An Insect's Perspective
https://sites.google.com/site/insectcopy/home
The home page for this webquest site provided resources and intended grade level, teacher's name and a link to contact her via email. I would incorporate all of these elements into my own webquest home page and feel that it is appropriate information to include. The introduction had a good 'attention grabber' and basic questions to get kids thinking not necessarily about insect facts but their own opinion of insects, a good prelude to an insect unit.
The tasks are very clearly stated and easy to comprehend. Such questions will make students think about human destruction and hopefully encourage them to be more delicate in their own lifes. The process is broken down into to easy-to-follow steps and the links to pictures of different insects will likely hold the students' attention. Links to all information is good for younger students who may not be as capable of searching on their own.
Incorporating a discussion in the end based on the initial questions is a great way to make students realize what they have researched is relevant and could spark some healthy debate. And writing a letter is great way to enact the activity from tasks page and incorporate elements of other subjects (citizenship) into science.
The evaluation page gives a decent breakdown for what each component of the assignment requires but could include a more detailed look such as an example letter and poster to show what an exemplary score would specifically include.
The conclusion could have wrapped up some points that the students learned or incorporated a 'what I learned' assignment instead of just 'Thank you'.
The specific standards addressed on the teacher page is helpful but for the credits, nothing was listed besides the template website and I am certain more websites were utilized for information.
The Four Seasons
http://questgarden.com/46/99/3/070221124247
The introduction for the four seasons webquest site combines both home and introductory information. It is not as detailed as the others and includes no background information or scenario for why the students will be constructing a brochure, which would make the assignment more realistic and intriguing.
The tasks explain that a brochure is to be made but not many more details. It is made clear what questions should be answered. The process clearly explains each step involved in the assignment and provides helpful links for answering the task questions but the wording in some steps is a little confusing especially for younger students. There could be some additional information for the brochure such as finding a specific place to research to try and convince people to visit. A travel brochure would not simply discuss seasons, not very realistic. The link to the 'Yale child study center' for fun things to do in the seasons seemed odd to me.
The evaluation specifically detailed what is needed for a good grade and what will result in a poor grade, specifically the number of problems within the group for group grade is helpful for reference. The clarification that the brochure should be broken up by season is good as is the specificity for number of pictures.
As I have noticed with nearly all of the evaluation pages, the students must utilize the page to know exactly what the teacher is looking for; some of these details could have been mentioned in the instructions.
I like that the conclusion includes what they should know after completing the assignment. The teacher page had a good objective statement but never addressed specific standards.
Who Really Owes the Rosetta Stone
http://www.yellow-springs.k12.oh.us/ys-mls/rosetta.htm
This site is not organized and not at all what I expected based on the first two webquest example sites.
What I would consider to be the introduction is listed under 'web resources';
introduction, tasks and the conclusion are all included on this one page, which is alright but the title 'Web Resources' for this page is confusing to me.
The division of students was also unclear; are the students actually from these three different places or is it a role play? The conclusion seems to describe the actual project, including further tasks, where I would expect to see what should have been taken from the study.
The reference page mentions sites where the Rosetta Stone has been discussed, which is helpful but is not what i expect when I look at a reference page. I did really like the inclusion of past student presentations. Having an archive of past student work can be very helpful to the new groups for inspiration as well as reiterating the guidelines.
At the very least, this page shows that webquest sites can be very diverse and achieve a goal though different means but is definitely lacking some of the necessary components.
Review of Algebra I
https://sites.google.com/site/sludding55/teacherpage2
This website has the best introduction, providing a preview of what is to come in the project. It is helpful that the task page is split into different lessons and chapter sections of the book and the online 'personal tutor' interaction provides different methods to cater to different learning types and is more likely to keep the students' attention than working solely in the book.
The conclusion reiterates the introduction but refers to what the students should be able to do after completing the tasks, which is exactly what I expect from a concluding statement. The credits were also the best of the four sites in my opinion. The teacher page includes the most behind the scenes information for details and guidance in creating a webquest page.
This said, I feel that this webquest was the most organized and successful in conveying the tasks.
My Webquest
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