Simple Machines

This web quest is about simple machines.  Students view  a video, review vocabulary online, then engage in several descriptive websites, and play some games.  They need to answer questions and eventually will present a report on an assigned machine.  They will work in small groups.

If you have enough computers in your classroom, children could do the research in one to two days.  However, if you only have one or two class computers, you might need to spread the project over a longer period.   

Standards

This web quest is intended for third grade students. It aligns with Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks as follows:
Technology/Engineering: Materials, tools, and machines, 1.3: Defining simple machines.
English Language Arts:
Reading Standards: Determine the main idea of a text, recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea; Describe the relationship between scientific ideas or concepts, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
Writing Standards: Write informative/explanatory texts to enhance a topic and convey ideas and information clearly; Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
Speaking and Listening Standards: Determine main ideas and supporting details of text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively and orally.

Credits

www.doe.mass.edu/curriculumframeworks

Parts of this web quest adapted from Megan Cannon's Megan's Web Quest, http://www.uvm.edu/~inquiryb/webquestfa06/mcannon