A WebQuest for 2nd Grade

(Science-Water habitats) Designed by Elizabeth Milligan emilligan@bssd.net

 

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page

Introduction

You are a zoologist at the San Diego zoo. Zoo visitors are very excited about visiting your zoo; however, they are sad that there are no aquarium exhibits for them to see. Your job assignment is to set up a new aquarium exhibit.

Before designing your aquarium, there are a couple of questions that you must answer. The first question is "What types of water habitats are there?" After choosing a water habitat, you need to ask "What kind of animals can live together in this habitat?"

In summary, here are the goals that you must work for to complete this mission:

1. Choose a water habitat.
2. Choose 3 animals that can coexist in this environment.
3. Design your aquarium.

Your task is to develop an aquarium for the San Diego zoo that will be the home of at least 3 animals. The aquarium must be an appropriate habitat for these animals.

There are a few different ways that you can create your aquarium. One choice is to draw a poster size version of your aquarium. Another choice is to create a diorama of your aquarium. If you prefer using the computer, you could design your aquarium using Kid Pix Deluxe or Power Point. If you prefer real life, you can create your habitat using a 10 gallon fish tank. Before designing your aquarium you need to tell the teacher your ideas for creating it.

You will need to use the reference section at the library or the internet to gather information on your habitat and the animals that live there. You will need to find information concerning the physical part of the habitat (i.e. plants, rocks, etc.), as well as the food that should be available for your animals.

1. First you will be assigned to a group of four students.
2. Next you will work together at a computer to complete goal 1. Click here for more information on Goal 1.
3. After you have chosen your water habitat, you need to go to the library or use the internet to begin researching the types of animals that can live in this habitat. You need to choose 3 animals that can survive in the habitat that you have chosen. In your research you need to find out what part that animal has that allows it to live in the water habitat that you chose. You must also look for the food that it will need to survive. Some animals may require a specific "home" in the water, such as a cave or plant. Be sure to identify the animal's home. Click here for a worksheet that will help you in your research. Print this worksheet and fill it in as you find information about possible animals for your aquarium.
4. Click here for links to resources that will be helpful in your search for animals.
5. Finally, once you have chosen your habitat and found 3 animals that can coexist in this habitat, you must begin to design your aquarium. Click here for more information on designing your aquarium.

Goal 1: Your first goal is to choose a water habitat. Fish can live in many environments. However, all of these environments can be classified into two major groups.

Click on the clam to discover the first type of water habitat.

Click on the fish to discover the second type of water habitat.

 

Goal 2: Here are a few links to sites on the internet that may be helpful in your search for 3 animals that can coexist in the chosen habitat.

Resources Discovery School Giant Ocean Tank Exhibit -Animal Planet Discovery School Link 2 FINS Freshwater Fish Index Fish and Ocean Creatures Fish on KidsClick! Aquatic Safari The Florida Aquarium

Search engines Yahooligans The Awesome Library KidsClick! Berit's Best Sites for Children Ask Jeeves for Kids

Goal 3: Your last and final goal is to design your aquarium. There are many ways that you can go about doing this:

1. Draw a poster sized version of your aquarium.
2. Use a software program such as Kid Pix Deluxe, Power Point or Hyper Studio to create a slide show or image of your aquarium. (For example, your first slide could describe the habitat- what type of water it is, the animals that will live there, the food that they will need to survive, etc. Following slides could show images of computer drawn graphics of your aquarium, movies or images found on the internet of similar habitats or images of your animals.)
3. Make a diorama or triorama of your aquarium.
4. Create a real life version of your aquarium using a 10 gallon aquarium.

You are not limited to these 4 examples. If you have another idea, please discuss it with your teacher. Each group must tell the teacher what they will do to design an aquarium before they begin this final project.

Your aquarium needs to include these things:

1. Picture of each of your 3 chosen animals
2. Food for the 3 animals
3. Plants and/or physical characteristics that are necessary for the 3 animals to survive. An example of these might be a cave for the animal to live in.

 

Each student will be given an oral exam at the end of this project. The oral exam will cover the first two objectives listed below. This will be an individual grade and will count for for 40% of your final grade. The final project of designing an aquarium will be a group grade and will count for 60% of your final grade.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have designed an aquarium for the visitors of the San Diego zoo. In doing so, you should have learned that there are two types of water habitats and should be able to give examples of both. Hopefully, you can also identify 3 animals that live in this habitat and give examples of the types of food that they eat and areas in the water where they like to live. Finally you should have also identified specific body parts on these animals that are necessary for them to live in the water.

Now ask someone to take you to a zoo near you so that you can visit the aquarium there. Maybe you will see an aquarium that is similar to the one you designed! Look also at the other habitats represented there and try to identify each one.

Image Sites Best Animated Animals 2Cool Animations Discovery School

Resource Sites Discovery School

Thank you to the Discovery School site for the awesome information on freshwater and saltwater habitats.

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Last updated on August 15, 1999. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page