Dispelling the Myth: A
Study of Cultures
A WebQuest on Cultural
Diversity
For Fourth, Fifth and Sixth
Grade Students
Created by: Heather Lynch and
Stephanie Tennille
Phoenix,
Arizona
Introduction
Scenario:
One day during lunch, two students got into a fight. The fight
started when one of students made fun of the other student's lunch.
The lunch was a traditional Mexican meal. When the students got back
to the classroom, a class meeting was held to discuss the incident.
During the class discussion, the point was made that students need to
respect each other's culture and heritage. One student said, " How
can we respect a culture we don't really understand?" This question
prompted the class to decide to go on a cultural fact finding
mission. One student thought it would be fun to call themselves
Cultural Investigators. To start off, the class decided to study
Hispanic and Native American culture because they are two prominent
cultures in Arizona.
Index
Goals
of this WebQuest:
- Explore and research
cultures and customs of Native American and Hispanic
people.
- Develop an interest in
other cultures, specifically Hispanic and Native
American..
- Use the power of the
Internet for exploration of Native American and Hispanic
culture.
- Learn information
about different aspects of these cultures.
- Cooperatively work
with your teammates to gather and share knowledge.
- Develop a respect and
tolerance of people from different cultures.
Index
The
Task:
In
order to complete your mission, you and your group will gather
information about different aspects of each culture. To do this you
will:
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1. Visit Internet
sites about Hispanic and Native American
cultures.
2. Interview
family members or people of Hispanic or Native American
culture.
3. Talk to the
Art and Music teacher on your campus to get information
about Hispanic and Native American art and
music.
4. Visit the
school's media center or public library to gather books and
resources about the cultures.
5. Explore
software such as Grolier's Encyclopedia, Encarta
Encyclopedia, Kids' Culture and World Atlas to gather
information.
6. Compare and
contrast elements of cultural similarities and differences
between the two groups.
7. Keep a daily
reflection journal to describe your feelings, impressions,
questions, and comments as you research your
culture.
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Index
Culminating
Activity
Demonstrate your
understanding of the culture you researched by sharing your knowledge
with the rest of your class in a Cultural Celebration which will
include:
1. A slide show
presentation done with HyperStudio that describes the aspects of the
culture that your group researched.
All slides should
contain:
- Navigable buttons,
appropriate backgrounds, graphics, and readable, edited
text.
- Title slide which
contains name of slide show.
- Three to five content
slides that describe the aspects of the culture your group is
studying. These
slides will contain:
- Text
describing the aspects of your culture that your group
is studying.
- Author
page containing digital camera photos of authors,
names, and brief descriptions.
- Bibliography
slide that properly lists the resources
used.
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Remember
that content is most important and should be carefully thought out,
researched, and clearly presented.
2. A cultural museum
created by all of the students in your culture group that should
include:
- Food Booth which
offers samples of Navajo or Hispanic cultures.
- Listening Center to
hear tape recorded folk tales and poetry of your
culture.
- Book corner for
students to listen to picture books about Navajo or Hispanic
culture.
- Art Display containing
student-created drawings, pictures, paintings done in the style of
your culture.
- Artifact Case
displaying actual pieces of pottery, jewelry, clothing, art,
tools, musical instruments of your culture.
- Music Center offering
examples of music from your culture.
Index
Resources:
Click here to go to Internet resources about your
culture.
Index
The
Process:
- The class will be
divided into two groups, one that will investigate the Hispanic
culture and one that will investigate the Native American
culture.
- Each culture group
will divide into four groups of three to four students per
group.
- Each of the four
groups will choose two aspects of the culture to
study.
- Each group will create
a HyperStudio slide show about the aspects that they are
studying.
- Aspects of each
culture to be researched will be;
- Art
- Music
- Food
- Symbols
- Celebrations
- Famous
People or Role Models
- Folktales/Legends/Poetry
- Children's
Books
- All of the groups
studying each culture will work together cooperatively to create a
cultural museum detailed in the task.
- Each student will be
keeping a daily reflection journal about the culture they are
studying.
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Evaluation
Product
Rubric
Process
Rubric
Self-Evaluation Questions
for Students
Questions
should be answered in Reflection Journal
Slide
Show
- Was your slide show
appealing in appearance?
- Did you have all the
required elements?
- Was your slide show
easy to understand and/or navigate for the
participants?
- Was HyperStudio easy
or difficult for your group to use? Explain.
- How well did your
group work together? Did everyone in the group contribute
equally?
Cultural
Museum
- Was your cultural
museum interesting and appealing?
- Did your group have
all the required elements?
- How well did your
larger group work together? Was the work equally
distributed?
Index
Conclusion:
Congratulations! You have
completed your cultural mission! Through this WebQuest you have
learned about two different cultures and have gained a greater
understanding of their characteristics and customs.
Answer the following
questions in your reflection journal and then share with other
classmates:
- How did this
experience change your opinion of different cultures? Be
specific.
- Why is it important to
respect and tolerate people's culture?
- How can our class use
this information, to resolve any future conflicts?
- What did you learn
from completing this WebQuest?
- What would you change
about this WebQuest if you were to do it again?
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Extensions:
- Researching other
cultures could easily extend this WebQuest.
- Two classrooms from
the same school or a neighboring school could do this Quest
together. Each class could research one culture and then get
together to share information.
- The whole school could
participate in the Quest and each classroom or grade level could
research a different culture.
- The information
gathered from the WebQuest could be shared on-line with Key Pals
anywhere in the world.
- Visit the Native
American exhibits at the Heard Museum.
- Take a field trip to
Guadalupe or Navajo National Monument.
- Invite Navajo or
Hispanic musicians, dancers, artists, and/or authors to present to
your class or school.
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Teacher
Notes:
Lesson Title: Dispelling
the Myth: A Study of Cultures
Curricular Areas:
History-Social Studies, Geography, Art, Music, Technology, Language
Arts
Grade Levels:
4-6
Length of Lesson: 3-4
weeks
Suggestions:
1. Anticipate students'
need for vocabulary development before or during project by
previewing the student component and resources.
2. Go through the Internet
resources to make sure that all links are working.
3. Print out project so
students can refer back to it when working offline.
4. Online images may take
time to load, so have some type of other work available for students
to do while they wait.
5. Have class/group
discussion after each step in the process. This will help students
organize their thoughts and check for understanding.
6. Bring in or have
students bring in any kinds of cultural artifacts related to the
Hispanic and Navajo cultures.
7. Visit a museum or
contact a guest speaker to visit your class.
8. Bring in children's
books and music relating to the two cultures.
Internet
Resources:
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