A Webquest by:
Kathy Tonnies
Science
Fourth/Fifth Grade
There
are active volcanoes waiting to explode or collapse into the sea, and there are
also earthquake zones in the seas and oceans around Europe and the
President
Clinton has asked for your help. He wants
to help others prepare for a tsunami by giving them an early warning system
that includes an evacuation plan. He is going to present your plan to the
International Rescue Committee at their next meeting. They need your help.
Your
teacher will assign you to a group. Each
group will have four members. Your group
will do the worksheets for the Public Policy Analyst with the help of the
teacher. Your group will prepare a
poster based on your research and one member of the group will give a three to five
minute presentation to the class. You
will use the guiding questions of the Pubic Policy Analyst to help you think
through the problem. Your poster will show evidence of the problem and a
suggested policy solution.
Your
teacher will assign you a role to play within your group. Since everyone has a
role to play it is important that you all work together
and help each other. It is very
important you all do your part to help with the final presentation and to
complete the worksheets.
Each group will have a:
Group Leader-this person is responsible for making sure that
everyone works together to think through the problem and to organize a very
good final presentation.
Research Assistant-this person is responsible for helping the teacher
and the group gather the information and to write down the really important
facts
Poster Presenter-you will give final presentation for the group to
the rest of the class
Policy Maker-you will be responsible for filling out the
worksheets (see process section below)
First your group will
look at the Public Policy
Analyst Website so that you can go through the graphic version
with your teacher.
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html
Each group will then follow the Science Public Policy
Analyst Steps 1-6 below:
2. Gather evidence
of the problem
3. Identify the
cause of the problem
4. Evaluate existing
public policies which address your social
problem
5. Develop
alternatives to existing public policies
6. Select the best
public policy solution
Find all your information
for this task using the below resource links.
Your teacher will help guide you through the different resources.
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/itic/library/about_tsu/faqs.html
http://www.spy.org.uk/spyblog/archives/2004/12/where_is_the_ts.html
http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/general/warning/warning.html
http://www.theorator.com/bills109/s50.html
Standard 1:
Analysis, Inquiry, and Design
Students
will use scientific inquiry to pose questions, seek answers, and develop
solutions.
Standard 2:
Interconnectedness: Common Themes
Student
will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics,
science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of
learning.
Standard 3: Science
Students
will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories
pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the
historical development of ideas in science.
S6d: Acquires information from multiple sources
S6c:
Recognizes and limits sources of bias
in data
|
Score |
Level 1 |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
Level 4 |
|
Worksheet |
Incomplete. Did not answer any questions |
Answered some questions |
Answered most questions |
Complete; understands
the steps of the PPA well |
|
Poster |
Incomplete. Not much
information is presented |
Partially detailed and
some information on the facts and a policy solution are presented |
Complete; good
presentation on the facts and a good policy solution |
complete; very good
presentation of the facts and a very good policy solution |
|
Presentation |
Didn’t address the problem or a policy solution. |
Covered some of the
problem and the policy solution |
Explained most findings
and the policy solution. |
Exhibited and presented
a clear understanding of the problem and a policy solution. |
By
completing this lesson, you will know how to do research and gather
information. You will be able to develop
a policy solution and to give an oral presentation on your findings. You will have a better understanding that a
tsunami in the
1.
What are
causes of a tsunami?
2.
What are some
of the warning systems/evacuation plans that already exist for tsunamis?
3.
What would be
a good plan for an early warning system/evacuation plan for the North Atlantic
Coastal Plain based on your research?
4.
What are the
steps of the Public Policy Analyst?