Noah Webster MicroSociety Magnet School

The Task Your task for this WebQuest will be to do research on a given astronomy topic. You will divide into groups of two. Each group will then do research to prepare a power point presentation and write 2 quiz questions. You will also do an oral presentation to share your information with your classmates.

 

The Process   1.   You will be given the opportunity to do research on your topic using books and the internet to get information. You will be given approximately 4 weeks to work on the project. 2.   Include all important information related to that topic. For example: physical properties, chemical composition, location, rotation and revolution information, current news regarding this topic, and the history of the topic including exploratory missions carried out by NASA. Include 2 quiz questions for the other students. 3.   You must use at least 5 sources for this project. Use a variety of types of sources, e.g. books, the internet, newspaper, magazines, etc. Please use current information. 4.   Oral presentations should be 5 minutes long. Each person has to speak about the aspects of their topic that they covered and ask the other students 2 questions.

Your presentation should include the following elements: 1. At least 5 slides with information regarding your topic. 2. You must include at least 3 illustrations or pictures related to your topic. 3. You should use the same background and font for all slides. 4. You can include animation but it can not detract from your presentation. 5. Do not include sound! 6. The last slide should have your 2 quiz questions.

Resources

Links: EBSCO’s Student Research Center ( click on link)  Encyclopedia Britannica  Grolier Encyclopedia  World Book  Webster Book Catalog  Welcome to the Planets  The Nine Planets Space Kids Astronomy for Kids Black Holes The Solar System

This is a list of topics that we will be studying. Topics 1. Sun 2. Mercury 3. Venus 4. Mars 5. Jupiter 6. Saturn 7. Uranus 8. Neptune 9. Pluto 10. comets 11. asteroids 12. meteoroids 13. stars 14. black holes 15. galaxies 16. space travel 17. space tools

  Evaluation   

Category	4	3	2	1
Requirements	All requirements are met and exceeded.	All requirements are met.	One requirement was not completely met.	More than one requirement was not completely met.
Content	Covers topic in-depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is excellent.	Includes essential knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to be good.	Includes essential information about the topic but there are 1-2 factual errors.	Content is minimal OR there are several factual errors.
Organization	Content is well organized using headings or bulleted lists to group related material.	Uses headings or bulleted lists to organize, but the overall organization of topics appears flawed.	Content is logically organized for the most part.	There was no clear or logical organizational structure, just lots of facts.
Oral presentation	Interesting, well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.	Relatively interesting, rehearsed with a fairly smooth delivery that usually holds audience attention.	Delivery not smooth, but able to hold audience attention most of the time.	Delivery not smooth and audience attention lost.

 

  Conclusion

You have now successfully located information about your topic in the Solar System.  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 the Solar System.

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 the Solar System.

             Review Step 1, Task Definition and Expectations, discuss keywords and browsing.

            Perform research, collect pictures, take notes and cite resources.

Class 2: Continue to do research, collect pictures, take notes and cite resources.

Class 3. Review Venn Diagram , summarize on index cards including title and bibliography cards and select picture(s).

Class 4. Type findings into PowerPoint, insert digitized pictures, save to My Documents Solar System Folder.

Class 5: Put finishing touches on PowerPoint slides, practice oral presentation.

Class 6: Presentations and quiz.

 

  Credits

This webquest was created by Diana Masuzumi and modified for HPS NWMMS by Mrs. Swarr LMS, Noah Webster MicroSociety Magnet School, 2007