There are many relevant ecological issues which depend on environmental factors. Information about some of these issues may be found by searching the web.

NOTE: Any search on the web has the potential for finding appropriate as well as inappropriate information. You can spend a lot of time following searches which are not directly related to the activities in this class. Learn to focus your searches along lines that are most likely to be productive so that you may use your time efficiently. Keep in mind that any site you visit may record your computer's unique internet address.

1. Open your browser and click on the button "Net Search" or "Search." If you have Explorer, click on "Search.") A page will appear from one of the search engines available on the web, and there will be a box to fill in the item for which you want to search. Enter the term, salinization, and click to search.

From among the 10 summaries provided, pick two that deal with soil problems associated with salinization. Select (by placing your mouse cursor at either the beginning or end of the summary (including the title, text, and URL), hold down the left mouse button, and drag the cursor to the other end of the summary), copy (go to the menu bar at the top of the screen and click on Edit, then Copy), and paste (Edit, then Paste) the two summaries into the text box below. Also, type in the name of this search engine and the total number of results found.

Hint: To make the copy and paste easy, open a word processor (like Word or WordPerfect) and paste your answers there first. You can then go back to the web activity for BIO 226 and paste from the wordprocessor into the text boxes. If your computer can handle it, you could also open your browser twice. Use one for the search (from which to copy) and one for the class (into which to paste).

Notice that somewhere on the page of results, there is a place to click which will give you the next 10 summaries and links from this search. Visit any of these links if you wish.

2. On the menu bar click on the back button until you return to the original page which gives a list of available search engines, or enter a different search engine (www.netscape.com, www.lycos.com, www.infoseek.com, www.excite.com, www.altavista.com, etc.). Pick a different search engine and repeat your search for links to web pages dealing with salinization.

Which search engine did you use this time and how many results did it find? Using the same basis for judgement as you did in the first search, copy and paste two appropriate summaries into the box below. How did the results differ, if at all?

3. Refine your search. Using the back button, return to the initial page for this search engine. After salinization, add the additional term, asia. Be careful to examine the results to be sure you got what you need, as some search engines require certain ways to specify very exact searches. For example, a search engine may require +salinization +asia to indicate that the word salinization and the word asia must both be included in the result pages.

As in the second search above, type in the total number of results found in this search and copy and paste summaries for two different species.

For grading purposes, please provide the following information:

Your Name:
Your Email address:

Once you have filled in all of the areas above, click the assignment button below to send the assignment to the instructor.