Part 1: Browsing the Web

You are now going to explore some pages on the Internet and get used to using a Web browser. You will use the Netscape browser. Here is a list of things to do while exploring. Below it is a link to an annotated list of Web pages about teaching, high school, and geometry.

Assignment

You will probably figure out how Netscape and the Web work as you browse, but make sure that you do each of the following while browsing:

• Note that Netscape begins by showing you a certain "Home" page. At the Geometry Center, the machines are set up so that this is the Geometry Center Welcome page.

• Follow a hypertext link. That is, press your mouse button when it is on top of underlined text. This will take you to another Web page. You have actually already done that to get to this page. For example, press on the underlined part of this sentence, and you are taken to the Home Page for Technology in the Geometry Classroom.

• Go back to a previous page, then forward again. You can do this by using the Back and Forward buttons on the toolbar, or by using them as listed in the Go menu.

• You may change your mind about a going to a Web page, especially if there is a very long delay. You can stop Netscape from spending anymore time loading the page by pushing the mouse button while over the Stop sign, or by using the Stop Loading option on the Go menu.

• Each of the Web pages available to everyone around the world has a unique location, which is specified by its address, called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Open a location as follows: Pick the Open Location option from the File menu. It prompts you for a location name or URL. For example, you can pick the URL for the Geometry Center Web Site. It is: "http://www.geom.umn.edu/" (In case you are wondering, "http" stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the format of all Web pages. This is why there is always an http in front of the name of a Web page.)

• If you see an interesting page, there is a way to save its location so that you neither have to memorize the URL nor have to always follow all the hypertext links that you took to get to it. Saving locations is done using bookmarks. Save a location by using the Add Bookmark option on the Bookmarks menu.

• Look at your bookmark in the Bookmarks menu. Go to another Web page and then back to the page you saved by selecting it from the Bookmarks menu.

• Another way to go to a page you have already looked at is by selecting it off the list on the Go menu. Try this.

• If you need more help with Netscape, you may need to look at the Help pages. Look at at least one of the items mentioned on the Help menu. For example, if you are curious about some menu item not covered here, look it up in the Menu Items section of the Handbook. To do this, select the Handbook from the Help menu. Now follow the Menu Items hyperlink.

You now know enough about Netscape to explore the Web. Here are a list of additional tasks you should do while browsing the Web pages listed in Part 2: A List of Web Pages to Browse:

• Look at at least three of the suggested Web pages in Part 2 and follow some links on these pages.
• Next class you will be creating your own hypertext document. To see what this involves, look at the source for a Web page. This source is what the person actually typed, and what you are going to actually type, in order to control the Web browser. To view source, choose the Source option on the View menu. For a standard example, View the Source of this typical html document.

• You will find lots of available files to "download" to your local machine. These are often useful pieces of software. Try to download something: For example, if you press on the following highlighted area, you will download A text file. This file can be displayed by Netscape, so you can't really tell that it is different from the other files you have been reading, other than that it does not have such nice formatting. However, it was given in the FTP (file transfer protocol) format.

  The text file example above is unusual among ftp files in that it makes sense when viewed in Netscape. Software and other files you might want to download are not just text, and even if Netscape can display them, the files look like nonsense. For example, look at Torus Chess for the Macintosh.

  In order to use a file like the above Torus Chess, you have to save it to the Macintosh. You can save an ftp format file (or any other file, for that matter) using the Save As option in the File menu. Most files you download have been compressed. Torus Chess is no exception. Sometimes Netscape automatically decompresses files for you. Otherwise, here's how to decompress a file.

• To look for a certain word or phrase on a page, choose the Edit menu option Find. Type in the word or phrase.

• To search for a topic, use a search engine. For example, you can try the Yahoo search engine. Just type in a not too common phrase, and push the search button. There is a list of other search engines in http://www.geom.umn.edu/external/search.html. You can also find some in the Directory menu option Internet Search.

• There are many active computer newsgroups. Try to read one of them by choosing the Go To Newsgroups option on the Directory menu.

The Geometry Center Home Page

Author: Evelyn Sander
Comments to: webmaster@geom.umn.edu
Created: Jun 09 1996 --- Last modified: Jul 31 1996