Biomes of North America Webquest
by Missy
edited by Mrs. Beebe
Students
will work in groups of two to research about the biomes located in
Due
Date: Wednesday June 6th,
2007
Presentations:
Wednesday June 6th, 2007
With the end of the school year just upon us I am giving you the opportunity
to take a trip! This will be a very special trip in the fact that you will not
even have to get in a stuffy car or have your id checked in the airport!
You will actually be taking a trip to a biome of your choice here at school!
For this trip I am allowing you to bring one of your friends
along with you to help research, take pictures, and organize a travel journal
that will be shared with the class upon your return back from your trip.
Pack your pens, pencils and papers.....your trip is about to
begin!
For 8th grade graduation this year your parents have
decided to take you and one of your friends on a trip to a biome in
Remember this will be your account of your trip and should be
very detailed! After you return from your trip you will be sharing what
you saw with the rest of the class!
Before you are able to leave on your vacation you must choose
one travel companion to help gather information for your travel journal.
Once you are in your groups you should decide which job you are going to have
on your journey!
Researcher
The researcher is in
charge of gathering information on the animals, plants, weather, and
environmental problems in your biome and reporting the findings to the
recorder.
Photographer
The photographer is
in charge of finding the required pictures for your journal and helping the
recorder with the journal entries.
Together
you will be responsible for taking the information gathered from the researcher
and the photographer and creating the journals. It will be both group members
job to read through the journals to make sure all required information is
included and to proofread for spelling and grammar errors.
Now
that you are all in your groups you need to make another big decision.... Where
are you going to go?! You and your travel companion must now decide which
of the following biomes you would like to travel to (remember you are only traveling to biomes located in
Grasslands
Tundra
Desert
The following is a list of websites to aid you in your
research:
www.neartica.com/ecology/habitats/biointro.htm
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/B/Biomes.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/index.php
Once
you have finished your research and picture taking you will need to put your
journal together. Please use your rubric to guide you through this
process. You will want to make sure you get full credit for the trip you
have taken!!
When
you have completed your journal, you will be sharing 2 of your favorite
journals aloud to the class. Each group member must share one. Remember each entry should be at least 1/2
page and should be a detailed account of what you saw on that specific
day. Please use the following journal as an example:
Monday
"Today
we woke up to a beautiful sun shining down on us. The morning air is
still chilly this time of year so I decided to grab my sweatshirt, gloves
and hat before heading out on the forest trail. I stood in amazement
at the tall trees that stood before us and held my breath as I watched a grey
and white rabbit hop between two bushes. The trees looked like they were
starting to turn green again and I knew it wouldn't be too much longer before
the weather was warm enough again for all of the leaves to grow back."
I
hope that you and your travel companion enjoyed your trip to your biome and
that you learned a lot along your way!! As you learned, when sharing your
journals with the class, each biome has it's own unique qualities....I
challenge you to take another trip in the future to learn about another biome
area that sounded interesting.