WebQuest

Very Hungry Choices

A WebQuest for First Grade Social Skills/ Technology

Melissa Gray

Mrgturtle2@prodigy.net

Introduction

Do you think the choices we make can change the way we think and grow? Each day we make choices about the things we do. In the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, the Caterpillar makes choices about what he eats each day. On Saturday he gets a stomach ache. How did the choices he made change the way he was thinking and growing. Did he make good choices? Can you compare his choices with those of real caterpillars?

The Task

Your task is to help the Very Hungry Caterpillar to make better choices.

With a partner you will:

· Learn to take turns to complete tasks.

· Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. Learn more about him here: http://www.eric-carle.com/

· Create a pictograph that shows each of the caterpillar’s meals.

· Use the web to search for what caterpillars usually eat and compare it to what The Very Hungry Caterpillar ate.

· Decide if each day the caterpillar made good choices about what he ate and record your thoughts.

· Create a meal that would have been the best meal for a very hungry caterpillar.

· Finally you will each create a butterfly craft using the example found on the web.

The Process

1. First you will be assigned a web buddy to complete your WebQuest.

2. With your partner take turns reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar aloud.

3. Use the classroom software to create a pictograph that shows each of the caterpillar’s meals. Use The Graph Club if you have it available. If you do not have a pictograph program you can print the pictures here: Bottom Frame. Cut them out and use them to create a pictograph. See sample graph here: pictograph.htm

4. Look at the following websites and determine what a caterpillar is supposed to eat. Do all caterpillars eat the same thing? Record your answer in your journal.

What Do Caterpillars Eat?

Frequently Asked Butterfly Questions

Butterfly facts

B'fly Larva- EnchantedLearning.com

If you want to try to find your own site for information you can go to:

Ask Jeeves Kids and type in the question “what do caterpillars eat?”.

5. Chose one day that the caterpillar made a good or bad food choice. With your partner, compare what the real caterpillars eat and what the caterpillar in the story ate. Decide if the very hungry caterpillar made a good or bad food choice. In your journal, write one sentence about the choice of food the caterpillar made and why it was or was not a good choice. See sample entry here: journal entry.htm

6. With your partner draw the best meal for a very hungry caterpillar using The Billy Bear website here: BillyBear4Kids.com Don’t forget to print it.

7. Finally you will each create a butterfly craft using the example found here: http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/butterfly

Evaluation

Each partner group will be evaluated as a whole. Your work will be evaluated on the following criteria.

	Excellent 4	Satisfactory 2	Poor 0
Story	Partners took turns reading the story to each other. Talked about story.	Partners read or listened to the story separately.	Partners did not read the story
Completeness	Created pictograph, journal entry, drawing, and craft.	Completed almost all components of WebQuest.	Little or no attempt made to finish components
Neatness	Perfect handwriting, all components look neat.	Clear handwriting, components look nice.	Sloppy handwriting, no effort toward neatness.
Journal Entry	Complete sentence (s). Sentence derived from partner collaboration. Sentence clearly describes why the food choice was good or bad and why.	Sentence almost complete. Sentence describes some or most of the answer.	Sentence poorly done or not present.
Graph	All fruit present on pictograph. Each day is shown. Days and amounts clearly labeled. Names and dates present.	Most or all of fruit present. Many or all days shown. Labels clear. Names present.		Fruit, days, or amounts missing. Pictograph not complete.
Collaboration	Partners collaborated on all components of WebQuest.	Partners work on components individually. Collaborated only when necessary.		Little or no collaboration.
Total Score

Conclusion

Did the caterpillar’s choices change the way he lived and grew? It is up to you. By completing this WebQuest you should have learned a lot about how to work with a partner, how to use the mouse, and what a pictograph looks like. The most important lesson is that you decide whether your choices change the way you think and grow. If you would like to learn more about caterpillars and butterflies and the way they grow and change visit the following websites:

Painted Lady Butterfly Lifecycle Printout - EnchantedLearning.com

Butterfly life cycle page of the london butterfly house

Credits & References

A special thanks to the following sources:

Ask Jeeves. Ask Jeeves Kids. [Online] Available http:www.ajkids.com, August 13, 2003.

Billy Bear 4 Kids. Learn 2 Draw-Drawing Pad. [Online] Available http://www.billybear4kids.com/Learn2Draw/DrawApplet/DrawingPad.html, August 12, 2003.

The Butterfly Farm. Frequently Asked Butterfly Questions. [Online] Available http://www.thebutterflyfarm.com/frequently_asked_butterfly_quest.htm, August 13, 2003.

Cardui, Vanessa. Learn About Butterfly: Painted Lady. [Online] Available http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/thomas/classPet/1999/butterfly/learn.htm, August 13, 2003.

Carle, Eric (1987). The Very Hungry Caterpillar. New York NY: Philomel Books.

Chrysalis [Online Image] available http://school.discovery.com/clipart /category/scie2.html, August 13, 2003.

Enchanted Learning. Painted Lady Butterfly Lifecycle Printout.[Online] Available http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/activities/printouts/paintedladylifecycle.shtml, And Caterpillar The Larval Stage of a Butterfly. Available http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/lifecycle/Larva.shtml, August 13, 2003

London Butterfly House. The Life Cycle of the Butterfly. [Online] Available http://www.butterflies.org.uk/bh_home/cycle.htm, August 13, 2003.

Pillar [Online Image] available http://members.tripod.com/~toto_8/bugs.html, August 12, 2003.

Scotia-Glenville Children’s Museum. Where Do Butterflies Come From?. [Online] Available http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/butterfly/, August 12, 2003.

Rubistar. Create Rubrics for your Project-Based-Learning Activities. [Online] Available http://rubistar.4teachers.org/rubric.php3?id=21&rubric=25, August 12, 2003.

Steams Ph. D., Peggy Healy. The Graph Club. Available from Tom Snyder Productions, Scholastic.

Washington Area Butterfly Club. What do Caterpillars Eat?. [Online] Available http://users.sitestar.net/butterfly/bfgardening/EAT.HTM, August 13, 2003.

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