Today you will
- narrow a Google search with five search controls
- ask an AI tool a question and check its sources
- build a Search Cheatsheet in your {{code:Project_Portfolio}} folder
If you don't have an investigation topic yet, use Work Experience rights, apprenticeship entry or local club funding today.
Warm-up
Think about the last time you searched for something important. Did you just click the first result?
Search operators are short codes you type into Google to narrow your results. Two examples are {{code:site:gov.ie}} and {{code:filetype:pdf}}.
Quotes keep words together as one phrase. A minus sign removes results with a word you don't want, like {{code:-fixture}}.
AI search writes an answer for you, with links to its sources.
To verify means to open one of those sources and check that the AI got it right.
Your cheatsheet layout
You will copy this into your own document later.
Table 1: Traditional operators
| Operator | My query | What it found |
|---|---|---|
| {{code:site:}} | {{code:VAT threshold sole trader site:revenue.ie}} | Official Revenue pages only |
| {{code:filetype:pdf}} | {{code:VAT sole trader filetype:pdf site:revenue.ie}} | Downloadable leaflets |
| quotes | {{code:"VAT registration threshold" Ireland}} | Exact phrase kept together |
| exclude (-) | {{code:VAT sole trader -UK -Britain}} | Irish results, UK noise reduced |
| Tools → Past year | Same query, date limited | Fresher guidance only |
Table 2: AI prompts and verify
| Prompt | Source opened | Held up, partly or failed, and why |
|---|---|---|
| What is the current VAT registration threshold for a sole trader in Ireland? Cite official sources only. | revenue.ie guidance page | Held up. The figure matched the page. |
When to use which: Official Irish fact: use traditional {{code:site:}} or {{code:filetype:}} first. Quick overview: use an AI prompt, then verify.
Your teacher will show each search on the big screen first. Try it yourself, then wait for the next one. Follow the steps in the box below.
When you get to the AI tool, type this prompt:
Leave no space after a colon, so type {{code:grant site:gov.ie}}.
Common issues
- If {{code:site:}} still shows random blogs, take out any space after the colon, like {{code:grant site:gov.ie}}.
- If the minus sign does nothing, use a normal hyphen with no space after it, like {{code:-fixture}}.
- If an AI source link is broken, mark that prompt as did not hold up and open another source.
- If an AI tool is blocked, use the one on the board.
Independent Practice
- In {{code:Project_Portfolio/09_specialism/sm4/}}, make a document called {{code:sm4_search_cheatsheet}} and copy the two tables from Key concepts into it.
- Fill in the operator rows for your own topic, including exclude (-).
- For the date row, search your topic in Google and click {{btn:Tools}}. Then change {{btn:Any time}} to {{btn:Past year}}.
- Add three AI prompts. Open a source for each and write whether it held up.
- Add the when-to-use line at the bottom.
If you have no topic yet, use one from the Introduction.
- My cheatsheet is saved in {{code:09_specialism/sm4/}}.
- It has five operator rows on my own topic.
- It has three AI prompts, each with a check note.
- It has the when-to-use line.
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