Geometry Webquest for Fifth Graders

WebQuests are valuable online tools to guide students through a lesson in a more interactive and independent manner than traditional classroom instruction allows.  They aim to use tools from the Web to enhance and even form the basis of a lesson.  I created a WebQuest to be compeleted by fifth grade students who are enrolled in a geometry class.  My goal was to use the WebQuest to teach students what the various geometric shapes were well enough that they could explain them all in their own words and recognize them in everyday life.  It was important to me that they used critical thinking skills to apply their knowledge, rather than just regurgitating what they read.

To start, I put together an introduction with basic questions about shapes to draw them in and pique their interest.  These questions are easy to understand but should provide new information for students to take in at the start of the lesson.  Next, I found some informative and fun websites where my students could both learn about and practice skills from the lesson including identifying, describing, and giving examples of various geometric shapes.  I included some paper activities, like a worksheet about one of the websites I had them visit, but Web-based activities made up the bulk of the activities I chose to incorporate from viewing examples to taking a quiz to creating geometric artwork.

I faced several challenges when creating this WebQuest, as I had never even seen one, much less made one, until this lesson.  The first challenge I faced, which I never fully figured out, was how to incorporate worksheets I had created in Word into my WebQuest.  I ended up inserting .JPEG images so students could view the worksheets before handouts were passed out, but I know some WebQuests linked to forms that children could fill out and submit online.

I also had some difficulty with the QuestGarden site- it deleted one of my process sections and my entire evaluation section each once before I finally redid them and got the whole thing to save.  Perhaps the biggest challenge, though, was coming up with creative online activities and age appropriate websites to use.  I found myself stuck in the rut of wanting to use traditional paper/pencil activities that I am familiar with, and I really had to work hard to ensure that I incorporated the Web into my WebQuest!  Overall, I think this WebQuest is something my students would enjoy, as well as a tool that will significantly enhance their understanding of and interest in geometric shapes.

URL:  http://questgarden.com/119/12/3/110213152608/