Introduction:
 

 

The Task:
 

 

Each Zoo Committee will be in charge of:

• choosing rare or endangered animals from different continents that will live in their.
• composing an information sheet for each animal.
• designing the habitats that the animals will live in.
• producing a map of their zoo.

The Zoo Committee will then present their animals and how to care for them to the City Council (our class.)
 

The Process:
 

 

Getting Ready:

 

• What continent does it come from?
• What type of habitat does it live in?
• What does it eat?
• What is its natural predators?
• What environmental aspects does the animal need for survival? (Ex: Water for swimming, rocks for climbing, trees for shade)
• Any interesting facts

3. Use the websites provided below to complete your research
4. Print and fill out the note-sheet form at the bottom of the page (Note: This note-sheet will be handed in to the teacher, if you need more, print out an extra sheet)

Websites for research:
worldwildlife

 

 

• PowerPoint
• Poster board/Tri-fold
• Diorama
• If you have any other ideas, see the teacher for approval

 

• One Map Designer (clearly construct and label the design of the zoo)
• One Information Sign Creator (creates signs about each animal that will be displayed within their habitats)
• Two Habitat Writers (write detailed description of habitats)

 

Evaluation:
You will be graded individually for the research you do on your three animals. The teacher will use the following rubric to assess your research:

Individual Rubric (Possible total: 28 points)

Requirements	Beginning: 1	Developing: 2	Accomplished: 3	Exemplary: 4	Score
Selection of animals	N/A	One rare/endangered animals are researched	Two rare/endangered animals are researched	Three rare/endangered animals are researched
Pictures of animals	Does not include well-taken pictures of any animals	Include well-taken pictures of one animal	Include well-taken pictures of two animals	Include well-taken pictures of all three animals
Information of 1st animal's name, predators, food source, and location	Included one requirement for the first animal	Included two requirements for the first animal	Included three requirements for the first animal	Included all four requirements for the first animal
Information of 2nd animal's name, predators, food source, and location	Included one requirement for the second animal	Included two requirements for the second animal	Included three requirements for the second animal	Included all four requirements for the second animal
Information of 3rd animal's name, predators, food source, and location	Included one requirement for the third animal	Included two requirements for the third animal	Included three requirements for the third animal	Included all four requirements for the third animal
Description of animals' habitat	Does not clearly describes the necessary elements of any animal's habitat	Clearly describes the necessary elements of one animal's habitat	Clearly describes the necessary elements of two animals' habitats	Clearly describes the necessary elements of all three animals' habitats
Description of animals' adaptations	Does not clearly describe survival adaptations of any animal	Clearly describes survival adaptations of one animals	Clearly describes survival adaptations of two animals	Clearly describes survival adaptations of all three animals

You will be graded as a group for the quality of your presentation. The teacher will use the following rubric to assess the individual elements and presentation of your zoo:

Group Rubric (total possible: 24 points)

 The two scores will be added together to give you your final grade. The total score possible for an exemplary performance is 52 points.

Conclusion:
 

Important Message from the Mayor:
Great work Wildlife Researchers! You have completed learning about your animals from all around the world, mapped out your zoo, and designed your habitats, and have successfully made an informative presentation to the city council. Your presentation was well researched, and the city council has accepted. Thanks to you, construction will begin soon so that we can go add a zoo to our community!

 

 

Credits & References:
 

Image Sources:

 

• Image in Introduction from http://www.welcome2thezoo.com
• Image in Task from http://karoleegoins.blogspot.com/
• Image in Process section from www.fotosearch.com

 

 

Standards:
 

PA Correlated Sets

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Introduction

This lesson was developed by students at West Chester University in introduction to educational technology.  The goal of this WebQuest is for students to learn about rare and endangered animals found on different continents of the world.  The students will work individually as wildlife researchers to research rare animals, and then come together as a small group, or a zoo committee, to share what they have learned.  When information has been shared amongst the groups and their zoos have been designed, their work will be presented in front of the class.  Students are encouraged to be creative as they design their zoos and learn about animals from around the world.

           Through the lesson, the students will have many different tasks that must be completed. They will spend time researching the animals and things such as what habitats the animals live in, what they eat, and what their natural predators are. The students will then design their own zoos and arrange them according to what habitats the animals live in and what they need to survive. Each student will have different responsibilities and will have their own animals to research.  After research has been completed, the groups will come together to arrange their zoos according to the animals and their habitats.  Information sheets for each animal including descriptions and facts must be created.  The presentation of the groups will include a map of their zoo and details of each habitat and what the animals need to survive.  The final products will be presented to the class by each group.

          There are a few multiple intelligences addressed in this WebQuest.  First, there is naturalistic intelligence, or nature smart.  People with this intelligence like the world of plants and animals and enjoy learning about them.  Because this WebQuest is aimed toward learning about animals as well as having fun, this is the first intelligence that is addressed.  The second intelligence that is addressed is linguistic intelligence.  In order for the students to complete this WebQuest, they must research and present their finished projects.  Linguistic intelligence is reading, writing, and talking.  This project includes all three of the components of linguistic intelligence.

          Each of the six cognitive levels are met in this WebQuest.  The first level, knowledge, is met while the students must recall and state the continents of which the animals they will research live on.  They will then reach the comprehension level where they must find more information about the animals of their choice and summarize in their own words different information and facts about each animal.  After comprehension comes the application level.  This is when the students will relate and classify the animals that they have been researching to others in the group, making it easier for them to choose which habitats to place the animals in.  The next cognitive level met is analysis level, or the level where analyzing and organizing occurs.  This level applies to the part of the WebQuest where the students work together in their groups to plot out their zoos in the best manner according to the information they have gathered.  Next is the synthesis level.  This is closely related to the analysis level in that after the groups have plotted their zoos, they take that idea and design and make their final product.  The final cognitive level is the evaluation level.  This is where the groups will present their final projects and will then receive a grade from the teacher.

Learner

This webquest is intended for students at the fourth grade level, and has been designed to fulfill certain fourth grade standards from the PA Department of Education. The task is primarily grounded in science, and involves some aspects of visual design (art). This webquest could be easily simplified for a younger grade. To accomodate younger students, a teacher could: lessen the amount of animals that need to be researched or provide links to a specific list of animals for the students to choose from; instead of designing the habitats of the zoo, the students can present pictures of and information about the animals they would want to include in the zoo. To make this webquest more challenging for older students, it can be reframed as a task in which the students are zoologists who are trying to save the endangered species of the world. For this end, they are gathering endangered animals to keep them in a zoo. The assignment can focus more on why these animals are becoming, or are endangered, what specific adaptations they have that evolved to help them survive in their original environments, and how the zoo must be designed to ensure the health of these very different creatures.

Background skills necessary:
Prior to working on this webquest, students must be able to:

• navigate and gather information from the Internet
• identify and describe basic characteristics of habitats present in the seven continents (Ex: desert, forest, mountains, ocean)

Resources necessary:
* poster board (if group chooses to make a poster or trifold)
*computers for each student to do research  on their animals
*printers for pictures of each animal
*paper and pencils for note-taking

Only one teacher is necessary to supervise the students as they are researching, guide them as they work in groups, and assess them as they present. A teacher aid or paraprofessional could be helpful in addressing any problems/questions the students have as they are researching.

Standards

Reflection on Standards

The main tasks of this webquest require students to research different rare and endangered animals, gather information on their adaptations and characteristics, design habitats in a zoo that the animals can co-inhabit, and present their design of the zoo to the class. The research gathering and information synthesis that the students will be completing reflect the Research and Information Fluency Standards from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). The animal information sheets and habitat designs that the students will create address the knowledge identified in the PA Dept. of Ed's Science and Technology and Environment and Ecology Standards.

By completing this webquest, students will have fulfilled the following objectives. Students will be able to:

• use various websites to locate and gather similar, useful information (NETS 3.a-d)

Resources