Navigating the Oceans

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Navigating the Oceans of the World A WebQuest
for Sixth Grade Designed by Maria B.
Sciuchetti     Based on a template from
San Diego State Universitys The WebQuest Page
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Introduction This lesson was developed as part
of the elementary science methods course at Roger
Williams University, in Bristol, Rhode Island.
It has been adapted from the lesson Navigating
a Sea of Research, which was found on the
Education World website. The original lesson was
created by the Discovery Channel School. This
WebQuest was also designed to be used in
connection with the text Looking for Seabirds
Journal from an Alaskan voyage by Sophie Webb.
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Learners This lesson was designed for Sixth
through Eighth Graders. Prior to beginning this
lesson, students should have a basic
understanding of the oceans of the world. This
lesson could also be used as a means of
introducing Oceans to students. Prior to
beginning this task, all students should be aware
that the earth has not always been shaped as it
currently is. All of the oceans have been
reported to be one ocean. This concept should be
thoroughly explained. Information about
habitats should be understood by students also.
Students should be allowed to explore the effects
that environmental change has on indigenous
organisms. These areas are addressed and
supported by the Research found in the Benchmarks
for Science Literacy 4c Processes That Shape
the Earth Students of all ages may hold the view
that the world was always as it is now, or that
any changes that have occurred must have been
sudden and comprehensive (Freyberg, 1985). The
students in these studies did not, however, have
any formal instruction on the topics
investigated. Moreover, middle-school students
taught by traditional means are not able to
construct coherent explanations about the causes
of volcanoes and earthquakes (Duschl, Smith,
Kesidou, Gitomer, Schauble, 1992). Habitat
Middle-school and high-school students may
believe that organisms are able to effect changes
in bodily structure to exploit particular
habitats or that they respond to a changed
environment by seeking a more favorable
environment (Jungwirth, 1975 Clough
Wood-Robinson, 1985a). It has been suggested that
the language about adaptation used by teachers or
textbooks to make biology more accessible to
students may cause or reinforce these beliefs
(Jungwirth, 1975).
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• Curriculum Standards
• This lesson aligns with the following content
  area standards for 5-8 grade
• National Science Education Standards
• Earth and Space Science
• CONTENT STANDARD DAs a result of their
  activities in grades 5-8, all students should
  develop an understanding of
• Structure of the earth system
• Water, which covers the majority of the earth's
  surface, circulates through the crust, oceans,
  and
• atmosphere in what is known as the "water
  cycle." Water evaporates from the earth's
  surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher
  elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls
  to the surface where it collects in lakes,
  oceans, soil, and in rocks underground.
• Oceans have a major effect on climate, because
  water in the oceans holds a large amount of heat.
  
• Earth's history
• The earth processes we see today, including
  erosion, movement of lithospheric plates, and
  changes in atmospheric composition, are similar
  to those that occurred in the past.
• Earth history is also influenced by occasional
  catastrophes, such as the impact of an asteroid
  or comet.
• Life Science
• CONTENT STANDARD CAs a result of their
  activities in grades 5-8, all students should
  develop understanding of
• Populations and ecosystems
• The number of organisms an ecosystem can
  support depends on the resources available and
  abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and
  water, range of temperatures, and soil
  composition. Given adequate biotic and abiotic
  resources and no disease or predators,
  populations (including humans) increase at rapid
  rates.

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• Curriculum Standards (continued)
• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
• CONTENT STANDARD F
• As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all
  students should develop understanding of
• Natural hazards
• Internal and external processes of the earth
  system cause natural hazards, events that change
  or destroy human and wildlife habitats, damage
  property, and harm or kill humans. Natural
  hazards include earthquakes, landslides,
  wildfires, volcanic eruptions, floods, storms,
  and even possible impacts of asteroids.
• Risks and benefits
• Students should understand the risks associated
  with natural hazards (fires, floods, tornadoes,
  hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic
  eruptions), with chemical hazards (pollutants in
  air, water, soil, and food), with biological
  hazards (pollen, viruses, bacterial, and
  parasites), social hazards (occupational safety
  and transportation), and with personal hazards
  (smoking, dieting, and drinking).
• English Language Arts Standards
• Standard 4 Writing Gathers and uses
  information for research purposes
• Uses a variety of resource materials to gather
  information for research topics (e.g., magazines,
  newspapers, dictionaries, schedules, journals,
  phone directories, globes, atlases, almanacs,
  technological sources)
• Determines the appropriateness of an
  information source for a research topic
• Organizes information and ideas from multiple
  sources in systematic ways (e.g., time lines,
  outlines, notes, graphic representations)
• Writes research papers (e.g., asks research
  questions, defines a topic, organizes information
  into major components and examines relationships
  among these components, addresses different
  perspectives on a topic, achieves balance between
  research information and original ideas,
  integrates a variety of information into a whole,
  draws conclusions)

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• Curriculum Standards (continued)
• English Language Arts Standards
• Standard 7 Reading - Uses reading skills and
  strategies to understand and interpret a variety
  of informational texts
• Uses reading skills and strategies to understand
  a variety of informational texts (e.g.,
  electronic texts textbooks biographical
  sketches directions essays primary source
  historical documents, including letters and
  diaries print media, including editorials, news
  stories, periodicals, and magazines consumer,
  workplace, and public documents, including
  catalogs,technical directions, procedures, and
  bus routes)
• Knows the defining characteristics of a variety
  of informational texts (e.g., electronic texts
  textbooks biographical sketches letters
  diaries directions procedures magazines
  essays primary source historical documents
  editorials news stories periodicals bus
  routes catalogs technical directions consumer,
  workplace, and public documents)
• Summarizes and paraphrases information in texts
  (e.g., arranges information in chronological,
  logical, or sequential order conveys main ideas,
  critical details, and underlying meaning uses
  own words or quoted materials preserves authors
  perspective and voice)
• Uses new information to adjust and extend
  personal knowledge base
• Draws conclusions and makes inferences based on
  explicit and implicit information in texts
• Standard 8 Listening and Speaking - Uses
  listening and speaking strategies for different
  purposes
• Plays a variety of roles in group discussions
  (e.g., active listener, discussion leader,
  facilitator)
• Uses level-appropriate vocabulary in speech
  (e.g., metaphorical language, specialized
  language, sensory details)

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Process This WebQuest has been designed to take
3 hours. Students should be able to complete the
computer based portion of the Quest in two days.
The first day should be spent gathering data
provided by the WebQuest. The second day,
students should be allowed to work on creating
their brochures. There is an opportunity for
curriculum integration within this task,
combining technology, art, and language arts. On
the third day following the WebQuest, students
should give their presentations. On the fourth
day, student would be expected to submit their
written essays. What follows is the verbatim
process outlined for the students. Notes for
teachers appear in parentheses. Step I Since
your teams have already been picked each member
must now choose a role. Roles, number of students
per role, and questions for each role follow. You
are not limited to the questions listed. You are
also not expected to answer every question. If
your research uncovers something interesting
share your findings with the class. (This lesson
has been designed with 5 teams, one for each
ocean. Within each team there are 5 members. The
number of members may be adjusted to accommodate
larger or smaller classrooms.) Step II Once
you have chosen your respective roles, each
member of the team is to begin researching. Click
on your ocean assigned ocean to be taken to the
relevant links. (In the event that students are
unable to decide on roles in a timely fashion,
teachers should be prepared to assign the roles
to students.) Step III This is the point in
your Quest where you will create a travel
brochure for your ocean and liner. The brochure
should address the four areas your team has
researched while providing a quick reference for
the rest of the class. Be creative. Include
pictures of plant and animal life, maps or any
other interesting things you may have come across
in your research. This is a time for your team to
get creative. Your only requirements are to
include information from each area researched,
and include some pictures and graphics. Remember,
this brochure is going to be used by tourists, so
make them want to sail your ship in your ocean.
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Process Your team is required to present to
the class your findings about your assigned
ocean. Each member of your team is responsible
for presenting the information he or she
researched. Your team is encourage to download
pictures and maps to insert in your presentation.
Your goal should be to create a short
presentation detailing the key pieces of
information you have discovered about your
ocean. (Teachers can make copies of each teams
brochure for all students in the class. It may
also be interesting to create a bulletin board on
the oceans and post a copy of each brochure for
students to quick reference and classroom
visitors to see.) Step IVEach team member is
required to write an essay on your ocean. Each
member will write his or her essay based on his
or her role. You will be reporting your findings
to the teacher. Be sure to state your role at
some point in your essay or in its title. Each
team member must submit his or her own essay the
day after your class presentations and brochure
are due. Step VIts time to get your land
legs back. Congratulations on successfully
navigating the oceans of the world. Take a moment
to reflect on all of the things that you have
learned about your ocean and the impact your
ocean has on life forms of all kinds animal,
human, and plant life.
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• Resources Needed
• For this WebQuest to be carried out, the
  following materials and resources are needed
• Ample computers with internet access, so that all
  students may gather their research.
• Word processing software.
• Presentation software, such a PowerPoint for
  example.
• Access to creative materials markers, paper,
  pens, pencils, glue, etc.
• A globe in the classroom or other representation
  of the Oceans.
• Classroom Texts
• Copies of Looking for Seabirds Journal from an
  Alaskan voyage by Sophie Webb.
• It might be beneficial to work with the
  technology teacher and the art teacher for this
  assignment. Since so much time needs to be spent
  in the computer lab gathering data, technology
  teachers can be a great resource. Art teachers
  may be able to contribute their expertise when
  students are creating their brochures. Students
  may create brochures with software on the
  computers or other materials, such as
  construction paper. Also, the Language Arts
  teacher might use this assignment as an
  opportunity to teach expository writing, or model
  a new strategy for expository writing.

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Evaluation Students will be given three tasks to
complete upon gathering all of their information.
Each team will be responsible for creating a
brochure. Each team will also be required to
present its findings to the class. Lastly, each
member of the team will be required to write an
essay based on the role he or she played on the
team. I have designed the following rubrics to
assess the three tasks.
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Evaluation (continued)
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Evaluation (continued)
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Conclusion Any time a teacher has the
opportunity to create, modify, or integrate a
lesson into an enjoyable learning experience like
a WebQuest, he or she should. This lesson carries
with it some valuable insights and students will
be meeting a number of different standards. \.
Students will be actively engaged in the study
and exploration of the worlds oceans. In just a
few short days, students will have gathered a
tremendous amount of information about various
aspects of the oceans, to include its geography,
history, environmental condition and current
research efforts in the ocean. This WebQuest
gives students the opportunity to investigate
further into a topic than textbooks may otherwise
allow them to delve. This WebQuest can be
supported by Standards and Benchmark research and
would make a wonderful activity for the
classroom. I hope you as teachers enjoy the
WebQuest and the wonderful products your students
will produce. Happy Navigating!!!
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Credits References This WebQuest was created
to accompany the text Looking for Seabirds
Journal from an Alaskan voyage by Sophie
Webb. This WebQuest was designed based on the
lesson Navigating a Sea of Research. which was
found on the Education World website. The
original lesson was created by the Discovery
Channel School. The background used for this
WebQuest was found at Sonia Colemans Digital
Studio. The animated graphics including the
birds in flight, navigating sailor, canoe, and
ship were obtained from Microsoft Office Online's
ClipArt Gallery. Click here to link to San Diego
States The WebQuest Page for the latest versions
of WebQuest templates and training materials.