Developed by Robin Miller- 3rd Grade
Overview
ATTENTION ALL ANIMAL LOVERS!!!!!! Our next Science unit is
awesome! We will discover the different animals that live in our
wonderful state. The state of Georgia extends from the Atlantic
Ocean in the south to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the north. The
state is divided into 4 regions: Coastal Area, Plains, Piedmont,
and Highlands (refer to the map below). According to the Georgia
Performance Standards, your objective will be to investigate
different organisms (animals) and how they adapt to their
habitat/environment.
Have you ever wondered what kinds of animals live by the
Atlantic Ocean or in the Blue Ridge Mountains? With this web
quest, you will have the opportunity to use the world wide web to
learn about different animals that live in Georgia and how they
adapt to their environment. This will be a blast, so keep reading!
Introduction
Bill Nye, the Science Guy, needs your help. He has hired you to
research different animals that live in Georgia. Your job is to
research an animal from one of the animal kingdoms
(mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, or amphibians). You will need
to pick an individual project to demonstrate your findings. In
addition, as a group, you will complete a full investigation of
your animal and then present your information to Bill Nye as a
power point presentation. If selected, he will use your
individual and group projects to create a video for students to
watch when learning about the amazing animals in our great
state of Georgia. Good Luck!! 
Questions to Ponder
Before beginning your adventure, here are a few questions to
think about as you move through each task.
1. What animal kingdom am I most interested in?
2. What specific animal would I like to learn more about?
3. Which individual product do I want to create?
4. What should the final group project look like?
5. When is the individual and group project due?
Tasks
For this job you will work with two other classmates. Your
tasks are described below.
TASK 1- Pick an Animal Family:
1. Your group needs to decide on an animal family to research in
Georgia.
Reptiles
Mammals
Birds
Fish
TASK 2- Animal Research:
Amphibians
1. Now that your group knows which animal family you
want to focus on, pick an animal from that family that
interests you. Let the research begin.
2. Complete the Amazing Animal Fact Sheet in your best
handwriting. Everyone in the group must complete
their own fact sheet to turn in.
TASK 3- Create a Model of Your Animal Findings:
We are excited to learn about your animal found in Georgia.
Pick one of the following projects to be done independently. I
encourage you to use Microsoft Word or Kid Pix to complete
your task if possible. It will be presented to the class and
make sure you follow the rubric. Be creative and have fun!!
1. “Show Box Diorama”- Build a detailed model of your
animal’s habitat in which it lives. Include a summary to
explain important facts and descriptions from your
Amazing Animal Fact Sheet.
2. “Brochure”- Design a colorful, tri-fold brochure of
your animal on construction paper. Include facts,
pictures, and descriptions from your Amazing Animal
Fact Sheet. Your animal’s habitat in which it lives
needs to be represented on your brochure.
3. “Poster”- Create a colorful drawing (on poster board)
of your animal’s habitat. Your poster should provide
interesting information about your Georgia animal,
including facts and descriptions from your Amazing
Animal Fact Sheet.
TASK 5- Oral Presentation
IT’S SHOW TIME!! Your group's job is to create an interesting
power point presentation for Bill Nye. Include information
recorded on the Amazing Animal Fact Sheet as well as pictures
of the animal and its living environment. Use the Power Point
Guidelines to help you create your oral presentation.
All members of your group should contribute to the power
point presentation, as well as being a good listener and
respectful to each other. Use your expert knowledge to help
each other!
Group Roles
In order to work effectively as a group, everyone must be
assigned a role- Organizer, Discussion Director, and
Investigator. Your team will decide which job best suits your
abilities. You will work cooperatively as a group and share
information with your partners. Remember to be respectful
when sharing ideas and work hard.
Organizer- You will make sure the group stays organized and
on task. You will keep a timer to make sure you are back from
the library in the specified amount of time, keep the group
findings organized in your Georgia web quest folder, and
check to see that your project is aligned with the guidelines
and rubrics. Also, you will collect any materials needed for
your oral project if necessary.
Discussion Director- Your job is to guide the group through
the initial brainstorming process of picking an animal family
and choosing an animal to research. You will also create an
outline and list of ideas for the power point project. Overall,
you will help your group talk about the big ideas you have and
share them respectively.
Investigator- Your job is to dig up additional resources needed
to complete your group project. You will in charge of checking
out books, encyclopedias, etc… from the library. Finally, you
will aid in finding additional internet resources if needed for
the animal research.
Process
1. First, meet with your assigned group and read through
the entire web quest.
2. Once you are familiar with what you will be doing,
brainstorm ways to accomplish your tasks. To brainstorm
effectively, you should write down all of your group
members’ ideas and make sure that all group members'
thoughts are shared and recorded.
3. Begin researching your animal and complete the
“Amazing Animal Fact Sheet”. Each of you will need your
fact sheet to complete you individual project and it will be
turned in for a grade.
4. Meet with your group occasionally to discuss information
and your findings. If you find that you need more
information in some areas, research further.
5. Once you have completed your animal research, begin
organizing your thoughts for your individual project.
6. After brainstorming your ideas, begin creating your
diorama, brochure, or poster.
7. Meet with your group to brainstorm ideas for your power
point presentation. Look over the guidelines provided for
you.
8. Create your power point presentation. Be creative and
make sure you look over the rubric to see what is
expected of you.
9. Complete your individual project and power point
presentation. Practice your oral presentation of both.
Resources
Use the web sites below to help you research your animal:
http://www.cviog.uga.edu/gsb/student/wildlife/ Georgia Wildlife
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/default.cfm Smithsonian National Zoo
http://kidsgowild.com/af-animalfacts.html Wild Animal Facts
http://www.whaletimes.org/whafshn.htm Fishing for Facts
E:\Webquest\Animal Facts Links.htm Amazing Animal
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/media/world/ National Geographic
World
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/animals/ Yahooligan Animals
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/continents.shtml
Enchanted learning Animals
Other resources may include:
 Internet Sites
 School library books
 Public library books
 Encyclopedias
 Zoo Books
Evaluation
Your group presentation will be evaluated as a team effort
using the following rubric. The individual project will be
evaluated using a different scoring rubric. Please click to view
the group rubric and individual project rubric. Your grade will
be scored on a 100 point scale.
Conclusion
AWESOME WORK!! You have presented your findings to Bill
Nye, the Science Guy, for review. He has accepted your
“PEACHY” animal findings for our great state of Georgia. Your
findings opened a whole new world for you and other students
your age when studying Georgia. Keep up the good work and
enjoy the wonderful world of animals!
As Bill Nye’s new assistant, you will be in charge of informing
the state of Georgia about endangered animals and how we
can save them from becoming extinct. Check out your next
job assignment:
1. You will need to identify an endangered animal in
Georgia.
2. Research and determine why this animal is endangered.
3. Investigate ways to save this animal species.
4. Create an ad informing Georgian’s about this animal and
ways to save them.
Good luck, you have a very important job ahead of you!!
Here are a few internet resources for you to use:
http://www.endangeredspecie.com/states/ga.htm
http://www.gwf.org/protectedanimals.htm
Reflection
On an index card, please answer the following questions in
regards to your job experience with Bill Nye.
1. How do you think you did on your individual project? Is
there anything you would change or wish you had done
differently?
2. Did you enjoy this whole process? Explain why or why
not?
3. How do you think the group project went? Did assigning
roles help everyone stay focused and cooperate?
4. What was your favorite part of this web quest? Would
you like to complete another one? Explain why or why
not.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!
You are now a scientist and ready to tell the world about
your amazing animal findings!!!!!!!