Sub Plan - Bay Classroom Webquest

Summary
Students go on a web-quest for information on Save the Bay’s Bay Classroom website. They discover facts and information about the part of the San Francisco Bay, its history, the creatures that call it home, and ways they can help protect the bay. This easy activity requires little supervision and is thus offered as a great substitute teacher lesson plan or for one of those teaching days when you need a last minute lesson. Suggestions for making this lesson more interactive are provided.

Objectives
Can identify the major events that contributed to the current state of the San Francisco Bay.
Can describe some of the plants and animals that live in the Bay.
Can explain the importance of the San Francisco Bay and its watershed to the state of California.
Can describe some things students can do to help protect and preserve the Bay.

Vocabulary
Watershed
Estuary
Hydraulic Mining

Bay Classroom - Logistics

Time
45-55 minutes

Grouping
Individual. An option for coming back together as a class to discuss students’ findings is provided.

Materials


1. Computers with internet access, at least 1 computer for every 2 students
2. Copies of the Bay Classroom Web-quest handout

Setting
Classroom or computer lab

Bay Classroom - Background

Teacher Background
See San Francisco Bay Watershed – Background.

Student Prerequisites
None, although familiarity with the San Francisco Bay watershed is helpful.

Bay Classroom - Getting Ready

Getting Ready


1. Make copies of the Bay Classroom Web-quest handout.

Bay Classroom - Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan
Option 1 – Individual Web-quest


1. Give students the student handout and allow them time to preview the questions they need to find answers to on the web.
2. Direct students to the Bay Classroom website. It is easiest for students to type in www.savesfbay.org then click the green “Bay Classroom” button to access the site.
3. Give students 40-50 minutes to read through the various pages of the website and answer the questions.
4. Collect the handouts when students are done.
5. If students finish early, invite them to try the Bay Quiz link from Save the Bay’s home page.

Option 2 – Expert in an Area Web-quest

1. Assign students to one of 4 groups: Bay History, Bay Basics, Bay Nature, or Bay Problems. Students are only required to find the correct answers to their assigned topic on the website, although the whole worksheet must be completed by the end of the period.
2. Give students the student handout and allow them time to preview the questions they need to find answers to.
3. Direct students to the Bay Classroom website. It is easiest for students to type in www.savesfbay.org then click the green “Bay Classroom” button to access the site.
4. Give students 15-20 minutes to read through the various pages of the website and answer the questions. If students finish their section early, have them move onto other sections.
5. Bring the class back together and have students that had the same topic sit together. Give them 2-5 minutes to quickly compare answers to the questions in their specialty and come up with a list of other facts they learned while researching their section.
6. Each group should pick a speaker and report the answers they found and the facts they learned to the rest of the class. Students in other groups should follow along and fill in their own worksheet as they go.

Bay Classroom - Assessments

Assessment


1. Collect the student worksheets.
2. Have students write a quiz based on what they learned from the webquest. The following day, they can trade quizzes and grade each other.

Going Further

1. See assessment ideas for Watersheds and Wetlands lesson or San Francisco Bay Watershed lesson.
2. Go on a field trip with Save the Bay or to the San Francisco Bay Model.

Bay Classroom - Sources and Standards

Standards
Grade 6
Plate Tectonics and Earth’s Structure
1. Plate tectonics accounts for important features of Earth’s surface and major geologic events. As a basis for understanding this concept:
f. Students know how to explain major features of California geology (including mountains, faults, volcanoes) in terms of plate tectonics.

Shaping Earth’s Surface
2. Topography is reshaped by the weathering of rock and soil and by the transportation and deposition of sediment. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know water running downhill is the dominant process in shaping the landscape, including California’s landscape.
b. Students know rivers and streams are dynamic systems that erode, transport sediment, change course, and flood their banks in natural and recurring patterns.
d. Students know earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and floods change human and wildlife habitats.

Ecology (Life Sciences)
5. Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment. As a basis for understanding this concept:
e. Students know the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and on abiotic factors, such as quantities of light and water, a range of temperatures, and soil composition.