http://www.mcs.k12.nc.us/wq/labarre/weather/index.htm
This webquest is an introductory unit to weather, and is aligned with SOL 2.6. The students have a “research sheet” that they fill out as they go along through the tasks. The students work with a partner and do many different tasks, including watching a BrainPop weather video, learning about precipitation, observing and graphing the weather where they live, making a thunderstorm and lightning, and writing a weather poem.
I really like this webquest for a few different reasons. It completely covers the SOL at hand, but gives the student the upper-hand in learning the information and getting interested into it. It also brings graphing and organizing information into the element of science, which is very important. Also, the students are immersed into the learning of weather and are able to interact with it through this activity.
In order to implement it, I would have to, first, be sure that all of the links work. When I went through to check this time, the one teaching about precipitation was not working. I would just have to replace the link with another equally representative site. The quest asks for the students to take a quiz on precipitation through the site, so I would try to find a site that has a quiz as awell, or just make a quiz myself. There would be some time needed for the quest because of the task that requires the student to observe the weather and make a graph (10 days). The best part is that it wouldn’t take alot of class time, just alot of student dedication to get it finished. I would have to be sure to make sure the students are staying on task and be sure that they are making the observations needed and everyday.
2 responses so far ↓
1
Karen R
// Mar 20, 2008 at 8:29 am
Nice review! You did hit on one problem with webquests. As they get older, the links may go bad and the creators don’t always go back and fix them. It’s important that you check them prior to having your students use them.
2
Karen R
// Mar 21, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I like this webquest idea. You’re right about the students taking the lead and it lets them use tools to track the weather. And, it’s so easy to find weather information on the web. When I used to do this kind of activity, we had to send someone to the library to read the printed newspaper!
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