Webquest Teacher Page

Fire Mountains
A WebQuest on Volcanoes in the Pacific Rim
Teacher Page
A WebQuest for 4th grade students on Volcanoes
Designed by Erin Postma
post1770@pacificu.edu

About Me

My Philosophy of Education

Introduction

This lesson is designed to be a part of a unit on volcanoes for fourth grade students. Students do not need to have prior knowledge of volcanoes, but it would probably be useful if they had some sort of introduction to the different types of volcanoes.

This WebQuest has been designed to give students a deeper understanding of volcanoes, specifically active volcanoes found in the Pacific Rim region. The way this lesson is designed, students will work in small groups on a computer to go to linked websites and research a specific volcano. Once they've gathered all the required information they will design a poster as a group and present it to their classmates. You may allow a group of students to present their poster to you if they are nervous about presenting to their peers. By completing this lesson students will practice working cooperatively in groups, researching on the internet and their presentation skills.

Learners

This lesson is anchored in fourth grade science and involves social studies and English language arts. This lesson can easily be modified and used in a variety of other grade levels including 3rd, 5th and 6th grade.

Students will need to have a basic understanding of computer skills before beginning this lesson. It would be beneficial if they also have had prior experience navigating the Internet, but it is not necessary if they can easily get any help they may need. Exposure to volcano vocabulary would also be helpful before students start this lesson, but is not necessary.

Curriculum Standards

Throughout this lesson students will work towards meeting several Oregon State Standards for the 4th and 5th grades. These standards are listed below.

Science Standards Addressed:

Summarize, analyze, and interpret data from investigations.
Collect, organize, and summarize data from investigations.

Social Studies Standards Addressed:

Interpret data and chronological relationships presented in timelines and narratives.
Define basic geography vocabulary such as concepts of location, direction, distance, scale, movement, and region using appropriate words and diagrams.

Language Arts Standards Addressed:

Use of scoring guide to review, evaluate, and revise writing for meaning and clarity.

Students will also engage in a variety of other skills. These skills include critical thinking, inference-making, observation, investigation, teamwork, compromise, use of strategies and creative production.

Process

This lesson is organized into three steps. You should break this lesson into two days with about 30 minutes per lesson on each day. On the first day students will work on steps one and two. On the second day allow students to finish step two and move on to step three. The lesson may need to extend over three days so that the students have adequate time to do the research, create their poster and present their poster to the rest of the class.

Break the students into six groups, one for each volcano, and assigned each group a volcano. If you feel these groups are too big you may choose to create more groups and have some double up on volcanoes. I recommend randomly assigning students to these groups or creating groups with mixed ability level. Although only one computer, you may want to several computers for each group so that more than one student can use them at one time. Be aware that the more computers each group has to use, the less they'll most likely work as a team. Each group will need someone to keep track of the information they find. They can either do this on a blank piece of paper or you may print off this form for each group.

This lesson is easily taught by any year of teacher. A basic knowledge of computers and the internet is needed so that you can help students who may be struggling. Students may have a little bit of difficultly looking through the websites for the information that is required. Some students may have difficulty presenting their poster to the class. Offer students the choice of whether they present to the class or to you in private.

First you'll be assigned to a group of explorers. One of you will need to be the expert recorder of the group and will be responsible for either filling out a sheet your teacher provides you or writing down the important details your group discovers on your journey.
Your group will also be assigned to explore one of the volcanoes from the list below. To do this, you'll go to each website listed and search for the following details (your teacher may give you this form):

The country the volcano is in
The elevation of the volcano
What type of volcano it is
Date of last eruption
Something special about the volcano
What a volcano is
Anything else you'd like to note about your volcano

After you find the answers above, work as a team to create a poster so you can share your findings with your classmates. (You'll need to provide poster-sized paper and markers for each group. You may want to put a copy of the list above somewhere visible in the room so students don't need to be on the computer while working on their poster.) Your poster should include a drawing of the volcano you studied and numbers 1 through 5 from above. Your teacher may ask you to share your poster and your findings with the rest of the class.

All set and ready to go? Find your volcano and jump into your journey.

Here are the websites for each volcano. You may want to preview these sites so that you're familiar with the content.

Lascar

Mt. Fuji

Mt. Merapi

Mt. St. Helens

Rincon de la Vieja

White Island

Variations:
There are many ways to modify this lesson so that it fits well in your classroom. Group sizes can be modified to accomodate any size class. You may also choose to have students do this lesson individually, but be aware that if students work individually it will remove the teamwork aspect, and will mean you'll have to modify the evaluation. Students may either work on every part as a team, or may choose to assign each student a task or element to look for in a jigsaw manner.

Older students who have had a lot of experience with the web and searching for information could be asked to find one or two sites that aren't on the list above to get more information on their volcano. This would push increase their research skills by asking them to go out on their own to find sites rather than sticking to the sites that are already provided. If you ask students to do this please ask them to write down the full html address and the information they found there so that you can keep track of where they've gone and keep them from surfing the web.

Resources Needed

Below is a list of materials you will need in order to complete this lesson.

Six or more computers
Access to the internet
Six or more copies of the WebQuest form (if using)
Big paper for posters
Markers
Only one teacher is needed, but extra help may be useful

It is recommended that if you are taking your class to a computer lab to do the research you do have one extra adult to help with any problems that may arise. This other adult should also have basic computer skills and knowledge of the internet.

Evaluation

You'll be graded by your teacher as a group based on your group's performance. The rubric below will be used by your teacher to evaluate your performance. Your teacher may ask you to grade yourselves as well. In order to recieve a top grade each member of your group must work well with all the other members of your group. Your work must also be complete and contain each element listed under Process.

Please use the below rubric in order to score your students. This evaluation is meant to give students a group grade based on the group's performance. You may ask students to rate their own groups based on the rubric and use their evaluation as a part of your decision. Please look the rubric over before beginning the lesson. If you modify the lesson apply the appropriate changes to the rubric.

Beginning

1

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

Exemplary

4

Score

Information
is complete
and accurate

Only one or two facts were found. Three or four facts were found, not all were accurate. All elements were found, but not all are accurate. All elements were found and are accurate.

Use of websites listed

No websites were used. Only one website was used.
Two or three websites were used. All four websites were used.

Group's informational poster on their volcano

No poster was created.
Poster is created, but lacks important details.
Poster contains many important details, but lacks some elements. Poster contains all elements including drawing.

Presentation of poster
Group refusing to present poster. Presentation was disorganized and sloppy. Students rushed through it. Presentation was organized and all elements were talked about.
Presentation was well organized, covered all elements and all students participated.

Group cooperation
Students did not work in a group. Instead they worked individually. Students worked in a group, but not cooperatively. Students worked well together.
Students worked cooperatively as a group and shared ideas well.

Conclusion

Well done Boys and Girls. I hope you enjoyed your journey. You all now know a little about what volcanoes are and a lot about one specific volcano in the Pacific Rim region. You can do research on the Internet and demonstrate your understanding of volcanoes by creating a poster. Could you do it again with a different volcano this time? If you'd like to learn more about volcanoes check out the websites listed below.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/volcanoes/entry.html

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/

http://www.livescience.com/volcanoes/

This WebQuest engages students in a hands-on activity for learning about a specific volcano and what volcanoes are. Through completing this lesson students will also work on their technology skills, teamwork skills, presentation skills, public speaking ability and task completion. This lesson is designed to increase students' independence, group cooperation ability, and involves them in critical thinking and inferring.

Credits & References

References are listed below in the order that the pictures appear above.
http://oceansjsu.com/images/exp12_pac_volc.gif

http://www.travel-images.com/chile8.html

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/japan/mt-fuji.htm

http://newswire99.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html

http://www.stormcenter.com/media/envirocast/archive/040930/

http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/rincondelaviejanationalpark.html

http://www.photovolcanica.com/VolcanoInfo/White%20Island/White%20Island.html

Last updated on August 15, 1999. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page