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Goals                                         

Students will create a PowerPoint presentation that will provide information for members of the state of New Jersey on how to conserve water. 

Objectives                                                               

Students will be able to:                                              

• List the ways water is important in their lives
• Describe where water originally comes from 
• Compare local and global conservation using internet sites
• Combine scientific researching skills with problem solving skills to communicate the message of water conservation to the members of their state
• Explain their PowerPoint presentation to their peers on the importance of water conservation

Curriculum Standards          

 Science Standards Addressed

        New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards 

5.1:A.1

5.1:A.2

5.1:A.3

5.1:A.4

 5.4:A.1

 5.4:C.1

 5.8:B.2

 5.10:A.1

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES: Based on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences 

LEARNING STYLES: Based on the Gregorc Model     

The Power of Transfer

Transfer allows prior knowledge to help with new learning. The brain seeks past experiences that are similar to new positive learning experiences and bridges them together. Students start to learn about water use as early as kindergarten and will continue to learn about the conservation of water through their adult years.  To lessen confusion, basic ideas that have already been taught will be discussed. During Prime Time One, we will point out critical attributes of conserving water, such as doing so in the kitchen, bathroom, and other places in the children's homes. As the WebQuest leads us into Down Time and Prime Time Two students will use their creativity to solve the problem of how to spread the word of conservation to their peers and community members.  

Information Processing Model of Memory:

Information that a student finds important is passed through the Sensory Register then reaches the Immediate Memory and Working Table, the last stop being Long Term Storage.  “Memories are not stored intact.  Instead, they are stored in pieces and distributed in sites throughout the cerebrum.  The shape, color, and smell of an orange, for example, are categorized and stored in different sets of neurons.  Activating these sites simultaneously brings together a recollection of our thoughts and experiences involving an orange.” (Sousa, 79)  We are continuously making efforts to formulate memories for our students within our WebQuest. Information can be relayed in different manners, i.e. with the use of internet sites, PowerPoint, and graphic organizers. In this WebQuest, the students are researching their portion of the project, organizing their information on data sheets, switching data sheets with a team member, designing a PowerPoint slide, and making a presentation to their peers.  It is our hope with different neurons firing information to each other; they will be able to incorporate the idea of water conservation into their long-term memory process.  This topic will reappear in the curriculum in middle school and high school as well as being a current local and global issue.  

Primacy/Recency:

According to Sousa, students learn best that which is presented first.  On the first day, the introduction to the web quest, rubric, and the activities that the students will be completing will be explained during Prime Time One. At this time, we will be discussing their individual work that will be used to create their final group presentation.  Prime Time One is when the students discuss their prior knowledge on water conservation.  During Down Time, students will meet their group members and find out their personal job for the project. They will start using their predetermined websites to locate information that will be filled out on their graphic organizers. Primacy/Recency is a person’s ability to remember information. “We tend to remember best which comes first, and remember second best what comes last.” (Sousa, 89) Prime Time Two students will be finishing their research and working on completing their PowerPoint slides and we will be circulating around the computer lab; giving us the opportunity to answer any questions. Students will now be able to make sense of water conservation because they will see how it relates to their lives and the future of our world.  We believe this WebQuest will take six science periods to complete.  Our last session will be the groups presenting their project.   

KB,MP