Can You Believe It?

A WebQuest for 8th Grade Language Arts

Designed by Mary Ann Mazza

mazza.m@woodstown.org

Thinking

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page

Introduction

"How do you know that's true?" asked the teacher."I saw it on the Internet," replied the student.

Could you be that student?

There is just so much information on the web and most of it just seems so convincing!

How are we supposed to know what is true and what is not?

Have you ever stopped to think about:

Question Who puts information up on the web?

Question How can I decide if this information is any good, anyway?

Question Can I find something that might be better than this?

After completing this WebQuest you should have some tools to help you decide which sites worthy of your time!

Go to Task to see what you need to do.
 

Task

Your job in all of this to develop a strategy you could really use to "read" web sites. We don't mean just read the words!

You will be able to look for the who, what, when, and why behind any web site, and then make a choice about how valuable the site is for you.

You will be able to discuss with you class and your teacher what you've found.

You will be able to create a resource (a poster, a handout, or a bookmark) for your classmates to use in the library or the classroom to help them to evaluate web sites. 

 

Go to Process to get started.

Process

1. You will be divided into groups of 3 or4. 

2. Once you are in your groups, you will look at some web sites that explain some of the things you are looking at when you decide whether a site is a good site to use. Look at least three of the following sites. Your teacher may tell you which sites to use, or you teacher may choose other sites for you to use. Each member of your group should choose one site to look at.

The ABC's of Web Page Evaluation:http://members.tripod.com/bcrocke/webeval.html

Criteria for Web Site Evaluation: http://www.lib.umich.edu/ugl/research/evaluation/

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Evaluation Criteria: http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html

Kathy Schrock's Guide: http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/evalmidd.html

The Quality Information Checklist: http://www.quick.org.uk/menu.htm

3. As you read through the site you've selected, make a list of the criteria that you find in your site. What things does the author of the site list as important things to look for? How does he or she tell you to look for these things? What advice does the author give? Does the author give you a checklist, a chart, or a graphic? Keep who, what, when, and why in mind.

4. Get back together with your group members. Share your lists. In your group, make a list of at least (at least, but you might want more!) 5 questions you need to answer to evaluate a web site.

5. Select a web page from the list below, or use one your teacher suggests. Use your group's master list to evaluate the page.

Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie: http://zapatopi.net/afdb.html

Britain for Americans: http://www.brookview.karoo.net/BFA/index.htm

California's Velcro Crop: http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html

Feline Reactions to Bearded Men: http://kathyschrock.net/infolit/cat.htm

Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches: http://www.pmichaud.com/toast

The True but Little Known Facts about Women and AIDS: http://www.ithaca.edu/library/research/AIDSFACTS.htm

Evaluate your checklist: how well did it work? Did it help you? Is there anything you need to add, change, or remove? Discuss it in your group!

7. Select a site: as a group, select a pair of sites from the list, or a site that your teacher recommends. Use your group's revised master list to evaluate these sites. Discuss which site you might choose to use for a paper or project.

Pair 1:
American revolution.org: http://www.americanrevolution.org/
Liberty! The American Revolution: http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/

Pair 2:
NASA: Human Space Flight: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/home/index.html
Affordable Space flight: http://www.affordablespaceflight.com/home.html

Pair 3:
The White House: http://www.whitehouse.org/kids/index.asp
The White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

8. Re-evaluate your checklist: Make any final adjustments!

9. Your group is ready to make a resource for the library. You can do this in the form of a handout, a poster, a checklist, etc. It must be made on the computer. Be creative and have a good time! Remember, this is something you are going to share with your peers. Make sure you include all of the following in your resource:

  • Who made it- the names of everyone in your group
  • A creative title.
  • Some artwork; see if you can choose or create images that add information to your resource
  • At least five criteria/questions to ask when evaluating a web site.
  • Be sure to turn in all your work (answers to questions above, etc.) with your final project.

 

Evaluation

 

Developing

1

Accomplished

2

Exemplary

3

Score


Students Will be able to write a list of criteria for web site evaluation

 Students create a list of 3 or more criteria. Criteria may be uneven in focus or contain mistakes.

Students create a list of five criteria. Criteria are uneven in focus or contain mistakes.. 

Students create a list of 5 or more criteria: list is comprehensive and accurate.

 


Students will be able to use their lists to effectively evaluate web resources.

 

Students feel that their list is a less-than effective tool for evaluating web resources.

Students feel uncertain about the effectiveness of their list as a web evaluation tool.

Students demonstrate that their list is an effective tool for evaluating web resources

 

Students will be able to actively discuss/explain their lists with the class

Students are unclear as they explain their lists. Students are not yet able to justify their choices in their own words.

Students justify their choices by referring to the reading, not by explaining in their own words why a choice is important. Students explain their list well.

Students are able to clearly explain and justify their choices to the class. Students demonstrate a thorough understanding of the information they have found about web site evaluation.

 

Students will be able to create a resource to help their peers evaluate web resources.

Students create a resource that contains errors.

Students create a resource that is accurate and informative, but not interesting to look at- little effort to draw the reader in is shown.

Students create a clear, easy to read, accurate, informative, and visually interesting resource for the library.

 

Conclusion

You are on your way to becoming a smarter surfer! You have learned what is important when choosing informational web sites. You have created a tool to help others to surf safely and wisely.

Credits & References

This WebQuest is a modification of "What's it Worth?" by Betsy Farquhar.

We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL.

Based on a template from The WebQuest Page and Design Patterns