www.energytranswebqeust.weebly.

com
ANALYSIS:
The energy transformation webquest will be delivered to 8th grade students, ages 13-14.
Students are a combination of on-level and special education. The students will have had
previous experience with project based learning. The reading level of the students varies and
students will be grouped accordingly. The class period is 55 minutes with 30 students total. The
classroom setting is flexible and students can have as much time as needed for the assignment.
The classroom itself has five desktop computers. Students are encouraged to bring their own
learning devices and there are laptop carts available to check out if needed. There is no adaptive
technology needed. In order to implement the webquest, teachers will need to be comfortable
using the internet and Microsoft Word. The standards that the webquest addresses are the
Georgia Performance Standards for 8th grade science and the ISTE student standards:
GSE
S8P2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the law of conservation of energy
to develop arguments that energy can transform from one form to another within a system.
c. Construct an argument to support a claim about the type of energy transformations within a
system [e.g., lighting a match (light to heat), turning on a light (electrical to light)].
ISTE 3, 4, 5
The learning objective of this webquest are for the students to understand that energy cannot be
created or destroyed, but recycled. Students will need to be able to recognize how the different
types of energy can transform into one another. Then, using this knowledge, the students will
need to be able to support an argument that energy cannot simply disappear as it appears to do so
in magic tricks. Students will be working independently on this webquest, but will collaborate
with peers for editing.
DESIGN:
The content of the webquest is differentiated in several ways. First, the provided websites about
energy are varying reading levels. Students can identify which website is appropriate for their
reading level. Next, the articles provided are tiered for comprehension difficulty. The formative
assignments within the webquest can be modified for any learner by the teacher adding content
to help the lower learners or adding comprehension questions to accelerate the assignment. The
webquest provides an outline for the argumentative essay. The outline can be adjusted to meet
the needs of all learners.
The multimedia items present in the webquest include: a video, an audio clip and website links
for information and articles. An example of assistive technology that could be used would be
having the information read aloud verses reading off of the page.

DEVELOPMENT:
The development of the webquest took place over the course of about ten days. The timeline
started with the idea stage then proceeded to the creation stage and ended with the evaluation
stage. I used Weebly to create my webquest. I had used Weebly before so I did not need to
learn the program. I did, however, learn how to embed the youtube video, which is my hook and
I learned how to use Audacity and link it for my audio clip.

IMPLEMENTATION:
In order to implement this webquest, students will need access to a device connected to the
internet. Devices that support Microsoft are preferred. Classroom management strategies to
include would be to start with general internet safety and rules. Students should not be searching
on search engines during this webquest, all of the information necessary is linked. While
students are completing the webquest, the teacher should be monitoring and assisting. The entire
webquest should be done at school, there is not a homework piece included. The webquest is
designed to take eight days total, but additional time may be needed. Since all students will have
their own device, there will be equitable access to the internet. If needed, the media center has
hot spots available as well. Special education teachers can assist with this webquest by
supporting students’ research and internet usage.

EVALUATION:
Students will be evaluated on their research graphic organizer and their final argumentative
essay. I think that between those two assignments, mastery of the standard will take place. After
the students complete their essay and before it is submitted, they will peer edit. Students will
choose a partner to trade papers with and edit. As the teacher, while monitoring the assignment,
I would also take notes on progress of students. I will check that the students are meeting the
daily goals listed in the process.
I will know if the product is well designed if the students are able to understand their goal and
navigate the webquest easily. I would like to evaluate a group of students from each of the
classes that I implement this assignment (four classes total). I will choose students of varying
ability. I am most curious about the argument essay. I would like to see if the articles that I
provided are sufficient, or if students need alternatives. I would also like to see if the advanced
students could find their own articles.

REFLECTION:
I learned how to include all of the necessary features of a webquest by completing this project. I
learned that I should have started earlier. I think that I used Weebly well, but I struggled with
authentic video and audio. If I did this project again, I would have done it at the beginning of the
semester and then edited it throughout. I think webquests are a very useful tool for student
learning. They replace the need for a textbook in a novel way. I also like that the students are in
charge of their learning and their pace. I think there is room for improvement with the articles
that I included. I believe that there are probably additional, interesting pieces that would work
well.
I really struggled with the time component of this project. I learned that I am a procrastinator
and I need to manage my time better. I also learned that I need to ask for help instead of trying
to do everything on my own. When I struggled with the audio clip, I reached out to one of my
classmates. She was able to help me tremendously and I learned a lot from her. I think this
transcends to my ability to be a technology coach. If I do not know the answer, I need to
collaborate to find it out.
I would suggest to others to make sure that they know what kind of audio and video can/should
be included. Then, I would suggest creating those items first. That way, everything necessary to
build the webquest would be ready. Overall, I am proud of my webquest. I do think, however,
that if I had given myself more time then I could have made it even better.