Web Tools for Science Teachers Stage 4 & 5

1. Web Tools for Science TeachersStage 4 & 5 Teaching Science for Deeper Understanding Kaye Placing, UniServe Science kplacing@mail.usyd.edu.au

2. Tools that allow teachers to • Produce teaching materials that access information from/through the Web • Produce teaching materials that can be delivered via the Web

3. Production of materials that facilitate accessing information from the Web • WebQuests • Indigenous Garden WebQuest • EarthQuests/Virtual Field Trips • Australian Landscapes EarthQuest

4. What are WebQuests? • Teaching and learning activity that draws all or most of its information from the Web • Developed by Bernie Dodge and Tom March, San Diego State University • Address the higher order learning (Bloom’s Taxonomy) • Role play/Occupations/Varying Points of View

5. Why WebQuests? • Gather information from secondary sources … • Assess the reliability … secondary information and data … • Assess the accuracy of scientific information presented in the mass media … • BOS (Stage 6 Syllabuses)

6. Why WebQuests? • Time • Keep students focussed • But … it is necessary to allow for some free exploration of the web to develop skills • Searching • Refining searches • Assessing reliability and validity

7. How do I create a WebQuest? • Check there is not one already that suit your needs • http://www.webquest.org/index.php • http://bestwebquests.com/ • http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/ • http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/quests/index.html • Filamentality • Treasure hunts • WebQuests • http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/

8. Example • Our Indigenous Garden • http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/quests/nativeplants.html • Managing Australia's Biodiversity • http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/sciweek/2001/biodiv.html • Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy • http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/sheets/constellations.html

9. Virtual Field Trips/EarthQuests • Google Earth • http://earth.google.com/ • http://www.webkwestie.nl/earthquest/ • Microsoft Virtual Earth • http://www.backofmyhand.com/

10. Production of teaching materials that can be delivered via the Web • Crosswords • Multiple choice questions • Cloze • Scrambled sentences • Fill missing gap • Label diagrams • Etc

11. What is available? • http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/profdev/tutes/webtools/ • Hot Potatoes • http://hotpot.uvic.ca/ • http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/curric/stage6/verbs/ • Question Tools • http://www.questiontools.com/ • http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/profdev/tutes/webtools/PlateTectonicsres/frame.htm • Quia • http://www.quia.com/ • http://www.quia.com/pages/uniservescience.html

12. What else? • The Timeline Tool • http://www.learningtools.arts.ubc.ca/timeline.htm • Timeline Creator • http://timeline.cer.jhu.edu/ • Climate Change Timeline • Quandary • http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/quandary.php

13. Created using Excel

14. Created using Excel

15. Tools for Teachers • Any questions • Any discussion http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/profdev/tutes/EdFac2008.html