Water Wisdom

A WebQuest for 7th Grade (Geography)

Designed by

Tanya GhoshDastidar
tanyaghosh@yahoo.com

 

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page


Introduction

Welcome to Water Wisdom! Water is one of the most important natural resources available on Earth. Where is Earth's water located and in what forms does it exist? What is in the water? Is it safe for drinking?  What is the water quality? Why do we have water-quality standards? In this WebQuest you are going to find answers to such questions as well as learn about ways to protect and conserve water. You are going to be water detective. Using the links to the Internet, your mission will be to find out about Florida's water use.

 

                                                                                                                                    
The Task                                            a fast running stream

                                                                         

Your task is to:

  1. Read this web page before you do anything!
  2. Get into groups of 3-5 students.
  3. Practice working with your group by answering the "background knowledge" questions together.
  4. Write a paragraph (at least 5 sentences) about what you learnt about oil and water from the "EnviroKids" section. Each student will have to turn in their own work.
  5. Choose one of five roles listed below in the "Collecting information" section.
  6. Complete the tasks related to your role by exploring internet links.
  7. In your groups find the answers to the questions listed and create a report on Florida's Water usage, include the ways we can protect and conserve our water.
  8. Present your report to the class. You may use pictures, maps, graphs, charts etc. to assist you in your presentations. Each group gets 5 minutes in which to present their report.


The Process

There are five main phases to this project:                        

  1. Gaining Background knowledge
  2. Envirokids
  3. Collecting Information
  4. Creating a  Research Report
  5. Presenting your report to the class


Evaluation

Beginning

1

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

Exemplary

4

Score

 

 Gaining background knowledge about "water facts"

 

 Students are able to answer 6 or less questions correctly.
Students are able to answer 7 questions correctly .
 Students are able to answer 8 questions correctly. Students are able to answer all 9 questions correctly.

 

Ability to extract appropriate information into a paragraph

 

 

 		Weakly organized. Well organized, but demonstrates illogical sequencing and sentence structure.
Well organized, but demonstrates illogical sequencing or sentence structure.
 Well organized, demonstrates logical sequencing and sentence structure.

 

Ability to use the internet and extract appropriate information

 

 

 Information is gathered from limited electronic sources. Information is gathered from limited electronic sources, is somewhat  coherent. Information is gathered from multiple electronic sources, is somewhat coherent.  Information is gathered from multiple electronic sources, is coherent and properly cited.

 

Ability to work in a team, in creating the report 

 Student does not listen when others talk, both in groups and in class. Student often interrupts when others speak. Student does not listen when others talk, both in groups and in class. Student listens when others talk, both in groups and in class. Student listens when others talk, both in groups and in class. Student incorporates or builds off of the ideas of others.

 

Presentation of report to class		 Statement of position cannot be determined. Position is stated, but is not maintained consistently throughout presentation. Position is clearly stated and consistently maintained. References to the issue(s) at hand are missing. Position is clearly stated and consistently maintained. Clear references to the issue(s) are stated.


Conclusion

 

After completing this project, all members of the group will have:

1. A better understanding of water issues and usage
2. A working knowledge of the internet and the use of links
3. The ability to extract appropriate information into an organized document
4. The knowledge of how to extract appropriate information
5. An understanding of teamwork

 


Credits & References

Thank you for interacting with Water Wisdom. A lot of the information on this web quest is taken from the following web sites:

http://water.usgs.gov

http://www.worldwater.org

FAQs and General Water Information