Exploring the Net Interest Project Award
For Girl Scouts 11-17

Visiting an art museum, finding out about what plants grow best in your part of the country, investigating a career, shopping for custom-made jeans, reading a movie review, or chatting with a friend half a world away - these are just a few possibilities open to you when you explore the infinite Internet. Surely Juliette Gordon Low would have been one of the first to have her own home page.

Complete at least seven activities to earn this Interest Project award.

Skill Builders (do at least two)

• Learn about the options for accessing the World Wide Web. Can you use a computer through your school, library, community center, or Girl Scout center? Is one available through a computer club business or nonprofit organization? Perhaps you have a computer at home. In addition to the big name national commercial online services, there are many other local Internet providers. Find out who they are and compare costs and services offered. (Don't forget to include telephone costs as well!)
• Develop family and/or personal guidelines for use of online services and exploration of the Internet. Discuss issues such as costs, amount of use that is reasonable, parental guidance, shopping by computer, best times to use the phone line, sharing of the computer and phone line by family members, and safety on the Internet.
• Find out about URLs (Universal Resource Locators), the addresses by which you can access files, newsgroups, and Gopher ftp sites using a Web browser. The three letters at the end of an address generally give a clue as to the type of site—.com (commercial), .gov (government), .org (nonprofit organization), or .edu (educational). For example, Girl Scouts of the USA can be found at "http://www.girlscouts.org". Find two Web sites in each of the following domains—.com, .gov, .org, .edu—and visit two Web sites in countries other than the United States. How are countries identified in an address? Develop your own "hot list" of 10-12 sites for friends to visit.
• Learn how to use key words in searching for information on a specific topic when using an Internet information browser or a search engine. Find out if there are shortcuts to narrow the field of inquiry. Do a search that will give you answers to a specific question, such as finding out about college scholarships, your favorite sport, a museum you would like to visit, or information for a school report. Visit several Web sites and explore related topics from those Web sites. Keep a log or use bookmarks to mark sites you wish to revisit.
• Find information on "netiquette," "nethics," and "Net jargon." Determine what the guidelines are for using materials you have accessed (how to cite sources, what copyright means); sending email; and participating in forums. Learn some of the jargon.
• Learn how to send email to someone. Find out how much it costs to send email through the service you are using, as compared to sending information by fax or calling directly. Learn to attach a document from a file and send it as part of your email message, if your server and software will allow you to do this. Keep a list of favorite email addresses.
• Become an Internet tourist by "visiting" a major metropolitan area in the U.S.A. or abroad. Access maps and information about weather. Visit art and science museums, universities, and other places of interest. Share your tour with others. Or use the Net to plan a family or Girl Scout trip.

 

Our Mission Statement:

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.

Technology (do at least one)

• Learn to evaluate computer hardware. How many megabytes (MBs), megahertz (MHz), and other features does a computer need to use the software you are interested in? What are your options for connecting to the Internet, browsing the Web, sending faxes, and using a CD-ROM? Learn computer terms: for example, RAM, memory, byte, modem speed, PC- or MAC-compatible, graphical interface, and point and click. Review at least two different magazine articles that rate new products and discuss issues related to using the Internet and other computer services. Share your information with others.

• Discover three major trends in technology, business, or law that will affect the way the Internet is accessed, and learn about hardware and software. You might visit a computer store and talk with a knowledgeable salesperson, read some online news about the Net, or read computer and Net magazines.

• Has computer technology been responsible for community building, or has it contributed to isolation of the individual? Has it widened the gap between social classes in the United States and abroad? Or is the verdict still out? Develop a presentation, display, debate, or computer forum on these issues to share and discuss with others.

• Learn how to assemble a presentation that uses video, audio, and computer graphics. If possible, create a short presentation and show it to a group of people.

Service Projects (do at least one)

• Develop a scavenger hunt for peers or younger Girl Scouts that teaches them how to use the Internet. Include questions that take girls to different safe sites, asking them to find out specific information about science, art, sports, music, and geography.

• Host an online chat with girls your age on issues facing older girls.

• Help to develop a community service Web site for teens. Facilitate the linking of people who want to offer materials or their time to public or private agencies.

• Volunteer your time with a "homework" help line or offer computer assistance at a community center or library dedicated to helping kids access resources for their homework.

• Open some doors. Teach adults who have never been around a computer how to surf the Net. Learn about their interests so you can design a grand tour for them.

Career Exploration (do at least one)

• Explore three careers you might be interested in and research how using the Internet might be of value in these careers. If possible, interview people in these careers in person or by email. Find out how they are using computers and the Internet in their work.

• Use the Internet to access information about a career you are interested in. Find out what the educational requirements are for that field. Then locate two schools in two different parts of the country that meet those requirements.

• Discover the many careers based on the Web: for example, Web designers, Web managers, 'zine writers, and publishers. Make a list and interview at least one person who is working on the Web.

• Find out about skills needed for Web-based careers such as HTML (hypertext markup language) design, Web site design, Web research, and online 'zine publishing. Use the Internet to contact at least two businesses, schools, or universities, and find out what kinds of courses or experiences are available and/or recommended for people wanting to work in these areas.