Using search engines is tricky, especially for kids. This book is a service learning project to reflect our learning for children in the age range k-3. We dedicate this book to our instructor Dr. Sole Pera.

Class: CS 537 Introduction to Information Retrieval Semester: Fall 2019

Once upon a time, there was a Mama Hen who had a baby Chick. The Little Chick never stopped asking questions; so her mom gave her the nickname Curious Chick.

"How tall can trees grow?" asked Little Chick.

"Taller than you, taller than me, and taller than we can see," said Mama Hen.

Your turn: let's try searching for "tallest tree"

how?? why??

Little Chick did not know many things, but she wanted to learn quickly. "How many mountains are there in the world?" asked Little Chick.

"There's a mountain over there, and I've seen two other mountains at least." Mama Hen did her best to answer questions, but she didn't know everything.

Your turn: Let's search for "different types of mountains "

Little Chick's questions were sometimes harder to answer. "How many stars are there in the sky?" Little Chick asked Mama Hen.

"There are more stars in the sky than I can count. There are certainly a lot." But Little Chick wanted a number, even though she doesn't know what every number means.

Your turn: Let's search for "brightest star in the sky"

"You are a very curious Little Chick," Mama Hen told Little Chick, "And I want you to learn more than what I can teach you."

Then Mama Hen gave to Little Chick a shiny new computer, "Here is a computer which will be happy to answer all of your questions."

Little Chick was very happy.

Your turn: Let's search for "inventor of the computer"

Little Chick was so excited to ask the computer a question that she didn't know what to ask. Finally she had an idea, something she really wanted to find out.

"Where is the pretty little rock I lost in my room last week?" asked Little Chick to the computer.

The computer responded, "No Results," and Little Chick was sad.

Your turn: Let's search for "different kinds of rocks"

After that, Little Chick thought of a better question. "How big is the forest?" She asked confidently.

This time, the computer gave Little Chick a list of forests, but no information about the forest by her house. Little Chick started getting frustrated, but she was not out of questions yet.

Your turn: Let's search for "tallest rocky mountain"

now search for "tallest snowy mountain"

Did you see the same mountains? One word can make a difference.