The Depths Of The Universe

Physics

INTRODUCTION

This WebQuest is intended to have learners use a methodical approach, analytical thinking, creativity, teamwork, collaboration and Internet resources to research, learn and accomplish tasks related to the mysterious and fascinating objects in our Universe.

Have you ever looked up at the night sky dazzled by the blinking, shiny dots? They are fascinating, right? 🙂 The mysterious beauty of the night airglow captivated people’s minds and curiosity for centuries. Let’s dive into the depths of the Universe and find out whether the scientist has revealed some of their secrets.

Secret #1: Planet
Secret #2: Star
Secret #3: Pulsar
Secret #4: Nebula
Secret #5: Galaxy
Secret #6: Quasar
Secret #7: Blackhole

TASK

The goal of this WebQuest is to help you discover the researcher and scientist in you. You will have to develop and improve the most important skills that determine one, such as a methodical approach to problem-solving, a high level of organization, analytical thinking, abilities for investigating.

The learners should work in groups of 2 to 4 people work in а team and share the information gathered with the other members of the team. Each team should select one of the topics aforesaid and distribute the work among the learners part of the team. Each team should find resources that cover the selected topic, make deep research and eventually, prepare a .PPT presentation and give a presentation to their peers in class.

The information within the presentation should be well-organized, factual, and well-formed. It is important to demonstrate a good level of Internet and technology use.

PROCESS

Firstly separate the given resources or resources you find on your own between team members.

Generate a timeline with 6 significant space missions and/or persons who highly and adequately relate to your topic of research. Each learner should choose a space mission or a person and make a deeper research. Share the information with others and prepare a presentation.

Preparation step: Pick up your team fellows. Form groups from 2 up to 4 students.

Step 1: Get to know the secrets of the Universe:

Secret #1: Big Bang
Secret #2: Planet
Secret #3: Star
Secret #4: Pulsar
Secret #5: Nebula
Secret #6: Galaxy
Secret #7: Quasar
Secret #8: Black hole

Step 2:

After you gain a basic foundation and understanding of this tiny bit of secret chose one of them and make further research. For example, cover subjects such as how these objects were formed, when they were found, who found them, and what equipment is used to observe the celestial object you’ve chosen. Once you have decided which subjects will cover your research, assign them to the members of the team.

Step 3:

Look for information on space missions or scientists who have contributed to expanding our knowledge of the topic you chose in step 2. Each learner should choose a space mission or a person and make a deeper research. Is it safe to go on a space mission? And is it cheap?

Step 4:

Now you know more about the universe and the ways we study it. You learned about the secrets that have been revealed, but also about the risks that have been taken. State your own opinion on space exploration. Is it a waste of money or does it help humankind to evolve and develop? Check the links below to form an opinion.

https://www.britannica.com/science/space-exploration/Human-beings-in-space-debate-and-consequences
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/09/us-space-program-nasa-earth-problems
https://en.unesco.org/courier/marzo-1970/space-effort-waste-money
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2011/10/debate-for-and-against-space-exploration-is-space-research-a-waste-of-time/

Step 5:

Make a presentation and share your findings in class. Here is a sample structure:

Introduction.
Key concepts and theories and their evolution over time, collected in Step 2.
Talk about the scientists and/or space missions you have researched. (Step 3)
Express your opinion on space exploration. Give arguments.
Make a discussion with your classmates. What do they think about space exploration.

RESOURCES

CONCLUSION

“All you really need to know for the moment is that the universe is a lot more complicated than you might think, even if you start from a position of thinking it's pretty damn complicated in the first place.”

― Douglas Adams

On the completion of this WebQuest, the learner will be able to:

Skills:

Conduct research in online environments to complete a set task
Use creative thinking skills to develop a project with peers
Practice innovative thinking through teamwork
Use critical thinking skills to evaluate ideas

In addition, learners will:

learn to practice teamwork through active group participation;
learn how to use their minds, their voices, and their ears to constructively engage and collaborate with others;
develop a sense of confidence and belief in themselves and their decision making;
learn how to communicate effectively (using written and spoken word, non-verbal language, electronic tools, and listening skills).

Evaluation of learning achievements

In this section we will not dive very deep into the underlying educational theories about evaluation and testing: there’s too much out there than we could possibly cover in this small project report.

Instead, we want to concentrate on procedures that enable both students/pupils and their teachers to establish if the learning goals of the Webquest were achieved and, if so, to what extent. We recommend teachers make use of a combined evaluation procedure, that consists of:

Statements by learners (after being asked to do so)
- telling what they learned about the subject (knowledge-oriented self-evaluation): now (after going through the Webquest) I know that …
- telling what he/she learned about herself/himself (formative evaluation, in this case, diagnostic self-evaluation): now (after going through the Webquest) I know about myself that I …
  This pair of basic statements add up to a so-called learner report, in which the pupil/student reflects on what the Webquest brought him/her in terms of acquired knowledge and new personal views and attitudes concerning the subject.
For instance:
- ‘I learned that in medieval times the hygiene of people was hardly a concern which helped to let epidemic diseases like the Plague cause so many casualties’ Or:
- ‘I learned the facts and I know the earth is warming, but I cannot understand why people were so stupid to pollute the world and let it warm up so much.
- ‘I learned from the information about diseases that this subject is more appealing to me than I would expect in advance: maybe I should consider a medical career’. Or:
  ‘The Webquests confirms what I thought already: I could not care less about the climate and global warming. In fact, I thought it was all a hoax and I still do!’
This kind of assessment seems more subjective than it actually is: in his standard work on testing and evaluation (and much more), simply called Methodology (1974), Prof. A.D. de Groot described how consistent the student’s self-evaluations appeared to be: when asked again after 5 or 10 years, their evaluation would almost be the same. De Groot advised teachers to use the learner report as a start for joint evaluations, striving for consensus between teacher and student/pupil about the learning outcomes and their value for the learner, but also compared with the learning objectives as stated in the curriculum.
The learning achievements are visible in the output produced by the students: it is physical evidence: reports, answers to questions asked in the Webquest, presentations, and performance during presentations (preferably recorded). The teacher completes an evaluation grid stating clearly what the learning outcomes for the student/pupil are. The categories in the grid can be modified by the teacher to cover more precisely the content of a Webquest.
>We advise teachers to use the grid to start a joint evaluation discussion, aiming at consensus or at least understanding between the teacher and the student/pupil about the learning outcomes: were they achieved (as planned in the curriculum and communicated before the Webquest started) and to what extent? To communicate the learning goals clearly before any learning activity starts, is a transparency requirement that is widely acknowledged in the educational community. The history of making learning objectives explicit goes back to the evaluation ‘Bible’ by Bloom, Hastings and Madaus: ‘Handbook on formative and summative evaluation of student learning’ (1971), a standard work that also served as inspiration for the earlier mentioned Prof. De Groot.

The procedure also applies when students/pupils have worked together on a Webquest. The teacher will ask questions about individual contributions: ‘What did you find? What part did you write? How did you find the illustrations? Who made the final presentation?’

All the evidence (of learning efforts and outcomes plus joint evaluations) is preferably stored in the learning portfolio of the student, or in any other suitable storage system (folders with written or printed documents, online collection of files, etcetera ).

Changes in personal points of view and feelings are harder to value and here the consensus between teacher and student/pupil about experiences during the learning process provides essential insights.

The grid below gives an example of how the evaluation of the learning process and achievements can be shaped: what kind of reactions to the Webquest does the teacher expect and how valuable are they? Is the teacher capable to explain the value or score allocated to answers or presentations given by pupils? Does the pupil/student understand the evaluation outcomes, and does he/she agree? If an agreement (consensus is not possible, it is still the teacher who decides how to value the student’s work.

Please note that the text in the grid addresses the pupil/student directly: this is important and it is in fact a prerequisite for using such an evaluation grid: it is specifically meant to enable a discussion of learning results between teacher and student and not to communicate learning achievements of learners to others who had no direct role in the Webquest.

Evaluation Grid

WebQuest Categories

Mathematics & Logics

History & Cultural Heritage

Funded by

The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.