Instructor:  Curt Barford

Type of Lesson:  Webquest

Lesson Plan Title:  Environmental Chemistry: Water Pollution

Discipline:  Chemistry

Target Population:
Grade Level:  High School
Population Characteristics:  This lesson will be conducted in chemistry lab.  Each lab class consists of 10-15 students.  Most students are in grade 11, with some accelerated students in grade 10.  Overall, the students in the class are highly motivated learners.  They show interest in the subject and tend to be extremely self-motivated.
Lesson Groupings:  Pairs

Curriculum Links:  All required labs for New York State Regents Chemistry are completed by the end of May.  As a result an additional month of class time is available in the laboratory class.  This time will be utilized to complete a unit on environmental chemistry.  For many students chemistry is an extremely abstract subject.  Students are dealing with many concepts that they can't visibly see.  They can't see an individual atom or a bond between elements.  Attempts are made throughout the year to make the subject as relatable as possible.  It is for this reason that students are introduced to topics in environmental chemistry.  The subject of chemistry is related to the world in which the students are living.  This webquest on an environmental chemistry topic will take this a step further.  The students will study chemistry with respect to water pollution.  In particular they will be examining water pollution in the Hudson River, a body of water that all class members are very familiar with.

Objectives:
Students will be able to...

• Understand the impact chemistry and the chemicals developed using chemistry have on the environment.
• Gather information and develop a well-organized presentation.
• Write a piece defending a stance based on gathered facts.
• Express an opinion visually through the use of a political cartoon.
• View chemistry as a less abstract subject and relate its use to the world around them.

Media Literacy Objectives:
2.  Make informed choices among technology systems, resources, and services.
5.  Use technology tools and resources for managing and communicating personal/professional information.
7.  Routinely and efficiently use online information resources to meet needs for collaboration, research, publication, communication, and productivity.
8.  Select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning.
10.  Collaborate with peers, experts, and others to contribute to a content-related knowledge base by using technology to compile, synthesize, produce, and disseminate information, models, and other creative works.

Materials and Timing:  Seven 45 minute lessons.  Computers with internet access, PowerPoint and Word will be necessary.  A projector for a computer will be used on Day 4.

Scope and Sequence:
Task 1: Days 1-4

• Introduction:  The WebQuest project will be introduced to the students.  The students will be told that they will be working in pairs on on a WebQuest on an environmental chemistry topic for the next 7 class periods.  They will be told that the major purpose of this activity is to expose the students to a less abstract form of chemistry than they are used to.  The class will be brought to the computer lab on Day 1 and told to sit at a computer with their partner.  They will be asked to log in and open an internet application.  Each pair will be directed to go to the WebQuest page (https://cbarford.tripod.com/webquest.html).  This web address will be on the front board for all students to see.  Students will be told to bookmark this page on their school profiles to allow them to access the site easily during later classes.
  
• Review of Requirements:  The Introduction and Task sections of the WebQuest will be read to the students.  The students will be informed of the expectations for the WebQuest.  They students will then be told to look at the Process section to gain an understanding of what they will be doing on each day.  The students will be asked if they have any questions about what is expected of them.  After answering all questions the students will be told to begin working on the WebQuest activity.
• Getting to Work:  While the students are working I will walk around the room and observe their work.  I will observe the way they are utilizing the computers and how focused they are on the activity.  I will answer any questions that the students may have.
• Days 2 and 3:  On days 2 and 3 the class will return to the computer lab.  The students will continue working on gathering information for Task 1.  Once they have gathered all the necessary information the students will begin working on their PowerPoint presentations.  The requirements for the PowerPoint are provided in the WebQuest, but they will be announced to the entire class when the first pair is ready to begin working.  On Day 3 the students will be informed that they will be presenting their PowerPoints on Day 4.  They will be told to be sure to go back to the classroom on that day.
• Presentations:  On Day 4 each pair of students will give a 5-7 minute presentation of their PowerPoints.  Those students that wish to volunteer to present will be accepted first.  After all volunteers have presented the remaining groups will be chosen at random.  At the end of class the students will be informed that they will be returning to the computer lab on Day 5 to continue with the WebQuest.

Task 2: Days 5 and 7

• Starting Task 2:  Once in the computer lab the students will again be told to go to the WebQuest page, which should be bookmarked in their profile.  The students will informed that this task requires them to each pick a position to defend with respect to the pollution of the Hudson River (either that of someone who is eco-friendly, or the position of someone who is more sympathetic to industry).  The students will be told to visit the appropriate links for their position alone.  The students should then continue working on the WebQuest's Task 2.
• Getting to Work:  While the students are working on Task 2 I will again be walking around the room examining students progress and observing the use of the computers.
• End of Day 5:  At the end of Day 5 the students will be informed that they should have gathered the necessary information to write their article defending their position.  They will be reminded that their article should be 1.5 to 2 pages and is due at the end of Day 7.
  

Task 3: Days 6 and 7

• Starting on Task 3:  The students will again return to the computer lab and will open the WebQuest page.  I will briefly introduce the task to the students.  The students will then continue working on Task 3.  They will be examining images of political cartoons if they are unfamiliar with what a political cartoon is and will look at images of the Hudson River at various points as a basis for their own political cartoon on Hudson River pollution.
• Getting to Work:  After examining the links the students will be working on their own political cartoons.  They will have access to paper, markers, and colored pencils to be used in their cartoons.  The class will be reminded that their cartoon should be original, interesting, and colorful.  They will also be reminded that they should do their best with the artistic aspects of the Task.  They will be told that both members of the pair should be working on the cartoon and it should not be left to one person to work on.  Lastly, the class will be informed that this product will be due at the end of Day 7.

Wrapping Up: Day 7

• Finishing Tasks 2 and 3:  Students will be told that this class period will be used to complete their articles for Task 2 and their cartoons for Task 3.  The final products from both of these tasks will be due at the end of the period.  The students should be working on one of these tasks.  They should use the computers and the WebQuest page as needed for the completion of each of these tasks.
• End of WebQuest:  The final products from Tasks 2 and 3 will be collected at the end of class.  The class will be commended for their hard work on this activity.

Supplemental Materials:  Paper, colored pencils, markers for Task 3.  All other materials will be provided by students.

Evaluation of Students:

	1 Point	3 Points	5 Points	Total Points
Task 1
Content Accuracy	Content is vague or wrong and is not referenced.  Sutdents only discuss general OR local causes of pollution.	Content is accurate, but lacking references for support.  Students vaguely discuss general and local causes/impacts of water pollution.	Content within the presentation is accurate and referenced.  Students thoroughly covered major causes and impacts of water pollution, both in general and in the Hudson River.
Organization of PowerPoint Presenation	Presentation is unorganized and appears to have been hastily constructed.	Presentation is organized, but is generally bland, lacking color, images, or transitions.	Presentation is very neat and organized.  Interesting colors, images, and transitions are utilized.
Presentation	Only one student presents OR Presentation in nothing more than reading the slides.	Both students participate, but they often read from the slides.  Students do an adequate job of giving a persuasive presentation.	Both students participate in the presentation.  They reference the content of the presenation, but are not reading it directly from the slides.  Students do an excellent job of giving a persuasive presentation.
Task 2
Content Accuracy	Content of the article is false or no real researched content is present.	Some studied content is present and referenced.  Overall the content is accurate, but some content is unnecessary and does not add to the position being taken in the article.	Content is thorough, accurate, and referenced.  The content utilized is appropriately chosen for its relevance to the position being defended.
Stand Taken and Defended	Student poorly presents his/her stance.  No supporting information is used and it is difficult to determine the position being defended.	Student does a good job of presenting his/her position.  The use of some referenced information adds to the report.  The intended stance is obvious, but there is some flip-flopping.	Student supports his/her position very well.  Referenced data/information is provided to enhance and support the position taken.  Student does not waiver from this position.
Quality of Writing	Piece is poorly written.  Many spelling/grammar errors are present.	Piece is good, but some spelling and grammar errors detract from the writing.	Piece is extremely well written and easy to read.  There are no/minimal errors in spelling and grammar.
Task 3
Point Made in Cartoon	No statement is made by the cartoon.  Cartoon does not appear to be based on any facts or real images.	Students' cartoon is based on facts and images provided, but no real statement is made.	Students' cartoon made a point.  Students used research and images as a guide to develop a cartoon with a statement.
Originality/Visual Appeal	Students put little effort into the carton.  The idea is unoriginal and the execution is lacking. OR The cartoon is good, but only one student worked on the task.	Cartoon is orginal, but the presentation is lacking.  The students appear to have put some effort into the cartoon. OR The cartoon is outstanding, but only one student worked on the task.	Cartoon is very original, neat, and colorful.  It is obvious the students did their best with the artistic aspects of the task.  Both students worked on the task.
Other
Use of Technology	Student often looking at websites unrelated to the WebQuest.	Made use of a few additional resources, but mainly used those provided.  Rarely looking at sites not related to the task.	Student used the computer wisely.  Did not feel limited to the sites provided and utilized sites found on his/her own.
Use of Time	Student often off task, wasting the time that was provided for the WebQuest.	Student rarely off-task.  Student was focused on the activities most of the time.	Student on task throughout the WebQuest and made excellent use of the class time  provided.
Total Points X 2 (out of 100)

Evaluation of the Lesson:  First, the evalulation of student work on the WebQuest will be done utilizing the above WebQuest.  If the evaluations of the students are generally positive, then the lesson will be viewed as a success.  Also, other means of evaluating the lesson will be more subtle.  If the students do not appear to be engaged when working on the WebQuest, then the lesson should be re-evaluated.  The websites being utilized within the WebQuest will be re-examined to determine if they are not engaging enough for the students or do not have provide a good enough basis to begin working on the tasks.  Also, if the products presented at the end of each task are lacking in appropriate content, then the websites being provided will again be re-evaluated.  Each task will can be examined individually to determine its effectivenes.  A failure in one aspect of the lesson does not indicate that the entire lesson has to be abandoned or modified.  After first utilizing the WebQuest in class the time allotted for the lesson will be examined.  If too much or too little time is allotted for the WebQuest the lesson can be adapted accordingly.  Lastly, the lesson will be evaluated based on the students' abilities to connect to the topic and the subject of chemistry.  If the students are able to connect with the topic of pollution of the Hudson River the lesson will be viewed as a success.  Additionally, if the students are able to begin to see how the subject of chemistry is related to the world around them, then the lesson will be considered successful.  The students should see that while the use of chemistry is generally positive (i.e. the use of pesticides, the development of plastics) there are some unintended negative side effects.