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Goals & Objectives

This WebQuest was created to be implemented during a fourth grade social studies unit about the counties of New Jersey. It also incorporates Language Arts into the presentation. The goal of this WebQuest is to familiarize students with different counties located throughout the state of New Jersey. The students will discover information about many aspects of their counties such as: history, geography, interesting places, and local news.

In addition to learning about the counties, students will also become more proficient in using the internet to do research and using Power Point. Students will be working in groups and this will promote cooperative learning and group discussions. The Power Point will be presented to the class to enhance oral presentation skills.

By the end of the WebQuest students will be able to:

Identify their county and its physical landscape, natural features, climate and population.
Describe important events, people, or dates that took place in their county.
Identify interesting places, and describe news events that are taking place in their county.
Use technology to research information.
Present their information using Power Point.

Curriculum Standards

Social Studies

6.1: ALL STUDENTS WILL UTILIZE HISTORICAL THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING, AND RESEARCH SKILLS TO MAXIMIZE THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF CIVICS, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ECONOMICS.

STANDARD 6.4 (UNITED STATES AND NEW JERSEY HISTORY) ALL STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE KNOWLEDGE OF UNITED STATES AND NEW JERSEY HISTORY IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND LIFE AND EVENTS IN THE PAST AND HOW THEY RELATE TO THE PRESENT AND FUTURE.

STANDARD 6.6 (GEOGRAPHY) ALL STUDENTS WILL APPLY KNOWLEDGE OF SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND OTHER GEOGRAPHIC SKILLS TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO THE PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT.

Technology

STANDARD 8.1 (COMPUTER AND INFORMATION LITERACY ) ALL STUDENTS WILL USE COMPUTER APPLICATIONS TO GATHER AND ORGANIZE INFORMATION AND TO SOLVE PROBLEMS.

Language Arts

STANDARD 3.3 (SPEAKING) ALL STUDENTS WILL SPEAK IN CLEAR, CONCISE, ORGANIZED LANGUAGE THAT VARIES IN CONTENT AND FORM FOR DIFFERENT AUDIENCES AND PURPOSES.

Multiple Intelligences

Intelligences	Activities
Linguistic	Group sharing of researched information, computers, worksheets
Bodily-Kinesthetic	Moving around to different activities, such as independent work and group work
Spatial	Worksheets for each role, visual presentation
Logical/Mathematical	critical thinking, problem solving
Interpersonal	Cooperative learning and group tasks
Intrapersonal	Independent research for each role, sharing personal feelings about what places and news is interesting

Gregoric Learning Styles

Learning Styles	Activities
Concrete Sequential	Hands-on learning, computers, record information regarding each role
Concrete Random	Creation of Power Point, problem-solving aspect
Abstract Sequential	Independent research, reading, reporting information
Abstract Random	Group work

Sense and Meaning

This WebQuest will create an emotional connection with fourth graders because it relates to their lives and because it is about the state that they live in. Students are interested in their surroundings and learning more about where they live. The WebQuest will have sense and meaning when the students are researching their counties and discovering places they have visited and news articles that affect their lives. This will make the students excited and motivated. Their emotions will make the likelihood of memory greater.

The Information Processing Model

According to Sousa, information is most likely to be stored in long term memory if it makes sense and has meaning to the individual. When students use the information about their county to create their Power Point, the information opens their sensory register and will move from the immediate memory to the working memory. When students share information in their presentation to persuade the family to move to their county the information will move into the long term memory.

Transfer

Transfer is a two part process. The first part involves the effect that past learning has on the process of new learning. The second part is the degree to which the new learning will be useful to the learner in the future. The purpose of this WebQuest is to give the students a positive experience by learning more about the counties of New Jersey through research and the use of Power Point on the computers and the internet. These skills and knowledge can be transferred into more complex tasks in the future.

Author: L. Ramsey and K. Borghoff