Designed by Julia E. Leffelman  and Jill M. Schmidt

Introduction

This WebQuest was developed as part of the requirements for the Aurora University/Kane County (IL) Regional Office of Education course, "Infusing Engaged Learning with Technology Using WebQuests", class number OEDS5023. The class was in attendance July 31 through August 4, 2000, under the guidance of Brian Booth and Richard Levine.

The purpose of this WebQuest is to present students with the opportunity to investigate and analyze circumstances surrounding severe weather, specifically tornadoes and hurricanes.  Students will explore the physical properties of both tornadoes and hurricanes to gain an understanding of the paths in which they travel and the destruction they leave behind. Students will compare the relative dangers of each and make a determination about which geographic region in which a museum should be built; one prone to tornadoes or one prone to hurricanes.

Content Area and Grade Level

This WebQuest was originally created for use with third and fourth grade students, but could be used with students of all ages.  Science is the foundation of this lesson which also involves: language arts, math, geography, and history.

Curriculum Standards

This lesson addresses the following Illinois state goals:

Science

Illinois State Goal 11:  Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design to investigate questions, conduct experiments, and solve problems.
Illinois State Goal 12:  Understands the fundamental concepts, principles, and interconnnections of the life, physical, and earth/space sciences.
Illinois State Goal 13:  Understands the relationships among science, technology, and society in historical and contemporary contexts.

Language Arts

Illinois State Goal 2:  Read and understand literature representative of various societies, eras and ideas.

Social Studies

Illinois State Goal 17:  Understand world geography and the effects of geography on society, with an emphasis on the United States.

Math

Illinois State Goal 7:  Estimate, make, & use measurements of objects, quantities, & relationships and determine acceptable levels of accuracy.
Illinois State Goal 8:  Use algebraic & analytical methods to identify & describe patterns and relationship in data, solve problems & predict results.

Implementation Overview

This WebQuest was written for a combined class of third and fourth graders.  The project is expected to take four weeks utilizing three 40 minute sessions per week. During the first week, students will be introduced to the PowerPoint program and will be given the opportunity to apply it. During the second week, the students will be introduced to the concept of WebQuests and will be presented with the "Twisted Tornadoes and Horrid Hurricanes" WebQuest during whole class instruction. Also during this week, students will work on the tasks assigned by the Webquest. During the third week students will develop a PowerPoint production based on their findings. During the fourth week, they will present their products to the class.

Resources Needed

• Class set of computers
• TV with computer projection capabilities
• PowerPoint program
• Internet
• Reference materials

Entry Level Skills and Knowledge

In order to complete this WebQuest students will need a basic understanding of the PowerPoint program and the format of WebQuests.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated on their ability to formulate an opinion based upon facts that they have gathered during the WebQuest. The students will display their knowledge via a PowerPoint presentation which will be assessed with a rubric.

Conclusion
 In addition to the fact that this project meets curricular needs, it is also an ideal way to introduce students to Internet research due to the structured nature of WebQuests.

Contact

For further information about this WebQuest contact Julia Leffelman at jleffelman@burlington.k12.il.us or Jill Schmidt at jschmidt@burlington.k12.il.us .
 
 
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Compiled by Julia Leffelman and Jill Schmidt based on a template from The WebQuest Page and from work done by Dr. Bernie Dodge,- Tom Marsh, Ozline.com and Educational Service Center, Region 20,
San Antonio, TX and Who (http://put.%20                     .html).  Reprinted with permission.