1. EDU 505 Dinosaur Web Quest Grade 5

2. Teacher Objectives The purpose of this assignment is to give students experience in research, to learn how to work in a group, practice persuasive writing, and to learn more about dinosaurs and their extinction. This assignment will help the students learn all about the extinction theories and help them analyze what they believe. The teacher could provide detective or police costumes for the students to dress up in during the presentation to make the setting more realistic! The teacher could dress up as the police chief as well

3. Introduction Where Have All The Dinosaurs Gone? Have you ever wondered why the dinosaurs became extinct? Was it a meteorite that hit the earth and caused major destruction? Was it a disease that made them all sick, or was it radiation caused by a super solar flare? Well if this question has ever crossed your mind, we have a job for you that will help answer all of your questions.

4. Task It has come to our attention at the reptile police station that a large group of reptiles are missing! We're calling on our top- notch group of students to help us discover the reason for this disappearance. Your mission is to sort through all the theories and choose the one that seems most likely. We need you to persuade our police chief of your reasons for choosing this certain theory over the others. Be sure to back up your decision with supporting details! So put on your detective's cap and grab your magnifying glass, we're depending on you!

5. Process In order to complete the investigation, you will break into teams of six and research the different theories. Detective One: Orbital Change Theory Detective Two: Volcano Theory Detective Three: Climate Change theory Detective Four: Giant Impact Theory Detective Five: Disease Theory Detective Six: Supernova Theory

6. Process cont… Each detective will present their theories to the rest of the group. As a team, they will decide which theory is best. Then, the group will make a presentation to present to the Police Chief and all of the police department.

7. Process cont… The presentation will consist of: 1. Each team member will write a persuasive essay about the theory their team chose. 2. As a group, you will create visual aid (poster, chart, 3-D model, power point...) describing the theory your group decided on. 3. Your group will present it to the class (police department). The police department will then decide if they believe the group’s theory or if they believe in another theory. 4. Finally, you will be graded according to the rubric posted on the evaluation page.

8. Resources Below is a list of resources that might be helpful for your research…. Oribital Change http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/orbital_change.html http://vilenski.org/science/dinosaur/orbitalchanges.html Volcanoes http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/volcanoes.html http://vilenski.org/science/dinosaur/volcano.html http://filebox.vt.edu/artsci/geology/mclean/Dinosaur_Volcano_Extinction/

9. Resources cont.. Disease http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/disease.html http://frederic.malmartel.free.fr/Fin_des_dinosaures/eeclassique.htm#épidémie http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/dinosaurs/cancer.jsp Supernova http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/supernova.html http://town.morrison.co.us/dinosaur/extinction/other.html#nova

10. Resources cont.. Giant Impact http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/impact.html http://www.geocities.com/andy_tejero/HTML/frames.html http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/blast/asteroid_hyp.htm Climate Change http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Communication/Willson/climatechange.html http://town.morrison.co.us/dinosaur/extinction/other.html#climate http://frederic.malmartel.free.fr/Fin_des_dinosaures/eeclassique.htm#boulversem nt climatique

11. Evaluation The groups will be evaluated using a rubric. (Which I could not figure out how to transfer from Word to Power Point) Components of the rubric include: - Persuasive oral presentation - Group work - Visual aid - Overall quality of work There will be a separate rubric to assess each student’s persuasive writing piece.

12. Conclusion Congratulations! You have successfully convinced our police chief and station of your theory for the dinosaurs' disappearance. Your awesome detective skills and amazing presentation are greatly appreciated. Next time something is missing, we will know exactly who to call!