NWMMS Library

The Task

You have been asked to locate information about a specific famous person. It is your mission to collect and compare the information your team has found from different kinds of information resources.

Your group will have a short debriefing session when you are finished with your search. As a group, you will be looking for the answers to these questions:

Where was the person born?

Where did they live?

Where did they go to school?

Why do people remember them?

What did they do in his professional (work) life?

What kind of person were they?

What did they believe in?

What or who inspired them?

What kind of people were in their family?

What did they think was most important?

Find a picture of the person.

This information will then be organized by your group into a multimedia presentation using Powerpoint. Your group will then be ready to share the findings with the class.

The Process

1. You will be assigned to groups of six. Two group members will hold each one of these positions:

Book Detective

This person will find out what information can be found about this person in the Biography Collection – E Biography, Biography or Non fiction (920)

Print Encyclopedia

Detective

This person will find out what information can be found about this person in the print Encyclopedias in the reference section.

Online

Encyclopedia Detective

This person will find out what information can be found about this person in the HPS Online Resources.

2. Once you've decided who will complete each job, you will begin your detective work using your resource tool. You will need to go to the resource and read through the information presented, thinking about what you are reading. Make sure you think about your information goals are as a detective and what you need to find out about the person.

3. Use the Photocopier to copy pictures in a book, and print out the picture from the computer in the lab.

4. When you have looked through all the information, use your note taking worksheet to collect the information required AND what resource you used.

5. Meet with your group for your detective debriefing session. Remember that you are responsible for teaching and sharing your information to the other members of your group. Compare the information you found using a Venn Diagram.

5. As a group, organize your information for a PowerPoint (nonlinear) slideshow using your note taking worksheets. Write on index cards the information for each question, include the most information about each question.

6. Create your Powerpoint slideshow sharing your detective work. You will need to create at least one slide to answer each question plus a Title slide that is to go first (with the team members names) and a Bibliography slide ( a list of the resources you used) as the last slide.

Steps 7 and 8 are an oral presentation of the slide show, and if and how this is scheduled is decided by the Mrs. Swarr.

7. Mrs. Swarr will ask your group to present the slideshow to the class. So when your group has finished your slideshow, practice giving your presentation several times. Take suggestions from your practice partners and edit your slideshow as needed.

8. Finally, Mrs. Swarr might ask you to present the slideshow of your detective work to your classroom teacher.

Resources

Webster Book Collection

Webster Reference Collection – for print encyclopedias

HPS Online Resources

Britannica Encyclopedia

EBSCO Student Study Center

Grolier

World Book

Evaluation

You will be evaluated on several things in this activity. First, you will be graded on the quality of information you gathered about your famous person. Next, you will be graded on the technical elements of you slideshow, including grammar, punctuation, and spelling. You will also be assessed on the quality of you cooperative group work as you gathered, organized, and presented your information. Lastly, you will be evaluated on the quality of your oral presentation as you share your findings with the community.

Conclusion

You have now successfully located information about your famous person. You are now able to do research on anyone you would like and you have completed your first Big6 Research Project. Congratulations!

Teacher's Notes

This WebQuest is designed to help students to use the research process to learn about rocks and minerals.
The process is designed to follow the Big6 Research Model by Eisenberg/Berkowitz.

Components of the Big6 Research Model

    1. Task Definition.
                Define the problem.
    2. Information Seeking Strategies.
                Determine possible sources.
                Evaluate the different possible sources.
    3. Location and Access.
                Locate sources.
                Find information within the sources.
    4.    Use the information.
                Engage (read, hear, or view) the information in a source.
                Extract information from a source.
    5.    Synthesis.
                Organize information from multiple sources.
                Present information.
    6.    Evaluation.
                Judge the product. (effectiveness)
                Judge the information problem solving process. (efficiency)

Time Line

Class 1: Introduce Big6 Research Process and Biographies.

Review Step 1, Task Definition and have Research Teams assign roles.

Class 2: Review Biography Task, model use of resources and note taking and model citation format.

Have each role member perform research, collect pictures and cite resources.

Class 3. Review Venn Diagram and summarizing.

Have teams debrief their findings, summarize on index cards including title and bibliography cards and select picture.

Class 4. Type findings into Powerpoint, insert digitized pictures, download to flash drive.

Practice oral presentation and provide oral presentation to class (maybe classroom teacher.)

Credits

This page was created by Mrs. Swarr, LMS, Noah Webster MicroSociety Magnet School, 2007