lesson_plan

WebQuest Lesson Plan

Type of lesson: WebQuest

Lesson Plan Title: Junior Zoologist

Discipline and Topic: Science and Technology

Target population: 20 first graders, majority white, minority Chinese and Indian, upper middle class

Lesson grouping: five groups of four

Curriculum links:

NYS MST Stardard 4 - The Living Environment - Key Idea 1,2, 3
First grade science curriculum - animal life cycle

Objectives:

students will be able to recognize the main characteristics of animal groups and determine what group a specific animal belongs to
students will be able to conduct online research
students will be able to work in a small group to create a power point or poster presentation
students will be able to orally present their findings

Media Literacy Objectives

students will be able to use search engine to locate and access remote information
students will be able to work cooperatively using technology

Materials and Timing

a computer with projector for whole group instructions
a computer for each group of students with access to Internet
a printer
materials for creating poster boards
access to Kidspiration software
video camera

Day 1
Introductory lesson 20 minutes of whole group instructions
10 minutes for teams step one (creating teams and assigning team jobs)
20 minutes for step 2 (research one animal group)

Day 2
10 minutes for finish team research
30 minutes for creating a power point presentation or a poster

Day 3
50 minutes team presentations, five 10-minute presentations including questions
10 minutes for individual animal quiz
10 minutes for self-evaluation and teammates evaluation essay

Scope and Sequence

Day 1

Read Animal Kingdom WebQuest Introduction, Tasks, and Process. Check for understanding, answer questions.
Divide students into groups, assign a job to each student, teams decide whether they will create a poster or power point presentation
Discuss expectations for today

group divides into two pairs
one pair researches animal group on Animal Exploration website for interesting fact and prints out (or saves) pictures of animals
the other pair prints out and solves a life cycle worksheet and start Kidspiration Concept Map.

Day 2

Review objectives of the WebQuest
Review what was done in previous lesson
Discuss expectations for today

finish Kidspiration Concept Map
start and finish power point presentation or a poster
practice presenting

Day 3

Review objectives of the WebQuest
Review expectations of team presentation
Read Team Evaluation form
Teams present their posters or power point presentations
Students make notes on Team evaluation form
Teacher videotapes the presentation

After all presentations are done:

Each student conducts the Animal Quiz online
Each student writes an essay about the WebQuest experience (self-evaluation and evaluation of the teammates)
The class solves the Mystery Animal Question - Platypus http://www.pbs.org/kratts/world/aust/plat/index.html

Supplemental Materials
material for creating poster presentations (markers, glue, scissors, pencils, poster board, colored paper)
Animal Encyclopedia and student's dictionary

Evaluation of the students

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4
Classroom presentation (group grade)	Student does not participate in classroom presentation	Student participate in a team presentation passively or after being prompted by teammates or a teacher	Student participate in team presentation but does not volunteer to answer questions	Student actively participate in a team presentation and volunteers to answer questions
Mystery Animal Quiz (individual grade)	Student did not complete animal quiz	Student started the quiz but did not finish or made two mistakes	Student finished the quiz correctly but did not print out the result page	Student finished the quiz and printed out the final page
Evaluating of other teams (individual grade)	Student did not complete evaluation of other teams			Student completed evaluation of other teams
Self-evaluation (individual grade)	Student did not complete self-evaluation			Student completed self-evaluation
Peer-evaluation (individual grade)	Student did not complete evaluation of team mates			Student completed evaluation of team mates

Evaluation of the Lesson

The effectiveness of the lesson will be determined by observation and anecdotal recording on how many students were able to follow the WebQuest objectives and tasks. The success of the lesson will be judged by the quality and accuracy of actual oral presentations of the groups. This presentation should demonstrate whether the students could work together as a group. The anecdotal observation of active involvement of individual students in creating the presentation will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the learning differentiation for each student's strengths and abilities.

The next assignment will aimed towards researching animal adaptation to environment.