This webquest was written for second and third graders but can easily be used with upper elementary grades as well.  The purpose of this quest is to provide students with an opportunity to create a tool that will help other students like them become acquainted with their new environment.  While engaging in fun-filled activities, students will learn as well as utilize this knowledge to create a realistic solution for an existing problem.  To meet the requirements of this quest, students will use on-line resources, word processor, multi-media equipment/resources and electronically generated activities.  Due to the inability to link our electronically created charts and graphic organizers to our page, we saved them on diskettes for the students to gain access. 
     As part of the Problem Based Learning approach, students are given the opportunity to choose the form of project/presentation.  The teacher does not provide a list of options.  It is up to the students to create an effective solution to the task.  Navigation of the internet, basic use of a digital camera and computer are needed to complete this web quest.  Students may produce anything from a pamphlet, brochure, KidsPix or Power Point presentation, or even a website on the school's internet site.  The options are limitless!

Technology- Accessing and Processing Information

Students use language, technology, media, and human resources as learning and communication 
tools. Students will:

•  Apply higher order thinking skills 
•  Apply a variety of study skills and self assessment techniques to facilitate learning 
•  Use diverse media sources for learning 
•  Apply thinking and problem solving strategies 
•  Develop and use word processing skills: e.g. create, edit, save, print and retrieve 
•  Use parents, community members, and peers as resources for learning 
•  Demonstrate how to create a work of art using a computer graphics program 
•  Create extended group projects with the aid of technology 
•  Convey ideas using publishing, multimedia, and communication tools

Students study culture, cultural diversity, time, continuity, and change to foster learning and to increase understanding of the world and communities around us. Students will:

•  Describe things all communities have in common and what makes the community unique 
•  Describe similarities and differences among cultures 
•  Compare and contrast how the family has adapted to its physical surroundings throughout time 
•  Construct a map using scale, symbols, and direction 
•  Explain how the physical environment of a community affects the people who live there 
•  Use location, place, human-environment interactions, movement, and region to explain human actions 
•  Explain how culture influences the development of behavior, attitudes, values and opinions 
•  Explain ways in which school experience may influence one's personal growth and development

Students engage in reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing activities to explore and practice learning in different modalities.

•  Express information orally as well as understand and respond to information heard and seen. 
•  Participate as speakers in group activities and give well organized oral reports 
•  Understand written material, including sequence and details, and find the main idea in paragraphs 
•  Increase vocabulary through interactions with media and technological resources 
•  Generate and expand ideas through a group process 
•  Use prewriting strategies when organizing information 
•  Use technological aids through out the writing process as appropriate 
•  Use various means of publishing final products 
•  Understand and respect the cultural diversities in our language

Students use mathematical approaches to investigate and understand mathematical content. Students will:

•  Display individual data to show results using simple graphs/charts 
•  Use a variety of materials and symbols 
•  Create, extend and record patterns of various levels of complexity using manipulatives and symbols 
•  Work cooperatively with partners or small groups to solve problems 
•  Present the solution 
•  Validate the solution orally and in writing 
•  Perform simple conversions