Introduction to Seeing the Internet

This is an outline of an activity we usually do at the beginning of any of our workshops. It’s a good way to understand what students already know and get an idea of what they want to know.

Objective: Understand that the internet is made up of physical objects in the world, and be able to identify those objects in the world

Materials

  • pad of 18x24 drawing paper (newsprint or butcher paper is fine)
  • Markers
  • Walls to put up drawings and write notes
  • Handout detailing different examples of internet infrastructure (you can use ours or make your own!)
  • Handout for writing down and looking for different types and signifiers of internet infrastructure.
  • Note about both handouts: you might not actually see each of these things in your environment–cities don’t really have fiber posts, for example. Just use the ones you need!

Activities

  • Ask students the following questions about the internet (or ask them to write down their answers). (5-10 minutes)

    • What is the internet?
    • What do use the internet for?
    • What do you think happens behind the scenes when you’re using the internet? How does a webpage or an application end up on the screen you’re looking at?

  • Have students work in small groups (3-4) to make drawings illustrating their answers to that last question about how the internet works. (15-20 minutes)

  • Each group takes 3-5 minutes to present their drawings of the internet to the class. Hang the drawings on the wall. (15-20 minutes)

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  • Give a short presentation on the different real-world objects that make up the internet (routers, cables, antennae, data centers, and more), showing pictures and examples of things that students might encounter out on the street or in their homes if they went looking for the internet.

  • Note on presentation of images: We have lots of images on this website that are good for reference, but it might be a good idea to make your own based on using examples of things in your own city or town. Local examples are super-useful.

  • Give students handouts (again, ours or make your own!) with a breakdown of different objects to look for (10 minutes)

  • Optional: Field Trip! Take the students for a walk to look for some examples of the internet that they might run into on the street. The success of this activity kind of depends on whether the area you’re in has lots of relevant things to look at/for, scouting out the workshop location is kind of crucial here (30-45 minutes).

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  • Alternative: Assignment If you’re in an area that doesn’t have many cool signs of internet infrastructure, ask students to go home and look for some examples at or around their home, or on their way to school the next day. If they can take pictures of what they see, bring them in. If not, take notes on the handouts given. Students should be prepared to talk about what they saw the next day. Instructor should be prepared to do the same thing.
  • This lesson kind of makes the most sense added with another lesson, such as the building the internet or packet relay. After doing whichever next step of the lesson plan you initially started with, go back to those original drawings and the brainstorming worksheets that you started this activity with. On the back of the handout, ask students to answer the following:
    • What do you now know about the internet?
    • How is it different from what you thought before?
    • What do you still want to know?

Feedback

Have you tried or have thoughts on this activity? We would love to hear from you!

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