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NOTES TO TEACHERS |
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The idea for this WebQuest comes from an article that I read several years ago
in Science Scope magazine. Science Scope is published by the National
Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and is geared toward middle level science
education. (Unfortunately I have misplaced the magazine and I cannot recall the
issue or year) The article described how a teacher created a gigantic
Periodic Table of Elements on a wall of her classroom. Students were
responsible for creating an "Element Square" to be displayed as a part of the
Periodic Table.
Having a large wall in the rear of my classroom I
decided to do the same thing. I developed may own criteria and
requirements and made the project an annual event. It has been one of the
highlight activities of the year for my kids. It's fun to look at the completed
Periodic Table which measures 10' x 18'. The variety of design and color
has given rise to such comments as, "it looks like a patch work quilt."
During the 2002 - 2003 school year I participated in
TICKIT (Teacher Institute for Curriculum Knowledge about Integration of
Technology) at Indiana University. Among the things that I learned in this
course were various software tools and how to incorporate them into classroom
practice. I decided to combine my previous Periodic Table project with my new
found knowledge of Microsoft PowerPoint.
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Teacher Institute for Curriculum Knowledge about Integration of Technology |
TICKIT
TEAM |
Subject Matter:
I used this WebQuest as part of my unit on the Periodic
Table of Elements.
Grade Level: All of my 8th grade science classes
participated in this
WebQuest. (170 kids! - yeah, I know it's ridiculous)
WebQuest Length:
We have 40 minute class periods at our school. I plan on 7
to 8 days for the project. Rather than working on
consecutive days I spread the project out over a 3 week
period. Many student teams work on their projects
outside of class time.
Suggested Timeline:
Day 1 - (Computer
Room- PowerPoint lesson) Brief overview on how to use
Microsoft PowerPoint. How to create slides, select fonts, change
background colors, insert pictures, etc.
Day 2 - (Computer Room - Research) Student teams begin their Internet
research for their element.
Day 3 - (Computer Room - Research / PowerPoint Planning) Students
continue with their research and begin organizing their PowerPoint
presentations by using the Project Planning Template.
Day 4 - (Computer Room - Develop PowerPoint Presentations) Students work
on their PowerPoint slides.
Day 5 - (Class Room - Element Tiles) Students create and develop their
Element Tiles. Art supplies and materials are provided.
Day 6 - (Computer Room - Final Project Work Day) Students put the final
touches onto their PowerPoint presentations. Rehearsal of Oral
Report.
Days 7 and 8 - (Class Room) Final Presentations
Skills:
Some of
the skills that I hope to develop in this WebQuest
include
the following:
Team Work and Cooperation
Time Management
Internet Research
Experience in creating a PowerPoint presentation
Planning, rehearsing and giving an Oral Report
Standards:
Several Indiana State Science Standards could apply to this WebQuest.
From the 8th grade science
curriculum I have chosen the following
standards to reach:
Standard 2 - Scientific Thinking:
Manipulation and Observation
8.2.5
Standard 3 - The Physical Setting:
Matter and Energy 8.3.8, 8.3.11
Below I have included a link to the Indiana Department of Education (Indiana School Improvement). You
can download Indiana State
Science Standards for any grade level from this source.
I also have
included links to HASTI (Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc.) and
NSTA (National Science Teachers Association)
Additional information on
standards and assessment can be found in
these sites.
Click for any of the following:
Indiana School
Improvement
Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc.
NSTA - National Science Teachers Association
I intentionally did not include a list of good websites on the main page of this WebQuest for the kids to use. There is no shortage of websites available pertaining to the Periodic Table of Elements. I wanted the students to conduct their own search without feeling limited to the sites that I suggested. I find that most students are familiar with and know how to access the available Search Engines. They do a terrific job of finding the information they need. I have included a list of good websites at the bottom of this section for you to use. ChemicalElements.com and WebElements.com are great sites. Chemicool is a good one as well.
The kids found many good pictures on their chosen websites and from Google Image Search. I showed them how to download pictures and insert them into their PowerPoint presentations. They also found pictures of some of the discoverers of elements by keying their search to the scientists name.
Don't forget the library! It's not as much fun but there is a wealth of useful information in the encyclopedias and Science reference materials.
Click for ChemicalElements.com
Click for WebElements.com
Click for Chemicool
You can access copies of all necessary handouts and materials through the main page of this WebQuest.
I provide 11" x 11" sheets of white construction paper for the kids to use. I encourage them to get their own paper or poster board of the color of their own choosing. This helps to reduce the number of element tiles that are all of the same color. I also provide colored pencils and markers. Some kids design their entire tile using graphics programs on the computer. The computer generated tiles have been some of the most interesting and creative.
I also had a limited supply of floppy disks available. I saved 2 or 3 presentations (each from a different class period) on a diskette. Some groups chose to work on their projects on their own outside of class time. A problem arose when two groups sharing a disk wanted to work on their PowerPoint presentations at the same time. Many kids brought disks from home to use. The computer technicians weren't thrilled with this because of the threat of viruses so I tried to limit this as much as possible.
One of the biggest headaches that I had during the activity was the storage of the PowerPoint presentations onto diskettes. Kids would lose their disks, forget to bring them to class and not properly follow the procedure for saving their data. This problem was somewhat alleviated when our school computer gurus arranged for students to save their data to their own student accounts on the server. This was a huge improvement. We still used floppy disks as backups. If you must use disks it would be advisable to keep them in the room so that they are always available when needed.
Another problem involved the version of PowerPoint used at school and newer versions that some kids had on their home computers. Some of my computer savvy kids wanted to work on there projects at home. This was great but even with reminders some kids would forget to save their presentations to the older Microsoft 98 PowerPoint version from their more advanced versions.
Kids love to add cool sounds and special effects to their PowerPoint presentations. Many of the presentations had the sounds of jets zooming in, machine gun rat-a-tat-tats along with other obnoxious noises. Graphics flew onto the screen from all directions. I did not totally discourage them from including these sounds and effects because I wanted them to fully explore what was available and possible on PowerPoint. After all this was the first time many of my students had used PowerPoint. Problems developed during the Oral Reports though. If students had not fully rehearsed their reports they would be drowned out as they spoke by some annoying sound or the information on the screen could not be seen or read because everything was swirling about. I encouraged kids to not go over board with the "cool stuff" because it can become overly distracting and adversely affect their Oral Report score.
Acknowledgements
I
would be remiss if I did not thank those that contributed to this WebQuest.
During the 2002 - 2003 school year, a cohort of teachers from our middle
school participated in TICKIT (Teacher Institute for Curriculum
Knowledge about Integration of Technology) This is a program sponsored
by Indiana University School of Education and the Arthur Vining Davis
Foundation. The creation of this WebQuest would not be possible
without the guidance and tutelage of our instructors Lee Ehman, Curt Bonk
and John Keller.
Thanks also to my fellow TICKIT teammates, Sara
Bane, Berna Jones, Stu Hackman, Darrell Martin and Mike Sentz. I
bounced a lot of ideas off of them and I appreciate their contributions.
Back to "Elliott's" Elements WebQuest
Would you like to see another of my WebQuest endeavors? Check out "Spaghetti" Earthquake by clicking on the link below.
Click to see "Spaghetti' Earthquake
Last updated by Paul Elliott on Friday February 20, 2009
