A Webquest About Webquests

Elementary Level
Role: The Affiliator
Group 1

Grow School Greens: This project was all about working in groups. The students would design and plant a garden all as a group. One of the objective clearly states "worked together to achieve all of the outcomes." Each student is assigned jobs. After finishing the garden, the students reflect by completing the Group Think brainstorm. The thing I thought may be an obstacle is how long this project would take. It would be a year long process and the students may get bored with the idea.
Where Is My Hero?: The process for this activity involves group collaboration. It starts with discussing the definition of hero in a group and then moves to being assigned groups and receiving certain jobs. Collaboration is also used when group members interview a family member or friend outside of the group and then reporting the information to group members. The following product, a poster, is from the work of a whole group, not just one student. The site says this project is designed for eighth grade students. I think heroism should be taught at a younger grade level such as fifth or sixth. I think the project could have been tweeked a little bit and made for younger students.
Unraveling the Underground Railroad: Students begin by being assigned to groups of four and then deciding on certain roles. Each student fills out a graphic organizer and creates a journal entry alone and then shares it with the group. In the end, the students work together to make an appearance on the Timmy Tom Show where they will be working with the teacher.
We All Scream for Ice Cream: Students start out by doing research in groups and ;istening to eachothers' ideas. The group will work on advertising as a group and complete a poster which will be shared with the class. A con is that the worksheet is done alone so some members may not understand as well as the others.
In the end, the group makes homemade ice cream together. This is a good idea so if it happens that one student's doesn't turn out perfect they don't have to feel left out. The only thing I saw wrong with this project is the educational perspective. I like the whole idea and it seems fun, but I don't see anything educational the students could get out of it.
Ancient Egypt Webquest: This whole project is done in partners. The class is also collaborating with the Egyptian Tourist Bureau. Both the class and the bureau will benefit from this. The students will finish knowing new information that they may not have learned without this project and the bureau will have new brochures. There is a large amount of work for each set of partners. More may be accomplished if the groups were larger and each student wouldn't have to do as much. They could still learn everything by reading the end product.