What really happens when you open a website? Watch how a webpage loads, take control of the request, then rebuild the journey yourself.
🌐
Experiment one · Observe
Follow one website request
Choose a fictional address, then use Next step to watch the browser find and load a webpage. You control the pace.
Ready to browse?
Start the journey to see what happens behind the screen.
LIBRARY / BOOKS
💻Browser
🔎DNS
🗄️Web server
🌐Internet
● Standby. Follow the journey using the controls.
What's happening behind the scenes?
The browser is ready
A browser displays the resources it receives. It uses the internet's networking infrastructure to reach services such as DNS and web servers.
Key idea: the internet is the global network of networks. The World Wide Web is one service that uses it.
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Experiment two · Apply what you saw
Take control of a webpage request
The browser is waiting for your decisions. Choose the correct domain, DNS address, web server and response. Each choice makes the webpage journey continue. Your choices are saved in your lab notes.
🖥️Waiting for a webpageMake the right choices to load the site.
💻Browser
→
🔎DNS
→
🗄️Web server
→
🖥️Page
Remember: DNS supplies an address, the web server supplies resources, and the browser displays the finished page.
DECISION 1 OF 5
Which part of the URL is the domain?
The domain is the name DNS looks up.
Choose an answer to continue.
Your digital lab notes: The website keeps a record of which options you chose, what you corrected and which webpage you loaded. Use Copy my notes or Download notes in Experiment 3 to save your evidence into your own Google Doc. No personal information is collected.
Experiment three · Apply
Rebuild the website journey
The steps have been mixed up! Click each step in the correct order to place it into the sequence. Then test your model.
Independent evidence: In your own Google Doc, draw the journey and explain what DNS supplies, what the web server supplies, and which program displays the page. Your diagram must include the browser, URL, DNS and web server.
My individual investigation notesGenerated from your choices