M_Castaneda_Project_Final_WebQuest

INTRODUCTION

This assignment is going to give us an opportunity to learn more interesting facts about our solar system.  In order to share what we learn with our fellow students, we are going to create a book about the solar system.  For this project we are going to be working in groups of 2 or 3 and each group will make a separate page of the book.  Each group will be assigned a different part of the solar system to look up, gather pictures of and interesting facts about.  The different parts of the solar system that will be researched are the sun, the moon, the planets, asteroids, comets, and Earth.



TASK

Each group will be preparing a page of our solar system book.  You will use this Webquest and the links I have provided for you to find information about your part of the solar system.

When creating your page of the book, you will need to include the following:

ü  The name of the part of the solar system that you are researching

ü  A picture of your part of the solar system

ü  Some interesting facts about your part of the solar system

ü  Your name at the bottom of the page

 

PROCESS

We will first break up into groups of 2 or 3.

I will then provide each group with a part of the solar system to research.

Your group will then use the computer to look up the links I have provided to find information and a picture for your page.

You need to find some interesting facts about your part of the solar system.  Some interesting facts might include:

ü  What happens to the sun at night?

ü  In what order are the planets?

ü  What is the sun made of?

ü  What covers Pluto?

Print out a copy of your picture to paste to your page.

Write some interesting facts about your part of the solar system on your page.  Please provide at least 3 interesting facts.

Write each of your names at the bottom of the page.

Below is a list of links that you may use for your research:

Sun:                http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/psgk3sun.htm

                        http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/sun_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/our_sun.htm

                        http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/sun.html

Planets:            http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/psgk3ex.htm#,

                        http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/solarsys_kids.cfm

                        http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/planets.html

Earth:              http://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpower/earth.html

                        http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/earth_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/earth.htm

Asteroids:        http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/asteroids_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/asteroid.htm

                        http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/asteroids.html

Comets:           http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/comets_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/comets.htm

            http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/comets.html

Moon:             http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/moon_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/earth/moons.htm

                        http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/moon.html

EVALUATION

	Exemplary	Excellent	Acceptable	Not Acceptable	Score
Quality and appropriateness of picture utilized	The picture was appropriate, correctly labeled and was neatly. 6 points	The picture was appropriate, labeled and for the most part neatly. 5 points	The picture was appropriate but not labeled and was somewhat sloppy. 4 points	The picture was not appropriate, was not labeled and was sloppy. 3 points
Interesting facts	Facts provided exceeded the required three and were relevant. 6 points	Facts were provided as specified and relevant. 5 points	Required amounts of facts were not provided but were relevant. 4 points	Required amounts of facts not provided and were not relevant. 3 points
Grammar and Spelling	There were no mistakes in spelling or grammar. 6 points	There were three or less mistakes in spelling or grammar. 5 points	There were five or more mistakes in spelling or grammar. 4 points	There were more than five mistakes in spelling or grammar. 3 points
Use of links provided	Students were able to access links without any assistance. 6 points	Students accessed links with minimal assistance. 5 points	Students accessed links with frequent assistance. 4 points	Students could not access links without assistance. 3 points
Neatness and Layout	Page was neat, clear and careful thought given to layout. 6 points	Page was neat, clear, and layout was logical. 5 points	Page was mostly clear, mostly neat but layout lacked organization. 4 points	Page was sloppy and layout was haphazard. 5 points
Student names	All students' names were provided. 6 points	Most of the students' names were provided. 5 points	Some of the student names were provided. 4 points	No students' names were provided. 3 points

CONCLUSION

This project has been a great way to explore our solar system!  We have been able to learn what things make up our solar system.  We have also learned where in the solar system we live.

Did you find our exploration interesting?

What part of the solar system would you like to visit if you could?

What things did you learn about the solar system?

What was the most interesting thing you learned about the solar system?



CREDITS

Sun:                http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/psgk3sun.htm

                        http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/sun_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/our_sun.htm

                        http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/sun.html

Planets:            http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/psgk3ex.htm#,

                        http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/solarsys_kids.cfm                        http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/planets.html

Earth:              http://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpower/earth.html

                        http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/earth_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/earth.htm

Asteroids:        http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/asteroids_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/asteroid.htm                     http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/asteroids.html

Comets:           http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/comets_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/comets.htm

            http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/comets.html

Moon:             http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/moon_kids.cfm

                        http://www.kidsastronomy.com/earth/moons.htm

                        http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/moon.html

ClipArt:          http://www.webweaver.nu/



TEACHER PAGE

As part of my second grade class' study of the solar system, I found and adopted a project for creating a book about our solar system.  As part of creating a book, groups of students must find the content to provide for their individual pages of the book as per teacher instructions.  This project, therefore, allows the students to use higher order thinking skills in the layout of their page, creativity in selecting an appropriate picture for their page, become more apt in utilizing technology in research, as well as enhancing collaboration skills.  It also increases student motivation by allowing the students to take charge of their learning.  This project covers Benchmark #SC.K.P.8.1.



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