Heather Hyatt

SLM 521

Fall ‘03

Webquest

What is that thing?

A 2^nd grade webquest

Introduction:

You and your friend are walking through the forest. You sit on top of a rock. There is something on the rock. You look at the thing and see that it is an insect or spider you have never seen before. You want to find out what it is. So you and your friend take it home and decide to do some research. You want to know if this thing is a spider or an insect.

Task:

Your task is to research the insect. You will work with a partner to do this research. You and your partner need to discover whether the thing is an insect or a spider. Since this thing has never been seen before you need to name it and write a research paragraph about it.

By the end of this task you should be able to:

1. label the features of an insect and a spider.

2. write an informative report describing your findings.

Process:

1. Pick a partner to work with. Then choose which person will research an insect and which person will research a spider.

2. Using the web sites below, research either the insect or spider. To complete your research, print and fill out the information on the worksheet. Worksheet

Spiders:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/arachnids/spider/Spiderprintout.shtml

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/arachnids/label/extanatomy/answers.shtml

http://www.yahooligans.com/content/animals/insects/

http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/spidermania/tour/tour.html

Insects:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/insects/label/insectanswers.shtml

http://www.yahooligans.com/content/animals/insects/

http://www.virtualinsectary.com/

3. Write an informative report on you and your partner’s findings.

Your report needs to include:

1. 1 paragraph describing what features the thing you found has and giving it a name. Weather the thing you found was an insect or a spider.

2. 1 paragraph describing what features an insect has and the interesting facts you learned.

3. 1 paragraph describing what features a spider has and the interesting facts you learned.

Evaluation:

	0	1	2
Research	The information sheet is not complete or the information is mostly incorrect.	The information sheet is complete. There is some incorrect information.	The information sheet is complete. The information is all correct.
Report Content	The report is missing a paragraph and the information in the paragraphs is short and incomplete.	The report is missing a paragraph and the other two paragraphs have the complete information. Or the report has all three paragraphs but they are short and incomplete.	The report has three paragraphs and they are well written with complete information.
Report Form	The paragraphs have many spelling and grammatical mistakes.	The paragraphs have few spelling and grammatical mistakes.	The paragraphs have no spelling and grammatical mistakes.

Conclusion:

There are many differences between insects and spiders. By now you should be able to explain those differences. So the next time you find a creature in the woods, you should be able to tell if it is a spider or an insect right away. Happy searching.