Down on the Farm

A WebQuest designed for 1^st Grade Students
Designed by
Mrs. Jennifer Buckler Pekkala
Contact: portraitsbyjennylynn@yahoo.com
Orr Family Farm

Introduction
Good morning kids! Today I woke up with a little problem and I thought you might be able to help me solve it. I just realized that I live on a farm and I have no animals. I am going to choose three animals to have on my farm. Will you help me choose three animals that should live on my farm? Where can I buy them? What will I feed them? Ok… now do your best to find me the best farm animals possible. Remember to learn about all of them before you make a choice! Good Luck!

The Task
I am going to choose three animals to buy for my farm. Your job is to research a variety of farm animals and choose one that you think I should have. Then you will create a poster board with three detailed facts about that animal, as well as an illustration of the animal. You then will do a journal writing telling me:

1. What animal did you choose?

2. Why did you choose this animal?

3. Where can I buy this animal?

4. What should I feed this animal?

The Process

1. Research each of the animals pictured below by clicking on the images.

2. The links will take you to a new webpage that will teach you new facts about the animals.

3. In your technology journals, keep notes about each animal. You may draw illustration in your journals as well.

4. Choose one animal that you think is the best for me to buy for my farm.

5. Create a poster board with three facts about the animal you choose and at least one illustration or photograph.

6. In your technology journal, tell me:

a. What animal did you choose?

b. Why did you choose this animal?

c. Where can I buy this animal?

d. What should I feed this animal?

Resources
You will need your technology journals, a poster board, and the following URL links for this WebQuest.

This following web site will teach you how milk it made!
http://www.moomilk.com/tour.htm

The following web site has several facts about cows!
http://aipl.arsusda.gov/kc/cowfacts.html

The following web site has lots of information about horses. Be sure to click the “visit a horse farm” link and watch the videos!!!
http://ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/virtualfarm/equine/equine.html

The following link references a PBS show about horses.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/horses/index.html

The following web site has lots of facts about pigs!
http://www.porkpeople.com/lcres_facts.html

The following site has lots of information about pigs!
http://starpoohonline.com/pigfacts

The following link has information about sheep and some cool photos!
http://www.kidsfarm.com/sheep.htm

The following link has lots of information about sheep. Be sure to click the “sheep products” to see some things that are made from sheep!
http://www.sheep101.info/index.html

The following link will tell you about the different kinds of goats!
http://www.abc.net.au/creaturefeatures/facts/goats.htm

The following link will give you lots of information on goats!
http://www.nannykidfarm.com/Dairy%20Goat%20Facts.htm

The following link will tell you all about chickens and show you some really cool photos!
http://www.kidsfarm.com/chickens.htm

The following link has lots of chicken facts.
http://shilala.homestead.com/chickenfacts.html

Evaluation

This rubric will be used to grade each individual student’s technology journal and poster presentation. This is not a group project.

Awesome

Good

Needs

Work

Not

Acceptable

Journals

Notes are written clearly on all six animals. Student answered all four questions with complete sentences.

Notes written on all animals. Trouble with writing complete sentences.

Student attempted journals entries, but did not include all phases.

Did not attempt to complete journal activities.

Presentation

Poster is complete with three facts and at least one illustration.

Poster has at least two facts and an illustration.

Poster has at least one fact and an illustration.

Did not complete.

Conclusion
By this time you should have chose one animal for me to buy for my farm. You should have completed your journal entries with the facts that I will need to buy and care for the animal. You should also be preparing a poster board to present with three facts and an illustration of the animal you chose.

At this point I know you have learned at lot of new facts. I hope that you will remember this information and apply it to our future units and stories.

Now it is time to move on to a new unit! Good work and thank you for your hard work and good efforts!

Credits and References
The books mentioned on the Teacher Page can all be reviewed and purchased at www.amazon.com

The farm clip art in the opening section came from:
www.orrfamilyfarm.com/images/farmBannerFP.jpg

The variety of farm animal clip art in my resource section came from:
http://www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/static/cs/uk/11/clipart/farm/book_farm.html

Teacher Page
Suggestions for Teachers:
The following books go along very well with this farm unit.

· Farmer Duck

· George Washington’s Cows

· Big Red Barn

· Mrs. Potter’s Pig

· Inside a Barn in the Country

If you have limited Internet access, consider doing this project using information from books, magazines, and encyclopedias.

Although it is possible to do this project in small groups, I believe the students would benefit more by doing this specific project individually.