MHHE

CyberEducator Online

Overview

Table of Contents

Featured Web Links

Web Tours

Using the Web

Related Resources

CyberLibrary Links

Listservs

Web Search Tools

What's New

Cybertips & Virtual Field Trips

 

 

 

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"Using the Web" Activities

 

 

Part 7: Subject Area Resources

Using the Web: Design an Online Treasure Hunt

Overview

Do you remember going on scavenger or treasure hunts as a child, searching for a list of items in a park, at a party, or in your neighborhood? The Internet offers an innovative approach to educational Treasure Hunts for students to explore. Online Treasure Hunts typically are used when teachers want students to learn specific, often factual, information about a selected topic, using multiple pre-screened Web resources. Giving students pre-screened Web sites ensures "safe surfing" on the Internet with developmentally appropriate and high quality resources.

Using the sample hunt on the next page as a model, create your own subject-specific online Treasure Hunt for your classroom. The steps below will provide you with guidelines and helpful Web resources for designing the hunt.

  1. What is the topic of your Treasure Hunt? (i.e., U.S. Westward Expansion, female African-American writers)

  2. Search for high quality Web sites that are relevant to your selected topic.

    Check out the Web site archives at LA Times Launch Point (    http://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/) and Blue Webn (http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/). The resources at these sites are selected for their outstanding educational content and relevance to academic subject area topics.

  3. Bookmark and organize your selected Web sites on your Web browser (Microsoft Explorer, Netscape Navigator, etc.).

    You may click on the "Help" menu of your Web browser for step-by-step bookmarking instructions.

  4. Select Web sites for your "Resource Bank" from your collection of bookmarked sites. Provide both the titles and Web addresses of Web sites in the "Bank".

    One of the goals of this type of activity is to help students feel competent in using the Web. To avoid anxiety and frustration, direct younger students to the exact Web page where answers to your questions may be found. You may direct older or more experienced students to the home page of a Web site and ask them to search throughout the site to find the answers. Finally, you may offer hints about where to look for the answers as in the following sample Treasure Hunt.

  5. Develop Treasure Hunt questions, using information within each Web site one time.

    Visit Filamentality (    http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/formats.html#Hunt) to access step-by-step instructions for creating an online Treasure Hunt and hints for success.

  6. Ask a final, evaluative question that asks students to synthesize the information they have learned and develop it into a broad understanding of the topic.

    Learn more about asking purposeful questions at Levels and Types of Questions: Bloom's Taxonomy (    http://www.oir.uiuc.edu/did/booklets/question/quest1.html). Your final question should be a higher level question within Bloom's taxonomy, requiring students to analyze, synthesize, or evaluate information.

 

Sample Online Treasure Hunt: U.S. Westward Expansion

Earliest settlers to the West often walked up to 2,000 miles barefoot, taking nearly six months to complete the journey. This online expedition, however, avoids typical traveling hardships of the past and blazes your trail back into the Old West, introducing you to diverse explorers and historic landmarks along the way.

Use the pre-screened Web sites in the "Resource Bank" to answer the following questions.

 
Resource Bank
  1. Flagstaff History for Kids! http://www.nau.edu/~cline/speccoll/kids/kids1.html
  2. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial http://www.nps.gov/jeff/main.htm
  3. New Perspectives on the West http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/
  4. Pioneer Spirit http://www.greatplains.com/pioneer_spirit/
  5. Pony Express Home Page http://www.ccnet.com/~xptom/welcome.html
  6. The Oregon Trail http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html

Questions

1. Describe some of the ways in which Buffalo Soldiers contributed to the expansion and development of America.
Enter the "Museum Tour" at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

2. Homesteaders in North Dakota chiefly used what material to build their homes? How do you think this type of structure impacted their lifestyle?
Check out the "Pioneer Camera" photo exhibit at Pioneer Spirit.

3. In what ways did the introduction of the railroad affect Flagstaff, Arizona?
Browse through the information at Flagstaff History for Kids!

4. The Pony Express spanned nearly 2000 miles beginning in Missouri and ending in California. How long did the entire trip take? In what ways do you think this trail impacted the development of the United States?
Visit the Pony Express Home Page "Bunkhouse" and then click on the "History" icon.

5. Describe Sacagawea's role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Link to "People in the West" at New Perspectives on the West.

6. Illustrate how the relationship between Native American tribes and emigrant settlers changed over time. Discuss possible causes for this change.
Look at "All About the Trail" in The Oregon Trail Web site.

Putting It All Together

Review the Treasure Hunt questions and your answers. What do you think were the successes and failures (if any) of U.S. westward expansion? What evidence can you give to support your statements?

 

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