Introduction

When was the last time you and your friends went to the movies? After looking in the newspaper, you chose your movie and what time you were going. You went to the window and paid for your ticket, rushed over to buy food, and then went into the theater and picked your seats. The lights went out and you enjoyed two hours of laughs, tears, or thrills. Uless the movie was called 'The Eggplant that Ate Chicago,' the last thing on your mind was plants. But think about all the ways plants were involved. Trees provided that material for the newspaper, ticket, popcorn box, and soda cup. Popcorn is the seed of a plant and the flavoring in your drink came from parts of a plant. Even the clothes you wore and the seat your sat in could have been made of cotton, a plant grown in India.

As you can see plants are an extremely important part of life on earth. They grow in almost every part of the world: on mountain tops; in streams, lakes and oceans; deserts, rainforests, polar regions and many other biomes. Without plants, there would be no life on earth. People would not be able to breathe because the oxygen in the air is produced by plants. The food we eat all comes from plants or from animals that eat plants!

Think Spring! Just like flowers grow in the Spring, ideas are sprouting everywhere on the internet about plants. As a member of the group you will explore Webpages from people all over the world who are interested in plants. Because some of these are real Webpages we're tapping into, not things made just for schools, the reading level might challenge you. Feel free to use the online Webster dictionary or one in your classroom to help you.

The Quest

You and your classmates have been selected as a team of student researchers specializing in four areas. Your jobs or roles in the group will be divided into the following four fields of work:

1. Environmentalist
2. Scientist
3. Plant Grower
4. Geographer

Within each group the four experts will indepedently to gather important information about plants through the four roles and complete specialized assignments. You will then share your expertise with your group and,and finally work together to create an informational PowerPoint presentation.

The Process and Resources

In this webquest, you will be working with other students in the class to learn about different aspects of plants and how they effect our lives. Each group will answer the their individual questions and complete the task. Your research will all be Internet-based. The class will start together by looking for general information about plants and then divide into groups where each person in your group will become an expert on one specific aspect of plants.

So get ready to plant your roots deep into the ground and grow with knowledge about the amazing world of plants.

Phase 1 - Background: Something for Everyone

Use the Internet information linked below to learn more about the basics of plants, their parts, functions, and importance in our lives. These links are general, but they are a good starting point for everyone. Some of these links may even help you understand the scientic language scientists use to talk about plants.

WAIT! Before you begin fill out a KWL chart with your group. Remember, 'K' stands for what you ALREADY KNOW, 'W' is what information you WANT TO KNOW, and 'L' will be filled out at the end of the project with what you LEARNED.

Be creative in exploring the information so you can finish your tasks as best you can.

• Plant Growing Information - This website will take you through all of the important information regarding plants including; soil, seeds, plant growth, and keeping plants healthy. This website has tons of information.
• The Great Plant Escape - This is a GREAT website that discusses the importance of plants. If you take the time to search through the different cases you will learn almost everything about plants!
• Everything Plants - This website is about plants. You will learn about how plants grow and about the different parts of a plant. This site tells you how seeds travel and what bees do to help plants. You will also learn about plants and their relationship with animals.
• Plant Life Cycle - This is a comprehensive website providing information of the life cycle of a plant, types of plants, the needs of a plant, plant reproduction and more.
• Aliens Explore Plants - This website provides both basic information about plants and more detailed information about several specific plants.
• Easy to Understand Uses of Plants - The title says it all.
• Everything You Need to Know About Plants - A great website explaining lots of information about plants.

Phase 2 - Looking Deeper from Different Perspectives

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Individuals from your larger WebQuest team will explore one of the roles below.

2. Read through the files linked to your group. If you print out the files, underline the passages that you feel are the most important. If you look at the files on the computer, copy sections you feel are important by dragging the mouse across the passage and copying / pasting it into a word processor or other writing software.

3. Note: Remember to write down or copy/paste the URL of the file you take the passage from so you can quickly go back to it if you need to to prove your point.

4. Be prepared to complete the specific task assigned to each of the four researcher roles.

Environmentalist

Your job as the Environmentalist is to research the importance of plants in our lives. By accessing the provided links you will answer the following questions:

1. Name at least 4 important roles plants play in our daily lives.

2. How are plants part of your personal life? Give at least two examples.

3. What is erosion and how do plants help prevent this from happening?

4. How do you think the world and its people would be effected if all plants were destroyed?

As a group your task is to create a poster focusing on three (3) important facts you have learned.

• Plant Use - There are many ways people use plants in their everyday lives, this website highlights just a few of these functions.
• Erosion - This site describes the ways in which plants prevent erosion. You need to search for the word erosion.
• Easy to Understand Uses of Plants - The title says it all.

Scientist

Your job as the Scientist is to research the parts of plants and their functions.

1. Name the and describe the functions of the three (3) main parts of plants.

2. Explain the parts of a flower. What do you think is the most surprising function of the flower?

3. Explain how flowers reproduce.

4. What is photosynthesis? And how does it occur in plants?

The task assigned to your group is to draw and label the parts of a flower. You are then going to write a short description explaining why most plants are green.

• The Flower: Function - This site provides deatailed information about the flower of a plant. The flower parts are labeled and the function of each part is described.
• Plants and Our Environment-Plant Parts - This site shows the parts of plants in general.
• Parts of a Plant Slide Show - Shows the parts of the plant in a detailed and easy to understand slide show.

Plant Grower

Your job as the Plant Grower is to explore the basic needs of plants and plant growth.

1. What are the main things plants need to grow?

2. How does a bean plant grow? List the stages.

3. What is germination, how does it relate to plants, and where does it fit into the plant life cycle?

4. What is pollination? Why is it important for a plant grower to know about pollination?

Your job as a group is to print and complete a work sheet dividing the life cycle of a bean into its different stages. Follow the directions included. This page can be located on the site titled, 'The Life Cycle of a Bean Plant.'

• Plant Life Cycle - This is a comprehensive website providing information about the life cycle of a plant, types of plants, and the needs of a plant.
• The Life Cycle of a Bean Plant - Describes the entire life cycle of a bean plant.
• Requirements for Growing Plants Indoors - Explains the seven requirements for growing plants indoors.

Geographer

Your job as the Geographer is to explore the different regions in which plants live around the world.

1. What is a biome and how many are there around the world?

2. How many different biomes are found in the United States?

3. How do plants adapt to their surroundings? Give three examples of plants that have adapted to their specific regions.

4. Do you think the plants that are native to a biome are connected in some way to the animals that live there? Why?

As a group your task is to draw or trace a world map. You are to color the different biomes of the world with various colors and show what kinds of plants live in each region by printing pictures and pasting them onto the correct part of the map.

• Biomes of the World - Shows all biomes, gives characteristics and examples of plants native to each region.
• World Plants - Uses a map to illustrate plants all over the world.
• Biomes - Explains different plant biomes.

Phase 3 - Debating, Discussing, and Reaching Consensus

You have all learned about a different part of plant growth. After completing your individual job please join with your fellow Environmentalists, Scientists, Plant Growers, or Geogoraphers to complete the assigned task.

Now group members come back to the larger WebQuest team with expertise gained by searching from one perspective. Your job now is to explain your role to the rest of the group and then clearly explain the important and interesting information you uncovered about plants. Don't forget you are an expert of your topic...show your group members what you learned!

Once your group has reviewed the information you all found on plants you should ALL HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF ALL TOPICS COVERED.

Your next job is to create a PowerPoint presentation illustrating what you feel are the most important aspects of plants.

Each of you will bring a certain viewpoint to the project. Use information, pictures, movies, facts, opinions, etc. from the Webpages you explored to convince your teammates that your information is important and should be part of your team's project.

Be sure to include the most important information from each researcher's role while making sure the presentation is clear and to the point. You will be sharing these PowerPoint presentations with your classes or children from other classes.

Phase 4 - Real World Feedback

You and your teammates have learned a lot by dividing up into different roles. Now's the time to put your learning into a letter you'll send out for real world feedback. Together you will write a letter that contains opinions, information, and perspectives that you've gained. Here's the process:

1. Begin your letter with a statement of who you are and why you are writing your message to this particular person or organization.

2. Give background information that shows you understand the topic.

STATE THE TASK / QUEST(ION) AND YOUR GROUP'S ANSWER.

3. Each person in your group should write a paragraph that gives two good reasons supporting the group's opinion. Make sure to be specific in both the information (like where you got it from on the Web) and the reasoning (why the information proves your group's point).

4. Have each person on the team proofread the message. Use correct letter format and make sure you have correctly addressed the email message. Use the link below to make contact. Send your message and make sure your teacher gets a copy.

Your Contact is: Environmental Protection Agency - Ask Earl

Conclusion

Congratulations!

You and your teammates have worked together, collaborated, and have taught each other about different aspects of plants. Now it is time for you do complete your last mission for your WebQuest- fill out the 'L' section of your KWL chart with the information you have LEARNED. Most importantly, you learned that plants are an important part of our everday lives. Now that you are finished I hope you have a better understanding of plants and appreciation for the plants in your surrounding environment. I'm very proud of your work. You took on a big project, worked hard, learned a lot, and did your very best.

Remember! Learning is like the life cycle of a plant- it is a continuous process. And next time you go to the movies take a minute to think about all resources plants provide.