By clicking on the How to Use This Web Site button, you have accessed a tutorial which will help you to learn how to run the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip web site successfully. The tutorial is divided into two sections: "How do I use a web browser to navigate a web site?" and "How do I navigate the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip?"
This tutorial assumes that the browser you are using is a current version of either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator, on either a Macintosh or Windows 3.1 or 95 compatible computer.
Since the World Wide Web is an ever-changing environment, and the developers of the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip have no control over other sites on the web that may be linked to this tutorial, we cannot guarrantee that these links will remain relevant indefinitely. Every effort will be made to ensure that they are updated regularly. If you have trouble with any aspect of this tutorial, please e-mail Webmaster.
For descriptive purposes, any words or phrases you see in Bold Type refer to items you will find in your browser of the web site window. Words or phrases that appear in Blue Type refer to important terms that you should familiarize yourself with. Words or phrases that appear in Red Type are subject headings in the tutorial.
If you are already familiar with basic browser use, you may wish to use the Table of Contents below to jump to specific topics that interest you.
To follow the tutorial step by step, print out these pages now . To print, simply position your pointer on the word File in the topmost tool bar of your browser. Click and drag using your mouse to the word Print. Click on the OK button to begin printing.
Now that you have a hard copy to follow along with as you view the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip, you can learn some basics about web sites as well as how to run this particular site.
Please allow yourself at least one hour to review and practice the exercises in this tutorial. Follow the instructions carefully, and you should be well on your way to using the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip to its fullest.
PART
ONE:
How do I use a web browser to navigate
a web site?
Some navigation tools are part of your
browser
Browser
tools in the Windows 3.1 or Windows '95 environment
Browser
tools in the Macintosh environment
Netscape
Communicator tools
Microsoft
Internet Explorer tools
Can
I print out a page or activity?
PART
TWO:
How
do I get the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip to run on my computer?
All about plug-ins
Let's
practice loading the plug-ins
PART
THREE:
How do I navigate the Pictograph Cave Educational
Field Trip?
The
home page buttons
Let's
practice using the site map to navigate around the web site
Beginning
the student field trip
How
does the student field trip work?
Let's
practice using a page of the student field trip
Let's
practice using the educators'/parents' pages
Finishing
Up
How do I add
this web site to my Favorites or Bookmarks list for easy future reference?
PART
ONE
How
do I use a web browser to navigate a web site?
Most web sites give you some instruction as to how to use them, but there are some basic tools that are relatively universal which, once learned, will make your visit to any web site easier. These tools include hypertext, icons , image maps, scroll bars, buttons, and the tool bar, located at the top of your screen. All of these are accessible by using the pointer or arrow which you control by using your computer's mouse.
Hypertext is text which usually appears in a different color than the rest of the text. It is also underlined. When you place your pointer on the text and click, you automatically move to information pertinent to the text, possibly on another page of the web site.
Icons are graphics and/or text which are also called buttons; they work just like a button. Position your pointer over the button, and as you might with your fingers, push the button, in this case using your mouse to click on it. Like hypertext, icons or buttons take you to another page or area of the web site or give you access to sound, animations, pictures or documents. You may find a group of icons within an area of the web site or very often at the end of the last page which appear in each area of the web site. These icons are navigation tools, and they indicate the general areas of the web site that can be accessed at any point from any area, simply by clicking on them using your pointer.
Image maps are a graphic or combination of graphics which also help you to access other pages of a web site. As you move your pointer over these graphics, you will notice that the graphic has active areas. If you click on these graphics, they take you to other pages or areas of the web site or give you access to sounds, animations, pictures or documents. For example, a realtor's site might have pictures of houses which you can click on to receive more information about a property. Or, a child care center's site might have a collage of children engaged in various activities. Clicking on one of the pictures in the collage might take you to a page explaining more about that particular activity complete with narrative and background sound. An image map can also act as a navigation bar to let you access the general areas of the web site at any time from any area.
Some navigation tools are part of your browser
Scroll Bars are located on the right hand side of the screen. They allow you to use your pointer to scroll your screen up or down. Web sites are composed of different pages. Areas of information may be composed of one page or hundreds of pages. When you scroll down to the very bottom of your screen, you are at the end of that particular page of information.
Tool Bars are located at the top of your screen. The tool bars allow you to move around within the web site, to print out pages and to perform a number of functions. We will describe a few here and encourage you to explore the other options at your leisure. These tools may appear differently to you depending on your browser and operating system.
Browser
tools in the Windows 3.1 or Windows '95 environment
The Close
Screen button is located in the very top right corner of your
computer screen 
.
This button is actually a fast way to close a screen once you have opened
it, if you have multiple browser screens open. If you have only one browser
screen open, this button will close the application entirely.
The
Enlarge/Minimize button is located next to the Close Screen
button. This button shows two boxes overlapping each other
.
When you click on this button, the application you are using changes to
a size smaller than the dimension of your computer's screen. In other
words, it is minimized.
Once the screen is minimized,
the button then displays a single large box 
.
Clicking on it at this time, enlarges your application to the full size
of your computer's screen.
Browser tools in the Macintosh environment
The Close
Screen button is located in the very top left corner of your
computer screen
.
This button is actually a fast way to close a screen once you have opened
it.
The
Enlarge/Decrease Size button is located in the very top
right corner of your computer screen. This button shows a small box inside
a larger box 
.
When you click on this button, the window you are in will toggle back
and forth between a smaller and larger version.
The Back button allows you to go back to the pages of the web site that you accessed prior to your current selection. It goes back to the most recent page you accessed.
If you went Back to the previous page but need to access the page you just left again, click the Forward button .
The Stop button interrupts a page or elements on a page from loading onto your screen.
The Reload button lets you update a web site with new information which may have been added since you last viewed the site.
The Bookmarks button allows you to add and instantly access your favorite web sites in a convenient library.
Microsoft
Internet Explorer tools
The Back button allows you to go back to the pages of the web site that you accessed prior to your current selection. It goes back to the most recent page you accessed.
If you went Back to the previous page but need to access the page you just left again, click the Forward button.
The Stop button interrupts a page or elements on a page from loading onto your screen.
The Refresh button lets you update a web site with new information which may have been added since you last viewed the site.
The Favorites button allows you to add and instantly access your favorite web sites in a convenient library.
Can I print out a page or activity?
Yes, depending upon the resolution of the printer and the pages you are trying to print out. Please note that graphics may not print out clearly. They are designed to look best at the 72 PPI resolution of computer screens. Most printers print at a minimum of 150 DPI. Simply locate the page or pages you would like to print, click on the word File in the uppermost tool bar or your browser and drag the pointer to the word Print. Point and click on the word OK (Windows) or Print (Macintosh). You may be able to adjust your browser's settings, or preferences, to enhance your printed pages.
PART
TWO:
How
do I get the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip to run on my computer?
The Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip is always changing and at times will need plug-ins, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and Shockwave, to allow you to use the web site to its maximum potential. A plug-in is a type of small, 'helper' application, that attaches to your browser and allows you to view files in formats that your browser ordinarily can't read. Plug-ins can enhance your experience on the web greatly, but also uses your system's resources.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is a plug-in that allows you to view and print files that are in their original state. These files are in the PDF, or Portable Document Format. At the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip site, there may be lesson plans and other learning tools provided by educators available for you to view, print and use in your classroom, once you successfully download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Studies show that students show more interest and absorb more information when the material is presented in a way that is pleasing and friendly to them. The plug-in named Macromedia Shockwave presents all the basic materials at the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip through animation and narration. Bits of information that are viewed with the help of the Shockwave plug-in are called movies.
Please allow yourself at least one hour to download the plug-ins. Transferring information over the internet often requires time. Depending upon the speed of your modem and your computer's available resources, it may take a considerable amount of time to complete this one-time downloading task. These plug-ins and information about system and modem requirements can be accessed from the System Requirements page of the web site.
Let's practice loading the plug-ins
Scroll down to the bottom of
the Field Trip Home Page where you accessed this tutorial (http://pictographcave.org/educate/rock_art.html)
and click on System Requirements 
.
This page describes what requirements your system needs. If you are a
Macintosh user or an IBM Compatible PC user, you will need to review your
system to find out if you have the correct operating
system, enough RAM (Random
Access Memory), the proper modem speed
and the plug-ins to run the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip. Please
note that you can choose to run the web site without the plug-in. It requires
less RAM but also means that without the Shockwave plug-in, you will not
have access to the narration and accompanying narration at the site. All
of the content, however, is available without the use of the Shockwave
plug-in—the exact text of the audio is provided in red type in the
written narrative.
Macromedia's
Shockwave plug-in allows you to hear the sounds and view the
animation of the Pictograph Cave web site -- a feature important to emerging
learners. From the System Requirements page in the Pictograph Cave
Educational Field Trip, scroll down the page to the Get Shockwave
icon 
.
Clicking on the icon takes you to the Macromedia Shockwave Download
Center at the Macromedia site (http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download).
Follow the simple step-by-step instructions on this page. If you have questions or difficulty downloading the Shockwave plug-in, consult the Installation Support section for more information (http://www.macromedia.com/support/shockwave/).
Downloading Adobe's Acrobat Reader is very similar to downloading Shockwave.
Now you are ready to begin exploring the Pictograph Cave web site.
How do I navigate the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip?
From the Pictograph Caves Educational Field Trip Home Page (http://pictographcave.org/educate/rock_art.html), you are able to access the various areas of the field trip which are described below.
Student Field Trip 
:
Provides access to the student-oriented interface
of the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip. Interface
is a fancy word for what you see on your computer screen - the visual
rendition (windows, menus, words, pictures, etc.) of the information that
is stored inside the computer as digital data.
The interface in the Field Trip is designed to engage students in independent discovery of various historic, scientific and geographic content through the use of photographic collages, illustration, text, animation, and audio.
Student Work: Takes you to pages where students have submitted poems, stories and other related work. (You may send materials in to be posted here.)
Guest Book: We encourage you to enter your, your class, and/or your school name here.
Chat: Look for the introduction of on-line discussion groups with archaelogical conservators, American Indians, geologists, students from around the world, and more in the months to come. If you would like to design a curriculum to include an on-line chat, please contact the Educational Field Trip Webmaster. All chats will completely secure and by appointment only.
Related Sites: Helps you and students find other web sites with related information.
System Requirements: Details specific requirements that must be met to receive full benefit from the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip.
Site Map: Provides a map of how the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip is organized. The map contains some links that will take you directly to the specific page.
How to Use this Web Site: Links to the tutorial that you are in right now.
Educators'/Parents' Site: Provides educators a master text by subject area, which enables them to develop lesson plans around the content that students might discover as they travel the field trip. Also provides lesson plans and materials for research as they become available.
E-Mail: We welcome comments and/or questions.
Credits: Describes the project team and grant that made the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip a reality.
Let's practice using the site map to navigate around the web site
You reached the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip in one of several ways. To familiarize yourself with all of the areas of the site, however, you will want to access the Site Map. If you are not at the Field Trips's Home Page, (http://www.pictographcave.org/educate/rock_art.html), go there now.
If you can't see the Site Map
icon 
,
scroll down until you can. Maneuver your mouse until the pointer rests
on the Site Map icon. Click your mouse key to go to the map.
The Site Map is exactly that -- a map of how the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip is organized. Notice the areas that you can access from the Field Trip Home Page. Observe how the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip can be accessed from these pages as well as Lesson Plans and miscellaneous information, such as Bibliography and Photographs. You may choose to print this page out for future reference. To print it, follow the instructions earlier in this tutorial for printing out pages. Remember that you are able at any time to print out any of the pages of the web site. We will explore the Student Field Trip next.
Beginning the Student Field Trip
The Student Field Trip is the focal point of this web site. All of the other activities, information and lesson plans stem from it. It provides access to the student-oriented interface of the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip. Interface is a fancy word for what you see on your computer screen - the visual rendition (windows, menus, words, pictures, etc.) of the information that is stored inside the computer as digital data.
The interface in the Field Trip is designed to engage students in independent discovery of various historic, scientific and geographic content through the use of photographic collages, illustration, text, animation, and audio.
To access the field trip from
anywhere in the Pictograph Cave web site, find and click on the Student
Field Trip icon 
.
It sometimes appears in black type, sometimes in red type, depending on
where you are. This takes you to the introductory page of the field trip.
If you have correctly installed the Shockwave plug-in, you will notice a cartoon-like character (the narrator for the field trip) on the left side of the window. If the movie that the plug-in allows you to see is still loading into your computer's memory, you will see the word Loading next to the narrator. Eventually, the movie will finish loading into memory, and the buttons will appear. They are just like the buttons you might find on a VCR or tape player. These buttons allow you to hear the voice of archeological conservator Claire Dean, the narrator. If you click on the forward button, the narrator will begin speaking. You will notice that the narrator also moves as she speaks. Follow what she is saying by reading the red text.
 |
NOTE: Depending on web activity, your modem speed, and your service provider's capabilities, it may take several minutes to load this audio. You may wish to perform this task before class time, and then it will re-play from your computer's memory the next time you activate the "Forward" button.
|
If you have not previously installed the Shockwave plug-in, and wish to do so now, refer to the instructions earlier in this tutorial.
If necessary, use the scroll
bar to scroll down the page as you read. Scroll back up the page to the
narrator. If you would like to stop the narrator's voice, click on the
stop button 
.
You are also able to rewind by clicking on the rewind button
and allow the narration to resume by clicking on the forward button.
How does the student field trip work?
After you have listened to the narration, scroll back up to the top of the page. Click on the Student Field Trip icon on the left hand side of the page, under the narrator. This takes you to the first station, or stop, on the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip. There are seven stations in the field trip.
The Student Field Trip is divided into seven parts, or stations, which explore the various aspects of Pictograph Cave State Park, physically, as you would if you actually visited the park, and through the power of the Internet, historically, socially and scientifically. The general layout of each of the seven stations is the same and contains the following elements:
STATION ICONS: You will notice on the left hand side that there are several prehistoric looking drawings with the words Pictograph Cave. These drawings are actually icons -- one for each of the seven stations of the field trip. To move from station to station, simply click on one of these drawings. These icons are intentionally not labeled by text, in the hopes that the student's curiosity for the mysterious guide him or her.
IMAGE MAP: Next to the station icons is an image map. You will notice several different images that make up a larger collage that is representaive of the content provided at that station. And, each of the images in the collage is related to one of the several questions posed at the bottom of the first page of each station. By clicking on the various images in the collage, you are taken to a new page for each question. Here you find the question with its corresponding answer. When available, you also find the option to obtain more information on specific topics through the More Info button. There are between three and five questions posed at each station. You may view a master list of all questions by subject area by following the links in the Educators' and Parents' Site.
NAVIGATION BAR: The section to the right of the image map allows you to move to another area of the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip. These areas are: Student Field Trip, Student Work, Related Sites, Site Map, Educators'/Parents' Site and Field Trip Home Page.
You will notice that the narrator, a station number and description, and questions appear below the image map and to the left at every station. On the first page of each station, the narrator does not speak, nor are you able to access the answers to the station's questions by clicking on the list of questions. The answers must be found by clicking on the images in the collage, or image map, at the top of the page.
Let's practice using a page of the student field trip
Notice that if you scroll down the page of station #1, you are able to read the questions. There are five questions at this station. That means there are five images in the image map that link to pages that answer these questions.
To access an answer, maneuver
your pointer over the ancient turtle drawing 
in
the image map. Click on the drawing. Now, you are on the page that answers
the question: What makes this park special? If you have correctly
installed the Shockwave plug-in, you
will notice the narrator on the left side of the window. If the movie
that the plug-in allows you to see is still loading into your computer's
memory, you will see the word Loading next to the narrator. Eventually,
the movie will finish loading into
memory, and the buttons will appear. They are just like the buttons you
might find on a VCR or tape player. These buttons allow you to hear the
voice of archeological conservator Claire Dean, the narrator. The movie
always rewinds to the start position when you leave the page or finish
playing the narration.
If you have not previously installed the Shockwave plug-in, and wish to do so now, refer to the instructions earlier in this tutorial.
If you visit several pages with questions on them, you will notice that a new browser window opens and remains on your computer screen as you move on. This allows you to refer back to related questions. However, you may experience some computer instability if you have a limited amount of RAM available to the browser. If this happens, closing some of the previous windows as you leave them.
Also, notice that under the narrator there is an icon More Information: Social Studies.
SOCIAL STUDIES
As you scroll down the More Information: Social Studies page, you will notice that the questions from each of the seven stations, with additional pertinent social studies information are listed and more documented research is presented.
Scroll back up to the top of this section where you will notice that social studies materials for each of the stations of the educational field trip can be accessed from here by using the numbered hypertext links. Also, notice that on the left hand side of the page, you can access additional Documents, Photographs and a Bibliography for each station.
To return to the student field trip, simply close this window of your browser. You can also return to the Student Field Trip by moving the More Info page to one side to view the Student Field Trip page that you were at. A third way is to use the hypertext link at the beginning of each station's text on the More Info page to return to any of the stations of the Student Field Trip.
For the purpose of following the tutorial, return to station #1 and try one more question. Click on the stage coach and horses image. As the new page appears, notice that the station #1 icon always appears before the question. This is the same icon which appears in the Station Icons for station #1. This time the question is Who lived here long after the ancient people left?
Notice as you read along with the narrator that eventually the text turns to black. This indicates that this portion of text is not narrated. Otherwise, this page works just like the previous question.
Now, let's move to another
station within the student field trip. To access station #2, click on
the station icon drawing that looks like this 
.
This station works just like station #1.
Let's practice using the Educators'/Parents' pages
There are several ways to access
the Educators'/Parents' Site, depending on where you are in the
site. Find the icon named Educators' and Parents' Site or Educators'
Site at any of the stations. 
.
Click on the icon.
Now, you are at the Educators/Parents Site. Read the text that describes what is available to teachers and parents through this group of pages. You will notice that there is an icon on the page called the Guide to the Student Field Trip.
Using your mouse, position your pointer on the Guide to Student Field Trip icon
Guide to the
and click your mouse. This
takes you to the Student Field Trip - Guide To Educators. Here
you will find icons indicating the subject areas available for your review.
They are Content, Lesson Plans, Bibliography and
Resources. For now, place the arrow over the Content icon
and click.
On the Content page, you are presently able to access two subject areas: Social Studies and Science. As more information becomes available, other subject areas may be added.
Position the pointer over the words Social Studies and click. This takes you to the a master page that contains all the Social Studies-related content that students might obtain by using the Student Field Trip picture collages.
The next action marks your first backward movement in the site. Locate the tool bar at the top of your browser window. Position the pointer over the Back button and click. This takes you back to the previous page. To go back to the Social Studies page, click the Forward button. Then, use the Back button to access the Content page again.
Notice how the words Social Studies now appear in purple on the Content page. The purple indicates that you have previously accessed this particular page.
Notice that Social Studies materials for each of the stations of the educational field trip can be accessed from here as well by using the numbered hypertext links near the top of the page.
Also, notice that on the left hand side of the page, you can access additional information by using the More Info button. If you follow this link, you will come to the same area of the web site as the students arrive at by using the More Info button found in the Student Field Trip. And from the More Info pages, you can access the same related Photographs, Documents and a Bibliography.
If you have used the More Info button, return to the Content by Study Area page by using the Back button of your browser.
A button named Lesson Plans is also presented on the left side of the Content by Study Area page. If you follow this link, you will find that there are currently no lesson plans available. If you wish, you may send related Lesson Plans to the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip Team for review and possible inclusion in the site.
That's all there is to running the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip. There is however, lots more information to be discovered, including related sites, resources, and lots more content. You should review the other sections at your leisure until you become comfortable presenting the information available to your students.
If you would like to become more familiar with the web site, practice using the features outlined in this tutorial until you become confident. After you feel comfortable moving around the site, you'll see just how easy it is to operate a web site. To close the site completely, scroll down under the word File in your browser's Tool Bar to the word Close or Quit.
How do I add this web site to my Favorites or Bookmarks list for easy future reference?
If you would like to have easy access to this web site, click on the button in your browser's Tool Bar entitled Favorites or Bookmarks while you have the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip Home Page open. Your browser will automatically add it to a pull-down list of frequently visited sites. Now, when you open your web browser, simply locate the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip in the pull-down list and click on the name. It will take you to the site's Field Trip Home Page.
If you have comments about how other educators can use this web site in their classroom, please e-mail the Pictograph Cave Educational Field Trip Team.