Lesson Plan: WebQuest
Prior Knowledge:
 Computer Skills
 Knowledge of PowerPoint
 Downloading pictures off the Internet and inserting them into a project
 Cutting and pasting text into a Word document is also helpful
Introduction:
 From a galaxy on the other side of the universe, a group of aliens are creating
an intergalactic museum. They have sent a team of researchers to Earth to
see if our culture and history holds anything of interest. They never heard
music until they arrived here. They decided they really liked it and have
asked some of the smartest people on Earth to create a sampler CD of the
different musical eras that they can take back to their home planet and study.
They said the museum space is limited and will only be able to house a
display for one of the eras.
Tasks:
 It is up to you and your teammates to create an entry for the collection. You
will research the musical era assigned to you. You will use PowerPoint to
create a slide show the aliens will take back with them. You will include
information about composers, instruments, and song styles of that era. You
will also include a little historical background for the era you selected. Be
sure to use sound files and the lyrics or musical notation in your project. You
will include information stating why your group feels the era and composers
you choose to present are important. It is up to you to convince the aliens the
era you are researching is the best.
Process:
 Students will be divided into groups of three. Each student will then be
assigned one of three roles. The assigned roles are Composer Researcher,
Instrument Researcher, and the Song Style Researcher Role (descriptions
below).
 Together as a group you will decide on 3 famous composers for your era.
 You are expected to cite your web sources correctly. You will keep a list of all
websites you take pieces of information from.
 Your group will then meet to create a graphic organizer showing how you
will organize and create your presentation.
 Each researcher will make slides about his/her area of research. All the slides
will then be put into one large presentation for the aliens to take back to
their planet.
 All three researchers will decide on a song or musical piece of the composer
to put in the final slide of the PowerPoint presentation. This slide will include
any lyrics and an explanation as to why it was chosen. Song excerpts should

be included.
Your group will then present the PowerPoint project to the class.
Composer Researcher Role
 The Composer Researcher will learn about the composer the group has
decided on. This person will be responsible for gathering detailed
information about the composers and their lives. You will also want to
“capture” some pictures of your composers from the Internet. Please name
the main styles these people composed, and the instruments they used.
 Here is a list of questions that you need to address in your presentation:
o What are the names of your three composers?
o List the years of their lives
o List the nationalities of your composers. (Where they were born and
where they died.)
o Give AT LEAST three interesting facts about each composer
o What are their composition styles and which one did they concentrate
on the most?
o Name some of the compositions your composers wrote
o Which instruments did your composers write for?
o Make three concept maps and outlines. You will hand in both the
outlines and the concept maps.
Song Style Researcher Role
 The Song Style Researcher will give general information about the music
styles.
 Here is a list of questions that you must address in your presentation:
o Name 3 - 5 song styles from this time period
o Define each style as sacred or secular
o Define each style as unison or harmony
o Define each style as unison or harmony
o Define each style as vocal or instrumental
o List a composer for each song style
o List instruments for each song style
o Make 3 - 5 concept maps. Next you will convert them to outlines. Print
out both the concept maps and the outlines. You will hand in both the
outlines and the concept maps.
Instrument Researcher Role:
 The Instrument Researcher will find out what instruments were used during
that era. You will also find pictures and sound files of these instruments. You
should also list the kind of songs these instruments were used for, the family
they fit into, and how they were played.
 Here is a list of questions which you must address in your presentation:
o Name 5 - 10 instruments
o Into which family do the instruments fit?
o How are the instruments played?
o What kind of group was this instrument played with? (Small
ensemble, large orchestra, choir, etc.)
o Did this instrument perform solos often?
o Name 3 composers who wrote music for this instrument?
o When were these instruments first created?
o What other instruments were their predecessors?
o Using Inspiration, make 5 - 10 concept maps, one per instrument. Next
you will convert them to outlines. You will hand in both the outlines
and the concept maps.
Group Presentation
 Here is a list of questions that you must address in your presentation:
o Name the dates of this era.
o Give historical facts of this time period that reflect the culture at that
time.
o Was sacred music more popular than secular music at this time? If so,
why?
o What was the role of women in music at this time?
o Name the countries or region that dominated the music of this time
period.
o Create an outline of your information using Inspiration.
o Using Inspiration, make a concept map. Next you will it to an outline.
Print out both the concept map and the outline. You will hand in both
the outlines and the concept maps.
Prehistoric Era
 http://www.stevenestrella.com/composers/index.html?ancientmusic.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_music
 http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/
 http://www.classicalworks.com/his.pages/timeline.html
 http://www.abc.net/directory/Kids_and_Teens/Arts/Music/History/
Middle Ages/Medieval Era
 http://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/instrumt.html
 http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/History/Medieval/
 http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/
 http://www.classicalworks.com/his.pages/timeline.html
 http://www.ariama.com/eras/eras.html
Renaissance Era
 http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/musical_history.html
 http://www.dreamscape.com/quando7/index.htm
 http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Renaissance/GeneralFiles/RenL
inksMusic.html



http://www.ariama.com/eras/eras.html
http://www.classicalworks.com/his.pages/timeline.html
http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/
Baroque Era
 http://baroque-music.com
 http://www.classicalworks.com/his.pages/timeline.html
 http://history.evansville.net/baroque.html
Classical Era
 http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/musical_history.html
 http://www.ariama.com/eras/eras.html
 http://www.classicalworks.com/his.pages/timeline.html
 http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/
 http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/music/
 http://www.classicalarchives.com
Romantic Era
 http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/musical_history.html
 http://www.fact-index.com/r/ro/romantic_music_1.html
 http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/
 http://www.classicalworks.com/his.pages/timeline.html
 http://cnx.org/contents/e71564ba-cafd-442a-97f630b9d2ee4af0@11/The_Music_of_the_Romantic_Era
 http://old.radio.cz/en/html/hudba_stredovek.html
20th Century Era
 http://old.radio.cz/en/html/hudba_stredovek.html
 http://www.classicalworks.com/his.pages/timeline.html
 http://www.ariama.com/eras/eras.html
 http://www.top20musichistory.com
 http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/
Conclusion (After Presentations)
 Congratulations! You have completed your task and sent the aliens off with
their CD sampler. Individually reflect on the following questions:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
How did music evolve?
Can you list at least four of the musical eras in order without looking?
Do historical events influence composers and the music they write?
Has this WebQuest influenced your feelings about the different musical eras?
How would you apply what you learned to develop one of the songs we are
working on in the class? From what musical era is it?
How would you compare a genre of music today to a musical genre from one
of the other time periods?
What can you say about one of the composers from your musical era?
o
o
o
Did you think we are still in the 20th century musical genre? Why or why
not?
How did you locate appropriate websites for this activity?
If you had to do this WebQuest again, what would you do differently?