5th Grade Geometry Web Lesson

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WEBSTER

• 5th Grade Geometry Web Lesson

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WEB LESSONS

• Webster is a custom Internet browser which runs
  web lessons. Like a textbook a web lesson is a
  set of known facts and ideas about a subject.
  Unlike a textbook, a web lesson is
  multi-dimensional. Ideas and facts can be
  expressed in words, images, sounds, animations,
  videos, slideshows, hypertext links and links to
  useful websites. A web lesson is much like a
  website except that web lessons are much easier
  to produce than websites and reside on the
  student's computer rather than on a web server.
  This means that images and animations appear
  instantly not after a long loading delay.
• Many websites are extremely 'busy', filled with
  Google ads, pop ups and other distractions. Very
  often the subject is badly obscured by the
  'noise' of the website. Just as often, needed
  information, though available, is scattered
  across many pages of websites and hidden in a
  thicket of ads. Web lessons however, are clear,
  focused, easy to follow, have no ads or
  distractions, and, when they link to the
  Internet, use only relevant, clear, safe
  websites. Using Webster, Internet use is
  completely safe for kids.
• Web lessons bring together many explanations and
  demonstrations about a subject. The student does
  not have to search anything or contend with
  complicated and confusing instructions. Its all
  there in one place. We live in a 'noisy' world
  and that noise is just not conducive to learning.
  Web lessons are a quiet, focused haven in that
  noisy world. Often all that is needed to improve
  a child's understanding of a subject is a clear
  uncomplicated presentation of that subject.

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LETS EXPLORE A WEB LESSON

• The web lesson presented here is about 5th grade
  geometry. All our web lessons are written to
  conform to California standards. California
  standards can be found at this site. Here is the
  standard for this lesson

As you explore this presentation, try to remember
what the standard is trying to teach. One major
goal of a web lesson is to provide the subject
information required by the standard. The
California STAR testing organization believes
that this is the best way to improve student
performance.
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FIRST LESSON PAGE 1st HALF

• The first topic in the standard is

The next slide will show the first half of the
first page of the lesson. The various active
elements identified by the red text are
functional. Click or mouse over to activate
them. The text identifies Euclid and offers a
link to an interactive website of his book The
Elements. Various pronunciations are offered and
the Euclid image speaks when moused over. The
page is colorful and user friendly. There are
pronunciation aids and links to information. The
student can explore the page on his own without
supervision. Every web lesson also includes a
dictionary capability for word lookup and a link
to a translation website where any part of the
lesson may be translated to another language such
as Spanish.
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Link to an info page for the teacher only
animation
Pronunciations (blue links)
Image talks on mouse over
Link to website (yellow)
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FIRST LESSON PAGE 2nd HALF
The links in the yellow table are to Java applet
animations which do the actual constructions such
as bisecting a line. PowerPoint does not support
Java and Flash applets but a simulation from the
web lesson is displayed if you click the Bisect
a line link. The blue here link links to the
next page of the lesson. These applets directly
support the standard (topic 2.1).
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Topic 2.2 of the standard wants the student to
know that the angles of a triangle add up to 180
degrees and those of a quadrilateral to 360.
This lesson page offers an applet to demonstrate
that fact. Click the white square to see a
simulation of the applet. The rest of the page
explores these facts.
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Last page of lesson
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The cube is an interactive animation of a Rubiks
cube puzzle that allows the student to rotate it
until he is looking directly at a face. This
helps in visualizing a 3D object as a projection
on a plane.
original
rotated
Further down the page are more animations in the
form of interactive quizzes which challenge the
student to determine which view of a 3D object is
being shown. The student can rotate the object
to find a match to the view being shown. Six
possible views are offered and the student tries
to pick the correct one. The applet keeps score.
All of this is exactly on point to the standard
topic.
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The last page has an animated figure which says
goodbye when moused over. A reward of a 4D
Rubiks cube is offered for the diligent student.
Click the blue here link to view the reward.
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Well we have briefly explored a web lesson.
There are many possible lesson features which
have not been shown. Suffice it to say that web
lessons are an information rich environment. The
goal of all this is to present information to the
student in a palatable and understandable way.
Hopefully, the student will enjoy the animations
and challenges and will feel empowered by being
able to access the Internet without
supervision. Web lessons are tutors. Theyre
not intended to replace a teacher but, rather, to
serve as an enjoyable addition to classroom work.
They can be taken alone by the student or can be
used as a lesson plan and presented to an entire
class via a projector. Our plan is to produce
some 300 lessons, one each for each of the core
topics of the CA standard. If you have questions
or comments, please e-mail them to Dick
Debberthine at eldersft_at_yahoo.com
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In the lesson, this animation is a fully
interactive 4 dimensional Rubiks cube puzzle.
Its here mostly for fun but also because it
helps in visualizing 3 dimensional objects.
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This applet allows the student to create
triangles, quadrilaterals or other polygons and
then add up their angles. This is just what the
standard topic 2.2 calls for. Here, the
interaction is simulated. In the actual applet,
the student draws a triangle, quadrilateral or
other polygon and drags the angles into the green
add-up circle.
Triangle angles 180 degrees Quadrilateral
angles 360 degrees
Right click then last viewed to return
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This is a typical Java applet. This one uses
compass and ruler to bisect a line. This is
exactly what was required in the standard (topic
2.1). Note that in the web lesson, the applet is
interactive and proceeds one step at a time.
Here in PowerPoint it is simulated. There are
many excellent applets available on the Internet
which can be used in web lessons.
Right click and then last viewed to return
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Typical teacher only page. Right click then
last viewed to return.