My Final WebQuest is complete!

Check it out! I have finally finished completing my first WebQuest!

Here is the link to my site. It was a HUGE project, but I am glad I have this as a resource. It was so much fun and I cannot wait to see the final product in action. I am looking forward to testing my ideas out on students. I hope that they find this project useful and meaningful, because of the implications water scarcity has on Earth now. I am not sure if humans really realize just how much water we use everyday! And the more products that we demand (food and materialistic items) then the more that is being used. Those who have water tend to take it for granted, and those without water get taken for granted (from millions dying of water borne diseases). It is a serious problem that we need to face for our future before Armageddon really does exist. Reaching out to 1 person can make a difference.

Here is the video that explains my creation:

Quantitative & Qualitative Grading

Image by: Sal Falko

When it comes to creating rubrics for students, it is important to include the quantitative and qualitative aspects. I never understood what makes an A, an A because there are so many other aspects to consider when grading the quality and quantity of one’s work. As a student myself, I sometimes find it frustrating the way some teachers grade, and I am always questioning for an explanation. This is probably one of the most important reasons to create a clear rubric, which indicates whether the student is exceeding, meeting or not meeting the criteria.

Well, I finally created my first rubric. Out of all of my education major courses, I have not yet been assigned to create a rubric, although I have seen them many times. The rubric I created was for a problem based learning project I have been creating on water resources. I choose to have the students perform a final presentation either live or on video to present their solutions. Several portions of my rubric include both quantitative and qualitative grading.  The portions that are graded include: graphic organizer, visual graphs and data charts, presentation content, and oral presentation. They all include descriptive information that represents the quality of their work. Some portions also include a quantity, for instance, visual graphs and data charts. Students are to complete a certain number of this product in order to meet criteria. If the student goes beyond that number, they are obviously exceeding. If the student does not meet all the criteria, then they will lose points based on their situation. To make it easy, I just included point sections for exceeds, meets and does not meet criteria with exceeds being the highest weighted. If the student does exactly what is expected of them, then they will only receive a B. If the student puts in more effort and goes above the expectations, then the student will have achieved an A with outstanding effort.  I feel like if a student just shows up to school and does their work, then did a good job, but could have done better; hence the reason for a B. There are more details to my rubric, so I will just include a picture if you want to look it over.

Grading can become a sensitive subject, and the information should clearly indicate as to what constitutes the grade received. Once students know what is expected of them, they have a higher chance of aiming for those A’s.

Related articles

• The trouble with grading rubrics (sociobiology.wordpress.com)
• Creating a Presentation Rubric (amsulzbach.wordpress.com)

Project Based Learning – “Fly Me to the Moon Travel Agency.”

Astronomy is another one of my favorite Science subjects. It just seems so amazing that we live on a little planet in a HUGE world. The project I choose was “Fly Me to the Moon Travel Agency.” I did a group project something similar to this in an Astronomy class I took a few semesters ago. It was a little more intense than this project but it basically entailed traveling to an expo-planet. As a travel agency group, we had to design a brochure explaining why traveling to our planet was the best. Not only did we have to study the conditions of the planet, but we also needed to know how we could travel (without taking years). It was fun and I think that students would love doing something like this.

Anyways, the project I choose is designed for Kindergartners and it helps them understand a little more about our moon. Students in this project research the moon (i.e. conditions, distance), and also understand traveling methods and materials. Similar to my experience, this scenario also has students design their own travel agency. The driving question for this project is, “What are the essential things we need to know for moon travel?” First, students take a virtual trip to the moon. (The tour wasn’t strictly limited to the moon. It only allows you to be there for a few seconds and then travels to other random space locations.) Additionally, a representative from AAA will come in and help talk about the designing a trip to the moon. Students will be creating a book answering basic facts about the moon and what people would need. Additionally, students make pictures, spaceships (rockets), or spacesuits. There are several embedded websites that allow students to explore and learn more facts to develop their own ideas. There are also several books that are included along with encyclopedias and a dictionary. Students will work in groups of 4 to answer these questions in their book. How long will it take you to get to the moon? What will you need to take with you? What will you see and do after your arrival?

In Kindergarten, students only know that the moon exists and is easily seen at night. Prior to the project, students should understand that the moon is reflected by the sun, travels around earth and changes shape because of the shadows created. During the projects students will learn the various conditions of the moon including temperature and environmental conditions (no wind, rocky). They will be able to describe those characteristics and different phases of the moon and know what accommodations are needed. The students are also using software to create their book (Kids Pix), websites to research and videos of the moon which helps prepare them with technology literacy.

The standards for this project include identifying objects in the sky, using sources to gather information, using new vocabulary, writing methods for expression, demonstrating an understanding for good team work and recognizing models are representations of real things. The rubric includes content and ideas (using prior knowledge, gaining new knowledge and applying it in real world activities), organization (sequence of travel), style/voice (using adjectives or descriptive sentences), and conventions (integrating ELA, English Language Arts).

I think this project is a great way to familiarize the younger students with our sky. It also helps students put real world activities in to context so they can use and apply their knowledge in situations. It also helps familiarize students with technology and provides literacy of computer skills. Very interesting and fun!

If you would like to view the project, here is the website.

http://wveis.k12.wv.us/teach21/public/project/Guide.cfm?upid=3266&tsele1=3&tsele2=100