Target Learners

This WebQuest is designed to reach all levels of third grade students.  Heterogeneous groups should be set-up to allow students to help each other complete this quest.  The websites students may use are linked in the process section of the quest so I know that what they are accessing is at their level, has the information they need, and is appropriate for children.

Students will complete the WebQuest in class, but may repeat it at home, during choice time in class, or at recess if they like.  They may only do this after the class has completed it.

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Standards

This WebQuest  is part of a larger unit called, "The Solar System."  That unit covers the following third grade content standards:

Earth Science
 
4.  Objects in the sky move in regular and predictable patterns. As a basis for understanding this concept:

• Students know the patterns of stars stay the same, although they appear to move across the sky nightly, and different stars can be seen in different seasons.
• Students know the way in which the Moon's appearance changes during the four-week lunar cycle.
• Students know telescopes magnify the appearance of some distant objects in the sky, including the Moon and the planets. The number of stars that can be seen through telescopes is dramatically greater than the number that can be seen by the unaided eye.
• Students know that Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun and that the Moon orbits Earth.
• Students know the position of the Sun in the sky changes during the course of the day and from season to season

English Language Arts
  Reading Comprehension:

• 2.0  Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material. They draw upon a variety of comprehension strategies as needed.
• 2.1 Use titles, tables of contents, chapter headings, glossaries, and indexes to locate information in text.
• 2.5 Distinguish the main idea and supporting details in expository text.
• 2.6 Extract appropriate and significant information from the text, including problems and solutions.
• 2.7 Follow simple multiple-step written instructions (e.g., how to assemble a product or play a board game)
  

• 1.1 Create a single paragraph:
• Develop a topic sentence.
• Include simple supporting facts and details.

  Written and Oral English Language Conventions

• 1.0 Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level.
• 1.1 Understand and be able to use complete and correct declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in writing and speaking.
• 1.2 Identify subjects and verbs that are in agreement and identify and use pronouns, adjectives, compound words, and articles correctly in writing and speaking.
• 1.3 Identify and use past, present, and future verb tenses properly in writing and speaking.
• 1.4 Identify and use subjects and verbs correctly in speaking and writing simple sentences.
• 1.8 Spell correctly one-syllable words that have blends, contractions, compounds, orthographic patterns, and common homophones.

  Listening and Speaking

• 1.0 Students listen critically and respond appropriately to oral communication. They speak in a manner that guides the listener to understand important ideas by using proper phrasing, pitch, and modulation.
• 1.5 Organize ideas chronologically or around major points of information.
• 1.6 Provide a beginning, a middle, and an end, including concrete details that develop a central idea.
• 1.7 Use clear and specific vocabulary to communicate ideas and establish the tone.
• 1.8 Clarify and enhance oral presentations through the use of appropriate props (e.g., objects, pictures, charts).
• 2.0 Students deliver brief recitations and oral presentations about familiar experiences or interests that are organized around a coherent thesis statement. Student speaking demonstrates a command of standard American English and the organizational and delivery strategies outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard 1.0.
• 2.2 Plan and present dramatic interpretations of experiences, stories, poems, or plays with clear diction, pitch, tempo, and tone
• 2.3 Make descriptive presentations that use concrete sensory details to set forth and support unified impressions of people, places, things, or experiences.

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Resources
The following sites provided the information I used to create this WebQuest:

• The template was obtained on The WebQuest Page at:
• http://webquest.org/index.php

• Photographs were obtained at:
• http://www.morguefile.com
• http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/index.html

• Student research will be completed at:
• Planet 10
• Exploring the Planets
• Astronomy for Kids
• National Geographic Virtual Solar System
• NASA's Solar System Exploration

• California State Content Standards
• http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss

• To view the entire solar system project in detail, visit:
• http://my-ecoach.com/online/teacherguide.php?projectid=10622

• To find out more about our class, visit:
• http://www.oocities.org/vallevista_roberts

****A special thanks to my Earn While You Learn colleagues and instructors for your guidance, feedback, and support****

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Contact Information

Please feel free to contact me with questions or feedback at: aroberts@mountpleasant.k12.ca.us

You may access our class website at: http://www.oocities.org/vallevista_roberts

To see the detailed project description, please visit:  http://my-ecoach.com/online/teacherguide.php?projectid=10622

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