Bing to find out the answer to the question listed above. I am going to use this search engine because I have used this search engine before and know that it is a reliable resource to find information. I don’t particularly know the answer but I can give a good guess that it is C, Brazil just because of the capitols name Pernambuco. I will also use a few certain key words to help me find my answer including: Pernambuco, Brazil, and capital. After I searched, many snippets appeared giving me a variety of answers to choose from. Interestingly enough, after I typed Pernambuco, several terms related to the topic appeared giving me my answer, even without the finished sentence. I choose an encyclopedia site to use: http://www.britannica.com/place/Pernambuco and this gave me my final answer, after reading only the first paragraph of the article. I could check my answer by looking at the map the site provided, which proved I was correct. I concluded the answer is C, Pernambuco is located in Brazil.

This is an image of Bing the search engine I used.

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

570 years (in 2010)
1,300 years (in 2010)
4,000 years (in 2010)

I am going to use another search engine known as Google. I am going to try this search engine because I have used it before and know it will come up with a variety of answers that can help me answer this question. When I look at this question I think the answer may be B or the capital is 1,300 years, this is not a concrete answer but an educated guess based on what I know about the development of capitals. To search my answer I am going to use several different key words to cut down my variety of answers so I just get the one I need. The key words I will use are Nara, capital, Japan, anniversary and city. As I was typing it seemed that nothing of use showed up. But after I searched the anniversary it came up with an assortment of snippets that showed the answers. I searched the snippets carefully and determined a trustworthy one that could provide me with an answer. The site I used was: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4116.html . I know now I was correct in my guessing and with the credibility of the site determined the final answer came to be B, Nara, Japan celebrated its 1300^th anniversary in 2010.

This is an image of the search engine I used.

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

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

I am going to use the search engine Ixquick, to search what the Northern Pacific Gyre holds. I am going to use this search engine because it doesn’t track your history similar to the other trusted search engine Duck Duck Go. As I look at the answers that I could choose from to complete the question I think that it may be B, but honestly I have no idea what a gyre is and this create a challenge to make an educated guess on what the answer may be. To search my answer I will use the key words: Northern Pacific, Gyre, contains. After I searched those words it came up with many snippets that had no specific answer until I saw the fifth that contained credible information. The site I used was: http://scribol.com/environment/waste-and-recycling/the-north-pacific-gyre-100-million-tons-of-garbage-and-growing . This site proves that there’s a mass of spinning trash in the Northern Pacific and I could justify this answer with several images online. So in conclusion the answer to this question is B, there is a giant field of debris in the Northern Pacific.

This is screen shot of Ixquick I used for this question.

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?

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

We are going to do this question in a very, very, very, very different way. (Said by Mr. Woolner.) In this paragraph I am going to compare 4 different search engines. The 4 I am going to use are Google, Ixquick, Duck Duck Go, and lastly Webcrawler. I think the answer to this question is B, Luxembourg because of the history of the cathedral and the saint it represents. For this question I am going to use several search terms to figure the answer out. I will use: Hagia Sophia, Location, and what. I noticed as I was searching the answer in all four engines and noticed two differences. Two of the search engines Google and Duck Duck Go popped up with answers just after a few word where as Ixquick and Webcrawler stayed blank until I had searched the answer. As for the pages both Ixquick and Webcrawler came up with travel and advertisements first and Google and Duck Duck go had more useful snippets that provided information easily and very quickly. Most of the snippets I viewed on these pages had bolded Turkey and Istanbul. After carefully looking at the snippets I choose a snippet from google with this URL: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Hagia-Sophia . Looking at the article it popped up with Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Turkey. This gave me a concrete answer so I concluded that the Hagia Sophia is an old church that was converted into a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. This proves my answer B, was incorrect and in fact the correct answer is A.

( These are screen shots of the four search engines: Ixquick (Top left), Duck Duck go (top middle), Google ( top right) and lastly Webcrawler (bottom left).

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

Wheeling, West Virginia.
Gopeng, Malaysia
Johannesburg, South Africa

We’re going to do a different format and writing type for this question. For this question I am going to limit the search by using site: tricks. I used the search engine Google to search my answer. I already know my answer which is B, Gopeng, Malaysia. I remember reading this in a magazine. To verify my answer I used several key words in the search engine. The words I used included: Kampar, River, Rafting and the site: *com. I used this trick to only search the .com sites and create a list of less answers so I can get to my needed answer faster. Once I searched that I came upon a large group of snippets with words popping up saying: MALAYSIA, Come Rafting so naturally I had a good feeling I was correct. I clicked on one particular snippet because it seemed credible and came upon a large article describing the sessions and the white water rafting trips you may take: here’s the link: http://mmadventure.com/gopeng-adventure/kampar-river-rafting.htm . But I also found that some snippets said Indonesia. This is because Malaysia and Indonesia share the Kampar rive but the white water rafting takes place in Malaysia. I read the article and lastly concluded that I was right the correct answer to the question is B, you can go white water rafting on the Kampar River in Gopeng, Malaysia.

This is a screen shot of the search engine and snippets I used. This is an image of the white water rafting.

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

In dairy country east of London
Southwest England
Near the Scottish border

I am going to use a different search engine for this question as well as a different site: trick. For this question I am going to use a site: *org. This will make the search engine only use .org sites and will help me limit my search to help me find my answer. This question asks where Devonshire is within England, I am going to make an educated guess and say that the answer is B, Southwest, England but honestly I have no idea. To search my answer I will use key words such as: Devonshire, England and location. After my search I came upon several snippets that did have limited information at first but then as I opened one up it gave me a more specific answer. I used this website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon and found my answer on the third line down. This proves I was correct in my guess and now know that Devonshire is located in the Southwest part of England.

Picture of the website I used for my answer This is an image of the search engine I used.

(Wikipedia.org)

What and where are the Adirondacks?

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

I am going to use a different search engine called Ixquick for this question and I am also going to use the search trick site: *com. This will limit my sites to only .com sites and will like the others limit my amount of snippets provided to find my answer. I believe that the answer well actually I know the answer is the mountain range in New York state. I know this from my many days reading magazines and looking at maps to study for different exams. To learn my answer I will use key words such as: Adirondacks, location and mountain. After I searched these words I found a credible snippet to use: http://visitadirondacks.com/about/mountains . This provided my answer after I did a little reading. After reading I concluded that the answer is indeed, B, the Adirondack Mountains are located in New York State.

This is a screen shot of the website I used to answer the This is a screen shot of the search engine I used.

Question.

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

The West Indies
The East Indies
The South Indies

I am going to use a different search engine to search the answer for this particular question. I am going to use the engine WebCrawler. I trust this search engine because Mr. Woolner says it is good and because it doesn’t track your search history. This engine also is an older search engine and I think that it is cool to be using a piece of history to do my school work. If I think about my question I remember from previous school test and the latest GeoBee that the Caribbean’s original name is in fact A, The West Indies. But I still have to verify my answer and to do so I will use different key words such as, Caribbean, name, original and of course the site: trick, site: * org to simplify my search. After searching and viewing a few snippets I chose this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean to verify my answer. It gave me my information about halfway through the second paragraph and so I conclude the answer is A, the Caribbean’s formal name is the West Indies.

This is an image of the Wikipedia site. This is an image of the search engine I used.

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

Quito, Ecuador
Santiago, Chile
La Paz, Bolivia

For this question I am going to be using the search Google because I have used it many times and trust that it is a safe and credible source for finding information. For this question I believe the correct answer is B, Chile. This is just an educated guess based on locations and size of the city though honestly I have no clue what the correct answer is to the question. To find my answer or at least check it I am going to use several key words such as: Galapagos Islands, Location of departure from, etc. As well as the site: trick, site: * com. This is a trusty way to limit your answer or snippet choices and feel that it will provide the best possible answer. After searching I found a credible snippet that opened up right to my answer: http://www.galapagosislands.com/blog/how-to-get-to-the-galapagos-islands/ . just to verify more I read through the entire article/page and realized that the answer was true and I was incorrect. The correct answer. I concluded, is A, you must take a flight to Quito, Ecuador to visit the Galapagos Islands.

A image of the search engine I used to find my answer.

What was the United States’ first national park?

Great Smoky Mountain
Yellowstone
Yosemite

I am going to use a different search engine for this question, the search engine I am going to use is Bing. I am going to use this search engine because I have used it before and I am comfortable suing it and I also know all the little tricks to finding answers quickly. I believe that the United States first national park is B, Yellowstone National Park. I believe this is the answer because I feel like I remember reading it in a National Geographic magazine. This is an educated guess but to be honestly I’m not completely sure I am correct. To verify my guess I will be looking up the answer on Bing, I will be using several key words to search my answer: United States, First, National Park and of course the site:trick I am using will be, site: *org. I believe that this trick will provide me with the answers I need. After I searched my answer I came up with several snippets and I chose this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_the_United_States I believed it was a credible snippet and so I decided to use it. It gave me my answer in only a few words. Though this is a Wikipedia site I feel it is good enough because I am pretty sure I already had the correct answer. So in conclusion, I now know that the answer to this questions is indeed, B, Yellowstone was the United States first national park.

These are two images of sites I used.

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

Lili’uokalani
Kauai
Lanai

I am going to use the search engine IxQuick to search this answer. I have already used this search engine for this project and for many others so I believe that it is a credible search engine. I believe that the answer to this question is A, Lili’oukalani. This is not an educated guess I honestly have no idea what the answer is but I am just going for it. For this question like the others I am going to use an advanced search because it will help me limit my answers so I can find a better answer. To search my answer I will used the key words: Smallest island, Hawaii and the site: trick, site:*net. After searching I found a snippet that described the island of Lanai as the smallest. So I concluded that after searching through the snippets that the answer is not my own but in fact C, Lanai is the smallest island in Hawaii.

This is an image of the site I used. This is an image of the search engine I used.