|
Welcome to Australia. We hope you enjoy your stay. A second grade webquest on the states and mainland territories of Australia
Introduction
| Learners | Process
|Resources | Evaluation
| Conclusion
| Credits | Student
Page
This lesson will cover all the states and mainland territories of Australia. Different aspects of each region will be researched and presented. Categories include weather, basic facts, people and culture, and any unique characteristics of the region. I proposed to the students that I am visiting Australia but only have a short time to spend in the country and need to know what state or territory I should spend my time visiting. Another important aspect of the lesson is that the students are introduced to responsibilities of group work and learn how to manage projects to completion. This is most likely a new level of expectation to second graders and gets them prepared for more of this style of instruction at future grade levels. This lesson may also involve students learning how to build presentations in various manors such as powerpoint, poster work or any of style of presentation they choose to use for this assignment. Learners This lesson can easily be translated to many other grade levels and subjects. In the social studies area it can be used for any area of study. You can break any area of study down into different regions and assign students to groups. Before giving this lesson it is important that students have been introduced to Australia, identified it as a continent, and have some background information on Australia as a country. This will aide the students in their research pursuits. Standards  This webquest encompasses the following Oregon benchmark standards for elementary studies. • Understand the purpose of maps, globes and other geographic tools • Identify major physical features and describe how they are represented on maps, globes, and other tools • Identify physical characteristics of places and compare them • Understand how peoples' lives are affected by the physical environment • Identify and analyze cause and effect relationships in history • Identify and represent chronological relationships and patterns of change and continuity over time • Understand the importance and lasting influence of issues, events, people and developments in world history • Gather information relating to an issue or problem • Identify how people or living things might be affected by an event. issue, or problem • Identify possible options or responses; then make a choice or express an opinion • Recognize physical differences on Earth • Explore aspects of the creative process and the effect of different choices on one's work The Process The states and territories are: • Western Australia • Northern Territory • South Australia • Queensland • New South Wales • Victoria • Tasmania There are five categories that I would like each group to research for their area and then present to the class. There will also be a conclusion to their project that will include reasons why I should visit their state or territory. The reason I chose this conclusion is because I would like to see how the students reflect on their experience. For each category I would like the group to find a minimum of five facts to share. The five categories are • Facts you would like to share about the state or territory • Information on the people and culture of the region • History of the region • Description of the weather for the region • Things to see or do in that region Remind the groups that they need to divide the work up among all the students and make sure that everyone has a role. I plan to find a little time to spend with each group on the first day to make sure that this occurs and that they understand how to move forward. When day two of the project comes around I will be doing my own presentation of the Australian Capital territory. This is a territory that will not be assigned to any of the groups and this way I can model the presentation to the students. On this day I will also plan for lots of questions and hopefully students will get a sense of what they are looking for in their research for their own presentations. It is probably helpful to have a day to go to the library as a class and have the librarian show the students how to pull a few resources from the library. I will also book time in the computer lab so that students can each have access to their own computer to explore the web resources. I plan to send a letter home to parents with the webquest information and encourage them to allow students to explore the resources at home. The projects are a large scale undertaking for students of this age. I am going to ask about getting some parent involvement for the days when the students are working on presentations. I will not allow the students to move on to the project work until the research portion is completed and the students feel it is the best work they can complete. I feel that any teacher at any level can complete this project. There are couple of elements that are important for the teacher to make happen for execution of a successful project. You must be very patient and allow the students the levity to make some mistakes. Help them to learn from their mistakes and stay organized. The students will be disorganized themselves, it is important that you maintain an agenda. You will need several days to plan and implement the projects.
Here is a list of web resources that students can use for their research of their groups state or territory. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/Australia/Ausmap.shtmlhttp://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/index.htm http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/facts.htm#cit http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/facts.htm#ne http://www.wilmap.com.au/ausfacts.html http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/intro.html http://www.aussie-info.com/identity/index.php http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travelaustralia/index.html?source=G1700 http://www.australianfauna.com/ https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/as.html Western Australia - http://www.westernaustralia.com/en/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Australia http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/wa.html Northern Territory - http://www.travelnt.com/en/ http://www.about-australia.com/northern-territory/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territory http://www.northernterritory.com/northernterritory/index.htm South Australia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australia http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/sa/ http://www.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/sa.html Queensland - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensland http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/qld.html http://www.about-australia.com/about.htm New South Wales - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales http://www.visitnsw.com.au/ http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/nsw.html Victoria - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(Australia) http://www.visitvictoria.com/ http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/vic.html Tasmania - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmania http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/tas.html http://www.about-australia.com/tas.htm I feel that I need to cover the expectations of the project throughout the entire process. I will start with the introduction to the project and what I hope the class will accomplish. Then once the class is divided into groups I will cover group expectations. I have decided to cover presentation expectations as a class before students begin to pull their work together. I also think it is important to give students a group grade and an individual grade so that they can see how their effort related to the group.
I feel that this project will help to increase the ability and esteem in my second grade students' classwork. I believe they are up to the challenge and that I will be pleased with the quality of their presentations. My objective is to have my students be able to identify the states and mainland territories of Australia and be able to tell me at least three things about that region. Although the information required for students to research is not extensive the overall process will be challenging and will contribute to major academic growth for my students. Many thanks to the following for image use: www.worldstats.orggoaussie.blogspirit.com www.cyborlink.com www.amitybungalows.com.au images.nationmaster.com www.languagesabroad.com www.sweetmarias.com A special thanks to Dr. Mark Bailey at Pacific University for use of his web templates and rubrics for building this webquest. |
