Lifelong Learning Programme

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This material reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein

Also available in:

Webmaster: Pinzani.it

Teaching Resources

Homepage > Teaching Resources > Teaching Resources Form

TEACHING RESOURCES INFORMATION

TITLE OF TEACHING RESOURCE
WebQuest: Investigando as Chuvas ácidas (Investigating the Acid Rain)
IMAGE
NAME OF AUTHOR(S)
Maria do Rosário Beleza
DATE OF PRODUCTION
2011
TYPE OF PRODUCT
Web Site/Portal, Webquest
LEVEL OF CHEMISTRY KNOWLEDGE
Medium
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH
Cooperative learning, Problem solving
SUBJECT AREA
Environmental Chemistry
TARGET GROUP LEVEL
Upper Secondary School
LANGUAGE/S OF TEACHING RESOURCES
Portuguese
TUTORIAL SUPPORT
Yes
DESCRIPTION
A webquest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web (http://webquest.org/index.php). The structure of a webquest can be defined as follows: Introduction; Tasks; Process; Resources; Evaluation; Conclusion.
This type of methodological activity is designed by teachers. The investigation is made by students, using informatics tools to consult online information. All the research elements/tasks are organized so that students are focused on the project.
This particular resource was developed for 11th grade students (~16 years old) which study physics and chemistry and is related to the acid rain thematic.
First, in the introduction, a brief and very general text is provided about acid rains. After, students are invited to read two texts adapted from newspapers. Then, the task is described to students: a large industry wants to install an energy production unit in the area where students live. Though the project is not known yet, the public opinion has already some negative attitude towards it. Therefore the main task is to elaborate a debriefing session to clarify a number of points, in order to promote a more informed opinion on the facility. To fulfill the task, students have to perform a search and identify what is acid rain, what is its main cause, what are the effects of acid rain on biotic and abiotic systems; and identify effective methods to reduce them. The result should be presented in a poster and, in parallel, a summary of the data that includes the group's position regarding the installation of that equipment.
In this webquest, students should work in groups of three, with the following roles assigned to each one of them: 1. Ecologist; 2. Chemist; 3. Environmental engineer. Each specialist will search for information on Internet using the web pages present in the Resources section.
Specific questions are made to each specialist. For example:
1. The chemist: What is acid rain? What substances are responsible for the acid rain?
2. The ecologist: What is the effect of acid rain in biotic systems?
3. The environmental engineer: What steps can be taken to reduce acid rain and to correct its effects?

The research is made on the websites provided in the webquest. The sites have been previously selected and are displayed in alphabetical order. They include institutional sites, and other sources.
The evaluation will consider the degree of participation of each student in the group's work and the correspondent presentations, according to pre-established criteria.
This type of methodological activity can be used as a group work, in the classroom and as homework project.
This specific resource was designed to be developed during three classes (one week),as it is a long term WebQuest.
COMMENTS
Webquests are an interesting type of online resource that is organized in order to avoid the dispersion of students in the research phase, while navigating internet. This webquest is very well designed, dealing with the real issue of acid rains thematic. Most of the available 18 online resources contain reliable information.
Unfortunately, the webquest is only available in Portuguese and some of the links, proposed in the resources section, are not currently available.
This web resource can be easily adapted to other countries realities, using local examples.
NAME OF THE REVIEWING ORGANISATION
Instituto Politécnico de Bragança

Comments about this Publication

Your comments are welcome


National Reports on successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry The national reports on chemistry successful experiences to promote lifelong learning for chemistry are now available on the related section of the project portal. The reports presents examples of successful experiences in the partner countries and the results of testing of ICT resources with science teachers.

.