Chinese Dragons
A WebQuest on Ancient China Designed by
Rachel Oakes
Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page Imagine being in China during the Chinese New Year with great preparations and decorations. The streets are buzzing with everyone in town getting their errands finished before the New Year begins, their thoughts are for starting fresh in the New Year. The houses are decorated with red and gold, with elaborate meals surrounded by family and friends. The parades through the streets create such excitement in the air, with great music, laughter and cheers throughout the crowds. The most anticipated part of the parade is the great dancing dragon gliding through the streets of town. You will be researching, learning and then applying your knowledge on an aspect of Chinese culture.Through this you will be able to use technology along with getting the opportunity to explore Chinese dragons individually. The task will be for the you to investigate Chinese dragons, compare the differences between the dragons from eastern and western cultures. Then create a dragon to be a representation of what you learned. We will be exploring the dragon's role in Chinese culture, such as dragons in art, dragons in the Chinese New Year and Dragons in stories. The purpose of this webquest is to provide the history and importance of Dragons in China. You will be creating a dragon mask, dragon puppet or dragon painting and will have an understanding of the dragon's role in the Chinese culture. First, we will explore the different stories and histories of dragon in China compared to the dragons of western cultures. Then we will create a representation of a dragon to be shown in the Chinese New Year Parade. Finally we will write a story to go along with the dragon representation which will include the new information you learned through your investigation. The task explained above will be accomplished individually and will take about 3 days to accomplish if the lessons are 45 minutes long. You will explore the webquest for information on Chinese dragons and discover how dragons are involved in the everyday lives of the Chinese people and then you will compare the Chinese dragons to the image of dragons from western cultures that they have in your mind. Day 1: To get started you will need a few pieces of paper and a pencil. One piece of paper will be made into a chart similar to the one below. This chart should be filled out with the information found from each website visited.
With the other pieces of paper, you will do a quick sketch of a dragon at the beginning of the investigation and after each website visited. This will help you judge how you started out imagining dragons and then how your idea of dragon has changed through your investigation of Chinese dragons. For the investigation of the Chinese dragon please follow these links and make note:
Chinese Dragon Video Clip Information on Dragons Dragons in Chinese Art Chinese Dragon Legend Day 2: Then you will choose from three different art projects to create a dragon representation. Dragon Mask Materials needed:
You will each get a paper plate and have your drawings of your dragons on hand. Then you will then create a dragon mask using the plate as the face and construction paper, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks and string so you can wear the mask. This activity works best when you use your creativity. Dancing Dragon Puppet Materials needed:
You will need two sheets of construction paper, one for drawing the dragon head and tail on and one for the dragon body. Then you will draw the dragon head and tail, then color or paint the head and the tail and add glitter if desired. Then cut the head and tail out. The second piece of construction paper will be used for the body. Then you will fold the paper in half, hot dog style or along the long edge. Then cut along the fold, then glue both the long pieces together. Then you will fold the paper to create an accordion look, this allows the dragon to move and look like its dancing. Then the long accordion like body will be glued to both the head and the body. The popsicles will be glued on to become the legs. You can add eyes, feathers, or construction paper to create any look you would like that is similar to what you have seen in your investigation. Dragon Painting or drawing Materials needed:
You will need a piece of white paper and a pencil. You will then draw a dragon based on what they have learned through the webquest investigation. Then you will be able to decide what materials they would like to use on this project. Day 3: Now that you have done your investigation of dragons in Chinese culture; you have filled out the information chart and you have created your representation of a Chinese dragon, now it is time for you to write a short story about your dragon and including some information that you have learned through your search. You should use your art project and your information charts to begin writing your story. These stories should include these Chinese beliefs:
The students performance,
which includes the information chart, the art project and the story,
will be evaluated according to this rubric.
1 3 5 Score Through this investigation of Chinese dragon, you now have a better understanding of the Chinese culture, specifically about dragons in the Chinese culture. Y have explored a number of websites and were able to pull valuable information that was used in both an art representation and a short story. Dragon Image:www.draconika.com/ chinese.php Dancing Dragon Puppet: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/chinesenewyear/lion/
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