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	Process
Goals	Evaluation
Task	Conclusion
Activity	Extensions
Resources	Teacher Notes

 

Why Use The Internet

Introduction

Scenario: One day during lunch, two students got into a fight. The fight started when one of the 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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

Resources: Click here to go to Internet resources about your culture.

• Mexico Resources

• Navajo Resources

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.

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?

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?

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.

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:

• This WebQuest follows the NETS technology standards and the Arizona State Technology Standards.
• Lesson Plans for Hispanic Month
• Teacher Resource Page for Native Americans
• If you have never done a WebQuest before, visit Dr. Alice Christie's Web Page about WebQuests for more information.

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