EDU 505EDU 505

Dinosaur Web QuestDinosaur Web Quest

Grade 5Grade 5

Teacher ObjectivesTeacher Objectives

• The purpose of this assignment is to give students experience in research, to learn how to work in a group, practice persuasive writing, and to learn more about dinosaurs and their extinction.

• This assignment will help the students learn all about the extinction theories and help them analyze what they believe.

• The teacher could provide detective or police costumes for the students to dress up in during the presentation to make the setting more realistic! The teacher could dress up as the police chief as well

IntroductionIntroduction

Where Have All The Dinosaurs Gone?

Have you ever wondered why thedinosaurs became extinct?

Was it a meteorite that hit the earth andcaused major destruction?

Was it a disease that made them all sick,or was it radiation caused bya super solar flare?

Well if this question has ever crossed yourmind, we have a job for youthat will help answer all of your questions.

TaskTask

• It has come to our attention at the reptile police station that a large group of reptiles are missing! We're calling on our top-notch group of students to help us discover the reason for this disappearance.

• Your mission is to sort through all the theories and choose the one that seems most likely.

• We need you to persuade our police chief of your reasons for choosing this certain theory over the others. Be sure to back up your decision with supporting details!

• So put on your detective's cap and grab your magnifying glass, we're depending on you!

ProcessProcess

• In order to complete the investigation, you will break into teams of six and research the different theories.

Detective One: • Orbital Change Theory

Detective Two:• Volcano Theory

Detective Three:• Climate Change theory

Detective Four:• Giant Impact Theory

Detective Five:• Disease Theory 

Detective Six: • Supernova Theory

Process cont…Process cont…

• Each detective will present their theories to the rest of the group.

• As a team, they will decide which theory is best.

• Then, the group will make a presentation to present to the Police Chief and all of the police department.

Process cont…Process cont…

The presentation will consist of: 1. Each team member will write a persuasive essay about

the theory their team chose.2. As a group, you will create visual aid (poster, chart, 3-D

model, power point...) describing the theory your group decided on.

3. Your group will present it to the class (police department). The police department will then decide if they believe the group’s theory or if they believe in another theory.

4. Finally, you will be graded according to the rubric posted on the evaluation page.

ResourcesResources

Below is a list of resources that might be helpful for your

research….

Oribital Change http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/orbital_change.html

http://vilenski.org/science/dinosaur/orbitalchanges.html

Volcanoeshttp://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/volcanoes.html

http://vilenski.org/science/dinosaur/volcano.html

http://filebox.vt.edu/artsci/geology/mclean/Dinosaur_Volcano_Extinction/

Resources cont..Resources cont..

Diseasehttp://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/disease.html

http://frederic.malmartel.free.fr/Fin_des_dinosaures/eeclassique.htm#épidémie

http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/dinosaurs/cancer.jsp

Supernovahttp://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/supernova.html

http://town.morrison.co.us/dinosaur/extinction/other.html#nova

Resources cont..Resources cont..

Giant Impact

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/impact.html http://www.geocities.com/andy_tejero/HTML/frames.html

http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/blast/asteroid_hyp.htm

Climate Changehttp://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Communication/Willson/climatechange.html http://town.morrison.co.us/dinosaur/extinction/other.html#climate http://frederic.malmartel.free.fr/Fin_des_dinosaures/eeclassique.htm#boulversem

nt climatique  

EvaluationEvaluation

• The groups will be evaluated using a rubric. (Which I could not figure out how to transfer from Word to Power Point)

• Components of the rubric include:- Persuasive oral presentation

- Group work

- Visual aid

- Overall quality of work

• There will be a separate rubric to assess each student’s persuasive writing piece.

ConclusionConclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully convinced our police chief and station of your theory

for the dinosaurs' disappearance. Your

awesome detective skills and amazing presentation are greatly appreciated. Next time something is missing, we will know exactly who to call!