Process: Teacher Notes

Preliminary Activities

These preliminary activities scaffold some of the concepts and vocabulary that students will need to complete this WebQuest. These activities will vary in length and time to complete depending upon the students within your class.  Since you know your students best, please assign and adjust the time according to whatever meets their individual needs. However, it is recommended that the related activities be completed soon after one another so students can integrate information from previous activities.

The Quest Process & Roles

Once your students have completed all of the Preliminary Activities, they are ready for the Quest. Click Quest Process & Roles for a detailed process of the Quest itself along with further information about the roles students in each group will take on. Before having students continue in the Quest, you should make sure that each group has been formed and has chosen/been assigned one of the four zoo animals. If your class is large, multiple groups could conduct research on the same animal.  It will most likely take one class period to discuss the process and determine roles.  Another two class periods should be allocated for the research and gathering of data.

Final Product

For their final product, each group will create a PowerPoint presentation to share with the whole class. In it, they will share their research about their group's animal. They will also tell the class whether their group decided to recommend that animal for the zoo or not. This worksheet, which includes a brief list of questions about each group's animal, aides in assessing the students comprehension of content and overall opinion of each presentation.  Students should be given about ten minutes after each presentation to answer the questions while the presentations are still fresh in their minds.

In order to make the project highly motivating, try to build up the presentation day as much as possible. Consider inviting parents, other classes, community members, even a representative from the local zoo!

Note:  Prior to creating a PowerPoint slide show, students should complete a self-assessment checklist  to review what they know about PowerPoint and determine if they will use the PPT 2002 tutorial for more practice or review. Once the students are comfortable with PPT, allocate at least 1-2 class periods (possibly more) for groups to plan their slide show and work on individual slides.  They may also require additional time to practice the delivery of their presentation for their culminating activity of the WebQuest.