💻 TechnologyGrade 3Lesson 10
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Searching Effectively: Keywords and Filters

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Learning Objectives

  • 1Explain what keywords are and why they matter in a search
  • 2Choose effective keywords for different research scenarios
  • 3Describe how filters help narrow search results
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Mini Lesson

When you search online, the words you choose make a big difference. Using the right keywords helps the search engine find exactly what you need — quickly and accurately.

What Are Keywords?

  • Keywords are the most important words that describe what you want to find.
  • Good keywords are specific — "rainforest animals" is better than just "animals".
  • Avoid long full sentences; search engines prefer short key phrases.
  • Use nouns (things) and descriptive words (adjectives) for best results.

Tips for Choosing Good Keywords

  1. Think about the main topic — what is the most important word?
  2. Add detail words — location, time period, type, or size.
  3. Remove small words like "the", "a", "is", "how to" — they are not needed.
  4. Try different keywords if the first search does not give good results.

Using Filters

  • Filters let you narrow your results after a search.
  • Common filters: Images, Videos, News, date range (e.g. last year).
  • Example: After searching "elephants", click "Images" to see only pictures.
  • Filters save time by removing results that are not what you need.
Good vs Poor KeywordsTwo columns: poor keywords on the left with an X, good keywords on the right with a checkmark.Good vs Poor KeywordsPoor"what is an animal""I want to know""tell me about stuff"Good"rainforest animals""African elephant facts""solar system planets"
How to Choose Keywords — 4 tipsFour numbered tips for choosing good search keywords, shown as a step list.Choosing Keywords1Identify your main topic2Add a detail word3Remove filler words4Try again if needed
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If you are not finding what you need, change your keywords. Try a synonym (different word with the same meaning) or add one more detail word.

Vocabulary
Keyword
An important word that describes what you want to finde.g. "Volcano" is a keyword in my search.
Specific
Narrow and detailed, not generale.g. A specific keyword gives better results.
Filter
A setting that narrows results to one type, like Images or Newse.g. I used the Images filter to find pictures.
Search bar
The box where you type your keywordse.g. I typed two keywords into the search bar.
Synonym
A different word with the same meaninge.g. I tried the synonym "tornado" instead of "twister".
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