Task
Divide students into groups of three or four students and assign each group a specific type of environment, urban or rural. Choose a specific city for each urban group and a specific state for each rural group. Choose cities and states that have different types of environments, such as the Arizona desert, the Colorado mountains, the Minnesota prairie and the Louisiana swamp. After each group completes its background reading the students will create a presentation on their findings for the class
Process
Students should use the Internet to answer a few general questions on ecology and conservation in order to gain a basic understanding. Each group will also answer questions specific to their assigned environment. They should create a presentation for the class that shows the answers to their set of questions and highlights an understanding of how their assigned environment is affected by people.
Evaluation
Students are evaluated on their final presentation and how well they cooperate. The following scale of 4 points can also be used when letter grades are given:
1 – Minimal interaction in the group, presentation doesn’t answer all of the assigned questions.
2 – Average interaction in the group, presentation covers all of the assigned questions without any additional information included
3 - Average interaction in the group, presentation covers all of the assigned questions with some additional information added
4 – Average or above average interaction in the group, presentation covers all of the assigned questions with a lot of additional information.
This ecology and conservation webquest is designed to introduce students to the basics of ecology as it relates to them. Students can now make better personal choices about how they live to improve their water conservation, energy use and recycling