nationalparktrek

National Park

Trek
A Web Quest for 4th-6th Grade (Science and Language Arts )

Designed by Linda McLeod

lmcleod@colonial.k12.de.us

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits

Exploring our National Parks
http://www.nps.gov/

Introduction
Congratulations! You and your classmates have been selected to choose a National Park for your “Grand” end of the year field trip. You have earned this trip by working hard all year studying America’s beautiful landforms, geological features, and natural resources in your class. Your group must choose from one of the parks in the list and decide what National Park to visit and then share your information with your fellow classmates, teachers, and principal so they can vote on the park everyone will visit.

The Task
Your group will become National Park experts and create a Travel Brochure for the National Park you choose to visit. Each expert in the group will research a chosen topic and write an informative article to be used in the brochure.

The Process
1.First your team of four students will choose a National Park to research from the list below. Click on the link for a brief visit. Check out the highlights, landforms and see if it's a place you'd like to visit.

Arches      http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm Grand Canyon    http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

Big Bend   http://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm Haleakala                         http://www.nps.gov/hale/index.htm

Bryce      http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm Mammoth Cave   http://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm

Carlsbad Caverns http://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm Mount Rainier     http://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm

Death Valley http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm Yellowstone
http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

2. Now that you've decided on a park to research,you will each become an expert on a topic of your choice. Read the expert choices and their descriptions to decide.

Park Experts
EDITOR:    The editor writes the introduction and a brief history of the park. Information should include what is special about the park and its significance.The editor is also in charge of the layout of the brochure.
Advice: You will want to download graphics to use for the cover.

PARK RANGER:    The ranger writes the article about the geology(landforms, canyons etc.) and the archeology of the park.
Advice: You will want to download graphics for your section.
ADVENTURER:    The adventurer will write about the exciting things to do and places to see. Include backpacking trips, white water rafting and canoeing.
Advice: You will want to download a graphic for this section.
NATURALIST:    The naturalist writes about the plants and wildlife that can be found in the park.
Advice: You will want to download graphics for this section.

3. Each expert will research the topic of their choice. Visit the national park link you have chosen and click on the IN-DEPTH LINK. Find the link for your expert topic.
4. ARTICLES: Organization is important here. Use note cards to take notes in outline form. You will use the note cards to write your article on the computer. The editor will compile the articles for the Travel Brochure.
Advice: Remember to include only the main points and highlights for your article.This will be a brief informative article.
5. The Travel Brochure: Each expert should write their article using a word processing program and save to a disk. The editor will add each article to the brochure template using the cut and paste format. Don't forget graphics.
Advice: Be creative and unique in your presentation. Graphics will help inform your readers about the wonders of the park you have chosen for your trip.

Evaluation

TRAVEL BROCHURE RUBRIC

Category Beginning
       1 Developing
         2 Accomplished
          3 Exemplary
        4 Score

Content No subject knowledge evident in brochure.Information missing or wrong. Lack of organization. Fulfills minimal requirements for brochure articles.Some subject knowledge is evident. Minimal organization of topics. Brochure articles include essential information. Subject knowledge is evident. Topics are well organized. Articles cover topics in- depth.Subject knowledge and organization reflect a high level of performance.

Mechanics Articles have more than 5 misspelling and grammatical errors. Articles have 4 misspellings or grammatical errors. Articles have 3 or fewer misspellings or grammatical errors. Articles have no misspellings or grammatical errors.

Originality Brochure shows minor creativity. No graphics included. Brochure shows minimal creativity.Two graphics included. Brochure shows original thought and ideas. At least three graphics included. Brochure shows a high level of original thought and creativity Four or more graphics are included.

Teamwork The workload was not equally divided. The workload varied between team members. The team worked well together and contributed a fair share of the work. The workload was divided and shared equally by all team members.

:Conclusion
Your team of experts has now created a National Park Travel Brochure to present to the students, faculty and principal encouraging them to choose your park for the class trip. Have a wonderful time.

Credits and Resources
Sylvester, Diane. Kids.exploring.on.the.net, The Learning Works, Inc. Santa Barbara California 1998
The National Park Web Site:     http://www.nps.gov/

Arches http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm	Grand Canyon http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm
Big Bend http://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm	Haleakala http://www.nps.gov/hale/index.htm
Bryce http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm	Mammoth Cave http://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm
Carlsbad Caverns http://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm	Mount Rainier http://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm
Death Valley http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm	Yellowstone http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

Category	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Content	No subject knowledge evident in brochure.Information missing or wrong. Lack of organization.	Fulfills minimal requirements for brochure articles.Some subject knowledge is evident. Minimal organization of topics.	Brochure articles include essential information. Subject knowledge is evident. Topics are well organized.	Articles cover topics in- depth.Subject knowledge and organization reflect a high level of performance.
Mechanics	Articles have more than 5 misspelling and grammatical errors.	Articles have 4 misspellings or grammatical errors.	Articles have 3 or fewer misspellings or grammatical errors.	Articles have no misspellings or grammatical errors.
Originality	Brochure shows minor creativity. No graphics included.	Brochure shows minimal creativity.Two graphics included.	Brochure shows original thought and ideas. At least three graphics included.	Brochure shows a high level of original thought and creativity Four or more graphics are included.
Teamwork	The workload was not equally divided.	The workload varied between team members.	The team worked well together and contributed a fair share of the work.	The workload was divided and shared equally by all team members.