A Google a Day
http://www.google.co.uk/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html
1
Explorers from Kushiro,
Pevek and Namsos arrive
at the North Pole and check
their watches.
If they arrived at 11:42 a.m.,
12:17 p.m. and 3 a.m.,
respectively, which
team was first?
2
Things to think about as you get started
1
2
What time is it at the North Pole?
What are the time zones for Kushiro, Pevek, and Namsos?
Answer The team from Pevek, Russia
Search Search [time at North Pole].
Learn that groups traveling to the North
Pole often use the time zone of their country
of origin (thus the reference to their
watches). Taking this into account,12:17
p.m. in Pevek, Russia, is the earliest time.
If you were a ferry passenger
traveling from Continental
Europe to the country with twice
as many sheep as people,
in what town would
you most likely
dock?
Things to think about as you get started
1
What is the country that has twice as many
sheep as people?
2
How do you search for transportation?
Answer Seyðisfjörður
Search Search [country with twice as
many sheep as people]. Various results
show that
the answer is Iceland. Next, search
[ferry to Iceland]. The first result will give
you the answer: Seyðisfjörður. To be
totally sure, check the next several
results, which all yield the same answer.
If you were in the basin
of the Somme River at
summer’s end in 1918,
what language
would you have had to
speak to understand coded
British communications?
Things to think about as you get started
1
Where is this place (the Somme River)?
2
What is special about the year 1918?
3
Is it important that you “speak” the language?
Answer CherokeeSearch [Somme
river basin 1918]. Discover that’s when the
Second Battle of the Somme
(a WWI battle) took place. Searching
[second battle of Somme code language]
reveals the Cherokee served as code
talkers in battle. They relayed messages
in the Cherokee language that Germans
couldn’t decipher.
Strategy
Tactics
Break the question apart to first
identify the location (the Somme
River is in France), then figure
out why it’s important (1918 is
WW1), then search for the code
language used.
Putting a date in the
first query.
This is called “chaining” because
you use a series of queries in a
chain to get the answer.
Using a very specific query
for the final step of the chain.
This invention was initially created
as a walking machine and then
was tweaked in 1932
to become amphibious.
But neither of these are
its main purpose now.
What is
the invention?
Things to think about as you get started
1
What can you find about the invention
of a walking machine?
Answer Cyclomer.
Search Searching [walking machine
invention]
leads you to a few inventions. One of
the inventions listed is the bicycle, which
was created in 1817 by Baron von Drais.
Searching [bicycle 1932 amphibious]
confirms that in 1932 the amphibious
"Cyclomer" debuted in Paris.
If a man has two swallows
tattooed on his chest,
how many inches
has he sailed?
Things to think about as you get started
1
What is the meaning of a swallow tattoo on one's chest?
It sounds like it has something to do with sailing.
2
Once you have that information, you just need
to convert the value to inches.
Answer 729,133,858 inches
Search Search [meaning of swallow
tattoos
on chest]. Results will show it means that
a sailor has sailed 10,000 nautical miles.
Convert nautical miles to inches using
the search bar to discover that a man
with two swallows tattooed on his chest
has sailed 729,133,858 inches.
If you came home from a trip
with 150 South African rand,
350 Kuwaiti dinars
and 200 Japanese yen,
how much would
you have
in U.S. dollars?
Things to think about as you get started
1
To solve this problem you need to know about
a special Google feature that helps
with conversions.
2
Can you find that feature and then use it to solve
the problem?
Answer $1,298.84 USD
Search Use Google Currency Converter.
Your query of [150 rand in USD] gives
you $22.23, [350 Kuwaiti dinars in USD]
gives you $1274.11 and [200 yen in USD]
gives you $2.50. Use Google Calculator.
Find you would have returned home
with $1,298.84 USD.
This is a close-up photo
of the heaviest boneless animal.
What gives the
skin its slightly
yellowish tinge?
Things to think about as you get started
1
First, figure out what the heaviest boneless animal is.
2
Can you check that this is the same animal
in the picture?
Answer Diatoms.
Search Search for [heaviest boneless
animal] and find that it’s a whale shark. An
Image Search will confirm that the mottled
skin in the picture is from a whale shark.
Searching [whale shark yellow skin] yields
the diatoms, a type of algae.
There's a particular kind of bird
that's often used to go fishing.
It typically perches with
its wings spread out wide.
Why does it do
that?
Things to think about as you get started
1
Start by trying to figure out what kind of bird
this might be.
2
Then go on to figure out why
it has this unusual posture.
Answer Their wings get wet and heavy, so they
hold them out to the side to dry off.
Search Searching for [bird fishing] leads
quickly to finding that Cormorants are often used
by fishing people in China, Japan, and
Macedonia to dive for fish. Reading a bit about
these birds tells us that people still debate the
exact function why cormorants often stand on a
perch with both wings held out to the side, but
most agree that cormorant feathers (unlike those
of ducks) actually get wet and heavy, so they hold
them out to the side to dry off.