WebQuest assignment

After this weeks readings, I think I have a better understanding what a WebQuest is.  A WebQuest is an activity that incorporates the students using the internet with learning a particular topic.  The activities should follow Bloom's Taxonomy and have students use higher order thinking.  The students should be given the websites they will be viewing for specific information, rather than have them go blind and search for the information on their own.

I am still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do my WebQuest on, but I want to try to do a science lesson using the USGS website and google earth.  The standardI want to base my lesson on is 6th grade Earth Science: Plate Tectonics and Earth's Structure.  (standards at the bottom of the post)  I know I have a lot of work to do; especially since I have to brush up on the material myself.  Obviously, this is a big change from my original idea but I think it will be a lot of fun for the students, and since we live in earthquake territory, I can incorporate a lesson on earthquake safety procedures.

My tasks can be
1) students look up the 10 largest earthquakes in California and map out the locations of past earthquakes, faults, volcanoes and mountains, using google maps and USGS as reference.  Students will be given paper to draw a map of California and will create a key label the map which can later be turned into a salt-flower map.
2) students learn how to find the epicenter of an earthquake.
3) students research the effects of an earthquake, such as what changes to the Earth can occur, after       shocks, tsunamis, etc...    
4) students will research earthquake safety procedures, will create a safety and evacuation plan for their house and will write a paper on what they should include in their earthquake emergency kit.

Hopefully, I am more on the right track than I was last week.                    

1. Plate tectonics accounts for important features of Earth’s surface and major geologic events. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know evidence of plate tectonics is derived from the fit of the continents; the location of earthquakes, volcanoes, and midocean ridges; and the distribution of fossils, rock types, and ancient climatic zones.

b. Students know Earth is composed of several layers: a cold, brittle lithosphere; a hot, convecting mantle; and a dense, metallic core.

c. Students know lithospheric plates the size of continents and oceans move at rates of centimeters per year in response to movements in the mantle.

d. Students know that earthquakes are sudden motions along breaks in the crust called faults and that volcanoes and fissures are locations where magma reaches the surface.

e. Students know major geologic events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result from plate motions.

f. Students know how to explain major features of California geology (including mountains, faults, volcanoes) in terms of plate tectonics.

g. Students know how to determine the epicenter of an earthquake and know that the effects of an earthquake on any region vary, depending on the size of the earthquake, the distance of the region from the epicenter, the local geology, and the type of construction in the region.