Created By: Ruth Sunda, Gifted Resource Teacher

School: Kyrene de las Brisas Elementary, Chandler, Arizona

Grade Level: Fourth and Fifth Grade

Subject Areas: Language Arts, Critical Thinking, and Technology

Lesson Summary:
What happened in Roswell, New Mexico? Does the Loch Ness Monster really exist? Students become Internet Sleuths as they uncover the facts and fiction about a variety of unsolved mysteries. Using books and the Internet, student groups research an unsolved mystery or unusual occurrence. During the research, the groups evaluate the reliability of the sources of information found on the Internet. The facts and opinions of the mysteries are examined and the groups use critical thinking skills to form their own reasoned judgments as to whether they believe the theories of the mysteries. The culmination of the research is a PowerPoint slide show that highlights various theories and the group’s conclusion about the mystery. The slide show is presented to the class using the classroom multimedia projection system, and the students in the audience use active listening as they view the presentations and fill out a project evaluation form.

Arizona Academic Standards:  http://www.ade.state.az.us/sbtl/sdi/

Language Arts Standard 2 – Writing Essentials (Grades 4-8)

• Determine the difference between factual information and information based on interpretation or analysis
• Evaluate the reliability of sources and author’s qualifications

Language Arts Standard 3 – Listening and Speaking Essentials (Grades 4-8)

• Predict, clarify, analyze, and critique a speaker’s information and point of view

Language Arts Standard 4 – Viewing and Presenting Essentials (Grades 4-8)

• Plan, develop, and produce a visual presentation using a variety of media

Kyrene School District Objectives:

Language Arts - Reading:

Read for comprehension and response:

• Identify main ideas, critical and supporting details, author’s purpose, and point of view
• Distinguish fact from opinion
• Draw a conclusion from implicit information

Technology:

• Demonstrate information management strategies and technical skills
• Presentation software: cut/copy/paste, edit slides, utilize transitions and timing, utilize templates
• Demonstrate personal and social responsibility as a citizen in a technological age
• Cite resources in documents and presentations
• Use technology resources and engage in technology-based activities to learn and apply concepts and skills in various curricular areas
• Create and present a slide show consisting of at least three slides which includes text and graphics
• Create a computer graphic
• Utilize graphics from various applications in a report to convey a unified message
• Recognize how layout, graphics, color, and font size effect the quality of a presentation

Approximate Time Needed: This project runs approximately 4 weeks.

Prerequisite Skills: Students should have some experience in using the Internet for research. They should know how to use a search engine and the basic operations of a web browser. Students will also need to know the basic skills necessary to create a PowerPoint slide show, including adding bulleted lists, graphics, animations, and transitions.

Materials and Resources Required:

Hardware/software –

• Computers with Internet connections
• Software – Microsoft PowerPoint
• Multimedia Presentation System

Printed Materials –

• Project introduction sheet: Internet Investigations: Unsolved Mysteries
• Suggested topics list: Unsolved Mysteries sheet
• Distinguishing Between Matters of Fact/Opinion/Reasoned Judgment
• Student Worksheet: Making Reasoned Judgments
• Formal assessment: PowerPoint Presentation Evaluation Sheet

Web Sources –

• Critical Evaluation of a Web Site
  http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/evalelem.html
  

Procedure:
This project begins with the students listing what "mysterious events" they knew about. Then the class discusses what are the characteristics of an "unsolved" mystery. Along with this topic, discuss the concept of "fact" and how a fact can be proven to be true or false. Next the students form into pairs or small groups, then each group selects a mystery to research from the Unsolved Mysteries List prepared by the teacher. The goals and expected outcomes of the project are outlined in the Internet Investigations: Unsolved Mysteries project introduction sheet. Students then begin their research, taking special note of the addresses of the web sites they visited. Students are encouraged to find and variety of theories and sites that present a one-sided perspective of the mystery. Discuss source reliability in terms of who prepared the web site, what are the credentials of the author, and what biases the site may have. A Critical Evaluation of a Web Site Evaluation form is filled out for the sites that provide information. Another topic of discussion is the skill of using reasoned judgment to draw a conclusion. Using the information from Distinguishing Between Matters of Fact, Opinion, and Reasoned Judgment, and the student worksheet, Making Reasoned Judgments, students learn that a reasoned judgment is one that uses both facts and opinions to make an informed and supported judgment. After the "facts" are gathered, students synthesize the information into PowerPoint slides. The slide show includes the following slides: title, introduction, theories, conclusion, and an annotated Works Cited slide. The slide shows are presented to the class via the classroom presentation system. Following each presentation, the audience completes a PowerPoint Presentation Evaluation form and gives verbal praise and critiques of the content and appearance of the slides, and the poise of the presenters. Using the suggestions from the class, revisions are made to the slide shows, and the mystery is then presented for a second time. The final task of this project is to prepare the revised slide shows for the Internet by saving the PowerPoint slide shows as HTML files so they can shared on the Internet.

Assessment:

Students were assessed on this project through:

• PowerPoint Presentation Evaluation sheet
• Classroom discussion
• Worksheets on reasoned judgment
• Group presentation
• Revisions made to slide show
• Final presentation

During each group’s initial presentation, the audience filled out a PowerPoint Evaluation sheet that judged the quality of the information and the appearance of the slides. This required good listening skills on the part of the audience. Students also needed to analyze the presenters’ point of view and determine the reasonableness of their conclusions After the groups presented their mystery slide show, they revised their slides, incorporating the suggestions made by the audience, and then gave an encore presentation. Informal assessment consisted of student and teacher conferences regarding progress and student reflections on the quality of their project.