Becoming a Zookeeper WebQuest

Becoming A Zookeeper

What makes a good webquest?

A WebQuest is a wonderful tool for students to have a different way to go about learning something. It should use the internet in as many ways as possible for the student to research and create a final product. It should teach them how to collaborate and use reasoning skills and problem solving to think deeper about a topic than just what they read on the internet.

1. A Scaffolded Learning Structure: "We ask students to do what expert writers do—brainstorm, draw pictures, compile lists, or make free associations—and then help them think about an audience and descriptive details." In our webquest, we ask our students to take on the role of a zookeeper and as they choose the animal they are the caretaker of, they have to learn everything about it. They learn what it eats, where it lives and anything else they would need to know about it to take care of it. When they have got it all, we ask them to present the animal in its habitat and explain it to zoo goers that have never heard it.
2. Use of Essential Internet Resources: "A teacher’s gentle orchestration of Internet experiences like these helps students develop their active understanding of the problem." We have given our students resources to find information about their animal, but also fun activities that will help them learn about it in a different and exiciting way that uses internet resources.
3. Authentic Tasks That Motivate: "The best way to address attention and relevance is to choose a topic that students find compelling and then create an authentic learning task related to it." For the age of the students we made this webquest for, animals are a fun and exciting topic that will be something they want to learn about. Giving them the role of the zookeeper makes the project come alive and something they will really enjoy and want to participate in.