Introduction
The following webquest strives to teach students about the state of New Jersey through exploration of Arts & Entertainment, Historical Sites, Beaches, and Fun Facts.
Welcome to our New Jersey webquest! You are about to embark on a journey through the wonderful state of New Jersey. Often times families take trips to places far from home, why not explore what your state has to offer?
Task
Imagine that you are looking to uncover all of the hidden treasures and locations that New Jersey has to offer. You will be responsible for researching information from the following four categories: Arts & Entertainment, Historical Sites, Beaches, and Fun Facts. You will gather a minimum of 3 pieces of information for each category which will be included in a New Jersey travel brochure or multimedia presentation. Your travel brochure/presentation must be informative, creative and colorful. You should have a minimum of 12 pictures.
**USEFUL TIPS**
Remember, your task is to create a travel brochure or multimedia presentation. Look at other travel brochures or videos to see what type of information and locations that they include. Travel brochures and presentations are:
- Colorful! Feel free to put your presentation together however you would like. You could use construction paper or create it on the computer and print it out, you could do a slide show, video, power point etc. The more creative and detailed that you are-the better.
- Full of pictures that show the places you are writing or sharing. Select pictures/videos that show places you and your family would like to visit (or visited to gain the information).
-Full of information, but remember not to write or say too much! You are trying to fit information about the whole state into one brochure/multimedia presentation. You won't be able to include every place and every event. Choose the best ones and write short sentences that are descriptive. For example, instead of: "New Jersey has lots of beaches" try writing a sentence that offers more information and makes you want to visit those beaches: "New Jersey has many miles of clean beaches with calm waters and warm sand during the summer."
Process
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Garden State Discovery Museum
Visit this museum to find out what a TV news anchor, a scientist, and a diner worker
have in common and have fun.
Atlantic City Aquarium
Are you wondering where the Loggerhead Sea Turtle's name came from ?(hint it has to do
with his head).
How the terms carapace and plastron? Could they have a connection to the Loggerhead?
Is Nemo's real name Ocellaris?
Then this is the place for you.
(click on about the zoo than go to history than to exhibits) Is Basaltic Rock responsible for the naming of the Turtle Back Zoo? Is Jam and Jelly what you put on your toast or do they really live at the zoo? Would you like to be a Prairie Dog? The answers are at the zoo.
HISTORICAL SITES
(click on travel info)
George Washington's Winter Headquarters
You have heard about Washington being in New Jersey now you can see it for yourself
by visiting this home. This is only one of the many places Washington visited. See
if you can find other New Jersey locations.
What do rubber products and the Governor's Mansion have to do with each other?
(go to photos and multimedia and scroll to historic photographs)
Edison Historical Site
You are familiar with a modern day washing machine. Try to find the photograph of an
early version of a washing machine. See how these products have changed.
BEACHES
Browse through the information available about the various beaches in our state. Which one is located the closest to your house? What's the average water temperature in the summer? Find out about ocean monitoring. What is it? Why is it important?
What activities can you do at the Jersey Shore? Which New Jersey beach has the most activities you and your family would enjoy? Do any beaches offer water sports? If so, what type? What type of events can you attend at the shore? Which event would you like to attend? Which county do you think has the best beaches?
Learn about the history of Cape May. What can you do there besides visit the beach? What are some ways to get to Cape May besides going by car?
Explore the Wildwood Boardwalk. It's one of New Jersey's most famous boardwalks! What is there to do? Rides, food, games, shopping? Research some of your favorites.
FUN FACTS & MORE
There are lots of fun facts about our state and many famous Americans who call NJ home. Learn about these and include them in your travel brochure!
DINERS
New Jersey is world-famous for all of its diners. Diners are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Visit the website above and learn more about the history of NJ diners. Why are there so many here? Did you find your favorite diner on list? Why would people want to visit diners?
HIKING TRAILS
Explore the outdoors by hiking along NJ's beautiful trails. Click on the link to explore.
Lighthouses
Explore some of NJ's beautiful lighthouses. Click on the link.
Option #1: Looking for extra fun?? With your group, create a family photo album of your trip. Be as a creative as you'd like. Your photos must contain captions that tell what the picture was of and what happened when you visited that location. Remember to be creative and use your imagination!!
Option #2: Create a postcard for one of the locations you have researched. The postcard must include a picture on the cover and a message on the back. The message must include relevant information related to the location on the front of the postcard.
Option #3: Create a full-poster advertisement for one of the locations you learned about during your research. The poster should include information that you would need if you wanted to visit the location such as: address, phone number, hours of operation, admission charges, key reasons to visit, pictures, etc.
Evaluation
Evaluation
|
Beginning 1 |
Developing 2 |
Accomplished 3 |
Exemplary 4 |
Score |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pictures |
Travel brochure contains pictures that are not relevant to the information presented. |
Travel brochure contains 0-3 pictures. | Travel brochure contains 4-8 pictures | Travel brochure contains 12- pictures. | |
|
Information
|
Each section contains 0-1 pieces of information. | Each section contains 2 piece of information. | Each section contains 3 pieces of information. | Each section contains 4 pieces of information. | |
|
Sections |
Only 1 section meets all the requirements of the project. | Only 2 sections meet all the requirements of the project. | Only 3 sections meet all the requirements of the project. | All 4 sections meet all the requirements of the project. | |
|
Construction |
Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance. | Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance. | Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance. | Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance. | |
|
Spelling and Grammar |
Overall brochure/presentation contains over 15 spelling and grammar errors. | Overall brochure/presentation contains over 10 spelling and grammar errors. | Overall brochure/presentation contains over 5 spelling and grammar errors. | Overall brochure/presentation is free of spelling and grammar errors. |
Conclusion
Conclusion
Did you enjoy your journey through the state of New Jersey? Hopefully you were able to learn more about the places you already knew existed in your state and you were able to discover new places that would be fun to visit in the future. New Jersey is full on fun, sometimes you just need to do a little bit of research to uncover it!
Credits
Credits
Images used in the webquest were borrowed from:
http://www.actourism.org/images/ACAquarium-Image.jpg
http://www.cabs.org/images/Logos/WildwoodLogo.jpg
http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/news_let/jul01/graphics/driving.gif
http://www.delcom.com/jerseyshore/CapeMay.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/3200746912_4a47efc200.jpg
http://www.imageenvision.com/sm/
http://learningandteaching.dal.ca/taguide/Image57.gif
http://www.lili.org/forlibs/ce/able/course9/images/qmark.gif
http://www.livingstonnj.org/tbzoologo.jpg
http://www.rlrouse.com/maps/new-jersey.gif
http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/pressreleases/images/globe_web.jpg
http://www.squindo.net/news/Weird%20NJ.gif
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/SCCWebsite/SCCWSImages.nsf/WebLookupImageByUNID/docid361A3715B7E79C5F80256DD000368BAA/$FILE/kids.gif
http://www.theclassroomkit.com/images/gif_stationery6.gif
http://thefreshscent.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/greetings-from-new-jersey.jpg
http://www.video-squeeze-templates.com/bonus-burst-green-001.jpg
http://www.virtualnjshore.com/
Modified from
Fran Canino
Librarian at Connors School in Hoboken, NJ.
Sofia Portela
Sofia Portela is a first grade ESL/Bilingual teacher in Kearny, NJ. Sofia is currently in the process of obtaining her Master's Degree in Teaching and will be graduating in from New Jersey City University in May 2009. On her spare time, Sofia enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures. Sofia's Professional Website: http://missportela.tripod.com/